May included Aria’s first trip to the beach, a lot of hiking, and a new Bitcoin all time high!
We took another road trip to go to the beach. This was for a bachelorette party that Whitney was going to, but since Aria is still nursing it wasn’t easy for Whitney to go alone and leave her behind, so since we can work remotely, we turned it into a family beach trip. The car ride each way was long, but Aria did pretty well overall as long as we stopped every couple of hours for her to eat and stretch. She’s not a huge fan of the water yet, but she got in and didn’t cry so I’ll consider that a win.
The rest of the month we were home in Virginia. We celebrated Mother’s Day and Whitney’s birthday with several different outings. The weather was also wonderful last month, and we took full advantage of it with evening walks almost every day as well as hikes once or twice a week most weeks. Aria has gotten much more used to being in the chest carrier and does really well with me carrying her up and down mountains. She seems to enjoy being out in nature looking at the plants and trees. She can also nap pretty well on the go like that which is great.
Aria also started sleeping much better in May. We had many nights where she slept in her crib in her room for 10+ hours, which was an absolute blessing after a couple of months of her waking up every 1-2 hours all night.
Bitcoin came roaring back from the April lows and put in new all time highs in May, peaking at $112,000. This was welcome following some anxiety inducing share drops in April.
Income
Income from our business (FifthWheelPT and Travel Therapy Mentor) for May was about 30% higher than in April. This puts May as our second highest earning month of the year which is exciting. Historically May has been a lower earning month, so it’s nice to break that trend with a really profitable month. We continue to be on track to match or possibly surpass our record breaking year last year.
Expenses
My expenses were slightly higher this month due to the beach trip and some extra spending for Mother’s Day and Whitney’s birthday. This was her first Mother’s Day and she turned 35 so it was a big birthday, so I did my best to make the month as special as possible (as much as we could do with a 7 month old). We’re still casually house hunting, but for now my fixed monthly expenses remain very low while we’re in our townhouse.
In total, my savings rate for the month was around 85% when all was said and done.
Investments
The S&P 500 up by 6.15% in May. It seems that the market overreacted in March and April regarding tariffs which led to this big rebound in May. While tariffs will almost certainly still result in price increases, the price increases won’t be as bad as the worst case scenario that some market participants were anticipating. By the end of May the market was only a few percentage points away from all time highs while many people were predicting a massive crash in May. The market is forward looking and unpredictable which makes an sort of forecast very difficult. That is something I’ve certainly learned over the past 5 years when economic conditions were worsening while the market kept rallying higher.
Bitcoin was up by about 11.1% in May. As I mentioned above, that increase in price led to new all time highs. Besides the sharp drops in March and April, this year as been surprisingly quiet for Bitcoin. Bitcoin volatility is near historic lows and most weeks the price stays pretty consistent. Amazingly, there have been many weeks and months this year when Bitcoin volatility has actually been less than the S&P volatility which is a historical anomaly. I’ve really enjoyed the slow and steady rise in price, but I have a feeling that volatility will return to the upside later in the year. I’m still anticipating a $170,000+ Bitcoin price by the end of 2025 with this cycle likely extending into 2026. Bitcoin being at all time highs despite interest rates remaining elevated and the Federal Reserve continually tightening monetary conditions for over three years is a really good sign for the future in my opinion.
Financial Independence Progress
My net assets increased by 4.5% in May and are at another new all time high! It’s crazy to look at this chart and see how parabolic my assets have grown over the past 5 years despite not working full time at all during that time. Continuing to keep my expenses low despite very good investment returns and business growth has allowed me to work only part time on our business and still grow my net worth by 5x in 5 years! I spend quite a bit more now on discretionary purchases than I did in the past, but it doesn’t even make a dent because I built such a large base while being very frugal early on. I am excited to start spending more on a nicer house and cars soon but will still keep my expenses within reason and hopefully keep my net worth growing.
My assets are now equal to approximately 136.3 times my average annual expenses!
Next Month
In June we don’t have very much planned. We’ll spend most of the month hanging out at home and visiting friends and family. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that Aria’s streak of good sleep continues because that has been a major game changer for us!
How was May for you financially? Let me know in the comments!
Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist 