I was able to enjoy a few amazing weekends in the month of October. Weather has been permitting for outdoor fun. I got to experience some river kayaking, made possible during this time of year by a wet suit. I ate out just about every meal during this kayaking trip, and during the rest of the month, I’ve been eating lots of pizza and more Chipotle than I have ever before.

I am also doing more pushups more regularly than I have ever before, and steadily achieving my goal of gaining weight

But one especially large event has transpired: I sold a persistently cash flow negative asset of mine for $16,500. Goodbye, car!

I bought it for $16069, but still lost money on the sale thanks to sales tax. But I got plenty of use out of it during my “6 month rental”

Buying a car should be strategic, a long term decision. In this case, it was a somewhat strategic, but not long-term decision. After all, a car is a tool, while it’s often considered an asset.

Cars are expensive tools designed to transport people point A to point B. Such should be done with efficiency in mind.

As a fresh young buck less than one year out of school, I bought an almost new car like a hotshot.

I spent $16,500, which I barely had to my name at the time.

I used cheap credit to buy it, and wouldn’t have even thought about buying it if I had to pay for it up front. In reality, it’s a car way too exorbitant for my needs. But at the same time, it worked out incredibly well as a 6 month rental!

There’s no such thing as a sunk cost.

You can always change the situation you’re in. I bought that car based on emotion.

This is the way many of us humans make our purchases. We are never really chasing any specific thing. But feelings. Feelings of lust and joy and happiness from our purchases. That’s what that car was for me.

I wanted to go home to see my family. I had been looking for cars for weeks.

I had sent 30-40 listings over to an “auto buying concierge” at my credit union, and hadn’t ended up visiting a dealership yet. I was patient, I had time to wait and make a measured decision.

But after weeks of casually looking, I sent a listing, and he came back to me with an ultimatum:

“If you’re comfortable paying a bit more, then this car of all is a buy. It’s underpriced. This is a good deal. A steal.

And he wasn’t wrong. I went for it. I went all in $15769. $16069 after dealer fees.

$17218 after taxes and registration.

Woah… that right there is $1500 entire dollars more than I was expecting! Hidden cost.

Additionally, I was egged on by my credit union representative to get a more expensive car because the bigger my loan, the more my bank gets to lend me, and the more money they make.

And my emotions made it even easier to go all in and splurge on this massive purchase. I had really wanted to go see my parents that following weekend. They were a whole 4 hours drive away, and my brother and his wife weren’t able to drive up that weekend.

I had been out of the country for months, and back in the US living without a car for 45 days or so. I had enough! It was time to buy a car, and where else to buy but from a dealership?

It really was a nice car, there’s no denying that. I enjoyed it. But I’m better off now that I’ve sold it. It was a way nicer of a car than necessary for anyone who just graduated.

Now that the car rant is taken care of, here’s a visualization of my monthly expenses and savings:

Home/Rent – $1193

Rent – $1083
Internet – $40
Utilities – $59
Household Goods – $11

Auto – $313

Car Payments – $308
Parking/Fines – $5

One last payment on my personal loan before paying the entire thing off with the proceeds from selling my car. Also, a surprise toll showed up in the mail this month, from some toll road driving I did back in July.

Transit/Travel – $0

No spending in this category for the month. No bus travel, no air travel. Just a whole lot of driving and biking. And a single subway ride, paid for on my prepaid subway card. Nothing out of pocket here.

Health/Wellness – $0

I’ve been mulling over getting a membership to a nearby climbing gym, at the urging of my roommate. For now, I’m sticking to tennis, biking, and bodyweight fitness, with the occasional trip to my apartment gym. I find working out outside to be much more pleasurable than inside a gym, but as the weather gets colder, outdoor workouts become a tad more difficult.

No health/wellness spending this month, and of course, I’m ignoring my monthly health insurance premiums in these expense reports.

Sustenance – $675

October was a record month for me on sustenance spending, dominated by high grocery spending and a surplus of Chipotle and other eating out. We breached $100 in Chipotle spending for October. A new personal record!

Additionally, I set a personal record for grocery spending this month, stocking up on lots of essentials. 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.

I’ve gained a few pounds since beginning this “weight gain journey.” Time to continue that trend for months in a row. Progress is currently being tracked on a simple and low-budget “straight line progress tracker.”

My restaurant/eating out spending quadrupled month over month, breaching $100. This was mostly driven by my weekend out kayaking. Multiple burgers and buffet breakfasts.