Monthly Review: May 2018

This was a weird month for sure. Between three different trips I was only home 10 out of 31 days. I still somehow spent right at my average in groceries even with the time out. Most of the extra costs this month came from an amazing trip I took down to Austin with mine and Leslie’s family. There was good food, good views, and even Chicken S#!T Bingo…You have to check it out in the video below.

Oh and one more thing…I finally did it! I crossed the $250k threshold after getting soooo close all the way back in January. First time I can actually use the word “million” without it sounding weird. Quarter million sounds so wild. I hope as always people can read this and be inspired and not see it as boastful.

There were no tricks or crazy homerun investments. Just hard saving and mostly straightforward index funds. I started my money tracking Journey in April of 2015 with $38k and then just over 3 years later…here we are. Now I need to decide what my next big milestone will be!

Keep on reading for the deets!

Income: $8,721

My income is a little inflated again this month because I had a two week work trip out at Edwards AFB. The class was a part of Test Pilot School. We learned about flight testing and gave me some insight into what the school would be like if I got selected for the real program. We even got to fly four different types of gliders. Our tow plane pilot was Jimmy Doolittle’s grandson! The pocketed Per Diem was $800 while the other $7,921 was my standard pay.  

Expenses: $1,939.46

YASSS! Since moving to Boston I celebrate any month in which I spend under $2k. This feels especially sweet after going overboard two months in a row. Some bad weather kept me from flying during the small window I had at home this month. We’ll step through the details but I did treat myself to some new Chacos and put together a cool project for an anniversary present.

Going Out: $57.46

While in Austin, we all kind of covered different parts of the trip so my going out section looks a little lower than maybe it should have. I did find one of my new favorite breweries in all the land called Jester King which is several miles outside of Austin but worth the drive. They specialize in sours and are located on a beautiful farm. I also got to hit up my favorite custom shirt shop (Fine Southern Gentlemen) where they were handing out free Lone Stars and I even won the raffle for a free shirt. 

Groceries: $40.22

I bought one round of groceries for the house in Austin. So many breakfast tacos. I also bought groceries for a camping adventure in Denver but I actually had to buy 0 groceries for my house here in Boston. Not too shabby!

Bills: $1011.47

Bills for this month include Rent ($775), Unlimited Data Cell Phone ($85), Spotify ($5), Car Insurance ($49.32), and Utilities ($75). Car insurance was a little lower just due to them owing me a little money back for a miscalculation. Some newcomers where added as well. I now have a $30/mo bill for the Aero Club which is required for all of the students. I also have a new bill which is one of the greatest things I’ve ever joined…Movie Pass. As I’m typing this I’ve already seen 14 movies in theaters. Its $10/mo and I’m only partially through my second month. It works at almost any movie theater out there, even small local ones. I highly recommend it.

Travel: $306.63

Last month I snagged my flight to Austin dirt cheap ($104) but that did require me flying out of an airport an hour away and paying for parking which hit me for $60. I also paid for our rental car in Denver which was $65 through Turo. If you haven’t heard of Turo it’s basically Air BnB for rental cars. I rented an amazing little smart car from a local couple that even came and picked the car up for free.  There’s a pretty awesome reason why I was in Denver but you’ll have to come back and read that next month because it technically took place in June! You won’t be disappointed.

Anniversary: $250.98

New month, new category. $80 of this was for two sets of concert tickets, one of which will feature the great Willie Nelson! The rest is for a pretty awesome project that I plan on fully detailing in it’s on post. As a sneak peek it is a portable projector setup that needs no electrical plugins, runs full Android so it can play or do anything a cell phone can do, has built in speakers, and can run for 12+ hours. That all cost about $170 and it’s totally worth it. We can use it anytime we’re camping or if we want to have people over to watch movies or live sports in the back yard. It can produce up to a 100 inch screen and is closer to a 70” when in the camping configuration. Keep an eye out for the post breaking down the details.

Miscellaneous: $255.56

Few random things as always including my addiction to technology. I upgraded to the Samsung S9. It’s a small improvement over my S8 but they had it marked way down for Memorial day and that meant I could sell my pristine S8 and cover all but about $100 of the S9. Judge me, won’t bother me. I also upgraded my favorite footwear…Chacos. Through in a Mother’s day present and a custom geotagged SnapChat filter and that rounds out this category.

I actually hiked Yosemite’s famous half dome in a pair of these awesome sandals during the month but the 9 year old pair was ready to be replaced. Plus they had just released a new lighter more cushioned version so I treated myself after catching them on sale for $95. 

Someone sadly died reaching this very spot the week after I made the climb. To get to the top you have to go up an insanely steep rock face using two giant metal cables with not steps. Some people bring equipment to hook into the cables in the event they fall. I lucked into getting the chance to make this hike so I was not prepared at all but luckily had no issues. I would still highly reccommend everyone go if they have the chance. 

Gas:  $0!

 I was gone so much I didn’t buy a drop of gas this month. Take that global warming!  

Big Picture: Net Worth Increase $10,124 to $250,594

So happy to just finally get that milestone in. It was a slippery one for sure. I know there’ll be big downturns in the future and it’ll be great when it happens because that means everything is on sale. That doesn’t mean the good months don’t feel good. Celebrate your accomplishments and when the market goes to crap just go camping and stop looking.

I’d love to hear what your upcoming goals are so we can celly together! Keep saving and trust the process. Thanks for reading.

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