Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack financial checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved. Budget/Cash Flow Off to our usual strong start in 2024, with IRAs and 529s funded, work retirement accounts over a quarter full, and a healthy amount to taxable. We’ve made $7,000 more in income and spent $3,000 less than this time last year, so cash flow remains very healthy. Our only “major” purchases have been a new refrigerator ($2,100) and a two-night wedding anniversary trip ($1,500). Mort ..read more

Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack financial checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved. Budget/Cash Flow We hewed very closely to our financial goals in 2023, with an informal “budget” of $10,000 per month and a goal savings rate of ½ to ⅔ post-tax. I put budget in quotes because we really just spend naturally without restraints, and so far we don’t seem to have any trouble meeting it (in fact spending in December 2023 came in at exactly $10k on the nose). Our overall spending for ..read more

Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack monthly quarterly checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved. At times I almost forget this site exists! So thank you, if you haven’t. I do like the idea of holding on to this domain, my own little piece of digital real estate, but I remain largely in the “boring middle” of my financial career, with not nearly so much to say as when I first started. I do enjoy staying on top of things and making these charts, so hopefully some of you out there conti ..read more

Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack monthly quarterly checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved. Especially now that Twitter has imploded, I’m going to keep the blog up for the foreseeable future. If you want to connect more directly I can be found via the contact form or at Bluesky. Budget/Cash Flow We had an easy go of it in the past 90 days, with few substantial consumption outlays and thereafter the opportunity keep out savings high. Our only major expenses since March have been ..read more

Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack monthly checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved. It’s gone, it’s done. 3 years and 4 months after finishing training, I’ve paid off my medical school student loans. I’m taking a well-deserved rest today, so this month’s charts are presented without further comment. Budget/Cash Flow PayItBack Progress Mortgage Net Worth Financial Independence Graph courtesy of Mad FientistFinancial Goals for 2022 1) Max out 403b: $20,500 of $20,500 (100% done) 2 ..read more

Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack monthly checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved. Budget/Cash Flow The holiday season is in full swing, as is our end-of-year spending. I’ve been without an iPad for the past 6 months and finally bought a new fully loaded one on Black Friday ($1,160). ASRA conference hotel ($700) and reservations for spring break travel next year ($670) round out the rest of the big ticket items. We spent a week at Disney which was mostly paid for in October, and ..read more

Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack monthly checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved. Budget/Cash Flow Back to normal two-paycheck months. We finally dropped the $4,000+ for our Disney trip, which will be our largest expense of the year after buying a house and a car. The next two were a ladder that is probably going to be my cause of death ($260) and my new running shoes ($170). Restarted payments on student loans, at a reduced rate now that I’ve refinanced them out to 5 years aga ..read more

There’s no such thing ..read more

Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack monthly checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved. Budget/Cash Flow “Renting is throwing money away”, they said. Spent $3,600 on home repair and maintenance this month, in what was otherwise a fairly low-spend September. That would be two full months of rent at our old place. C’est la vie. I made my final contribution to our crypto accounts, bringing the total to an even 10 grand. Overall down just about exactly 50%; will be interesting to see whe ..read more

Welcome to another Dr. PayItBack monthly checkup! I use this space to remain accountable to our expenses and goals, track net worth and debt, and muse on what was done well and what can be improved. The long days of summer are drawing to a close and the kids are going back to school. We’re totally moved into the house, and while that as kept us from any major traveling, we’re gearing up for our big Disney trip in the fall. We continue to balance efforts on saving vs ‘spending for the now’, and I think we are succeeding. Budget/Cash Flow I would love to see our monthly spending get back down t ..read more