October Budget Review
Monthly Review: Oct 2019 - 83.7% Savings Rate
Lets quickly hit the big events from October:
Free Cliff Camping
UFC Live in Boston
Parker McCollum Concert
Koe Wetzel Concert
Maggie Rogers Concert
Bishop Briggs Concert
Leaf Peeping
Atlanta Aquarium
Free Cooking Class with Work
Rocky Mountain Horror Play
Devastating Storms
Now it’s time to get into the details:
Income: $7,855
Just the standard post tax income
Expenses: $1,280
It may seem like we did way too much in this month to possibly be able to only total $1,280 and that’s sort of true. I had previously spent ~$400 on Eric Church Concert tickets but I was able to get a refund on them when my plans changed.
Huge shout out to Ticketmaster who allowed me to get the refund after I explained I was going home to be with my Dad during chemo and radiation.
Since that expense was already captured in a previous month, it canceled out a lot of the concert costs from this month.
Even so, this was a jam packed month for the price.
This also includes $150 for a rock climbing membership and a flight to Dallas in December.
Going Out: $43.84
Ice Cream $6
Wendys $4.24
Hilton $3
Gas Station $3.59
Publico $24
Stephanies $3.01
As always there’s some free food involved that. I actually hit four free restaurants and lounges this month but if you’re a regular reader…you’re probably sick of hearing about this ha.
In total this year, I have been to over 45 free restaurants and lounges
Groceries: $10.48
Y’all just need to get used to my old crazy budget gettin’ completely stupid.
Market Basket $4.82
Publix $5.66
My new job has free food constantly, so we almost never buy groceries. Especially with as much as we’re on the road.
I did get to cook one nice meal when I was visiting back home for free. After a big storm, my mom’s power was out for so long she needed to get the groceries out of her house. So I took everything over to my Dad’s and gave my niece a cooking lesson.
Mmmm nothing is better than shrimp, except free shrimp
Bills: $1045.82
Bills were pretty standard this month but with the addition of an annual online storage bill
Rent
Car Insurance
Internet
Cell Phone
Gym Membership
Travel: $147.36
As I mentioned before. This month’s spending is masked by the fact that I was working with a $400 credit after receiving refunds to some concerts which were already in my budget.
The actual costs for the month were:
$46.09 Uber/Lime/Lyft
$15.60 for trains
$15 for a Sam Riggs concert
$33 for Atlanta Aquarium
$37 for flight to Texas (had an expiring voucher)
$15 UFC Live in Boston
Living on the Edge
We started the month off with an incredible experience in New Hampshire. We knew our camping days were numbered and got a chance to see peak leafs and camp right on the edge of a cliff.
Leslie petting Banjo.. what a good dog-o
In total we hiked just over 12 miles, carrying all our food and gear along the way. It got a bit chilly at night but we were able to have a fire right out on the cliff. The color of the leafs were certainly unforgettable.
Later in the month we continued our “leaf peeping” as they call it in the Northeast. With a drive up through New Hampshire and down through Vermont. We had a really cool Air BnB up on top of a hill with great sunrises
Atlanta - Fish n’ Features
Back in July I got Leslie flights, hotel, concert tickets for a Maggie Rogers show in Atlanta. Before I sound too generous, we have the companion pass and I have a ton of Hilton Hotel points. Thanks house fire!
While down there, we first stopped by the Atlanta Aquarium which I love. They have multiple whale sharks which you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere else.
That’s a big boi
As mentioned before, our main reason for going to Atlanta was a Maggie Rogers show. If you’ve never heard of her, she rocks. It was also set in the really beautiful Fox theatre in downtown Atlanta.
Texas Country and Tornadoes
During October I went down to work from home for a week. I wanted to be with my Dad as he was in the middle of his chemo and radiation for throat cancer.
Unfortunately the trip got a little rough before I even made it home. When I landed in Memphis, I started getting notices of all these crazy storms near my house. It ended up with hundreds of trees down and power out for almost five days.
Luckily most of my family had insurance and none of them were injured. The trip did also have some bright spots
While I was there I’d spend the days with my dad and as much time as possible at night with other friends and family. The best part was getting to be a cool uncle.
I got to take my nephew who is a senior in high school to see two of my favorite artists perform in two separate college towns. Koe Wetzel in Oxford, MS and Parker McCollum in Starkville, MS.
On top of that, I got to catch this crazy rendition of the Rocky Horror Picture Show put on at a local theatre with my Sister, Brother-in-law and niece.
But Wait…There’s More
More concerts, free cooking class with work in the Italian district of Boston, Live UFC, a big work trip to Austin….but there weren’t good pictures so you’ll have to trust me.
Miscellaneous: $0
Just the random stuff that doesn’t fit into a category
Nothing…not sure that’s ever happened
Gas: $37.77
Mostly from when I was back home. That school bus mom has sure does drink some gas.
Big Picture: Net Worth Increase $15,398 to $377,747
We’re chugging right along to hit my goal of $400k before the end of the year.
$8,828 of that increase was all thanks to the stock market and the rest was from hard savings.