In September, we spent a relaxing week at the beach with family in the Outer Banks, and we spent the rest of the month at home making a lot more preparations for the baby. The beach trip was exactly what we needed. It was good to get away for a week, but neither Whitney or I wanted to do anymore action packed trips like Colorado last month. For the baby, we got her nursery all ready, her car seat purchased and installed, and bought everything we should need for at least the first few months after she’s born. With less than a month until the due date, this really feels like crunch time, but we’re just about ready now.
Whitney has continued to stay active throughout the pregnancy, going to the gym a few times per week along with moderate difficulty weekly hikes and/or walks on the local Greenway. We aren’t doing 10 mile hikes anymore, but 4-5 miles and 1,000 feet of elevation gain or less have still been going really well. I’ve been dieting recently trying to lose the weight I gained on our travel contract as well as our trips earlier this year. I’ve always struggled to stay in shape when we’re traveling, so I really appreciate the time we spend at home to work on health and fitness. Hopefully with less travel in the future, it will be easier to stay in a routine as far as diet and lifting go.
Income
Income from our business (FifthWheelPT and Travel Therapy Mentor) for September was up 120% compared to August, but that isn’t nearly as impressive as it sounds since August was the lowest earning month we’ve had in over two years. We remain on track to earn more than last year, and we’re heading into Q4 which has historically been our best quarter of the year. I’m still very optimistic that we match last year’s revenue at least, but hopefully surpass it by a little.
Expenses
My expenses for September were definitely higher than average with the beach trip and all of the baby purchases. They were still very reasonable overall though. All of my fixed costs remain low while we continue to live in our townhouse. Once we upgrade houses I know things will get more expensive, but right now I’m really enjoying the low utility costs and taxes here. We put our house search on hold for now since the baby can really come any time. We’ll most likely start looking again in the spring or summer of next year.
The thing that really hurt this month was making some pretty big quarterly federal and state tax payments. The downside of the business doing well is that we’re paying more in taxes each year than I ever thought possible. The months when estimated payments are due, there’s a big drag on my finances.
In total, my savings rate for the month was around 20% when all was said and done.
Investments
The S&P 500 was up by about 2.0% in September. It seems like almost every day is a new market all time high right now. March was the only month this year so far with a negative market return, which is crazy. I’m not sure how long this will all last, but I’ll enjoy it while it does. I don’t have a ton invested in equities right now but still enough that the increases make a difference in my net worth each month.
The Bitcoin price increased by 7.4% during the month of September. With my investments very Bitcoin heavy right now, this big monthly increase made a real impact. I still think the Bitcoin market is 50/50 in the short term, but I am very optimistic about the prospects over the medium term (12-16 months). If we happen to get another drop into the $40k range, I’ll make a big buy there; but if we don’t get so lucky and the price just continues up from here, then I’m fine with that too.
Bitcoin dominance continues its three year uptrend and is closing in on 60%. I continue to think that it’s likely the uptrend ends either in late Q4 or early Q1 of 2025. Sometime around the end of Q4 is when I plan to make some big alt coin purchases due to the likelihood of alt coins outperforming Bitcoin in 2025. With that being said, I’m not planning on selling any of my Bitcoin or any of those alt coins until much later in 2025. I’m expecting 2025 to be a really good year for both Bitcoin and alt coins, I just anticipate some alt coins making really big gains but will have plenty of Bitcoin as well in case I’m wrong.
Financial Independence Progress
My net assets increased by 2.0% in September. Not a huge increase this month, but enough to put me at a new all-time high for both net assets and net worth which is always awesome. With this increase in my net asset value, my assets are now equal to approximately 107.7 times my average annual expenses!
Next Month
In October, I turn 36 years old, and the baby is due at the end of the month! It’s always a possibility that she’ll be born on my birthday, which would be exciting. Besides that, we’ll be finishing all of the last minute cleaning, organizing, and preparing for her arrival! I’m optimistic that October will be a good month for both revenue and investments and should also be a low spending month as well, but we’ll see how that goes.
How was September for you financially? Let me know in the comments!
Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist 