As a new initiative to bring on my early retirement even earlier I am going to share with you – dear reader – where my money goes. A little wallet watching, budget balancing, money minding fun. I, too, have moments of weakness when it comes to spending money. Money which I have, but don’t need to spend. However, if I am accountable to my readers I should spend less. Right? By Wallet Engineer #1
Income – $1614
Income was back to normal this month. The amount deposited into my checking about is ~$647 every two weeks, $160 into savings or $1614 reported by MINT. This number will increase in July in preparation for (hopefully) buying a (reasonably priced) house.
Investments (NOT SHOWN) – $2053.08
This number will decrease on the July report as I turn off my automatic investments in preparation for a probably house purchase. I want to avoid selling my stocks to buy a house as that is the seed of my early retirement. However I’ll have some more musings on that in a future article.
401k - $582.08 ($291.04 x 2 )
Stock account – $840 ($420 x 2, ). – This is all sitting in cash.
IRA – $422 ( $211 x 2, or $5486 per year).
In preparation for a house down payment starting JUNE 2014:
My 401k contribution will decrease to 5% (however, with company profit sharing this will be approximately 17% so I’m still killing it there and may permanently leave it at 5% so I can invest more into easily accessibly taxable accounts). After accounting for tax implications = +129 to checking x2 = $258 per month to checking
My ROTH IRA contribution will decrease to $5 per paycheck. I’m leaving a token amount so that I do not have to fill out a bunch of paperwork again when I resume. + 206 x 2 = +412 per month to checking
My CapitalOne Sharebuilder taxable brokerage account will decrease to $5 per paycheck. Again, I’m leaving a token amount so that I do not have to fill out a bunch of paperwork again when I resume. +415 x 2 = +$830 per month to checking
Next month expect to see INCOME at 2x (647+160+ 206+415+129) = $3114
Expenses – $1530 ($1111 + $419)
I’d be below budget if I didn’t have chiropractor bills!!
Auto Insurance
The rate is down from when I lived in Minnesota. I will be seeking new quotes in July when I turn 25. This will mark approximately 2 years with the current policy, so it’s due for a refresh!
Gas and Fuel
This appears to be down, however I filled up this morning (6/2) so June is going to be over again.
Phone, Movie, GYM
My phone bill has dropped dramatically!! My bill is now $29.71 per month ($25 +tax) through Republic Wireless – unlimited talk, text and 3G (uncapped up to 5GB) instead of $91 per month from Verizon. My new phone($179) pays for itself in 3 months. Wooh!
My number will be transferred over ASAP.
My number couldn’t be transferred (rare).
Movie was over, but expected – X-Men Days of Future Past came out and I bought popcorn to share because I didn’t drive.
GYM is gym. This is where I go climbing twice a week.
Alcohol and Bars
I had to restrain myself this past week. I went to the store yesterday (6/1) and bought some drinks.
Groceries
This is significantly overbudget, however I stocked up on a lot of clearance and sale items at Target. Mac & Cheese and pasta was half price so I bought a bunch.
Target was running a sale on health bars – Clif Bars in my case. I eat about 3/week – two when I climb and one on the weekends. The deal was buy $30 and get $10 off. Normally Clif bars are between $0.90 – $1.25 per bar, but this sale put the unit price around $0.70… thus the overbudget for this month. 36 bars for $25.37.
Fast Food and Restaurants
FAIL. I went out twice, however our monthly dinner for my club was at a fancier restaurant (Ted’s Montana Grill in Boulder, CO). No Fast Food as usual.
Mortgage and Rent
Rent as expected.
MISCELLANEOUS ( EVERYTHING ELSE) -$419
Service & Parts- Car wash and wiper fluid. Winter is officially over so I got the undercarriage cleaned to make sure any residual salt is gone. I need new wiper blades…
Home Phone – Skype subscription. I actually used it this month to call my parents.
Gift – I donated money to a friend to help buy a DSLR for field coursework.
Dentist – I got my first cavity. UGHHHHHHH. It was tiny, but still a cavity. Also, I found out that there is a one year waiting period on my dental insurance for anything other than routine cleaning, x-rays, etc. and I (technically) switched companies and insurance in February. Ugh.
Doctor – Corrective care for my spine three times a week, every week. My spine is messed up, but I’m on the mend.
Software – $6 – I bought a copy of Total Annihilation – a favorite of mine when I was much younger. I’ve definitely gotten $6 of fun from it.
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