Started a new job this month. So far, it’s much nicer than my previous job. It’s refeshing to work on a new team doing a new project, especially one that already has a proven track record of success. Hopefully my tenure here will be longer than my previous jobs in Japan, since I’m tired of going through the motions to change jobs every 6 months or so. Not counting relatively short gaps between jobs, I haven’t had a real vacation in almost 2 years. Which, I guess is just as well seeing as travel has been a no-go for almost all of that time. Speaking of travel, I’m coming up on finishing the first phase of minimum spend for my most recent card. I’m well short of reaching the spending goal ($5,000 in 3 months, of which I’m at just under $1,000), so I’ll likely make a short-term interest-free loan to Uncle Sam in exchange for finishing my minimum spend and earning 80,000 United miles. I think that’s a fair trade-off, and it’s by far the easiest way to meet minimum spend for someone in my position.
Also, the Olympics have finally gotten going here, after a year’s delay. It seems pretty subdued compared to a regular Olympics, but I’m kind of glad it isn’t getting too out of hand. Makes it easier for us residents that only a small fraction of newcomers were allowed in. It’s a shame that Japan will likely take a huge financial loss as a result, and I hope that will serve as a lesson going forward of the risks and dangers of stepping up to host an event of that scale. Sports are fun to watch every so often, but it isn’t worth shelling out billion of dollars just to host a giant sporting event once in a generation. Let someone else do it and reap the benefits by participating.
Anyway, that’s enough Olympics griping for one post. Here’s my July expenses:
| Category | 07/21 | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Rent | $897.00 | |
| Internet | $49.81 | |
| Cell Phone | $29.53 | |
| Natural Gas | $17.69 | |
| Electricity | $60.69 | Air conditioning in Tokyo summers is a necessity, and unfortunately isn’t cheap. |
| Water | $0.00 | |
| Groceries | $626.47 | |
| Transport | $43.33 | |
| Health | $0.00 | No insurance during my gap between jobs |
| Other | $0.09 | |
| Necessary | $1,724.61 | |
| Restaurants | $190.25 | |
| Entertainment | $26.00 | Good deal on sci-fi Audiobooks |
| Shopping | $168.76 | |
| Travel/Parking | $460.05 | Weekend staycation with my girlfriend |
| Gifts/Donations | $0.00 | |
| Software/Games | $14.27 | Awardwallet subscription renewal |
| Business | $0.00 | |
| Other | $0.00 | |
| Discretionary | $859.33 | |
| Total Expenses | $2,583.94 | |
| Gross Income | $1,952.08 | Partial salary from my last month at previous job |
| Taxes | $195.72 | |
| Net Income | $1,756.36 | |
| Savings | -$827.58 | Negative due to receiving only partial salary |
| Savings Rate | -47.12% | |
| Net Worth | $426,296.73 | Maintaining status quo from last month |
Projected time to FI (assuming 6% growth and 4% withdrawal rate): 5 years, 9 months.