November went by really quickly. During the month, Whitney and I took a two week road trip to Upstate New York to hike and visit some friends, and go to Niagara Falls. I’d never been to Niagara falls, Whitney hadn’t been since she was a kid, and neither of us had ever been to the mountains of upstate New York. Niagara falls was amazing to see in person, and we got surprisingly good weather for November. It felt like the perfect time to be there since crowds were minimal making getting around and parking much easier. The Adirondack mountains were beautiful, but it was actually freezing the days we were there in contrast to the days when we were in Niagara Falls/Rochester area. We did some hiking while there and ended up doing our first ever hike during a significant snow storm, which was awesome but a little scary. We spent a couple of nights camping in the van on this trip, and camping in the below freezing night time temperatures actually wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be. With an extra blanket we stayed very warm at night but getting out from under the blankets in the morning to get dressed wasn’t pleasant.
When we got back from the trip to Niagara Falls it was almost Thanksgiving. We ended up hosting three separate Thanksgiving meals at our house with different parts of our families. The dinners went pretty smoothly overall but was a lot of work and will probably be the last year we host more than one meal at our house for a holiday.
After Thanksgiving we spent some time planning and booking a couple more upcoming trips and getting some work done on the websites. We are going to try to travel as much as we’re able to in 2022 since most of our travel plans for 2020 and 2021 were put on hold. Whitney and I also both worked a couple of days at our PRN outpatient PT jobs in our hometown during the month of November to do our best to stay current in the clinic.
Income
Income from our websites (FifthWheelPT and Travel Therapy Mentor) was not as high in November as in October, but still very good, coming in at our second highest earning month of all time. The last quarter of the year has almost always been our highest earning on the websites as we follow up on outstanding payments plus get the majority of affiliate payouts, and this year has been no different. We did some sponsored posts and a sponsored giveaway during November and also got a decent number of course sales which added to our income.
Expenses
Expenses in November were fairly average. The road trip didn’t cost much since it was pretty short both in duration and distance. We were able to stay with friends for a few nights, use hotel points for free nights, and camp in the van a couple of nights as well which helped to keep costs low. My fixed costs back home remain low as well which really helps.
Investments
The S&P 500 was down about .8% in November. Meanwhile Bitcoin was down about 7.2% with some of the smaller coins I own down even more on the month. After such a crazy October, I’m not at all surprised by the pull back in both the equity market as well as the crypto market. It never feels good to see your investments decline month over month, but it being on the heels of a truly massive month numbs the pain.
Financial Independence Progress
My net assets decreased by .9% in November which is less than I would have thought considering the return on my investments for the month. These high earning months with our online business really help to dampen the impact of any month over month drops in my investments on my net assets. At the end of November, my net assets were equal to just under 57.3 times my average yearly spending.
Next Month
Early in December we’re taking an eight day trip to Puerto Rico! I’ve never been and neither has Whitney so it will be fun to check it out. Besides that trip, it should be a pretty laid back month hanging out at home in Virginia with family for the holidays. We hope to get caught up on more things for the business, plus focus on fitness goals while we’re home as well.
How was November for you financially? Let me know in the comments!
Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist 