I’m continuing my condo hunt but am also still aiming to max out my retirement accounts this year. I’ll only be placing an offer on the perfect place. I do want to increase my cash on hand though. So, in August, I contributed less to my Roth and 401k than in previous months and plan to do the same in September. I’ll increase my contributions eventually and slowly tighten my monthly spend.
Here is where my accounts stand at the end of August:
| Liquid Assets | Jul-17 | Aug-17 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash & Checking | $1,000 | $1,158 | +$158 |
| Brokerage #1 | $0 | $150 | +$150 |
| Emergency Fund | $3,380 | $3,385 | +$5 |
| Short Term Savings | $1,125 | $2,000 | +$875 |
| Vanguard Fund | $500 | $500 | +$0 |
| Illiquid Assets | Jul-17 | Aug-17 | Change |
| Brokerage | $460 | $466 | +$6 |
| Savings Bonds | $2,060 | $2,085 | +$25 |
| Retirement | Jul-17 | Aug-17 | Change |
| Roth IRA | $17,367 | $17,657 | +$290 |
| Traditional 401K | $26,171 | $27,423 | +$1,252 |
| Net Worth | $52,063 | $54,824 | +$2,761 |
| % Change | 5.3% | ||
I’m surprised my net worth increased as much as it did. I usually aim for an increase of $2,500 which I exceeded even though a lot less of my money was placed in my pre-tax 401K account. I even opened a brokerage account with some extra income I received this month.
I’m now a little behind on my goals for 2017 since I’ve decided to adjust the timeline, but I’ll get there unless I buy a condo, I have fully funded my next vacation though:
| Fund/Goal | Contrib. | Total | Goal | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 401K | $886 | $11,552 | $18,000 | 64.2% |
| Roth IRA | $160 | $4,160 | $5,500 | 75.6% |
| Emergency Fund | $30 | $5,470 | $5,500 | 99.5% |
| Vanguard Fund |
$0 | $500 | $3,000 | 16.7% |
| Vacation* | $—- | $1,125 | $1,000 | 112.5% |
August Budget
You saw the play by play of my August spending. I was pleased with my spending habits. I had an emergency towards the end which required me to buy last minute plane tickets in order to attend a funeral halfway across the country. Luckily I have a travel credit card with plenty of reward points so the ticket purchase wasn’t that expensive. I didn’t have to dip into my emergency fund and it didn’t throw off my budget.
| Category | Budgeted | Actual | Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | $1,650 | $1,652 | $2 over |
| Fixed Expenses | $100 | $91 | $9 under |
| Medical | $- | $74 | |
| Food | $200 | $91 | $109 under |
| Everything Else | $250 | $265 | $15 over |
| Total | $2,200 | $2,099 | $101 under |
Not included in the above is reimbursed (business) food spending. I had a business trip early in the month which explains the low food expenditure.
The daily budget approach seemed to be really helpful. I was $100 under budget, at the end of the month. Things I would like to focus on in September include:
- Limiting online purchases to two days a week
- I’m not sure I actively attempted to do this in August. I’m aiming for Mondays and Thursdays.
- Keeping track of daily expenses.
- I’ll try to keep a manual diary from now on utilizing the daily $15/day budget. I’d like to decrease this to $10/day eventually.
- Limiting nonsocial eating.
- I saw this suggestion elsewhere in the blogosphere. It essentially limits eating alone. This means little to no starbucks, takeout, food deliveries, etc. I don’t do much of this anyways, but I would have saved $50 had I followed this rule in August.
A Tale of Finances 