Living Well on $40,882: Our 2015 Financial Journey

Ever notice how personal finance articles often claim you need a six-figure income to be happy? Well, I'm José, and together with my wife Tatiana, we're here to challenge that notion. In 2015, we spent just $40,882 and had one of our most fulfilling years yet. We traveled, danced at concerts, enjoyed amazing meals, and spent precious time with family and friends. Today, we're pulling back the curtain on our finances to show you exactly how we did it. Photo by Mark Angelo Sampan Why We're Sharing Our Numbers Transparency in personal finance is rare, but we believe it's crucial. Too often, we see friends and colleagues trapped in the cycle of earning more but never feeling financially secure. By sharing our detailed expenses, we hop

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Mr Crazy Kicks

7 years ago

Nice breakdown! I was just working on our numbers, and it looks like our spending is pretty close to yours. Though we don’t have subsidized housing 😉

Admin

Jose

Reply to Mr Crazy Kicks

LOL. Including the rental income as part of that equation makes it feel worthwhile when I get a call to repair something at someone else’s apartment instead of mine!
I can’t wait to see your numbers. Thanks for stopping by.

Bob ;)

8 years ago

Great article! Thanks for the share. Now we will have to strive to reach that amount as well 🙂

MrEnchumbao

Reply to Bob ;)

Hi,
The key is to track your spending. You’ll be eventually get to a “happy number” as you become aware of where your money is being spent. Thanks for reading!

117% increase for el azaroso.. forget about Social Security and COLA increases, that welfare cat lives the high life in the Enchumbao household XD.

But seriously now, thanks for sharing. This is all very encouraging to all of us on the FI pursuit to compare notes and see how we are doing!

Reply to LM

Wow, I didn’t even realize what a huge increase that was! That conniving azaroso already eats better than me. Watch him hint at getting medicaid next year!

You’re welcome. It’s a fun post to put together because as we put down every line item, it makes us really analyze them. By the time we’re ready to pull the plug on the 9to5s we’ll be able to predict with extreme accuracy how the spending will go. Thanks for commenting!