Looking back on 2016 / Looking forward to 2017

[ABK]

December is right around the corner. What will you have accomplished finance-wise by the end 2016, and what do you hope to accomplish in 2017?

I'll start. In 2016 we paid off $46,000 in various debts, bringing our debts down to ZERO. I also started a new business side-gig that will be slightly profitable in 2016.

For 2017 we hope to save that same $46,000 and purchase an investment property that we'll eventually move into once we FIRE in ten years. We'll reinvest our profits from the side gig back into the business and aim to double our profit margin by next December.

How about you?

[ChaseJuggler]

It was a big year for us. We eliminated PMI on our mortgage. On track to hit $180,000 net worth by December.

Biggest change in spending was food. We invested in some gnarly kitchen stuff like a Ninja blender and a pressure cooker. They have each paid for themselves ten fold!

In September 2017, I'm announcing my future resignation from teaching. (I wanna give my principal a big heads up since physics teachers are tough to replace).

If all goes to plan, I'm quitting my full time job in June 2018.

[spicykissa]

Paid off my student loans this year! Also started my 403b/HSA, and my husband finally opened a 401k. Our net worth should be somewhere around $300,000 by the end of the year.

Plans for 2017 include buying a new-to-me car in cash, continuing to max retirement accounts, and making a baby!

[gj83]

I finally should actually max out my 401k in 2016.  I used to follow the advice to contribute up to the match, then max out the roth.  Well last year I maxed out my roth for the first time due to a real estate windfall and I read more of these forums.  I realize it makes more sense to do the 401k up to the match, then max the roth, then max the 401k, but if you keep cancelling the roth contributions for frivolous expenditures it doesn't matter.  So last year I bumped up my contributions to the 401k and this year I maxed it out.  I looked back at previous years and I contributed around $4000/ year in a good year to the 401k and maybe $2000 to the roth.  Now I am at a 23% savings rate and working on getting that higher.
I still have one face punch worthy expenditure to pay off in the next 2 months and then I will finish maxing my 2016 Roth before April 15 and then start on 2017.

I also finally took some major steps in my career and next year that should pay off.  2017 will have a lot of business/education expenses with the career change but I will hopefully be much happier once it is all done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pdxvandal]

I maxed my 401k for the first time in 2016 (better late than never). I moved across the phucking country from PNW to New England ... with no job (fam damily), driving a freakin' moving truck for 3,000-whatever miles.

Now I'm freelancing, driving for Uber, spending time with my first-grade daughter and living relatively stress-free despite the lack of good income. I saved my ass off for 15 years, though, so living off that.

2017? Maybe buy a house, write more, get in better physical shape, find a good IPA in New England, do more freelancing. It could be worse!

[sleepyguy]

2016 has been pretty good, maxed out on all retirement accounts and a bit extra as usual.  Managed to put away over 50% of income, and while SO has been unemployed for 1/3 of 2016.  Financially everything is going very well.  NW is pretty healthy and we are very much on target for our FIRE date of 2024.

2017 I'd like to ramp up some side-income jobs.  I managed to take in about $12k side income but REALLY half-ass'ing it in 2016... but it's reasonable considering we do have 2 young kids now.  I have a goal of about $36k side income for 2017, we'll see how it goes.

Family good, health good, career good... won't complain of 2017 is same as 2016.

[Zikoris]

It's been a shockingly good year for us - we're at a 69% savings rate right now, which should boost over 70% by year end. Our net worth is already up by over 60K year to date, and we've got another six paychecks (three each) before year end. For context, we're not engineers or anything - we're an office clerk and admin assistant. It's by far been our best fiscal year ever.

Our spending has been right in line with the last several years, since we basically went the optimize-and-forget route five years ago. So far we've spent $16,746 on normal stuff, plus $8882 on travel, and we will probably spend about another $1500 before the year is over. I'm looking forward to doing my year-end financial report and seeing just what those totals come to.

We'll be keeping it pretty simple in 2017 - just continue spending as we have, and dumping everything else into investments.

[ABK]

It's been a shockingly good year for us - we're at a 69% savings rate right now, which should boost over 70% by year end. Our net worth is already up by over 60K year to date, and we've got another six paychecks (three each) before year end. For context, we're not engineers or anything - we're an office clerk and admin assistant. It's by far been our best fiscal year ever.

70%!! That's fantastic!

[marty998]

2016

- Bought my 3rd property
- Net assets up from $713k to $885k (with one month still to go)
- Got a pay rise of ~9.5%

2017

- Combination of paying down property debt and buying more stocks (probably about $25k to each)
- Net assets to go over $1m - might be difficult if the property boom ends
- Begin to plan exit strategy for FIRE living (still a few years away)

[mustachepungoeshere]

2016:

- became debt free
- got a new job with a 20 per cent pay rise
- bought my first shares
- banked $85,000
- started salary sacrificing into super*

2017:

- open to suggestions...


* edited to add

[Linea_Norway]

The end of last year and January this year, were a bit messy financially, because we owned 2 houses for 3 and a half months, having to pay mortgage on one of them. Not so easy to get an overview of what we had left.
So we recently counted from February 2016. Since then until the middle of November, we have saved 450.000 NOK. And in December we always pay less income tax on our salaries and receive a bigger netto sum, so we expect to have even more left at the end of the year.

Looking forward to 2017 is that I am now aware of the realism of FIRE. Which helps to be even more frugal than I have been until now.

We also hope to connect to the neighbour's solar panel and a ground source heat pump. Two neighbours doug down an insulated container that will contain water warmed up by their systems. We were promised by the previous owner of our house, that we could buy warm water from them and save half our heating costs. If the system doesn't get into place this (second) winter, we are ready to sue the previous owner (by our house-buying insurance) and make him pay for a part of our energy bill. And then we will probably install a ground source heat pump ourselves. That should also make the house more attractive. And hopefully we can get 50% of that financed by the previous owner of our house... Not nice that we need to be so hard on him, but he promised so much when selling the house that he deserves it.

[Metric Mouse]

I'm hoping that I don't have to stick as much into property as I did last year. Hoping that the 'stache is even bigger in '17 than it was in '16. Not expecting any problems on that front.

[2Birds1Stone]

It was a big year for Mr. and Mrs. 2B1S.

We started the year off with a $165k net worth which we increased by $140k to a total of $305k! 84% increase there.

We had a very fortunate year in terms of income. Both being in commissioned sales we cracked the $200k mark combined.

I got Mrs. 2B1S hooked on the FIRE concept. She finally sees it's within reach as long as we continue making the right choices and avoiding too much lifestyle creep.

We kept our total combined expenses down to ~$45k in a very HCOL area, this included plenty of fluff in the budget such as 2 international vacations and a few domestic ones.

Moving forward into 2017, the goal is to continue maintaining a high 60%+ savings rate.

Continue learning and growing personally & professionally in order to maximize future income.

The #1 goal is to enjoy the here and now. I don't want to wish away the time till FIRE like so many seem to do on this forum. We are going to remain active, continue competing in triathlon, hiking, cycling, mountain biking, taking weekend trips around the US using travel hacking, spending quality time with friends and family, and giving back to our community and society. We will try to be the best children, siblings, friends, coworkers, cousins, etc that we can be.

[Monkey Uncle]

2016
- Continued to shave a little off the annual spend rate (on track for 40k vs. 42k last year)
- Saw invested assets pass the 0.5 MM mark for the second (and hopefully final) time
- Moved projected FIRE date forward from December 2018 to December 2017
- Got really, really tired of continuing to work, and considered pulling the plug in December 2016
- Decided to wait and see what happens to the ACA in 2017 (which turns out to have been a really good decision in light of the election outcome)
- Scored a pay increase near the end of the year, which should add just a little more to the stash padding, as well as bump my high three (for pension calculation) a little bit

2017
- Keep banking as much as possible while waiting to see what the repubs do to health care (and social security, medicare, my pension, etc.)
- Considering changing health insurance to save on premiums (if I can convince DW)
- Maybe adjust asset allocation from current 75/25 to something closer to 60/40 (to ease sequence of return risk a little in the first few years of FIRE)
- Hopefully still FIRE as planned in December 2017, but be prepared for the possibility that I might have to keep going if the repubs totally destroy the health care system, SS, medicare, my pension, etc.
- Try to keep my mind off the fact that I'm really, really tired of continuing to work

[westtoeast]

I discovered MMM in April 2016! This year I went from 0 assets to a 3000 EF, 4000 invested, 2500 private loan paid, and greatly raised student loan payments.

In 2017 I hope to continue my 50% saving/debt repayment rate by maxing Roth, upping 403b contributions and growing my EF to 10,000.

[Mr. Green]

Our savings rate took a hit this year because I quit my job in June to attempt a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (got injured in Maine). I went back to work in September to help subsidize the cost of the house I'm building and I turned in my letter of resignation on the 11th day. Can't do it anymore. I'm in full house building mode now, and it's been a struggle to shift from the mentality of saving a ton of money to spending healthy amounts of money from the pot we set aside for the house.

Next year at some point will be our first "no income" experience (my wife is still working). Hopefully my house spending will have already prepared me for the spending vs. saving transition everyone goes through when they reach FIRE.

[Linea_Norway]

Next year at some point will be our first "no income" experience (my wife is still working). Hopefully my house spending will have already prepared me for the spending vs. saving transition everyone goes through when they reach FIRE.

But you can still save money wherever you can. I mean, if you have the MMM mentality, you don't suddenly turn into a mindless spender after FIRE.

And investing in a house probably comes back in return when you ever sell it.

[ABK]

Wow, I'm seeing some great numbers here, everyone! Keep up the great work.

[Kansas Beachbum]

2016 was very eventful for us.  We sold our big family home since #3 went off to college.  Bought a much smaller (half the size) home in the same area, spent the summer / fall renovating pretty much the entire thing.  In Jan 2017 we move to Florida (finally!) into the house we bought in 2015 that has been used as a rental until very recently.  Our son and his lovely GF have moved in to the small house and will pay us rent (keep all the rental property benefits) for as long as #3 is in college, at which point they hope to buy the house from us.  Never a dull moment in the KBB house!  Happy Thanksgiving all!

[Lucky Recardito]

In 2016 (in addition to getting hitched), we purchased and moved into a 2-flat where we hope to stay for the foreseeable ever. This involved the sale of 2 condos (1 from each of us), a ton of saving focused on the downpayment (rather than long-term income goals), and the acquisition of a both a big new mortgage and the pleasure of regular incoming rent.

In 2017, the plan is to hunker down and get our plan-past-this-point in order. I did enough calculations as part of the house-buying to know that just rolling along spending freely and continuing at our current savings rate (higher than most folks, but not Mustachian-level high) will get us out of the workforce by age 60 (we're both in our early-ish 30s); my goal this year is to lay out a path that reels that age back to 50.

In summary, 2016 was real estate and logistics. 2017 is spreadsheets. :-)

[BFGirl]

2016: traded gas guzzler SUV for used hybrid
2017:  hope to live within means and not take out of savings to support kids in college; hope to have a job in a different field with more prospects for upward mobility

But no debt, pension in 4 years, and significant savings.  Mainly trying to keep expenses down, not trying to save more.

Slow process for me...sigh.

[iwasjustwondering]

I refinanced to a 15-year, 2.9% mortgage in April.

I maxed out my 401K.

I put around $28,000 into my kids' 529 plans.

I saved around $5,000 in an HSA.

I brought my kids to Paris and Nice, a parenthood-long goal I had had, which I thought I'd better jump on, as they are teens and won't be living with me for much longer.  This is probably our last big vacation together.

[Counting_Down]

2016 was big for us.  YE liquid net worth was ~360k at end of January (more like 410k in December before the January dip) and we're likely to exit the year close to 700K liquid net worth.  SO's contract job went full time and he got a huge bonus from company sale. Refinanced the house from 4.125% down to 3.375%.  Consolidated brokerage to Vanguard. Started a long anticipated house project, that will of course be done over budget, over time.  Still hitting an 80% savings rate including house project.  Maxed out his i401k to 53K, maxed out my standard 401k, my backdoor roth, his non-deductible tIRA,  his HSA, and contributed to taxable accounts.  Highest amount of charitable donations to date + conscious minimalism.

2017. Revel in our newfound job stability.  Autopilot for the first time ever.  Aim to increase liquid net worth by 200K next year.  Spend less. Finish the damn house project. Goal is to exit next year with a 900k net worth.  A few more years of this and we'll be sitting pretty to disappear from corporate america.

[Mr. Green]

Next year at some point will be our first "no income" experience (my wife is still working). Hopefully my house spending will have already prepared me for the spending vs. saving transition everyone goes through when they reach FIRE.

But you can still save money wherever you can. I mean, if you have the MMM mentality, you don't suddenly turn into a mindless spender after FIRE.

And investing in a house probably comes back in return when you ever sell it.

Absolutely! We're pretty frugal. Expected bare bones expenses in retirement are 20k. I expect it to take some getting used to the mindset shift of saving vs. spending though. You spend your whole life saving and running from the poor financial experiences of your childhood and then you flip the light switch and that process is over. I'm sure it'll feel a tad weird at first, but I'm excited to find out!

[marty998]

2016 was big for us.  YE liquid net worth was ~360k at end of January (more like 410k in December before the January dip) and we're likely to exit the year close to 700K liquid net worth.  SO's contract job went full time and he got a huge bonus from company sale. Refinanced the house from 4.125% down to 3.375%.  Consolidated brokerage to Vanguard. Started a long anticipated house project, that will of course be done over budget, over time.  Still hitting an 80% savings rate including house project.  Maxed out his i401k to 53K, maxed out my standard 401k, my backdoor roth, his non-deductible tIRA,  his HSA, and contributed to taxable accounts.  Highest amount of charitable donations to date + conscious minimalism.

2017. Revel in our newfound job stability.  Autopilot for the first time ever.  Aim to increase liquid net worth by 200K next year.  Spend less. Finish the damn house project. Goal is to exit next year with a 900k net worth.  A few more years of this and we'll be sitting pretty to disappear from corporate america.

Wowee.... $350k increase is absolutely killing it. Well done!

[boarder42]

lets see

invested NW was 280k at this time last year up 125k to 405k

upgraded to a mcmansion at a good price so some left investments but went to a higher networth.  Networth was 350k at this time last year now its 550k. 

living on a lake now spent over 40 days traveling for less than 4k for 2 including europe and hawaii for 24 of those days.  thanks travel hacking

switched divisions at my company to a much better work life balance

planning to start a family in 2017 and continue saving 100k per year

[therethere]

10 years in the making.... We saved enough money to pay off our student loans!!!!!!!!!!! This is after throwing the equivalent of a 60k salary (accounting for taxes and such) towards them on average for the last 10 years. I cannot believe it is OVER!

We were able to max 401ks, Roth IRAs, and budget to travel for 3 weeks this Dec/Jan in SE Asia.

Added 100k to Net Worth.

I gained some great work life balance switching to 9/80's and earning an extra week of vacation.

I'm hoping 2017 will be less money oriented and more about expanding our horizons. What route we will go is to be determined. But I want to start looking into alternative careers and growing flexible/transferable skills. Potentially plan for a sabbatical and restart life all over again (without debt) once we return.

[effigy98]

My Goals
- Pay down house from 180k to 100k
- Invest 52k In tax advantage retirement accounts
- Work more hours with side hustle
- 5k 529 Plan
- 5k Taxable in ITOT ETF
- Lose 30lbs, more swimming, biking, and less eating! My job is stressful and food is my goto calming drug. Need to exercise so much that I am too tired to eat or something.

[Jamcart37]

I lost everything in the last 10 years and got it all back in 2016. I did something I said I would never do again, I bought a house. I've been loitering on this blog since late 2013; early 2014. And for some reason I got a hair and decided to post and share.

I bought because I rented 3 homes in the last 7 years and had to vacate each one; as the owners wanted to sell. I couldn't take moving anymore! The housing market is on fire here. Rents are high too. Very little buying inventory. I looked at one house, put an offer in along with 15 other people and for some reason they picked me.

So, now all I want for 2017 and beyond  is to save enough dough by 60, ugh, that's 7 years from now, so I don't have to walk into my place of employment again.

I'll be stalking this blog for tips on how to do just that.

Cheers!

[golfreak12]

2016
- NW hit $600K
- Paid off the main house in 3 yrs.
- Hit $100K again for the 3rd year in the row. $120K++ probably.
- Didn't save as much as 2015 but WTH.....
- Splurge for the first time ever as I bought my wife a 2015 Lexus for 5yr anniversary.
- Wife got her 2 yr. degree, transfering to a state school 2017.

2017
- Main goal is to get healthy. Get in shape.
- No financial goal as we are in great shape. Not worrying about how much I will make or how much to save.
Will try to enjoy life while we're still young.

[mancityfan]

2016
NW currently 1.43M, up from 1.32M this year. Includes paid off 360K house.
Converted several accounts to Vanguard
Made 9k in side gig of soccer refereeing
Set up Vanguard Roth - on automatic deduction.
Wife cut down hours of work as nurse as managing well
Building up air/rewards miles

2017
Continue with automated investments
Progress likely slowed by several pending/long overdue house projects
Work on physical and mental wellness
Extensive travel

[SeaEhm]

2016 -My wife bought a Dyson hair dryer.
2017 - She probably won't buy a Dyson hair dryer.

