At the beginning of February we started our 2.5 month international trip, but our first stop on the trip was actually San Antonio, Texas for the APTA CSM conference (the biggest physical therapy conference of the year). The conference went really well, and we got to meet dozens of our followers, mostly from Instagram, and also got to reconnect with friends we hadn’t seen in a long time.
After 5 days in San Antonio, we spent the rest of the month traveling through Mexico and Guatemala. We went from San Antonio to Puerto Vallarta for a week of relaxing at a resort before continuing on to Mexico City. Unfortunately, both Whitney and I got Covid while in Mexico City so we had to extend our time there for an additional week in order to quarantine and recover. Fortunately the illness was relatively mild for both of us (very sore throats and other mild cold symptoms, but no respiratory issues or other complications) so besides having to adjust our trip plans some, it wasn’t a major issue.
Between being sick, working on the websites, and readjusting our travel plans, February seemed to fly by.
Income
Income from our websites (FifthWheelPT and Travel Therapy Mentor) for February was only about a third of what we earned in January. February being a short month contributed to that, but we also didn’t follow up as much about payments due since we were traveling. Although February earnings were significantly less than the last several months, we actually made five times more when compared to last February which is pretty crazy. It’s really hard to complain about “low” income months when looking at the year over year income growth we continue to have.
Expenses
February expenses were high due to traveling. We were able to use some points and miles for some free hotel nights and flights, but most of the travel costs were paid for with cash. The resort we stayed at in Puerto Vallarta was pretty expensive, and we ate out for most of our meals throughout the month. Luckily the food and drinks in Mexico and Guatemala are very affordable so that wasn’t a huge expense. We also didn’t do many activities that were expensive. All in all, my savings rate for the month was around 60%.
Investments
The S&P 500 was down about 3.1% in February. Meanwhile Bitcoin was up by about 12.2% which helped my monthly investment return significantly and was the first positive month for Bitcoin since October, 2021. Bitcoin and equities have been strongly correlated recently but it was nice to see that correlation break down some in February. Hopefully this is the start of a new trend but we’ll see how the coming months go. Overall, February wasn’t a bad month for my investments with a small positive return.
Financial Independence Progress
My net assets increased by 4.8% in February. After three straight months of declines, it was nice to see a month over month increase in assets during February. With this increase my net assets are now equal to 54.2 times my annual expenses.
Next Month
In March we’ll continue on our trip, finishing up our time in Guatemala before heading back to Mexico for about a week, and then heading to Colombia before ending the month in Peru. We’ve heard such amazing things about Colombia and Peru over the years and can’t wait to finally check them out ourselves!
How was February for you financially? Let me know in the comments!
Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist 