r/MoneyDiariesACTIVE

I wrote this diary in mid-August. Since that time I was offered and accepted an early retirement called a VERA in the Federal government world. It is the same thing my friend I mentioned below was offered, but in the end declined and she continues to work. I had to make the decision very quickly at the end of August and retire before October. It was scary and hard as I am usually such a planner and this kind of came out of the blue. I will be retired when I post this diary. The last year and a half plus have been difficult. The number of people in my work unit has been cut by about 40% and since January of this year we have been asked to basically double our work load. I have not agreed with a lot of policy etc. changes made by my Executive Management. I especially have not agreed with the way people have been treated in certain circumstances. People have been punished for work they were assigned to do that was legal. This is not a political message. It is just how I have felt. The early retirement seemed to have come at a good time. I only retired about 20 months early. Hopefully I will write a diary about retirement spending at some point. All my figures below were documented about five weeks before I retired.

 I am a 58 year old single female with no children who works for a US government agency as an analyst. I have been with the agency for over 21 years. Within those 21 years I have held three positions, one for three years, one for over 13 years, and one for over five years. This is my fourth or fifth diary and I enjoy seeing the changes from each one.

Section One: Assets and Debt 
Retirement Balance $1,276,000 split between Traditional/Roth TSP, Roth IRA, and an inherited IRA. I got there by saving from every paycheck and a portion was inherited from my Dad.
Equity $220,000- $230,000
Savings account balance of multiple accounts $50,000. This includes about $18,000 designated as my emergency fund. 
Checking account balance $1200
Credit card debt $0. I pay my accounts off every month
Student loan debt $0. 
Brokerage accounts $469,000
Section Two: Income
Income Progression: I've been working for my agency for 21 years. I am on the GS schedule so I get some regular increases. I am currently a GS 14 step 5 making $163,000 and will likely get no cost of living increase next January if what has been presented goes through Congress.
Main Job Monthly Take Home: $6630
Deductions per month:
Mandatory Pension Contribution: $108 (.8%), I will receive around $35,000 to $40,000  (turns out it will be almost $34,000) from my pension a year with a small COLA every year if I retire at 60 after I turn 62. If I retire earlier it will be much lower.
TSP and Catch Up: $2708 I max for a total of $32,500 with the catch up. My agency matches 5%.
SS: $810
Federal Taxes: $ 1959
State Tax: $607
Medicare: $189
Health and Dental Insurance: $327  I will have lifetime subsidized health insurance if I take a full retirement after reaching certain milestones and have had the insurance for five years before I retire. I have BC/BS PPO plus dental and vision insurance. I also set aside $150.00 per month in my FSA and I have about $800 left to spend this year.
Section Three: Expenses
Rent / Mortgage / HOA fees:  Paid off mortgage. RE taxes are approximately $235 a month  and the HOA is $568 a month and it will go up significantly due a budget deficit in November. 
Renters / home insurance/ umbrella policy: $470 per year for homeowners. Since I own a condo, the master condo policy covers everything but the finishes, personal property, and personal liability for my unit. I have an umbrella liability policy for one million for approximately $250 per year,
Other Retirement Contribution:  When I have extra funds I send them to my brokerage account and then wait to see if I qualify for the Roth after I do my taxes. For 2025 I maxed out my Roth.
Savings contributions per month: $300 for the next car, $1300 for vacations, $100 for miscellaneous, $100 for car repairs/maintenance, $500 for charity and $50 for medical expenses. 
Investment contribution: no set number usually when I have extra cash
Debt payments $0
Donations: $7,000 annually
Food: I budget $225 for groceries and it varies, but is usually lower. I get meal services usually every other week and that is about $85 each time. Then I usually spend about $400 eating out. Not cooking is one of my things
Clothing: I budget $100 a month, but some months I buy nothing and some I go over. 
Household items: I budget $100
Electric: NA covered by HOA
Wifi/Cable/Landline: $50 for internet
Cellphone: $60
Subscriptions: Discovery + $9.99, Kindle Unlimited $125 per year, Sirius XM $156 year, Audible 7.99, $35.00 unlimited car wash per month.
Car insurance: $825 I pay once a year
Gas: $175 a month. I commute about 55-60 miles a day by car. Public transportation is not an option. This has gone up since the conflict with Iran began.
Personal Property Taxes for Car (VA tax): $1265.00 
Car registration state and local: $95 a year (I pay more as I have a hybrid car)
Hair: I spend around $300 w/ tips at least 4-5 times a year for my haircuts and highlights. 

Thursday

Up and out the door after a shower. I heated 2 egg and cheese cups I prepared on Sunday and stopped by and got a soda for $2.22 on the way to work. Long meeting at work on how we are going to manage a project with too few people. The boss was trying to get us to think outside the box. Lunch was a previously purchased prepared meal from my freezer with an orange, sweet potato chips and some cherries. The afternoon was taken up proofing documents for an upcoming printing job for a seminar. I took an hour of wellness time and walked. Commuting home was not bad for once. Dinner was cucumber salad, a bagel and some greek yogurt and blue berries. Spend for the day $2.22

Friday

Up and out the door. Breakfast was a pack of belVita cookies (Cranberry and Orange)  and a soda I stopped for on the way to work ($2.22) The morning was taken up by a multi-hour event and then we did a group lunch out for Mexican. I had bean burritos and a soda (14.67) The boss gave us a couple of hours off as we just finished up a large project with lots of extra time etc. I stopped at the Talbots/Chico’s Clearance Center in Springfield to look around and found two pairs of pants and a shirt for $74.68. I read and watched some YouTube to finish up the day. I was not super hungry for dinner so I had Greek yogurt and blueberries and a bagel. My oldest friend through work texted me and she is being offered an early retirement. I am jealous/happy for her. I would take it in a minute if it was offered to me. Early retirements are usually offered to specific jobs within a federal agency and she works a different job within our agency. There was a more general one offered last year, but I was not ready to accept it then. Spend for the day $91.57.