[BuzzFire]

Hello all. 2016 was quite a year for me. Discovered MMM in New Yorker article and became obsessed. Read all of the blog, lived on the forum, soaked in Mad Fientist, JL Collins, LivingaFI etc. Traded in clown car for Prius. Had solar panels installed. Moved most investments to Fidelity version of VTSAX. Cut way back on eating out and increased exercise. Set up Personal Capital account. Put a plan in place to walk away from retail pharmacist job in 5-7 years. Then my Mom was diagnosed with liver cancer in March and passed away in August. Suddenly, my retirement savings doubled to $2.7 million from the inheritance. So I FIRED in October. My DW enjoys her job in medical sales and wants to keep working, so the stache will be left alone to grow. I am kind of in a weird limbo right now grieving for my Mom and getting used to retirement after 22 years of the grind. Grateful to have all the holidays off to spend with family. Also grateful to the MMM community for changing my life.
For 2017, I would like to join a hiking club, do some volunteering, and spend more time with the wife. Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

[Much Fishing to Do]

NW increased by $100k this year. 

Huge financial goal I've had I will meet the first week of Jan as I mail in the final contributions to bring my 3 kids 529 accounts to the goal I had for them all before Firing (Totals 12 years of pre-paid tuition at the State U!)

[Saskatchewstachian]

Wins:

• NW increased by 90k this year
• Bought a house and moved out of the university condo
• Maxed out my RRSP's and all previous accumulated room
• Scored a huge raise by working at site vs in the city (80% raise) :)

Facepunches welcome for:

• Sold a 2 door manual civic and bought a used F150
• Spent a ton furnishing the new house (did this before discovering MMM in May)

2017 plan:

• Max out all tax sheltered account and contribute additioanl to the mortgage ($600/month to principal)
• Savea total of 120k with a 60% savings rate

[Cassie]

You guys are all doing awesome!  WE are much older then most (62) so are now in spending mode taking about 2 vacations/year and doing things on our bucket list. Lost 40 lbs within 2 years of semi-retiring, teaching an college course which I love and I quit consulting because I was not enjoying it anymore. Taking long walks with my dogs, enjoying friends, family and having control over my time. Life is good:))

[use2betrix]

My year was good but mostly only because I made so much. Our spending was pretty high overall, mostly due to all the hours I was working and lack of happiness due to our location, work, etc. we increased our net worth about 125k for the year. It'll go down as we are taking the next 2-3 months off.

[thedayisbrave]

Spent a LOT of money this year, but also had a great year so it all evens out.  The spending was on a house (for me, my first non-investment yay!!) and some upgrades along with it, as well as a private concert from my favorite artist and a trip to San Fran mixed in there.

2016 was my first full year self-employed and I loved it.  I work MORE than I ever have, but it can be on my schedule (within reason) and I have complete freedom to do whatever I want... so it feels like a huge win. 

Hopefully 2017 the market will continue to be good (I'm in real estate sales) though I'll be ok if it's not.  Don't have any plans to buy another house or any associated upgrades, so spending should go down a fair bit. 

Some of you have made some great strides toward FI -- amazing work!!

[Monkey Uncle]

2016
NW currently 1.43M, up from 1.32M this year. Includes paid off 360K house.
Converted several accounts to Vanguard
Made 9k in side gig of soccer refereeing
Set up Vanguard Roth - on automatic deduction.
Wife cut down hours of work as nurse as managing well
Building up air/rewards miles

2017
Continue with automated investments
Progress likely slowed by several pending/long overdue house projects
Work on physical and mental wellness
Extensive travel

Impressive stash.  Any plans to FIRE soon?

[market timer]

DW and I are hitting our stride in our mid/late 30s. Healthy income and net worth. One kid about to start school and another on the way.

We really loosened the purse strings this year: private school tuition, paid cash for business class international flight tickets, spent over $20K on restaurants, etc. As my goal is now no longer to FIRE, but to maintain a healthy work/life balance, I feel more comfortable spending what I earn. If I start to lose my motivation to work, I'll adjust spending and consider FIRE'ing.

I would be happy to continue on our current path for the next several years. After that, I would very much like to take multi-week vacations with the kids each summer, which is hopefully negotiable without having to FIRE.

