Firefly's Personal Finance Blog

My 2015 Toyota CRV is in the shop & I'm still waiting to hear whether they will repair it or total it out. Sigh. I really wasn't ready to purchase a new car. I was hoping to build back my cash savings for the next couple of years. Thankfully my insurance is paying me as I filed for a collision. I damaged the core. There  is a radiator leak and the condenser needs to be repaired. And due to it running hot I may have permanently killed the engine.

I don't know why there are no warning lights when your car runs hot. That's crazy! Apparebtly newer cars have this feature, but you would think it would be old technology. Because who is watching the temperature on the dashboard regularly? I only looked because I smelt something burning when I parked my car in the garage the night prior. 

I still have my settlement money & my dad is saying that I will get back money from taxes. Really, that's a miracle. I almost always pay. For the second year in a row I was able to itemize. 

TSP $1,588,627

IRA $468,553

Brokerage $13,932

Investments Subtotal $2,071,112 

Home Equity $142,000

Savings $4,589

January 2026 Net Worth $2,217,701

December 2025 Net Worth $2,161,680

Monthky Gain/Loss $56,021

My goals for next year are as follows:

TSP $24,500

IRA $7,500

Savings $6,000

Brokerage $1,200

Total Savings $39,200

FSA $3,400 (for tax savings only)

2025 Net Worth $2,161,680

2024 Net Worth $1,805,796

Annual Loss/Gain $355,884

TSP $23,500

IRA $7,000

Brokerage $3,200

Savings $4,000

Total Saved $37,700

TSP $1,546,818

IRA $455,150

Brokerage $13,635

Investments Sub-total $2,015,603

Home Equity $142,000

Savings $4,077

December 2025 Net Worth $2,161,680

November 2025 Net Worth $2,147,110

Monthly Gain/Loss $14,570

Happy New Year!

Has anyone already maxed out their IRA today? Or rather, sent the order to do so when the market opens tomorrow? I am sitting here contemplating doing just that noe that I have the cash to do so for the first time in years. However, the last time I did so, the market went down that year so I felt like I bought at a bad time. I know you can never time the market but it makes me hesitant to pull the trigger.

It's my birthday in 3 days! Celebrating another great month of gains & a positive year overall. Cheers to more of the same.

I can't recall if I mentioned it earlier, but I was to receive a settlement from work. Yesterday I checked my mail (I only check it once a week) and I found the check in the mail. It's a nice time of year to receive some unexpected money! I'm not doing anything with it specifically, other than making sure my debt is paid off.

My sister already sent some things the kids wanted for Christmas so I did my Black Friday shopping early. That was my only Black Friday shopping, actually. I don't plan to do much shopping at all as I already shop all year long.

Today is Giving Tuesday so I am donating to my alumni association.

Happy Holidays!

TSP $1,536,798

IRA $451,212

Brokerage $13,534

Sub-total Investments $2,001,544

Savings $3,566

Home Equity $142,000

November Net Worth $2,147,110

October Net Worth $2,139,421

Monthly Loss/Gain $7,689

TSP $1,532,632

IRA $449,349

Brokerage $13,383

Sub-total Investments $1,995,364

Savings $3,057

Home Equity $141,000

October 2025 Net Worth $2,139,421

September Net Worth $2,096,356

Monthly Gain/Loss $43,065

Another milestone! I recently hit $2 million net worth, but today when updating my accounts I now have $2 million in investments on top of my other assets. My total net worth is now approaching $2.2 million.

I don't know how many years I've been reading the Finance Buff, but every year around this time I start checking for their projections of next year's retirement contribution limits.

In 2026 I expect to be able to contribute:

$24,500 to my TSP

$7,500 to my IRA

$3,400 to my FSA

That is an increase of $1,600. That seems like a lot to my FSA, but I've been using every cent of my FSA with no rollover for a few years now. I don't even expect my income to go up by that much as our raise is projected at 1%, if we're lucky enough to get that. Also, I'm sure my health & dental insurance will increase.

