FI Forecast Change is in the Air

I had almost completed our March Financial Independence (FI) progress report when the need for cloth masks became apparent in our county and most of the US. And, I’ll admit, my creative side got the best of me and sucked me down the rabbit hole of mask making for all of April 2020.  However, while I was busy sewing, it became apparent that FI forecast change was going to be needed to keep our plan realistic and on track.

Cloth Masks

While I own a sewing machine, I wouldn’t say I know how to use it very well. However, I had the manual and thread and fabric, so I thought, I’d give a couple patterns a try. I tried the Deaconess, Olsen, and easy sew patterns, and within a few weeks I’d figured out one I could make that would fit both me and Mr BA, and that we had supplies for (and no elastic.) It was nice to have a project to take my mind off the craziness in the evenings and weekends. And, it was nice to find a groove and get good at a new task. 

I made masks for Mr BA and I as well as family and friends. Plus, it was fun to send surprise care packages of masks right as the country has moved more towards needing masks in most public places where you can’t maintain social distancing measures.

I even got to shop local and support this amazing little fabric store in town which I hope survives the stay at home orders. I’d only been one other time when I wasn’t even looking for fabric when I discovered the shop – I think I was coming back from getting an x-ray. But being one who can’t resist passing by a crafty looking place, I had to pop in and appreciate the beautiful fabric. The place was tiny but exquisite – the kind of place I probably could have spent hours in going through all the bolts of fabric.  So I filed the shop away in my brain for the perfect project and during the pandemic I came up with one and they offered curbside pick up. 🙂 

Pandemic Silver Linings

While being under stay at home orders are a little harder than I thought they’d be (I miss seeing my family and friends and going on trips we had planned). There are a few things I hope stick around, like…

Groceries. We’ve been doing curbside pick up of groceries and receiving deliveries from Costco. This has been eye opening because I’m the one that does all the shopping in our family. And, I didn’t mind it. I even would have said I liked doing some of it most of the time – like samples at Costco. 

However, at our grocery they allow you to order online, schedule a pick-up, and then they will bring your groceries out to your car and place them into your trunk. Talk about time and sanity saving.  And, even savings overall. No more distractions of having to mill about the store collecting your groceries and trying to find that one item they keep moving around. I could get used to curbside delivery and pick-up – I hope that sticks around.   I could even see it being budget friendly if it helps you avoid unnecessary purchases. 

March/April FI Progress Report

Regarding the March and April progress report, the news is…well…confusing. 

March:  

• Networth percent change from prior month – down 10.49% compared to February
• Percent complete to goal – 43.49% 
• Months ‘till goal – didn’t capture. Oops!
• What drove the changes in March: Coronavirus pandemic and stay at home orders across the US causing economic impacts. 

April:

• Networth percent change from prior month – up 13.77%  compared to March
• Percent complete to goal – 49.48% 
• Months till goal – 96 (8 years/May 2028) vs 87 (7.25 years/June 2027 set in Feb 2020).  
• What drove the changes in April: Coronavirus pandemic stay at home orders. But more importantly, we took out some income in our future projections for reaching our goal given the current economic outlook. 

FI Forecast Change

Even though both Mr. BA and I work in critical infrastructure sectors in the US, that does not mean we or the companies we work for, are going to be immune to the global economic downturn. It seemed prudent to be more conservative with our planning going forward, given the sudden onset of the pandemic and the need for the world to continue social distancing in the foreseeable future until a vaccine is found.   

Now this hasn’t changed how we are saving or investing or even how we are planning for financial independence, we are just assuming we’ll make less next year than this year, this could come in a reduction in pay, bonus, 401k match, profit sharing. We are still saving according to our plan and investing into broad based index funds. And, we’ll continue with the plan to shift to purchasing more bonds as we get closer to our goal and we’ll continue to look at real estate too. I still think these are all good investments to have over the long term, and our investing horizon hasn’t changed. What has changed is our assumption on when we can plan to disconnect from our corporate jobs. But, hopefully this will put us on a slightly more realistic path and better position. 

Quarantine Bucket List Progress: 

Below is a quick check in on the Quarantine Bucket List progress since the last update.

Done

1. 3/14 – Plant seed starts for the veggie garden. Almost time to get them in the ground.
2. 3/22– Taxes
3. 4/20 – Bake this Banana cake. Mr. BA made it for me! Thanks, hun. You are quite the baker, and I enjoy the frozen slices whenever my sweet tooth calls.
4. 4/20 – Reusable Cloth Face Masks 
5. 4/20– Refinance Mortgage.  No immediate FI Forecast Change identified in the short term but certainly in the longer term.
6. April – Face masks. Like the kind you put on and read a book while all your zits and cares melt away. Tried a few new ones out. 

In Progress

7. Back on track – Blog writing –  April was consumed with sewing masks. But I’m back from the sewing machine and ready to post. 
8. Organize and declutter the house and garage. Time to curate the collection and Mari Kondo this place! 5/3 – cleaned out the tiny corner of the garage where I keep my gardening things. No more avalanche of gardening gloves and stakes when you try to pull something out! Progress!
9. Exercise. The scope of this item focused on creating a new yoga practice or getting back onto Pilates with either some workout video from Amazon or even perhaps more strength training. Plus, getting into a regular habit to strengthen my back and shoulder.
   1. I’ve made some progress on shoulder exercises but still need to work on the other items. 
10. House projects. Time to start getting serious about some of the house projects like the windows, kitchen and painting (in and out). Time to make some real plans with Mr BA.  And, we’ve been talking about,
    1. My office closet – closing in a bookcase, which will be nice since I work from home and will likely have more zoom calls going forward and it would be nice to have a clean professional background.
11. Call family more. I have a schedule and things are going pretty well.
12. Sew. As I mentioned, I have a machine and would love to knock out a few other projects I haven’t gotten around to but know would make me happy.  Here’s looking at you, new outdoor pillow covers. I’d love to order some fabric online and get going while the machine is set up.
13. Books & Games. We have quite a few classics we can always break out. Need some inspiration? Check out my Recommended Books list. New books I’m reading
    1. Make Time
    2. Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes with their Money
    3. A book for work

Not Started

14. Clean the house
15. Make new soap with exfoliants. I’m getting close, I know I want to try something with the fresh mint in the garden.
16. Plan trips
17. Knitting
18. Christmas Gifts. I have some ideas for bath salts but I need to brainstorm and take action or shift gears. We’ll see! 
19. New 5/5 – learn about bonds, what should we buy? When should we buy them more specifically and when do you sell them. Any recommendations please send them my way. I don’t think this will bring about any FI forecast change, but you never know.

That about does it for this catch-up post. I hope you are social distancing, staying healthy, and productive while we figure out this new normal. 

Have you been making any progress on your quarantine bucket list? Have you identified any FI forecast change? Did you make masks? Do you need a mask? What do you think of this new normal? Leave me a note below.