one month update (july 2017)

One month into retirement at 38 with a planned 3% SWR on a starting value of 1,025,772. That works out to 2564/month, or 2064/month with $6000 yearly in what I call "big expenses." (That would be, 2000 vacation, 1000 property tax, 500 professional tax, 500 christmas, 500 car insurance summer, 500 car insurance winter, 1000 unexpected).

This month's spending was $2352, including $500 from the yearly column for "unexpected" which was a dental insurance claim denial. So we're 8% under budget for the month, which is good. The better part is that we brought in $1351 thru my wife's job (which she likes and would do for free) and some old book royalties of mine. Our withdrawal was $1001 this month, which is effectively on target for a 1.18% pro-rated SWR.

The even better part is that the portfolio appreciated from 1,025,772 to 1,040,472 (a 1.43% increase), which dropped back down to a new total of (drum-roll) 1,039,471 after paying the bills. If the year-end value is higher than the starting value, I might recalculate a new 3% SWR value and go forward from there. I realize that this is in violation of the Trinity, but we're in far safer territory than 4%.
As far as personal things go, I still had a lot of guilt in buying things so quickly from amazon and gamestop. I bought some PS3 games (12 x $5 from the bargain bin), a modem, a router, dinner for friends a couple of times, and some other things that had me concerned that spending would be over for the month, but it wasn't even that close. I don't budget per se, just monitor.

I've spent maybe five minutes browsing financial independence sites for the month. Honestly, it doesn't interest me that much anymore. I've spent less time on the internet and more time with my family, at the gym, reading, housework, yardwork, running, swimming, weightlifting, movies, Rubik's cube, daily journal, yard sales, socializing, etc. I hated my job so much, even though it paid $150k/yr. I made the right decision. This is life.