December 2019 Wrap Up - End of the Decade!

End of a Decade!

The end of 2019 has been and gone and it was a pretty quiet wrap up. Mr. FIRE and I went out to the beach, watched some fireworks, and agreed that firework tech really hasn't changed in 20years so maybe it's time to move on to something new.

2020 is set to be an interesting year because while we haven't reached FI yet, Mr/ FIRE and I are starting to feel really comfortably rich and questioning why we live the way we do. Building better relationships and working through our mid-life identity crises is taking a higher priority to building our bank accounts.

With that being said, we're both on track to FIRE before I'm thirty-five, so we're comfortable to take a wider look at our lives and question what our aims are.

December, End of Year, Goals Summary

Investing Goal: $110,000 in Vanguard

The goal was to have $110,000 in my Vanguard account by the end of the year. I started with $78,424, which means I want to gain just over $31,500. I hoped at the start that $5,500 would come from growth and dividends, and the remaining $25,000 would be from investments.

In November we ticked over $110k a couple of times, and in December we were... flat. There was less than $100 growth even after deposits, but we did hit our goal.

Full year

Opening Balance: $78,424.57

Deposit: $13,775
Dividends: $5,973.54
Market Gains: $11,872.14

December

Opening Balance: $109,912.21

Deposit: $1,600
Dividends: $0
Market Gains: -$1,466.95

Current Balance: $110,045.26

And we're done!! Let's break it down a bit:
Goal: $110k Done
Goal to deposit $25k - umm... no
Goal to have $5.5k of gains - smashed.

So it's great that I hit my goal, but I was supposed to deposit $25k over the year and I only deposited $13,775. If I'd put in the rest as intended, I'd have over $121k. Things to think about... but also not to kick ourselves over. It was a good year both in saving, and in spending :) 

Spending Goal: Under Control!

The goal is simply to have my spending under control and for December I did quite well - the numbers are inflated because Tax Returns are expensive ($580 for me and Mr. FIRE) and given the state of Australia and my disdain for our government, I donated my $1,040 'tax relief' to Conservation and Homeless charities. Basically places where the government should have spent that money, rather than trying to buy the middle-class vote.

Here's what I spent in December, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,114.19	$938.17	$738.49 (up $91.59)
Over Budget. Bills bills bills - for the end of the year Mr FIRE and I tallied up what we've spent and balanced the books - I had to throw $90 over to him, not bad. We also paid gas and electricity - I'm pretty pleased that this was only $200 for electricity and $130 for gas.
OG Investment Property	$645.93	$1,190.83	$1,257.08 (down $10.13)
Under Budget Just the mortgage again. I've already received two bills to pay in January though.
Home turned Investment Property	$692.88	$1,042.33	$1,287.00 (down $29.50)
Under Budget! Just the mortgage. In January I should be replacing the air-conditioner, which I may need to pay out of my actual account, not just from the rent. Either way, I believe I'll lower the budget next year.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$127.10 (up 6cents)
Under Budget! I still haven't got a new phone, and I don't know when I will. It's great.
Groceries	$213.87	$190	$192.71 (down $1.81)
Over Budget! It was Christmaaaaas. We got fat for Christmas!
Pets	$100	$50	$46.05 (down $9.21)
Over Budget! We spent a lot on shade cloth, a misting kit and more supplies for building out the chicken coop. It's almost done now, and honestly, I don't want to think about what I spent on it. It's good quality and I like it, but most importantly I enjoyed the process of building it.
Roller Derby	$120	$175	$252.40 (up $7.08)
Under Budget! This is entirely saving money for new skates! Which is problematic because the season starts in a couple of weeks, and I haven't bought new skates and no one wants to break in new skates during the season. Dilemmas...
Travelling	$0	$122.50	$241.45 (down $9.18)
Under Budget! Nothing again! Next year I'll start saving for my next trip.
Comfort Food	$27.50	$40	$74.20 (down 16cents)
Under Budget! Christmas lunch with my work pals.
Donations	$1,040		$86.67
This is a new, none budgeted category. As I mentioned above, I would rather my taxes are paying for a better country, not being given to me as a vote grabbing manoeuvre. The only appropriate thing for me to do was to donate the money to issues I want actioned.
Other	$879.35	$187.00	$265.53 (up $53.07)
Over Budget! So the majority of this is just paying for tax returns. My partner tends to spend a bit more in our relationship, so I always pay for our tax returns. He has an ABN and I have two investment properties. Our tax returns are not cheap.
Total	$4,860.98	$4,063.17	$4,568.69
Total ex. Donations	$3,820.98		$4,482.02 (up $95.45)
Under budget, with 6 out of 10 categories under.

Bonus Goal, if we can: $10,000 worth of an Asian Markets ethical and sustainability-focused ETF

I sunk $10k into the Betashares FAIR ETF in November, so this goal is met!

I have another $5k ready to go, but I'm holding out to see how much the air-conditioner in my second rental is going to cost before I lock this money up in investments.