[Metric Mouse]

DW and I are hitting our stride in our mid/late 30s. Healthy income and net worth. One kid about to start school and another on the way.

We really loosened the purse strings this year: private school tuition, paid cash for business class international flight tickets, spent over $20K on restaurants, etc. As my goal is now no longer to FIRE, but to maintain a healthy work/life balance, I feel more comfortable spending what I earn. If I start to lose my motivation to work, I'll adjust spending and consider FIRE'ing.

I would be happy to continue on our current path for the next several years. After that, I would very much like to take multi-week vacations with the kids each summer, which is hopefully negotiable without having to FIRE.

Sounds like you are truly hitting your stride. Congrats! I hope things work out better than you even hope.

[pachnik]

I kept putting a third of my income into my RRSP this year.  I reached my net worth goal - of course the market helped.  Plus, we took a vacation to Europe this year.  I could never had done these things in the same year if I hadn't found this website.

The rough plan for 2017 is to continue putting a third of my income into investments.  For the record, I work as a legal administrative assistant so I am median income.  We've booked an Alaska cruise for our vacation in 2017.  This is a cheap vacation for us since we live in Vancouver, Canada where a lot of the cruises begin and end.  So no flying. 

[mancityfan]

2016
NW currently 1.43M, up from 1.32M this year. Includes paid off 360K house.
Converted several accounts to Vanguard
Made 9k in side gig of soccer refereeing
Set up Vanguard Roth - on automatic deduction.
Wife cut down hours of work as nurse as managing well
Building up air/rewards miles

2017
Continue with automated investments
Progress likely slowed by several pending/long overdue house projects
Work on physical and mental wellness
Extensive travel

Impressive stash.  Any plans to FIRE soon?

Thanks Monkey Uncle. 2 kids in college and one going next year. Going to wait until kids out of college or close. In the 2020 cohort!

[mr_orange]

Net worth gains will top $250k this year.  We paid off about $50k in debt from that total.

Our crowdfunding business is well-established and we'll be launching it in earnest in 2017.  We also raised about $300k for our new private equity fund and will be raising a lot more next year.  We'll also sell off our last 10 real estate units from our development projects in 2017.

I'll finish 2016 at about 90% of our lower-bound FIRE number.  We'll almost certainly get to FIRE in 2017, but are likely to keep working on our small businesses.  I wrote down all my goals for next year and it is quite a bit less ambitious than our goals for 2016.

[Threshkin]

2016 - FIRE'd.
2017 - Travel

[Metric Mouse]

2016 - FIRE'd.
2017 - Travel

Simple and classy. Love it. Congrats, and good luck!

[rachellynn99]

We are new to this, however had a few small victories in 2016. We paid off my "small" student loan.  We have my "big" one left. We are cash flowing my PhD, and I got a few small scholarships.

We didn't add any new debt, and my husband and I both seem to be finally getting on the same page regarding the way we spend and save our money.

I'm hoping for a great year in 2017.  I'm excited to be on this forum.

[HenryDavid]

2016: 2nd year of semi-retirement, still saved roughly 50% of net (reduced) income while enjoying a millionaire lifestyle  of international travel and luxury. (A few months in France, trips to Berlin, Dublin, London, Spain, Italy etc.)
Ended the year with more savings and higher net worth than in 2015, despite all the travel, great food, fun times: all this on well below the median income in Canada where we live.
Also healthy, lighter, fitter than in 2015.
Also putting more energy into creative side pursuits which will become the main pursuits in 2018 upon full retirement from salaried work.
Very fortunate all round.

2017: more like that there.

[LouLou]

2016 was a busy year! Worked my butt off while I was pregnant, earning myself a great reputation and big raise at work.  My husband a ton of DIY work to our house, and his business is going great too.  Our little girl is beautiful and wonderful.  I've spent the last month or so figuring out the working parent game.

2017, I'm getting serious about our finances.  We are now settled into our lifestyle (in our forever home), so saving and investing will be the name of the game!

[MissGina]

2016 was amazing for me! Went to New Zealand, Aruba and Curacao. Bought a townhouse (no Mortgage ) for investment property (bought it with tenants that lived in it for past 24 years...the lady doesn't want to move...should make back my investment in 5/6 years). Bought a 2011 gold Lexus ES350 (paid $19k cash).  4% in TSP.

2017 I need to replace some of the Car and next house accounts. Maybe only one international trip this year if any.  5% in TSP.