Not too much to report this month, again.
I did notice that I’m spending more on food than in previous months. I’ve been eating more meals with my girlfriend recently so that’s probably a contributing factor.
The market has continued to relentlessly go up, despite the continuing deleterious economic effects of the COVID19 pandemic. As I write this, the US market is at an all-time high, despite an unemployment rate of about 10% (more than double what it was pre-pandemic), record-breaking GDP contraction (31.7% annualized), and earnings of most companies have been severely impacted. I’ve heard theories that some of the seemingly-irrational increase can be attributed to closure of sports leagues, so sports bettors have moved to stock market speculation as a substitute. Personally, I’m not so sure about this explanation as retail investors typically have much lower volume than institutional investors. I think it’s more likely that the combination of zero interest rate policy and massive financial stimulus has lead to a market bubble. As always, I’m not altering my investment strategy in response to market moves, but it’s still interesting to watch.
Here’s my August expenses:
| Category | 08/20 | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | $980.54 | Regular rent + $50 for company sharehouse |
| Internet | $17.37 | |
| Cell Phone | $32.10 | |
| Natural Gas | $14.61 | |
| Electricity | $104.30 | Bill for 3 month period due to timing of my payments |
| Water | $35.96 | I pay every 2 months |
| Groceries | $467.84 | |
| Transport | $272.58 | 3 month train pass for Tokyo |
| Health | $204.88 | Health insurance and masks |
| Other | $23.96 | Postage |
| Necessary | $2,154.14 | More than average for the month |
| Restaurants | $156.54 | |
| Entertainment | $0.00 | |
| Shopping | $215.54 | |
| Travel/Parking | $0.00 | |
| Gifts/Donations | $9.94 | |
| Software/Games | $99.12 | 1 year of password manager + moved domain names |
| Business | $0.00 | |
| Other | $0.00 | |
| Discretionary | $481.14 | Less than average for the month |
| Total Expenses | $2,635.29 | More than average for the month |
| Gross Income | $3,589.96 | Salary |
| Taxes | $423.42 | |
| Net Income | $3,166.55 | About average |
| Savings | $531.26 | Less than average for the month |
| Savings Rate | 16.78% | Less than average for the month |
Projected time to FI (assuming 6% growth and 4% withdrawal rate): 6 years, 9 months.