Revealing Rich Frugal Life’s November 2022 Financial Results

Welcome to Rich Frugal Life’s November 2022 financial results!

Before we get into the numbers, here’s a little bit about what we did this month.

The holiday season is here!

I used to dread this time of year when I was working in public accounting, because it meant that “busy season” and 80 hour work-weeks were just around the corner. Now I get to actually slow down and enjoy the season, which is awesome.

This month we hosted our first Thanksgiving. It was small with only 5 of us and a turkey breast instead of the whole bird, but lovely none the less (and hectic in the kitchen).

We also took a short trip up to Flagstaff to visit Santa’s workshop (surprisingly, our daughter’s first time meeting the “real Santa”). More on that trip in the Travel section below.

Backyard renovation update

We finally have a pretty and functional backyard!

The additional turf and paver patio installs are complete. In total, we spent around $11,000 on the backyard in November, so it was a pricey renovation month.

However, where there is turf there are NO weeds! Weeds are a much bigger problem in the desert than we ever expected. The reduced maintenance and additional greenery are well worth the cost in our opinion.

I wish I could say the backyard is done now, but there are still a few projects left.

Next year, we’ll do a rock refresh and add some architectural features to tie everything together in the backyard. We’ll also plant a few low-maintenance shrubs along our hillside, hang some string lights and buy some more yard games.

For the front yard, we are also contemplating some minor regrading and rock work, but that’s still TBD.

It may not be done, but we’ve come a long way from where we started. I’ll include total costs by project in an upcoming update post on our home renovation.

Without further ado, here are our November 2022 financial results, with all the juicy details of this month’s spending, passive income, savings rate, and investments.

Why share the details of our spending and finances?

Because I’m nosey and enjoy reading about other people’s spending habits and net worth.  Maybe you do, too.

Everyone’s financial situation is unique.  However, I believe there is value in sharing information to provide context and normalize the discussion of money.

Seeing other people happily embrace simpler lives gave us the confidence to begin our own journey to financial independence and a lifestyle we believe will be healthier, happier, and more fulfilling.  I’m just trying to pay it forward.  Sharing our finances each month also helps us stay accountable.

Other information useful in reading our monthly financial results

Did we just buy a money pit?

We bought a complete fixer upper in late 2018… with a toddler.  When we moved across the country for Mr. RFL’s job, housing costs were much higher than we were used to.  So, we decided to just go for it when we found a great deal on a fixer upper.

We’ve been working on projects ever since, trying to do as much as we can ourselves to learn some new skills and save money.  Since the costs of a whole home renovation are significant and non-recurring, we don’t include them in our monthly expense budget.  However, we do share renovation costs each month for full transparency.  

How we define an “expense”

The table below shows all expenses for the month, excluding renovation costs.  Principal payments on debt are not included.  As an accountant, I don’t view principal payments as “expenses,” since they directly reduce debt and increase net worth.  We don’t anticipate having any debt in retirement. 

November 2022 Financial Results

Investments

We made a net investment of $4,700 to our Financial Independence (“FI”) portfolio during the month. This number includes employer matches but does not include reinvested dividends.   

Although we’ve invested the majority of our net earnings so far in 2022, we’re funneling all of our excess cash into our donor-advised fund for the rest of the year to reach our charitable giving goal.

Here’s a break-out of investments made this month:

Regularly tracking our investments and net worth has been a big factor in our financial success.

You can easily track your investments and net worth, as well as plan for retirement, for FREE with Personal Capital (affiliate link).

Debt

We currently have $170,300 in debt, the majority of which relates to our mortgage.

Because our mortgage has a fixed interest rate of 2.5%, which is currently LESS than what our high-yield savings account pays, we have no plans to make additional principal payments anytime soon.  

Savings Rate

Our after-tax savings rate this month was 79.5%. This is about average for us this year.

We calculate our savings rate after taxes, as we believe this allows us to best understand our true living expenses. It also allows us to better compare our expenses and savings rates over a period of time.

Although we currently pay a lot in taxes, we expect this number to be much lower in early retirement.

November 2022 Financial Results: Monthly spending

Ok, full disclosure time! The table below shows our expenses for the month, along with some additional thoughts (or excuses).

*Does not include monthly spending for home renovation of $11,416. Also excludes charitable contributions made, as we don’t share that information publicly. While we do budget for donations each year, we don’t like to treat charitable giving as an “expense” against our budget (to encourage more giving.)

Housing-Related – $715

Housing-related costs include mortgage interest paid, and a monthly allocation for property taxes, insurance, and HOA dues. 

Insurance – $452

This category includes our premiums for auto, term life, personal liability, and health insurance.

Health insurance premiums are withheld from Mr. RFL’s paycheck, but all our other insurance plans are paid annually or biannually.  We allocate an amount for auto insurance each month since the cost is high, but other insurance premiums are included here only when they’re actually paid.

Food – $1,141

And we’re back to being over budget for the year…

This spending was made up of $843 for groceries, which included a trip to Costco and a large order from ButcherBox (referral link), which we only buy every 4 – 6 months.

We also spent $298 on restaurants, although $150 of this was to buy discounted gift cards to one of our favorite local restaurants.

Household Consumables – $40

This category includes most of the non-food consumables used in our household, such as toilet paper, shampoo, skincare, laundry detergent, cleaning products, etc. Nothing exciting this month.

Utilities – $249

Utilities includes electric, water, gas, and security. 

This is one of the cheapest times of the year for utilities in Arizona.

Alcohol – $536

So much for staying under $1,000 on alcohol this year! This month’s spending put us about 50% over budget for the year, although it’s still less than we spent on alcohol a couple years ago.

This hefty bill is the result of orders from the Napa and Sonoma wineries at which we are members. It purchased an embarrassingly low number of bottles, but now we have some nicer wines for special occasions, since we usually drink at home.

Travel – $156

An mentioned above, we took a short trip up to Flagstaff to attend the North Pole Experience. We bought the event tickets over the summer and used points to pay for our one-night hotel stay, so these costs are only for food, gas, and a souvenir.

The tickets weren’t cheap but our daughter was so excited to meet the “real Santa Claus in real life,” and even more excited to get a teddy bear from him in person.

I don’t think we’ll make it an annual tradition like some families around here do, but it was certainly worth the price of admission this time.

Entertainment & Learning – $82

This category is for television, streaming music, books, games, concerts, and other family activities.

Black Friday usually has some of the best deals for streaming, and this year didn’t disappoint!

We signed up to get Hulu (with ads) and Disney+ (ad-free) for $4.98 per month. These are the services we typically buy year-round and represent a massive savings off the regular costs that we’ll be able to enjoy for the next year.

I also signed up for Discovery+ which had a $0.99 per month offer for 3 months. That should be enough time to catch up on my favorite home and cooking shows before cancelling.

Finally, I bought two cookbooks this month during a black Friday sale (affiliate links). I’ve previously checked these books out at the library, so knew I wanted to add them to my collection.

Clothes – $250

You wouldn’t know I recently completed an almost two-year clothing ban with the way I’ve been buying clothes lately. December is already looking to be another big spend month for clothing.

 During November I bought a couple items during Pact’s black Friday sale (referral link), which I added to my growing collection of organic cotton clothes.

I also caved and bought a Vuori jogger and hoodie this month when our American Express Blue Cash Preferred card had a $25 cash back offer. I’d been eyeing them for a while but couldn’t fathom spending that much for a pair of sweatpants. Ironically, I used to buy much more expensive things with less debate. Even with the 20% off new customer discount and cash back bonus, they were pricey. However, they are incredibly soft and my cost per wear is already pretty low.

(American Express link above is my referral link. Spend $3,000 in your first 6 months for a $300 sign up bonus, while offer lasts)

Child Care – $0

I forgot to prepay for December after-school care, so December’s bill will be larger.

Kid Activities & Other Purchases – $14

It was a pretty cheap month for the kiddo. I bought one small Christmas present for her, but that’s it. This will obviously be higher next month.

Furniture, Tools & Other Home Purchases – $809

The majority of this money was spent on three purchases, although we did get a couple smaller items during the month as well.

The first big purchase was a fancy motorized standing desk (affiliate link). Since my new part-time gig will require even more time than I already spend at a computer, I wanted to set up a proper workstation to avoid sitting for prolonged periods of time. Afterall, health is wealth.

I also bought a Staub cast iron skillet on black Friday, which Mr. RFL will give to me for Christmas (affiliate link). This is another item that I’ve been thinking about buying for a while. I don’t have any cast iron skillets and we’re trying to reduce our use of non-stick pans, so I feel good about this purchase.

The final big purchase this month was for an upgrade in our home security equipment.

November 2022 Financial Results: Other Income

While the majority of our income still comes from W-2 wages and related employee benefits (i.e. 401k match), we’re continuing to build our passive and other income streams.

The total non-employer related income earned this month was $4,972.

Inheritance

We received another $3,800 this month from my grandmother’s estate after her passing earlier this year. This money went directly into our Donor-advised giving account to help us reach our 2022 funding goals.  

Investment income

We earned $830 in interest and dividends this month. Next month will be a big one…

Reselling

I made a whopping $5 this month reselling on Poshmark.

This month, I also discovered the joy of giving away things to our local “buy nothing” group!

We gave away a lot of items, some of which we could have easily sold for cash if we tried. It is so much more satisfying and less stressful to give things to neighbors who want them, or are collecting for families in need. I’m thinking of shutting down my Poshmark store, or at least saving it for big dollar items, and giving everything else away through the buy nothing group in the future.

Blog income

While I didn’t make any real income on the blog this month, I did receive a $60 credit off my next order from two ButcherBox sign ups which always makes me excited!

Link above is to my ButcherBox review blog post. Funnily enough, I think ButcherBox has also read my review and is on to these money-saving hacks, as they recently introduced a 90 day max for adding new “deals” to your box. No worries, you can still take advantage, just wait until 90-days before you want your shipment to start shopping the deals.

Cash Back Rewards

We received $195 in cash back rewards this month.

We strategize the timing of expenses and charge everything we can in order to maximize credit card rewards. However, we always pay the full balance due each month.

That’s a wrap on our November 2022 financial results. How’d your month go?

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