I'm glad that I stopped electing for the maximum life insurance as that premium starts increasing at 45. All my parents need is enough to bury me if something were to happen & my basic benefit is many times over that. I have no dependents. They can sell my house. My mom actually prefers my car to hers. My mom gets upset at the idea that I have them as my primary beneficiaries. No parents want to lose a child, but it's just practical & right that they be my beneficiaries before naming my sisters.

TSP $1,499,790

IRA $440,022

Brokerage $12,995

Subtotal of Investments $1,952,807

Savings $2,549

Home Equity $141,000

September 2025 Net Worth $2,096,356

August 2025 Net Worth $2,031,090

Monthly Loss/Gain $65,266

Today is my mom's 75th birthday. I always take the day off from work. First we went to her doctor's appointment, followed by brunch. After those two activities she was tired & ready to go home. Parkinson's really drains her energy; she tires quickly.

Last month I paid off two low balance furniture accounts & it really impacted my credit positively. I owed less than $1,000 on each, but just paying them off has my credit score solidly above 800 again. I have one more furniture account that I'm due to pay off on 3 years. I already paid the 2% fee to incur no future interest so it doesn't pay for me to pay it off early. 

Today is the end of the third quarter as well as the end of September so I'll post a net work update soon!

On Monday, my TSP balance passed the $1.5 million mark for the first time. Pretty exciting! It first reached $1 million less than 2 years ago.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but when I took $10k out of my savings to pay off my credit cards I changed my monthly contributions to replenish my savings. I was contributing $100 a month to my savings and $500 a month to my brokerage account. I reversed the contributions to build my savings back up. So now I'm contributing $500 to my savings and just $100 to my brokerage account. I am still maxing out my TSP & IRA so I am still investing a significant account monthly even with this reduction. I have no plans to go back for the foreseeable future. My car is ten years old & I'm putting significant mileage on it now. I will need to fund my next car.

TSP $1,451,175

IRA $424,517

Brokerage $12,455

Investments Sub-total $1,888,147

Savings $2,043

Home Equity $141,000

August 2025 Net Worth $2,031,190

July 2025 Net Worth $1,975,090

Monthly Gain/Loss $56,100

I passed $2 million net worth for the first time in July, but ended a little under that here because I don't count cash in checking or car value.

TSP $1,409,145

IRA $412,305

Brokerage $12,102

Sub-total Investments $1,833,552

Home Equity $140,000

Savings $1,538

July 2025 Net Worth $1,975,090

June 2025 Net Worth $1,941,066

Monthly Gain/Loss $34,024

I just wrote the blog about me approaching $2 million net worth. Yesterday I logged into my Monarch account and I had already achieved $2 million net worth. That was fast! I achieved $1 million net worth in 2020. Only 5 years later & that has doubled.  I'm really blown away, honestly. I remember being in my 20's & knowing that it was possible, but it seemed so far away. I rember thinking that I could never max out my retirement accounts. I've been doing that since 2008. I just decided to do it & then it became automatic after that. Everything that seemed so unlikely has happened. I'm very grateful. 

It was not that long ago that I reached $1 million net worth. That was only during the Codid pandemic which was 5 years ago. Wow, seems like yesterday. It's wild that I'm now looking at $2 million. I may reach it before the end of the year if the market doesn't have a downturn. I really can't believe how quickly my net worth has grown. I just want to make sure that I don't accumulate debt again, which is why I'm being very prudent right now to pay off my medical debt  & traveling from this year.

My mortgage company refunded me $3,140 in escrow surplus. Right now I've just deposited it into my checking account. I will use it to pay off all my medical bills & vacation expenses.

Investments $1,800,032

> TSP $1,382,848

> IRA $405,449

> Brokerage $11,735

Cash Savings $1,034

Home Equity $140,000

June 2025 Net Worth $1,941,066

May 2025 Net Worth $1,859,826

Monthly Gain/Loss $81,240

TSP $1,315,805

IRA $387,414

Brokerage $11,077

Investments Subtotal $1,714,296

Home Equity $140,000

Savings $5,530

May 2025 Net Worth $1,859,826

April 2025 Net Worth $1,761,972

Monthly Loss/Gain $97,854

I am depleting my savings to pay off debt this month. It makes me nervous to see the balance go so low, but debt makes me nervous as well.

