It’s that time to see where and how the money flows. Examining how I utilize my resources. Making sure my largest expense is my contribution to my investments. Keeping myself accountable.

My lifestyle and budget have both come together nicely where there is no need for fretting over the day to day spends. I do care about getting good deals of course but I don’t fret about how much money I spend or how much I have remaining in my budget anymore.

When I go to a restaurant, I don’t even look at the prices much of the times. Even when grocery shopping, I check prices to make sure I’m not getting ripped off but simply get whatever I feel like eating.

There must be a point in which you must decide what is enough. What lifestyle you will be satisfied with. Some may wish to have more, and some will be perfectly happy with less.

What is important is to anticipate for unexpected spends. It’s important to have a decent amount leeway in your budget for unexpected spends. FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) with a tight budget is probably not the best way to go about things, in my opinion.

For me, the game is to create enough wealth and manage your investments where your life options continue to grow even beyond FIRE. This is where tracking expenses comes in to make sure my objectives are in line and being met.

 

The day you decide to go FIRE is the day you draw a line beneath your foundation. This does not mean you can’t raise your foundation in the future. It simply provides a point in life where you declare to reclaim your time and freedom to pursue other things in life. For me, it resembles ending a chapter in a book as the next part of the story begins.

One thing is for sure, retiring early has its risks. Mitigating such risks and forming the right habits before and after FIRE are crucial. Your days will seem longer than those of your working days. The importance of having a purpose in life will not change. It’s important to keep inspired.

Anyways, let’s get to it!

 

Expenses

Rental – Expenses: $1,350  This expense was from a roof repair done on a rental property back in March. Looks like the contractor made the deposit on April.

Taxes: $695

Groceries: $616

Accounting: $600

Utilities: $385

Shopping: 289

Auto – Maintenance: $183

Auto – Gas: $179

Restaurants: $179

Mobile Phone: $131

Auto – Registration: $129

Home – Landscaping: $40  I wonder if I should mow my own lawn now that I have all the time in the world to do so… I would save quite a lot of money over the years.

Home – Trash/Sewer: $32

Subscriptions: $20

Service Fees: $12

Postage & Shipping: $11

Insurance – HOI: $7

Business – Advertising: $2 This was from an experiment spent on Instagram advertising.

Total: $4,856 (-9.6% from prior month)

 

Conclusion

Nothing out of the ordinary for the month besides the roof repair expense. Most of my large expenses such as property taxes are now out towards the end of the year.

I use Personal Capital to track all my finances including my investments. The software is by far the best free software in my opinion.

Expenses seem to be in line with expectations for the most part. Especially in the departments such as shopping, travel expense, and entertainment. I spend more on gifts than for myself which is included in my shopping expense. I feel I have everything I need in life. Rather, I need to sell a bunch of things I no longer need or use.

The combined expenses from groceries and restaurant spending is $795. My love for food clearly is reflected here. This month I have been eating too much. Time for some discipline here.

Most of my entertainment lately has been exploring the city and trying out new foods. I started a new Instagram account called FoodBeyondFIRE just for food related posts. My discovery of how much I enjoy cooking and food came after FIRE.

I haven’t been to Yellowstone so I may be taking a road trip there to do some exploring. I love the nature and go for a good road trip adventure. Any suggestions or recommendations on where to visit there?

Lately, I think more about what to get for my loved ones. I am thinking about building a new computer for my dad. He can use an upgrade since the computer I built him is now almost 6 years old. He likes to play some games from time to time and he tells me games struggle on his computer now.

Spending money on my loved ones brings a different kind of happiness. I hope I can do this more and in larger scale as I journey through this FIRE lifestyle. Thank you for reading.