Saturday

I woke up early and could not get back to sleep. I got up and started getting together the clothes and other items I need to pack for vacation next week. I am going to London for a week. Breakfast was a Cliff bar and Greek yogurt and blackberries. I had lots of returns to make. First stop Pentagon City Mall. I went to Macy’s and tried on a couple of things, but nothing fit or looked right. I had to return a bra to Nordstrom’s. They validated parking which was nice and saved $4.00. Credit of -70.54. I stopped at Staples to do an Amazon return of a pair of boots. I had bought two different sizes. Credit -63.25 I had  lunch at Maggianno’s at Springfield Mall. I am kind of addicted to their Maggianno’s salad. I had bread, a salad and a soda. The total was $29.63 with tip. I walked around the mall to get some steps in. I returned a shirt to Nordstrom Rack. It was super cute, but I could not figure out what to wear it with. Credit -29.83. I took advantage of Target being in the mall and got garlic powder, dill, a cucumber, and a can of chick peas to make a salad. Cost 7.83. I got my car washed. I have a monthly pass so there was no cost. I stopped and got an ice cream cone and a drink at McDonald’s (5.23) Next I got my hair cut and highlighted. I love my stylist. Total cost $306 with tip. 

When I got home I made the salad with cucumber, chickpeas and red onion. The dressing is greek yogurt and a small amount of sour cream with white wine vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I am trying to cut down on salt as my doctor is concerned with my blood pressure and is threatening to put me on blood pressure medicine, but it needed more salt. I  put money on my laundry card as I use a common laundry facility. Cost $20.00.  I got most everything washed that I needed for my trip. Dinner was salad and greek yogurt and black berries and a few sweet potato chips.I bought a book on Amazon. With the credit I had it was 0.99. Total cost $206.06, Spending today $370

Sunday

My Sunday morning ritual has become I go to Best Buns Bakery and stay and eat my breakfast there. I read or listen to a podcast for a while. I am trying to start some habits/rituals before I retire in 2028. I purchased a blueberry muffin, a chicken salad sandwich, pasta salad and a soda. ($23.87) Lunch is the chicken salad sandwich and some cucumber/chickpea salad from last night. I try to find some books for my Kindle for the trip and look for what I am going to do on the one day I have during the trip with nothing planned. I pack some more things in my suitcase and also do some things around the house like vacuuming and trash removal. I had an electrolysis appointment with my esthetician. ($58.00 with tip). On the way home I stopped and got an ice cream cone. I have been on an ice cream kick recently. I can go months without eating it usually. ($5.50) I have a long chat with my sister. I am trying to figure out how to frame a picture from over 100 years ago of my grandmother’s family. It is a custom size and I don’t want to spend what a custom framer would charge so I am looking  into framing companies on the internet that allow you to put in the size of the photo etc. Dinner was pasta salad and some more of the cucumber salad. Spend for the day $87.37

Monday

Out the door and I stopped to get a drink on the way ($2.22) and ate belVita cookies. Normal day at work, not a lot going on. I had one meeting to set some expectations for a project I am team leader on. Lunch was a pre-made pasta dish from my meal prep provider with an orange and blackberries. I have been having a slow leak in one of my tires. I left work early to go have it checked out. I had a screw in the side wall and it could not be patched. Two new tires for $589.00. I got a snack while I waited for the new tires from 7-11 of pepperoni, cheese and crackers and a soda. (7.98) I stopped on the way home and got a chicken sandwich and a small french fries (7.89) Spend for the day $607.09

Tuesday

Up and out the door and repeat a drink (2.22) and belVita cookies. Today was about cleaning up a few things before I left on vacation and I had several meetings. Nothing too earth shattering. Lunch was Chick-Fil-a ($10.67) sandwich and fries and an ice tea. Commuting was not bad until the part north of the Beltway. Dinner was left overs in the fridge of some pasta and cucumber salad. I tried to finish up most of my packing. I am wanting to take too much stuff. I spent a while trying to figure out some places to eat in London and star them in Google maps so I can find them again. Total spend $12.87

Wednesday

Up and out the door. I stopped for a breakfast sandwich and a drink on the way to work. ($7.52) Worked on our group shared escort schedule for the next two months. Not a lot else going on as I was kind of at a stopping point because of vacation. I got popcorn from the snack machine ($2.00) . Lunch was cleaning out the fridge at home. I had pasta salad, greek yogurt with blueberries and belVita cookies. I stopped and got tacos and a drink for dinner on the way home (8.32) The meal service I order from, Mighty Meals, had a great coupon for one free meal so I ordered five meals to be delivered  later in August. I got couscous with vegetables, pasta with cheese, chicken with pesto, a noodle dish and pasta salad. ($77.46) I paid some bills, finished getting things ready for my suitcase and checked into my flight. London, here I come. Total spend $95.04

Food $209.82
Car $586
Grocery $7.83
Clothing $74.68
Personal $364
Book $.99
Household/Laundry $20.00

This was a bit of a spendy week with the new tires and getting my hair done. I had funds in my sinking funds to pay for the tires and hair. I typically pay for everything on vacation like food, transport, tickets etc. from my vacation fund. So I will likely have extra funds in my checking account when I get back since I will not be pulling from it while on the trip. I will likely put the extra in my savings account to make a Roth contribution next spring before 4/15 or put it in my brokerage account.

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