Anniversary Staycation, a Big Win, and September 2022 Financial Results

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

Before we get into the numbers, here’s a little bit about what we were up to last month.

We spent A LOT of money this month!

We’re back in renovation mode and nearing the end of the backyard portion of our remodel.

Besides committing to spend another $11,000 in October, we made a few purchases this month to add to the yard’s potential awesomeness (and distract future buyers from the lack of a pool).

These purchases included a new outdoor kitchen island that we bought from Costco for $2,700. I’ve been eyeing this model for a couple years now, and after finally accepting that we didn’t want to shell out $5,000 – $10,000 for a custom BBQ island, we pulled the trigger during a recent sale. 

Technically the island isn’t a permanent fixture, but since it’s huge and will stay with the house when we move, we coded it to our home renovation budget.

Backyard photos coming next month…

This isn’t where the spending stopped this month, but I’ll get into that more in the expense section below.

Anniversary staycation and wine-tasting

Mr. RFL and I celebrated our 7^th wedding anniversary this month. Normally, we like to get away for a few days around our anniversary, but this year we opted for a kid-free staycation.

One of the days, we decided to take a daytrip to do some wine tasting in Arizona’s Verde Valley. The excursion was fun, and the wine was better than I expected, but I don’t think it’s going to be the next Sonoma or Napa.

We also splurged on a fancy dinner out at one of the local resorts, played board games, and enjoyed some peace and quiet (along with each other’s company).  

I actually won a Plutus Award!

The other exciting thing that happened this month… I won this year’s Plutus Award for ‘Best Financial Independence of Retire Early Content’!

If you missed it, here’s the link to my celebratory post.

Without further ado, here are our September 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 a former 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. 

September 2022 Financial Results

Investments

As mentioned in our recent net worth update, I will no longer be sharing our total investment balance or net worth going forward.

We’ve already surpassed our financial independence goal, so that information is no longer necessary for someone to understand where we are along our FIRE journey.

However, I will still be regularly sharing updates on our investing strategy, portfolio allocation, and other investing information that I believe might be helpful.

This will now include updates on how we are investing our money each month (though this is for informational purposes only and NOT investing advice).  

During September, we made a net investment of $9,200 to our Financial Independence (“FI”) portfolio. This number includes employer matches but excludes dividends reinvested.   

Here’s a break-out of how that money was invested:

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 $172,900 in debt, the majority of which relates to our mortgage. Because our mortgage only has an interest rate of 2.5%, we rarely make additional principal payments anymore. 

Savings Rate

Our after-tax savings rate this month was 74%.

Despite having the benefit of quarterly dividend income, this was our second lowest savings rates of the year… no doubt, thanks to our many home purchases and splurges in September.

That’s okay. This month’s spending was not representative of our normal monthly spending, and this is still a higher savings rate than we need to sustain at this point in our journey. 

We use an after-tax rate since it allows us to better assess our true living expenses and savings rate over time. While we currently pay a lot in taxes, we’re also still bringing in a high income. Our taxes should be much lower in early retirement.

September 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 $3,129, or charitable contributions made, which we don’t share publicly or treat as “expenses” (to encourage more giving).

Housing-Related – $719

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 – $1,065

We spent A LOT on food this month, with $674 going towards groceries and a whopping $391 going towards restaurants!

Nothing special with the groceries other than inflation and multiple stock-ups (including Costco).

For dining out, the spending was higher than our average, but not that far above the budgeted amount.  Since it was our anniversary month, we splurged a little more than usual, in addition to our regular weekly ‘day date’ lunches and coffees.

We’re still on track to come in right around our budgeted amount for food for the year.

Household Consumables – $170

This category includes most of the non-food consumables used in our household, such as toilet paper, shampoo, skincare, laundry detergent, cleaning products, etc. 

Why was this spending so high in September? One word: Costco. That said, I’m now good on cleaning products and several other items for at least the next year.

Utilities – $347

Utilities includes electric, water, gas, and security. 

It’s still hot here, but these costs are starting to come down.

Fees – $129

We paid $129 to renew our Costco membership and upgrade to the executive club membership this month.

Although we typically don’t spend enough money at Costco to make the upgrade worth it, we had a few large purchases planned this time. The extra 2% cash back on just these two purchases more than covered the upgrade cost.

Alcohol – $294

Well folks, we officially joined another wine club, so spending in this category is going back up!

The vineyard is in Napa and is the sister vineyard to the wine club we were members of a couple years ago.

Entertainment & Learning – $261

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

This month in addition to our usual streaming, we purchased an annual subscription to Simply Piano and went on a wine tasting adventure. We also made it to another Diamondbacks baseball game, but the tickets and food were once again provided by Mr. RFL’s employer, limiting our costs to the parking only.

Fitness & Wellness – $423

Splurge alert: I bought a new Apple watch (Series 8) this month!

Because I use this watch almost entirely for health and fitness reasons, I decided that this budget category was the best place to include the cost.

Previously, I rocked an Apple watch 3. I’ve worn it almost every day for the last 2.5 years and am excited about all the new features, so the cost was well worth it to me. Mr. RFL now has an old Apple 3 watch to try out.  

Child Care – $0

Nothing this month since we prepaid for after-school care in August and only utilized the free baby-sitting services of Grandma & Grandpa in September.

Kid Activities & Other Purchases – $51

We’re taking a break from swim lessons, so the only costs in September were to buy a few pairs of new shoes for constantly growing feet.

Furniture, Tools & Other Home Purchases – $1,204

We made a few larger home purchases in September that contributed to this being a high-spend month. However, as noted above, the new outdoor kitchen island was allocated towards our renovation budget, so is not reflected in this total.

Other large purchases included in this category were two sets of new patio furniture ($750) and a media cabinet for our TV ($200).

I also bought a fancy anti-fatigue gel mat for my standing desk (affiliate link), a temperature controlled electric kettle to replace my rusted-out teapot (affiliate link), and way too much fall décor from Target. 

September 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 $4,004.

Interest & Dividends

We earned $3,628 in interest and dividends this month!

I love quarter-end months! The payout is just so satisfying to see.

We’re currently reinvesting all our investment earnings since Mr. RFL is still working, but someday we’ll use it to fund our early retirement.

The investment income we earned in the first nine months of the year was enough to cover 35% of our actual expenses over that same period!

While some of these dividends are being earned within our retirement accounts, the majority is in accounts we can access now.

The higher that percentage gets, the fewer investments we’ll need to sell to make up the difference. And in times like these, where the market is down, selling less will drastically improve the longevity of our portfolio.

Blogging

I earned $6 in Amazon affiliate income this month. This may seem small, but it’s the most I’ve earned so far and will go a (very) short way towards offsetting my blogging expenses. Thank you to anyone who used one of my links to make a purchase!

I also received a $30 credit towards my next ButcherBox order, since someone gave it a try using my referral link. Since this is a discount off future purchases, rather than cash, I don’t technically count it as income. However, I’m grateful for the discount and show of support, nonetheless! 

Check out my unpaid ButcherBox review to learn more about the service and how I actually lowered my grocery bills by making the switch (and got better quality meats and seafood).

Making money was not, and is not, a primary goal of this blog. That said, I dedicate a lot of time to blogging and would prefer it to at least be a cost neutral hobby. As such, I occasionally include referral or affiliate links to help offset my costs. I’d also really like to upgrade my hosting plan in the future, which costs $$$.

While I don’t expect to earn much blogging income in the near future, I will begin sharing this metric going forward for anyone interested.

Reselling

No reselling sales this month.

Cash Back Rewards

We received $120 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 it for our September 2022 financial results. How’d your month go?

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