May Budget Review
Monthly Review: May 2019 - 78% Savings Rate
May had some of the most interesting free & frugal events we’ve had in a while such as:
Free memorial day workout / cookout
Free specialty pizzas at a bar in downtown Boston
Weightlifting meet with drinks and brunch ($7 for a good cause)
Vineyard tour & tastings for two & a bottle of wine ($21… Thanks Groupon)
Red Sox Game ($5)
Free Hike up Mt. Monadnock
Backcountry camping for three in Tennessee ($8)
Tons of free food at the airport in a really interesting way
But I don’t want to give away the whole month right away so let’s breakdown the month!
Income: $7,452
Just the standard post tax income
Expenses: $1,507
Definitely a major bang for your buck type of month.
The crown jewel of this month was certainly a long weekend trip to take my mom backpacking through these amazing waterfalls in the middle of Tennessee.
In reality the expense categories were all pretty average but since I had already paid for my May flights in prior months, my travel expenses came in way under the normal range.
Now let’s break it all down in detail
Going Out: $117.34
Granite Roots Brewery in New Hampshire $13
Southern Grist Brewery, Nashville $48.31
Sams Club $1.94
McDonald’s $1
Jose’s $15.20 (Groupon for later use)
Taco Bell $3.21
Drinks for several get togethers $27
Bench n Brunch $6.94
Now what won’t be on here is a ridiculous amount of food we got while traveling because it was all free
Let me set the stage for you…warning it’s a lot
On our most recent trip we purposefully arrived at the airport at 7pm even though our flight was at 545am
That allowed us to eat at one priority pass restaurant and get drinks at another that night
The first restaurant was outside of security in terminal C, the other was inside terminal C. Funny part is our flight was in terminal A.
Then we slept in the airport.
We were very prepared with sleeping bags, sleeping pads, eye masks- notice the cheetah print.
We were going camping anyway but I will bring my sleeping pad just for airport sleeping sometimes.
We then get up at 4am and grab breakfast to-go for free at the priority pass restaurant inside Terminal B.. Again not our terminal.
Then we go to A and go through security for real.
Why did we do this?
The train doesn't run early enough to get us to the airport for a super early flight. So it saves us a $30 Uber
I would have probably woken up even earlier if I stayed at home
We got Dinner, drinks, and a huge breakfast spread for free (~$174 worth)
Stop 1: Fish n chips, Caesar salad, Sirloin salad, Lagunitas Beer
Stop 2: Local beers and cocktails with deep eddy plus lots of snacks
Stop 3: Breakfast burger w/ home fries, omelette w/ home fries, scrambled eggs w/toast
Leslie with some of our haul
Groceries: $71.43
Commissary $18.42
Star Market $43.88
Market basket $3.02
Star Market $2
Stop n Shop $4.11
Curious to learn more about my grocery shopping? Check out the couple articles below for cheap recipes like the breakfast pictured below.
Bills: $1,048
Bills were pretty standard this month but with the addition of an annual online storage bill
Rent
Car Insurance
Internet
Cell Phone
Online Storage
Travel: $97.11
This month didn’t have much expense take place in the month because it was all pre-purchased. The actual costs for the month were:
$11.91 for a Lyft ride
$1.5 for an Uber (had some credits from my AMEX Platinum)
$26.12 for this awesome 2 for 1 drinks program in Denver called the Passport Program
You’ll get to see all the details about it in the June review when I use it
$18.40 Vineyard tour and wine
$5 Whiskey tour and tasting
But I did way more this month that doesn’t show up in the May budget, again because of paying for it previously. But let’s break it down!
Son of the Year - Taking Mom Backpacking
My favorite part of May was a trip I’ll never forget. Took my Mom backpacking in Falls Creek Falls and Virgin Falls parks in Tennessee. And yes… we went actual backpacking and camping in the woods. Mom’s a trooper.
Mom crossing a river with some cables
All in all we saw seven different amazing waterfalls and camped two separate nights. These waterfalls weren’t just Good For Tennessee… after coming back from Hawaii I can say these were on par with any waterfalls you’ll see in the states.
The cost for our backcountry spot just a few feet from an amazing waterfall was only $8!
Random Date Day - Vineyard / Distillery / Brewery
Rarely we find ourselves with no plans. Actually it’s rare we find ourselves in our own city. We had the weekend off though so I went to my good friend Groupon and quickly planned a surprise day for me and Leslie.
Stop 1 was the Vineyard - Tour, Tasting, and Bottle to-go $18
The Most Awkward Pizza Ever - $0
We then went to local Bully Boy distillery for a tour and tasting ($5) and then checked out a local brewery before returning back home to get ready for the most awkward pizza I’ve ever had.
I found this eventbrite link on facebook for free pizza at a local downtown Boston restaurant because of course I did. I told leslie that it said free pizza, DJ and drink specials so we decided to go.
It was partially a recon mission as well because this place apparently does monthly free events.
We get there and the first person has no clue what we’re talking about. The second person says “go to the bartender, let em know why you’re here and they’ll hook you up”. Then on to the bartender who had zero idea what we were talking about.
The bartender was so imbarassed that the restaurant was being run with such little coordination that she gave us a round of cocktails for free and said that pizza would be coming but there would be no DJ.
In total about six customers ever came for the promotion and the other four were only interested in the DJ. Welp, plenty of pizza for us! It wasn’t even cheap cheese either. We’re talking prosciutto with arugla type pizzas.
Mmm free pizza
Miscellaneous: $64.28
Things always pop up you’re not expecting but that’s all the more reason to take care of your finances.
Random purchases this month
Cast Iron Skillet (camping and Sous Vide oh my!)- $21.28
Corn Hole Board Materials - $15
Charcoal / Lighter Fluid - $13.53
Team RWB Shirt - $5
Amazon - $3.16
Dollar Tree - $6.31
Gas: $108.29
Honestly can’t even remember why I drove so much but this is def more than average.
Big Picture: Net Worth Decrease $6,914 to $321,752
Eeeeh hate seeing negative months but all you can do is keep saving and let the market do its thing
