Well, I’m officially settled into the new job. Loving it so far. Meaningful work, relatively low-stress, solid pay. I can’t complain! As of the end of September, I have a full month under my belt.
Seeing just how much I got paid in one month’s time is kind of mind boggling to me. It’s nothing crazy, but given my spending habits, I’m in a good place.
Here are my September expenses:
Home/Rent – $959
First month paying my full rent at the new place, + a huge chunk of utilities. Plenty of A/C use
Auto – $113
I did a ton of driving for a weekend trip to visit my brother, the entirety of this category is gas. Well worth it though:
We snuck in some tennis, disc golf, paddle boarding, cliff jumping, and enjoyed some home made pizza, as well as home cooked steaks.
Transit/Travel – $107
The biggest hindrance to my mobility this month was a flat tire on my bicycle. Purchased a new tube, paid for the labor, and purchased little plastic tools to enable myself to fix my next flat tire.
Health/Wellness – $30
With the new job comes a new health plan. I’m on a high deductible health plan at work that has some ridiculously low monthly premiums, AND there are incentives available to lower the premium further.
A monthly reduction in health/wellness costs should show up on future expense reports.
Sustenance – $473
Quite a huge chunk of convenience eating this month. $8 Domino’s pizzas are literally killing me, encouraging my natural aversions to cooking/cleaning, while providing good enough taste and a major lack of actual nutrition. I genuinely believe that the pan pizzas aren’t half bad, and I can’t resist the compelling economics of getting 2 meals worth of pizza (shitty pizza, nonetheless) for $4 a meal.Daily Living – $102
Amazon – $55 (Found a sick deal on running shoes, along with an electric razor)
Dating – $47 (Two brewery dates, and an ice cream date!)
Entertainment – ($92)
$52 spent on alcohol, $6 on games, $44 on a paddle board rental and ratchet straps, and $194 in gambling profit (itemized as a negative expense). Thanks to being a fantasy football commissioner and collecting everybody’s league dues, I get to claim a profit in the entertainment category this month.
Misc Expenses – $20
A meager $20 political donation
Monthly Surplus – $4497
Well, I’m back to working full time, and didn’t make any crazy purchases in September. We’re at a 72% savings rate for the month. Insane!
September Purchase of the Month:
The $31 it took to get my bicycle fully functional and ready to ride again! Hopping on my bike has been the thing that’s kept me sane in this crazy world we’re living in. $31 is a small price to pay to get that thing up and running again. Such a functional and fun fast travel workout machine!
The other nifty thing I did this month was sending almost 100% of my paycheck to my 4o1k account. Without a job, I have been missing out on the ability to use employer sponsored tax-advantaged accounts, (401k, health savings accounts).
I’m incredibly lucky to have gotten a job during the economic slump we’re all experiencing, and I’m even luckier to have the ability to pump cash into tax-advantaged accounts for the last 4 months of 2020 to use up the tax-advantaged space open to me, and make up for the lost time earlier in the year.
