Wabi Sabi

The new year blues have finally started to wane for me and I'm starting to get back to normal mentally. February was a good month for the finances with merit increases taking effect, bonuses being paid out, and starting automatic direct deposits to my brokerage. I also did my taxes which ended up being about a wash owing about $100 overall.

From an earnings perspective, I was able to bolster my cash on hand with my bonus payout and also directed $4.8k into my brokerage account. February was a wash for the stock market so increases to both my brokerage and 401k were driven entirely by my contributions. Bitcoin continued its slide downward dropping my HSA account significantly. The Bitcoin gods giveth, and the the Bitcoin gods taketh. When I invested in it, I knew exactly the highs and lows that would come with it.

Date Cash 401K Brokerage HSA Car Sum Credit Card Car Sum Net Worth Monthly Spend 3/1/2026 $45,819 $282,125 $5,856 $55,903 $34,000 $417,846 $1,511 $26,355 $27,866 $389,980 2/1/2026 $28,137 $279,668 $1,105 $66,293 $33,400 $407,498 $334 $27,011 $27,345 $380,152 $8,386 1/1/2026 $34,837 $266,807 $1,062 $75,287 $33,000 $409,932 $4,432 $28,287 $32,719 $377,213 $8,761

My spending dropped month over month, down about $400 even with gifting $550 to a family member. I also attended my city's most popular event of the year which was also pricey, but worth the good time that was had. In March, I have my car insurance due which will be $683 so I'll be lessening my car payment to offset that spend.

On a personal note, I'll have family in town later in March and to start April so looking forward to that. As part of the April visit, that'll be a golf staycation for me which I know will be pricey but a great time. I'm also down 8lbs this year, but recently had a few bad weeks of eating and drinking and the bloat has crept back. Really need to lock back in and see if I can shed the last 5lbs I want to lose.

A bit of a boring update, but boring is good. Until next month...

January is month that seems to go one of two ways for most people. One half, excited for the new year, rejuvenated from the time off, setting goals, and striving to be a better version of themself. Then the other half, with new year's blues wondering if this is all there is to life. Reliving a year that eerily resembles their year prior to the last and the one before that. Unfortunately, I am one that falls into the new year lull.

On a more positive note, January was a good month for my finances. It was a 3 paycheck month, received a 3% raise, and it was my lowest spending month since March 2025.

From a spending perspective, my groceries for the month we're lower than normal with less money spent on alcohol and slightly higher on restaurants traveling to California for a weekend and then having friends in town another weekend. My spending would've been considerably lower too if Google didn't void my warranty repair due to a crack on the back of my phone that no impact on the green screen defect. Out of spite towards Google, I switched an iPhone 16 setting me back $842. The other out of ordinary expense was doubling up on my car payment. Those two unusual large payments would've dropped my monthly spending from $8,762 to $7,169.

Date Cash 401K Brokerage HSA Car Sum Credit Card Car Sum Net Worth Monthly Spend 2/1/2026 $28,137 $279,668 $1,105 $66,293 $33,400 $407,498 $334 $27,011 $27,345 $380,152 1/1/2026 $34,837 $266,807 $1,062 $75,287 $33,000 $409,932 $4,432 $28,287 $32,719 $377,213 $8,761

On the assets/debts side of things, my cash dipped slightly with the timing of credit card payments and the additional payment on my car loan. However my 401k had a nice increase although that was offset heavily by HSA account which is entirely invested in FBTC. I'm wishing now that I sold half for VTI when it was up around $125k or anywhere above $100k for that matter. Since June 9th 2023, I've seen my HSA grow from ~$11k to what it is today including my yearly maxing out which is outpacing VTI by a wide margin so the pull back doesn't feel too bad.

Looking forward to February, I'll be receiving my year-end bonus. With that I'll be doing a large $4k deposit into my brokerage account and diverting the rest to a HYSA with Ally. I may also do another double payment on car loan depending on how I feel. I'll also begin direct depositing $400 a month from my paycheck into my Fidelity brokerage account. My hope is never seeing this money in my checking account will force lower spending and more investing. Lastly, without any travel planned and trying to be healthier, my hope is that expenses for the month will be even lower than January.

I began tracking my net worth in October 2016 and my spending in September 2018. You may ask why the disconnect, but it's because I didn't make enough money to spend during those first couple years out of college (graduated in May 2015) with the bulk of excess funds going towards student loans.

Work Year Taxed Social Security Earnings Taxed Medicare Earnings 2025 Not Yet Recorded Not Yet Recorded 2024 $168,600 $182,416 2023 $160,200 $202,012 2022 $132,751 $132,751 2021 $137,030 $137,030 2020 $78,205 $78,205 2019 $68,805 $68,805 2018 $67,764 $67,764 2017 $53,660 $53,660 2016 $45,456 $45,456 2015 $29,392 $29,392

I'm glad that I instilled good saving habits early on in my career to take advantage of compound interest, however lifestyle inflation has taken a hold of me over the last few years. While I've maxed out 401k and HSA the last 5 years, I haven't saved a single dime beyond that as you can see by my spending per year breakdown. In fact, shamefully... I've spent more money than I've brought home during much of the last few years even with a well above average salary.

Year Total Spent 2025 $115,677 2024 $116,828 2023 $112,074 2022 $95,157 2021 $62,952 2020 $38,107 2019 $52,686

As with any new year, this has been a time of self reflection. What I've become is not who I am. I would like to return to my roots and go back to embracing the FIRE mentality and minimalism.

Moving to a new state forced me to reduce a lot of my belongings and items that have been left in boxes or unused since the move have been donated. There has been a significant reduction in "stuff" since moving here. I've setup an item tracker to understand the cost of ownership of things I buy and I'm focused on buying only essentials for the year of 2026.

I'm unsure of the intention behind this blog other than it being a place for me to digitize my thoughts and hopefully keep me accountable. In the past, I've started blogs focused on certain subjects and telling myself to adhere to a posting schedule, but I have no plans for that this time. It'll be random and when I want to.

Circling back to the original intent of this post...a net worth update.

I will start by saying, I'm not the FIRE movement poster child nor am I an extreme minimalist. I'm more focused on the build you life you want then save for it aspect of FIRE, though I've built too much of that life to a fault :) which is why I'm here now.

Date Cash 401K Brokerage HSA Car Assets Sum Credit Card Car Loan Liabilities Sum Net Worth 1/1/2026 $34,837 $266,807 $1,062 $75,287 $33,000 $409,932 $4,432 $28,287 $32,719 $377,213

My credit card is paid off each month, but the timing of when I update my spreadsheet will reflect the current totals.

My car is something that I've been going back and forth on. My spouses car is paid off and has averaged less than 3k miles per year on it. My car is little 16 months old and has 15.5k miles on it. We can switch to a 1 car household, or I can purchase a used car with better fuel efficiency for about 40% less than what I owe on my loan today.

Outside of that, I do plan to spend less this year and direct those funds to my cash and my brokerage accounts. My only other note is that my spouse and I keep our finances separate so everything shown on my website will be in a singular lens.

We also did sell our house in the last year and the funds from that sale did help me pay off close to $27k in consumer debt. I was living a lifestyle that I did not make the money to support. Excessive alcohol consumption, expensive dinners, paying for others food/alcohol/trips/gifts, new cars, endlessly buying stuff I saw recommended online (clothes/supplements/technology). This is not a place I want to end back up in and I acknowledge was my entirely my own doing.

Date Net Worth 1/1/2026 $377,212.78 1/1/2025 $279,341.29 1/1/2024 $181,697.30 1/1/2023 $91,641.06 1/1/2022 $122,969.79 1/1/2021 $74,680.90 1/1/2020 $39,578.09 1/1/2019 $24,147.61 1/1/2018 $121,582.00 1/1/2017 -$10,921.00

In the above you can see my net worth by year. The one anomaly is 2018 which coincided with a crypto craze, more specifically "ICOs". The run up was glorious but of course I never cashed out any of it and reality set in a few months later.

Since then I've been living the normal life outside of crypto and my net worth has essentially mimicked the market plus maxing out my 401k & HSA accounts the last 5 years.

Hopefully this serves as a good reference for whoever stumbles upon it. It's okay to not be perfect. We need to be honest with ourselves. With who we want to be and hold ourselves accountable when taking the necessary steps to get there.