August was supposed to be a no spend month, at least for non-essentials. That didn’t quite happen, but I did a decent job. I also had a couple of unanticipated essential purchases that were larger than I’d like. Thanks Murphy! First, let’s look into my net worth, which didn’t change much:
Liquid Assets | Start | End | Change |
---|---|---|---|
Cash & Checking | $3,300 | $3,100 | ($200) |
Emerg. Fund | $7,600 | $7,900 | +$300 |
Savings | $3,500 | $3,400 | ($100) |
Brokerage | $3,500 | $3,400 | ($100) |
HSA | $2,300 | $2,600 | +$300 |
Illiquid Assets | Start | End | Change |
Home Eq | $31,700 | $32,400 | +$700 |
401K | $62,800 | $63,000 | +$200 |
Roth IRA | $30,900 | $30,900 | +$0 |
Debt | Start | End | Change |
Loans | ($3,300) | ($3,300) | +$0 |
Net | $142,300 | $143,400 | $1,100 |
% Change | 0.8% |
And there you have it! I have nothing to show for my modest contributions to my retirement accounts. August was a rocky month for the stock market due to the ongoing trade war.
Spending
The no-spend stipulation was a challenge. And even though I did fairly well, my medical expenses offset an otherwise low-spend month. Keeping myself alive is costly. At least I didn’t have to dip into my sinking funds.
Category | Budget | Actual | Diff |
---|---|---|---|
(1)Bills & Utilities | $125 | $100 | $25 under |
(2)Food | $300 | $324 | $24 over |
(3)Medical | $- | $279 | $- |
(4)Misc | $500 | $395 | $105 under |
(5)Sinking Funds | $- | $- | $- |
Total (1+2+4+5) | $925 | $819 | $106 under |
Total + Medical (3) | $1,098 | $173 over |
Bills & Utilities
I only paid two bills (electricity and internet) and they were low.
Food
I was all set to be within my $300 budget, but I met up with a visiting for brunch on the last day of the month. The cost of said brunch? The amount in which I went over budget: $24. It was worth it!
Medical
I spent nearly $300 keeping myself alive, and it’s paying off! This is the first time in over a year in which I can say my health has improved The improvement is slight and needs to be greater. I will most likely add another expensive medication to my treatment plan. But I’ll take it.
Misc
So this month was a no spend month for non-essentials in the “miscellaneous” category. It wasn’t easy, especially the first week or two. I did a fairly decent job of sticking to the plan, with the exception of three non-essential purchases that totaled ~$100. Two purchases I was intending to make in September, but the items had huge (>40%) mark downs on Amazon. I use camelcamelcamel to follow items on my wishlist and snatch up good deals.
Notable essential purchases include:
- A new (to me) cellphone- $90 (unanticipated)
- New luggage – $70 (unanticipated)
- Transportation Costs – $80 (anticipated)
Conclusions & Next Month
The no-spend made a huge difference this month. I know I would have gone way over budget otherwise. I wish I could make September another no-spend month, but I don’t have it in me. I’ll probably try again in January. Until then, I’ll work on figuring out a better way to stay within budget.
Noticed you haven’t done October yet. Hope you’re doing well! Keep up the good work
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Thanks for checking in… yeah I never got around to last month’s update. I’ll be doing two at once in a few days. Life’s been a little crazy.
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