May was an awesome month for multiple reasons. Whitney and I were offered an extension to our current contracts for an additional nine weeks, which means that we will be able to spend the summer in the northeast like we planned! We took several weekend trips including: Boston, NYC, Maine/New Hampshire, and Cape Cod. Most of these trips were mostly free using credit card rewards which we will write about soon. Even with credit card points, traveling to see new things every weekend can be pretty costly from gas and eating out alone. Although I am trying to save as much as possible for financial independence, I am not willing to sacrifice taking advantage of all the northeast has to offer while we are here. Celebrating Whitney’s birthday in NYC while staying at the Plaza Hotel was amazing and worth the extra expense.
This past weekend we also finalized our plans for a trip to Jamaica in September and paid for our plane tickets and hotel stays, also with points. With all of this travel and future vacation plans, I was expecting that I may fall behind in my savings, but to my surprise that was not the case. This is likely in part due to a surge in stock prices, and subsequently my investment portfolio, in the days leading up to Memorial Day weekend. That boost was very helpful but I would have most likely still reached my target without it.
In any case, my savings grew and is now able to sustain my annual spending rate for almost five years without accounting for any investment growth! This excites me but is still no where close to my ultimate goal of 25 times my annual expenses. Despite overshooting on my savings goal this month, my calculations still put at reaching this goal in September, 2020.
We will likely only have one or two more weekend trips planned before leaving the northeast in the middle of August which should benefit my savings rate significantly. I’m hoping to overshoot my goal again in June but it will be more difficult as we are going to be moving to a new campground with higher expenses in the middle of the month.
Only time will tell how the future will play out. I’ll check back in at the end of June! How are you guys progressing toward your financial goals?
Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist 
The fact that you are paying attention to the details will allow you to hit your goals. So many PTs (new and old alike) have no idea how much they need to make and save in order to pay off their loans and the loans are still around decades later. The fact that you are staying ahead of debt will keep you ahead of the pack.
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Thank you for the kind words. Unfortunately PT school is rather lacking in personal finance information which leads to many people graduating and spending at or above their means. I’m hoping that financial education will improve over the years in PT programs.
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Love how much y’all are traveling! It’s great to take advantage of your local geography. And strong work on the increased savings rate!
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