August began with a busy weekend for me. On Saturday, I played a round of golf with my brother and his two friends. Then we went grocery shopping for barbecue supplies, and enjoyed a late afternoon barbecue. Potato salad… sausages, corn, asparagus.

Sunday was a day of TONS of driving for me. Six hours total. But it was for a very special and unique experience:

I went outdoor rock climbing for the first time ever! It was absolutely exhilarating. I was dependent on other experienced rock climbers to get up and down this giant mountainous rock. I repelled down 300 feet on knots tied by others. It was awesome, and absolutely terrifying. Oh! And after it was all done, I got to go swimming in a natural water hole as the sun was setting. What a magical experience!

In the phase of financial accumulation, it’s important to not be too uptight about frugality. Yes, financial independence is the goal, and driving 300 miles in a day is somewhat counterintuitive towards that goal. However, there’s this thing called “life” that’s quite an experience. Sometimes life calls and you just go with it.

In this case, I got the life experience of climbing a giant rock, while trusting others with my life.

In society and in relationships, there’s nothing more important than trust, so it was good to get a hefty dose of it to start out the month.

Here’s my spending chart for August:

Home/Rent – $1173

Rent – $1083
Internet – $40
Other utilities – $50

Auto – $507

Car Payments – $319
Gasoline/Fuel – $45
Parking/Fines – $117

I made the monthly payment on my auto loan of $319, and spent $71 on gas for the month. This (relatively) high monthly gas spending was mostly due to 6 hours of driving for a climbing day trip. ‘Twas quite the experience! I spent an entire $2 on parking the month.

Even worse than paying for parking: I had to pay a fine. A $115 fine for driving in a bus lane for half a mile or so way back in February. Whoops.

Transit/Travel – $0

No spending in this category for the month. I did do some bicycle maintenance, but I had all the materials I needed, so I didn’t have to spend anything. I did use the metro system in my city, but plenty of cash has been on my metro card since I preloaded it back in April.

Health/Wellness – $18

I got a $13 haircut this month, solid! (Plus a $5 tip). It was one of the few cheap chain haircut chains in the US, and it turned out better than average. That’s a major win in my book.

(I am ignoring my monthly health insurance premiums here)

Sustenance – $231

I spent more than I usually did on groceries and sustenance during August, but I am okay if this trend continues. I happen to be trying to gain weight, so a little month over month growth in food spending should be expected if I’m to meet my weight gain goals!

And positive news, my Chipotle tower shrunk this month, and my grocery spending skyrocketed. I’m happy about this month over month trend, and to be spending more money on higher quality groceries in lieu of the same old convenient food I usually eat.

Still, I am consuming far too much fast food. The convenience and cheapness of this crappy food often overpowers my nutritional will. Daily living is a never ending battle between instant and delayed gratification.

For now, instant gratification drives more of my behavior than I’d like. I have a whole life ahead of me to slowly improve.