by Michael
As usual, it is time for another expense report. This time for July 2023.
Expenses
| Housing | 1352 |
| Utilities | 393 |
| Groceries | 323 |
| Discretionary | 63 |
| Other | 370 |
| Total | 2,500 |
Housing
Housing was $1,352. Nothing much to say this month.
Utilities
My utilities for the month were about $393. This is the last month I have the $90 deposit for my utilities, it was also a higher bill from the city. I expect this to be lower for the next few months until it starts to cool off.
Not turning on my AC has become a point of pride after the brutal days we got near the end of July. I think I’ll be able to make it to the fall without turning it on.
Groceries
My groceries were about $324. I barely went over this month, I’m going to try and cut back a bit meal-wise next month. I’m thinking I’ll do a bean dish and a rice dish at least once and we’ll see for the other two, maybe another pasta salad or some other warm-weather dish. I also might see if there’s a cheaper fruit I could be bringing for lunch than the apples I have been getting.
Discretionary
My discretionary expenses were about $63. One of my old roommates is getting married in December. I will put some cash aside for that. Including travel costs, I’m guesstimating it will cost me about $300-$400 for travel and a gift and all that. We’ll see how much of this discretionary fund will be available to cover this.
My goal fund currently has $95.
Other
My other expenses were about 370. Some other things needed to be done to my car after I took a look. This was a little higher than expected.
Total
In total, I spent about $2,500. That’s quite a bit over my goal of $2,100. However, if you remove the costs of the car it drops down pretty close to my goal. I’ll have to see about cutting a bit more in other areas to see what I can do. But if it wasn’t easy to get to that goal, it wouldn’t be a good one.
Income
My income for the month was about 6,800. The table below shows the sources of that income. Currently, I do not include investment income in that total.
There was a bonus for my group for this month that won’t be there next month. Also, this was the first month with the new raise. Nothing too exciting overall.
| Source | Amount ($) |
| Take-home | 4445 |
| Retirement | 2342 |
| Total | 6787 |
Account balances
| Account Type | Amount |
| Cash | 16,000 |
| Taxable | 76,000 |
| Retirement | 55,000 |
| Total | 147,000 |
The graph below tracks my change in net worth since I started tracking it in January 2023.
It is still trending up and to the right. That’s what I like to see. Overall, nothing that pops out at me for this month.
Savings Rate
This month, my savings rate was: 62.4%. A little lower than the numbers that I shoot for. I’m still shooting for 66%.
My average savings rate Year to Date is 63.1%.
Much like the net worth graph, the graph below tracks my monthly savings rate. This is to help me track long-term trends regarding my savings.
Still bouncing all over the place and below my goal average savings rate, but not too bad overall.
Goal Updates
| Goal | Term | Type | Progress |
| Expand Emergency Fund | Short | One time | 100 |
| Workout 5 days a week | Short | Continuous | On Track |
| Repair Forge | Medium | One time | 25 |
| Enroll in a Spanish Course | Medium | One time | 0 |
| Reduce Spending in a Category | Medium | Annual | 75 |
| Repair 3D Printers | Medium | One time | On hold |
| Expand Potted Garden | Medium | One time | 100 |
| Net worth 150,000 | Long | One Time | 98 |
| Learn Spanish Verb Conjugation | Long | One time | 30 |
| Set New Workout Goals | Long | Annual | On Track |
| Reach FI | Longer | Continuous | 9.8 |
| Expand Engineering Skills | Longer | Continuous | On Track |
| Obtain some Degree of Fluency in Spanish | Longer | Continuous | On Track |
| Maintain Retirement Contributions | Longer | Continuous | On Track |
| Increase Savings Rate | Longer | Continuous | N/A |
| Expand workout Regime | Longer | One Time | On Track |
I’m getting close to my net worth goal and the year is barely half over. I wasn’t sure what to set it to for this year, I’m thinking I’ll have to be more ambitious next year. Of course, we’ll have to see when the time comes.
The cardio side of working out has been rather hard recently. Smoke has been visible on quite a few mornings so I’m not getting as many steps as I would like.
Otherwise, I’d say most of the goals I set for this month are moving along fine.
That’s it for this month. I’ll see you all next month.
