It was the best of times and the worst of times in November. We really cherished the first month of our newborn Aria’s life, but the lack of sleep and free time definitely took a toll on Whitney and me. Adjusting to having a new baby was in some ways harder and in some ways easier than I imagined. Not sleeping for more than two hours at a time for an entire month was certainly harder than I imagined. Actually taking care of her was easier than I thought, and I feel like we adapted about as good as we could have hoped on that front.
As far as finances, this was an amazing month. I’ve been accumulating and waiting for this Bitcoin bull market to start for years now, and it’s hard to believe that it’s actually here. There were a few nights in November when the sleep deprivation probably had more to do with the excitement around Bitcoin than the new baby crying, if I’m being honest.
Income
Income from our business (FifthWheelPT and Travel Therapy Mentor) for November was down about 45% compared to October. Part of that had to do with October being an abnormally good month, and part had to do with us not having much time to spend on the business and following up on payments while adjusting to taking care of Aria. We probably spent less than 10 hours per week combined on anything business related throughout the month. We’re thankful to have a profitable business that doesn’t need constant time and attention for times like this.
Expenses
My expenses for November were about average and much less than October. We didn’t do much outside of the house in November, instead choosing to spend our time at home with the baby. We had several outings to go on walks but no real costs there. Just about everything we needed for the baby we bought before she arrived, so we were well prepared there.
In total, my savings rate for the month was around 65% when all was said and done.
Investments
The S&P 500 was up by about 5.7% in November. The market was seemingly putting in new highs almost every day in November. I didn’t pay much attention to equities overall though, because Bitcoin was stealing all of the spotlight. The labor market remains fairly resilient based on all indicators, and although inflation remains elevated historically, it hasn’t reaccelerated over the last year and is remaining stable just under 3%. With neither unemployment or inflation making big moves in the wrong direction, equities are happy to keep grinding higher.
The Bitcoin price increased by 37.2% during the month of November. Even though Bitcoin has increased more than this in a single month several times in the past 5 years that I’ve been involved, this month was the most meaningful since I bought more on the dips this summer in anticipation of this breakout happening in Q4. I continue to have the largest position I’ve ever had in Bitcoin, and that overexposure really paid off this month. I think that we’re still early in this Bitcoin bull market though, so I’m not yet considering taking profits. But, if December is another really positive month like I think it will be, then I probably will sell at least some then. Long term, I think Bitcoin will go much higher, but taking profits when up hundreds of percent is always a smart move in my book. I did well last cycle but should have sold more when I knew things were feeling euphoric, so I want to do a little better with that this time.
A really interesting thing about this Bitcoin cycle is that it’s tracking the 2020 cycle almost exactly since the end of September. The gains have been slightly muted compared to 2020, but that’s to be expected with the diminished volatility we’ve seen from cycle to cycle. If this pattern continues to hold, the second half of December should be explosive for Bitcoin. Even if the pattern doesn’t hold and we get a correction in December, I still expect the price to be significantly higher 3-6 months from now, so I won’t be too concerned.
Financial Independence Progress
My net assets increased by 11.4% in November. This is my second highest monthly gain in percentage terms, but by far my highest monthly gain in dollar terms. That 11.4% monthly gain is equal to nearly 13 years of my current average yearly expenses.
To put that in perspective, it took me more than two years of working constantly (as a PT and on side hustles) and saving aggressively to initially reach assets equal to 13 years of expenses. Now, 7 years later, I gained that same amount in 1 month. That’s absolutely absurd and a big reason why I don’t want to get too greedy and will be more than happy to start taking profits before too long.
My assets are now equal to approximately 125.3 times my average annual expenses, which is a huge new all-time high!
Next Month
In December, we’ll be spending more time at home enjoying all of the baby milestones with Aria and visiting with family and friends for the holidays. I have high hopes for December as far as finances go. December is usually our highest earning month of the year for our business, and it’s also historically a really good month for Bitcoin during halving years. I hope to be celebrating another big increase in assets and net worth at the end of December!
How was November for you financially? Let me know in the comments!
Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist 