Expense Update (August 2019)

How does one’s expense look when you retire at 35, have no debt, and no mortgage payments?

Turns out your largest expense for most months will no longer be your housing expense! But your groceries expense?!

Yes, this seems to be the typical norm for me lately but I’m not complaining. 😊 I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love to eat!

Watching my largest expense being groceries alone makes me feel good inside. I guess this is what it’s all about. The simple realization of why financial independence is so great and literally priceless. It reduces stress and raises my happiness bar. It removes the distractions and worries in life which allow my mind to focus on other things.

To maintain my freedom and this FIRE lifestyle, I check my monthly expenses once a month to check the pulse of my finances. To make sure it’s in good health and aligned with my future goals.

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So, let’s see where my money went last month shall we?

Expenses

Groceries: $1,170 – Splurged on food for this month! We had some guests stay over for few nights which added to the higher grocery expense.

Utilities: $481

Home – Maintenance: $229 – Potentially saved between $4,000 to $7,500 fixing a LG dual split Air Conditioner by myself. My unit went out, so I called some people to quote me for a repair. They advised that repairing this unit may not guarantee success due to the age of the unit and recommended to replace the the whole system! This unit is only about 10 years old… No thank you! I located the PCB board for my unit on eBay for about $100 and replaced it along with a $6 fuse that had blown on the power PCB. Powered it up and Walla! Working just as new!

Thank god for YouTube and the internet to provide the knowledge needed to make this repair. I also had my central AC unit serviced to make sure everything works efficiently.

Restaurants: $182

Shopping: $176

Mobile Phone: $123

Auto (Gas): $89

Clothing/Shoes: $45

Landscaping: $40

Auto – Maintenance: $34 – Oil Change for my 20 year old car.

Subscriptions: $32

Travel – Transport: $9

Insurance: $7

Business – Advertisement: $5

Service Fees: $3

Pet Care: $3

Total: $2,628 (+17% from prior month)

Conclusion

44% of this month expense went to groceries?! It was well worth it. We made about $60 worth of home made beef jerky, sous vide some steaks and ribs. If you haven’t tried coffee rub on ribs it’s a MUST!

I need to take some time working down some inventory in the fridge. Keeping the fridge in order is important to me because I really hate throwing away food. Throwing away food oddly reminds me of the days when I survived off one burrito a day in my younger years. For me, being wasteful is closely correlated with being lazy. Even after FIRE, being lazy bothers me. I always have to be doing something or learning something at any given moment. I’m sure I’m not the only one right?!

Anyways, just a short update and another month in the books. Thanks for reading!😊