We loosened the purse strings a little bit after our frugal & healthy month challenge in August, and indulged in a couple date nights out as well as a 4 day/3 night road trip to Moab, UT to celebrate our 5th anniversary.
It wasn’t the big vacation to Maui we had been planning pre-pandemic, but it was just what we needed after this long crazy summer. When your still madly in love with your partner, all you need is some disconnected alone time to find true bliss. Spending that time surrounded by unlimited natural beauty doesn’t hurt either. You can read about our itinerary and how we spent $995 on our road trip to Moab here.
We love travelling and have been to 30 countries, but it has unfortunately been on the backburner over the past few years. After moving back to the states, we bought a home, became parents, moved across the country, and have undertaken a massive home renovation all within a relatively short time frame. Time flies, and we were just getting the travel bug again when the pandemic hit. Hopefully, there will be a lot more travel in our near future!
One other lumpy cost hit this month and we knew it was coming. We finally bit the bullet and got Mr. RFL some new tires for his used Hyundai Sonata. Tires are not cheap. Other than the tires and our trip, recurring monthly operating costs remained fairly consistent from last month.
If you’ve been here before, feel free to skip to the bottom for all the details of our spending in September. Otherwise, see the next few sections for some background to help you in reading our monthly expense reports.
Why share our monthly expenses?
I should confess… seeing the details of other finance bloggers’ spending habits and net worth gives me a voyeuristic thrill. You, too? It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone. Everyone’s financial situation is unique and, as such, you probably shouldn’t judge your own financial progress based on what others have achieved. However, I do believe there is value in sharing information.
It has been motivating to see how many folks in the community are happily embracing simpler lives and how little they spend while doing so. This knowledge has given us the confidence to begin our own journey to financial independence and a lifestyle we believe will be healthier, happier, and more fulfilling. I applaud the kindness and openness of the FIRE community in this regard and want to do my best to pay it forward.
If you’re looking for the frugalist of the frugal, you won’t find that here. While Mr. RFL and I both tend toward minimalism, life is short and we have no problem splurging on things that make us happy (i.e. travel, good booze & music). However, while we continue to spend freely in these value areas, we’d like to ruthlessly cut back everywhere else.
I’m hoping that the commitment to share our spending with you each month will provide us the accountability we need to stick to our goals.
Other information useful in reading this report
Did we just buy a money pit?
We took a risk and bought a complete fixer upper in late 2018… with a toddler. When we moved across the country for Mr. RFL’s job, we chose to live close to his work so that he could have a shorter commute and we could have a better quality of life. After viewing MLS listings online in the months leading up to the move, it quickly became clear that the housing market in the area we wanted to live was quite a bit more expensive than the one we were leaving in North Carolina.
We scored a great deal on a fixer upper with a lot of potential, created a detailed renovation budget, and have been working on projects ever since. We’ve tried to control the costs where we can by learning some new DIY skills and doing a good bit of the work ourselves.
Since this is a whole home renovation, the costs are significant and non-recurring. They are not included in our monthly expenses budget. We have separate assets set aside to cover the expected costs from those in our financial independence portfolio. However, I will still disclose monthly spending for the renovation each month for a complete picture of our spending.
How we define an “expense”
Outside of renovation costs, the table below shows all expenses for the month. I want to point out that principal payments on debt are not included. As a former accountant, I don’t view principal payments to be “expenses” since they directly reduce debt and increase net worth. Our current plan is to have all debt payed off by the time we fully retire. Though I do consider future loan payments when forecasting our projected timeline to financial independence.
Our total debt outstanding at the end of September was $237,400, which represents a decrease of $3,300 from last month. Since the market was down a bit this month, we funneled more money towards investments instead of the mortgage.
Substantially all debt relates to our home mortgage. The “mortgage” expenses included in the table below include mortgage interest and an allocation of annual property tax and insurance costs. We also regularly make extra principal payments to accelerate pay down of this loan, which will reduce future interest costs.
We have no credit card or other debt with a high interest rate. However, we do have approximately $16,600 in low interest or non-interest-bearing loans, including the following:
- Student loans – Though my parents helped pay for college, I still graduated with student loans for the rest. These should be paid off by December 2021 and carry an interest rate of only 0.75% (approximately $3 per month).
- Home renovation project loan – We replaced the 20+ year old HVAC systems as part of our overall home renovation project (see above). The vendor offered us a project loan with 0% interest if paid evenly over four years. Since it’s not that difficult to beat a 0% return, we took advantage of the offer. These payments are included in the monthly renovation spending.
A Road Trip to Moab and Other September 2020 Expenses
Ok, here we go! Below are our monthly expenses for September, along with some thoughts (or excuses).
| Purchase | Amount | Commentary |
| Mortgage | $1,005 | Monthly interest, property tax and insurance |
| Health insurance | $360 | Health insurance is a necessity. Ours is a high deductible plan subsidized by Mr. RFL’s employer |
| Groceries | $465 | Finally, a lower than average month! |
| Dining out | $150 | Three-course anniversary dinner with cocktails and a sushi date night. Saved $ by stacking happy hour and restaurant week deals. |
| Wine & whiskey | $109 | Some wine and stocking our bar (new hobby alert) |
| Household supplies | $120 | Mostly office supplies and self-care products this month |
| Utilities | $384 | August bills. Air conditioning costs are high when temperatures exceed 110 degrees nearly every day. This should be the highest bill of the year. |
| Internet | $42 | Locked in another promotional rate for the next year in June thanks to a 15 min phone call. |
| Cell phone | $58 | Planning to switch to MVNO soon. Just haven’t gotten around to it yet. |
| Streaming subscriptions | $38 | Streaming was out of control so we cancelled it all as an experiment. Most had already billed for September, so October should be lower. |
| Gas for cars | $43 | Doesn’t include gas for road trip |
| Pest control | $65 | Scorpions scare me. We’re currently letting the professionals deal with this. |
| Anniversary Trip | $995 | It wasn’t the big Hawaiian vacation we had planned, but our road trip to Moab was a cheaper and equally enjoyable way to celebrate our 5th anniversary. |
| Auto & liability insurance | $309 | Auto insurance for both cars (3 mths) |
| HOA Dues | $127 | Paid quarterly. Well worth it for the neighborhood amenities |
| Car Maintenance | $763 | New tires for the Sonata. We bought it used and have had for 5 years… those things were deadly and needed to be replaced. |
| Health & Medical | $66 | Vitamins and eye drops |
| Kid’s clothes & supplies | $36 | Growing girl needs new clothes every now and then |
| Home Maintenance | $93 | Air filters & LED light bulbs |
| Other purchases | $96 | Primarily purchase of some Fall décor and birthday gift for nephew |
| TOTAL EXPENSES | $5,324 |
*Does not include monthly expenses for home renovation of $726 (HVAC loan and bathroom vanity lights).
So, what do you think?
Spending was a bit higher in September than our frugal challenge month in August. However, most of the increase was from non-recurring expenses like our anniversary trip (worth every penny) and lumpy car maintenance (a necessary evil of car ownership). Without these two expenses, we would have been right around the August spending amount at $3,566.
Have you travelled at all this year? If so, how have you modified your plans to adapt to the pandemic?
Want to know more about us and why we started this journey? Check out my first post: We’re on a Journey to Financial Independence!