I have always paid off all my debt monthly since I paid off my credit cards in 2020. Last month was the first time since then that I wasn't able to do so. I have been spending a lot and have another vacation planned next month. That will probably be my last big vacation for the year until I bounce back from all these expenses:

Italy vacation (February)

Boston vacation (March)

Surgery (April)

Auto repairs (May)

London vacation (June)

My deductible for my surgery was over $5k. I'll get some reimbursed through my tax free contributions to my FSA account, but the yearly maximum is only $3,300. I did contribute the maximum as I knew I would be spending on medical needs this year. 

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

TSP $1,236,104

IRA $365,510

Brokerage $9,957

Total Investments $1,611,571

Other Assets:

Home Equity $140,000

Savings $10,400

April 2025 Net Worth $1,761,971

March 2025 Net Worth $1,755,161

Monthly Loss/Gain $6,810

TSP $1,232,064

IRA $363,335

Brokerage $9,492

Savings $10,270

Home Equity $140,000

March 2025 Net Worth $1,755,161

February 2025 Net Worth $1,835,751

Monthly Loss/Gain -$80,590

TSP $1,297,598

IRA $378,475

Brokerage $9,539

Total Investments $1,685,612

Savings $10,139

Home Equity $140,000

Feb 2025 Net Worth $1,835,751

Jan 2025 Net Worth $1,866,262

Monthly Loss/Gain -$30,511

Checking $6,698

Car $11,000

My raise for the year was $1.02 per hour or $2,121.60 annually. My TSP contribution increased $500 and I'm increasing my contribution to my FSA by $700. That is $1,200 for the year before taxes. I don't see where I can contribute or save more at this time. My savings & checking account are at their lowest point and I'm hoping to build them back up, but I also have a lot of fun planned for the year. Expensive fun, too. 

I took one trip to Maryland last month when my sister had surgery. Not fun, but I did at least one fun thing while I was there - dancing! 💃🏾 

This month I'm going to Italy: Venice, Bologna, and Florence. 🇮🇹 

In March I head to Boston. 🦞 

In April I will have an elective procedure which will keep me home for only a week. 🤕

In June I head to England. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧 

In the fall I am hoping to take a cruise to Canada. 🇨🇦 

And in between that all I hope to keep dancing & maybe travel to some dance events. 💃🏾 

First net worth for 2025! How did I fare? Pretty good! Despite the panic posts I kept seeing, I didn't pay too close attention. I ended up a significant amount for the month when the dust settled. 

TSP $1,321,757

IRA $381,285

Brokerage $9,221

Sub-total of Investments $1,712,263

Savings $14,99

Sub-total cash assets $1,727,262

House Equity $139,000

January 2025 Net Worth $1,866,262

December 2024 Net Worth $1,805,796

Monthly Gain Loss $60,465

Checking $2,065

Car $11,000

For 2024, I completed all of my goals save for the savings goal. For the last few months I had to pause savings as I was spending so much money due to the new home & move.

I did not get my eye surgery this year & I am expecting to have a surgery for my fibroids so some of my FSA money will probably go towards that. I will reassess having eye surgery. I got contacts, but I am not happy with them yet.

2024 Goals:

$23,000 TSP ✅

$6,000 TSP employer match ✅

$7,000 IRA ✅

$6,000 brokerage ✅

$12,000 savings ❌

$2,600 FSA (to fund my vision surgery) ✅

My Net Worth increased by $316,569 in 2024.

2023 Net Worth $1,489,227

2024 Net Worth $1,805,796

TSP $1,274,564

IRA $368,934

Brokerage $8,447

Investments Sub-total $1,651,945

Savings $14,851

Home Equity $139,000

December 2024 Net Worth Total $1,805,796

November 2024 Net Worth Total $1,858,899

Monthly Loss/Gain -$53,103

Other Assets:

Car $11,000

Checking $4,071