| Sep-16 | Comments | |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | $765.00 | $750 for rent + $15 in fees for Plastiq in order to pay via credit card |
| Internet | $60.92 | Internet is kind of expensive out here in the boonies |
| Cell Phone | $32.88 | $30 + taxes/fees for 5 GB of 4G data through T-Mobile |
| Natural Gas | $18.38 | About average gas use for the month. |
| Electricity | $62.54 | Two months’ worth due to billing timing. |
| Water | $40.51 | My actual water usage is only about $5, but my town tacks on so many fees that the bill comes to $40+ every month! :( |
| Groceries | $119.64 | My second-lowest grocery bill this year! I cook nearly all of my meals myself and do 95% of my grocery shopping at Aldi for massive savings. |
| Car Insurance | $0.00 | I pay every 6 months in April and October. |
| Gasoline | $58.90 | More than average, due to a couple trips to the city/airport. |
| Car Expenses | $0.00 | Nothing broken or needing maintenance this month! |
| Health Insurance | $19.30 | Heavily subsidized, high-deductible plan through my work. Includes health, dental, and vision. |
| Other | $0.00 | Nothing to see here, move along |
| Necessary | $1,178.07 | Below average! |
| Restaurants | $125.84 | Highest monthly restaurant spending so far this year. Eating out once with coworkers + lunch/dinner while visiting a friend |
| Entertainment | $8.99 | Netflix! Sadly, their price will be increasing to $9.99 starting next month |
| Shopping | $0.00 | No unnecessary shopping for this month |
| Travel/Parking | $138.06 | I spent a long weekend in Boston visiting friends. Includes all spending I did while I was there and anything else related to the trip like airport parking. |
| Gifts/Donations | $10.00 | Patreon donation to my favorite YouTube channel |
| Software/Games | $13.17 | Bought the domain name for this very site! |
| Other | $2,996.34 | The elephant in the budget. This is a one-time ~$3k expense for a large personal project that hopefully will pay off greatly in the future. |
| Discretionary | $3,292.40 | Almost triple my necessary spending! |
| Total Expenses | $4,470.47 | Very high this month! My 2nd-highest monthly spending since I started keeping track in May 2015. |
| Gross Income | $7,884.81 | Three paychecks this month! Helps to offset the abnormally high expenses this month. |
| 401(k) Match | $235.68 | My company matches 3% of gross salary |
| Taxes | $1,387.39 | Federal + state income tax + payroll taxes. Have already maxed out pre-tax 401(k) contributions so no deduction left for me. Boo! |
| Net Income | $6,733.10 | Higher than average due to third paycheck this month. |
| Savings | $2,262.63 | What I didn’t spend this month. Most of this currently goes to after-tax 401(k). |
| Savings Rate | 33.6% | Savings / Net Income. Not great for this month, but will definitely do better next time! |
| Net Worth | $96,619.57 | Unfortunately didn’t cross the $100k threshold just yet, although I do now (just barely!) have $100k of assets. Will definitely get there next month! |
Projected time to FI (assuming 6% growth and 4% withdrawal rate): 7 years 2 months
…but this is kind of misleading as it assumes I spend an extra $3k every year when this is really a one-time expense for a personal project. So, for projection purposes, I’m going to cheat a bit and pretend like I didn’t spend that extra $3k this month…
For-realsies projected time to FI (assuming 6% growth and 4% withdrawal rate): 6 years 1 month