Dammit, Yoda, I need that!
It’s time to run the numbers for this month.
| Category | Total | Notes |
| Mortgage | 793 | |
| Taxes | 320 | |
| Groceries | 162 | |
| Restaurants | 126 | I admit it: There was some convenience eating-out this month. See notes. |
| Utilities | 81 | Electricity |
| Cable | 75 | Phone, ISP, Cable |
| Cell | 27 | Ting |
| Medical | 0 | |
| Pharmacy | 14 | odds and ends |
| Clothes | 62 | fancy new running shoes. probably too fancy. |
| Café/Coffee Out | 29 | |
| Entertainment | 89 |
|
| Gas | 51 | |
| Other | 342 | Helped my Mom move out of a single-family to senior housing, multiple costs |
| Vitamin A(lcohol) | 0 | |
| Misc – Wallet stolen | 47 | Lost 22 cash, 25 to replace license. |
| Total | 2218 |
Notes
- I helped my mom move into senior housing and paid for a variety of related expenses. This included some convenience eating-out due to a couple of intense days of packing and cleaning, a u-haul charge I fronted, some misc, for a total of $342. File this under “it’s always something…”
- Wasted $50 on getting my wallet stolen.
- Second clothing purchase of the year – got some fancy new running shoes. Old ones are falling apart — it’s time. I have my first half-marathon coming up in November and I’ve heard that it’s good to have functioning knees to run those sorts of things.
Yearly Total
| January | 2106 |
| February | 2013 |
| March | 2305 |
| April | 2043 |
| May | 1876 |
| June | 3036 |
| July | 2109 |
| Aug | 2218 |
| Total | 17806 |
Net Worth Update
| Taxable Mutual Funds | 281K |
| Taxable Cash (CDs) | 40K |
| Retirement 401(k) | 311K |
| Retirement Roth | 99K |
| Home Equity | 125K |
| Total | 856K |
Market’s hit all time highs, so there’s been a jump in NW from 840 to 856.
This is why we stay in. Sure, you can argue we’re in bubble times, but no one knows how long things are going to be this way or what the correction will look like when it comes.
Sticky notes on expense tracking
- The expenses listed represent half of our total household expenses. I’m 50% of a DINK couple. The same is true for net worth. I only list my personal stash — my wife has her own and I’m not tracking it on this blog. Yeah, we’re completely spoiled.
- You’ll notice that there is no mention of car insurance here. I pay my premium annually in June. There’s a 10% discount for paying 12 months in advance, which is a pretty good return on investment.
- Similarly, there’s also no mention of home insurance. We pay the yearly premium annually in full every March.
- There are menus at the top of the blog (Finances->2014->Month) if you are interested in additional reports.
- I’ve also logged an account of my financial history
Living a FI 
Adding error in ‘entertainment’ – should this be $89? I am adding this in my head, which I used to be quite good at doing, now not so much…
You just saved me $9, nice catch! Updated.
Get rich $9 at a time. My guess is that all your totals are correct, and you just transposed the numbers…
Very interesting that you and your wife divide up your expenses and net worth. Do each of the categories listed represent a 50/50 division? In other words, is your full monthly mortgage payment $1,586? Or am I reading that incorrectly? Thanks so much for sharing–I’m always interested to read about how others manage and report their finances.
Hi MFW, thanks for stopping by. Yes, you have it exactly right. The only exception is gas/auto insurance and maint, which we don’t split — I pay the entirety of these costs (lucky DW).
Gotcha! Thanks for the info!
LivingAFI,
That’s a pretty solid month right there! And your net worth is impressive, especially considering your age and the fact that it represents just your end of the household.
I read your target date for FI is spring 2015. Will that be difficult with a sizable portion of your net worth tied up in the 401(k) and home equity? I’ve been pursuing taxable accounts only to unlock income as early as possible. Looks like you have a healthy Roth account as well, but just looking at liquid, accessible funds and you might be a bit short, no? Although, a home downsize might get you there, as you’ve already noted.
Best wishes!
Thanks for the kind words – I always feel like there’s lots of room for improvement, though. The leanest MMM savers really put me to shame. To answer your questions: 1) Downsizing will bring PITI from 1100/mo to $300/mo or less, a savings of $800/mo and nearly 10K annually, making my yearly spend about 16-17K. Even if I spend 20K (assuming I do some travel and that sort of thing) this is still under 3% of my liquid assets, which should provide a really good cushion. 2) Truth is that I actually have close to 300K in taxable accounts. The breakout is close to 300/taxable 300K Traditional IRA, 100K Roth. Re: fund access, my plan is to tap my taxable account for the first decade while building up a traditional-to-roth ira pipeline. The pipeline method allows you to (eventually) access your 401(k) funds prior to retirement age without penalty. If you’re interested in the full details of the plan, please check out the drawdown (link) post.
Dude, I am waiting to hear about year 13 and beyond!
Dude, I’m working on it! I swear!