February 2022 Budget Review
Monthly Review: February 2022 - 90% Savings Rate
Let’s quickly hit the notable moments from February:
Skied three mountains in Colorado
Flew to Mexico
Hot Springs
Roller Coasters / Caverns
Built a dining table
Songwriters Performance
Good food…as always
****As always, every category depicts what I spent, what I made, and how my net worth changed. Just me, not our household****
After a slow January, it was time to hit the road again.
I got a chance to see the team I work with, some for the first time ever in person. While out in Colorado, I was also able to hit the slopes on three different mountains.
And although we started the month off in the snow, we left town on the last day of Feb for a 10-day jaunt down to Mexico.
Somewhere in the middle I was able to eat too much good food, and build us a dining table for some future dinner parties.
Keep scrolling for the full breakdown.
After-Tax Income: $37,991
A truly humbling number for me.
It comes as a mix of regular pay, commissions, 401k matching, VA and restricted stock.
It’s weird to think that one month could provide me the means to pay my half of the mortgage for two years. Hopefully, more than that when we get on Airbnb someday!
On to the expenses
Expenses: $3,581
In this new world for me where I have a mortgage and a large payment on my truck, this is actually not a bad month.
Big ticket items included Skis, documentation to get a short-term rental license, a visa for Saudi Arabia, and the monthly payments for the truck/house.
Let’s break down the expenses in detail.
Going Out: $142.07
A bit higher than normal for me but this did include some time spend in Vail and Beavercreek which aren’t known for their value meals.
One of my favorite stops was to the Hot Springs in Colorado which had amazing weather and views, plus we even met some folks from Austin.
But what would a post from me be without a snap from the lounge showcasing my food haven that is the Amex Centurion lounge?
It’s a pretty terrible photo but the steak, shrimp, and veggies were honestly delicious. I’m always impressed with their offerings.
On top of free food, we’ve also been utilizing the Too Good To Go app which allows us to help prevent food waste while also getting food for huge discounts.
Like this local BBQ food truck which has become one of our must grabs when they come available.
Or this catfish dinner which was only $5 and satisfied all my Mississippi boy food cravings.
The total break-down for eating out this month was:
Hot Springs Drinks: $11.50
Vail Brewing Company: $16
The George: $19.50
Wendy’s: $1.85
Angry James: $17.93
Gabriela’s: $11.25
Too Good To Go (4x): $12
El Segundo: $25.52
Kerby Lane: $17.26
Irene’s: $15
Donut Palace: $5.52
Groceries: $144.97
This month was another high one, been on a bit of a streak, but from my experience, it all averages out.
This included shopping at Trader Joe’s while traveling and stocking up on protein shakes thanks to a killer UberEats promo at Costco.
We do eat pretty healthy for the most part but I was pumped to get the pizza oven rolling again and really overachieve on my carb quota haha
There were several more pizzas cooked but I tend to start eating before I start grabbing photos.
On our trip to Colorado, I pulled out one of my old tricks which is to toast up a bagel, make a breakfast sandwich, and wrap it back in the plastic wrap the bagels come in for a nice lunch.
I’m not sure this picture has the makings for a Hardee’s commercial but it helped lower the food expenses so I’ll take it!
Full grocery cost breakdown:
HEB: $17.51
HEB: $16.54
HEB: $9.14
Sams: $39.14
Costco: $24.88 (protein shakes delivered cheaper than I could buy myself, thanks Uber Eats)
Trader Joe’s: $25.74
Bills: $2,248
Oooh boy… with standard bills that high, I feel like I’m losing some street cred.
But it’s all part of the plan.
I want to see what it’s like to have the house and truck that I want. Will it make me happier? Will it be something I want to budget for the long term?
The good news is, they can both be sold easily with no financial impact.
The house has already appreciated and the truck was bought below invoice with surging prices. Creature comforts and a low-risk experiment… I’ll take it.
The full set of bills was:
Mortgage: $1,473.29
Internet: $27
Spotify: $10
Utilities: $84.13
Truck: $650
Netflix: $4.50
Travel & Entertainment: $288.57
If you’ve visited the site before, you’ll probably remember that I list the costs that I incurred in a given month as well as the activities that I did in a given month.
So some things we’ll cover here were paid for previously, and some expenses are for future activities.
This month we hit both ends of the temperature spectrum.
We spent several days skiing in Colorado and left out for a couple of weeks in Mexico.
Let’s chat about Colorado first.
Skiing in Vail… My happy place
February is the start of our new Fiscal year at work. It is also where the majority of my team lives so Colorado was an easy choice for us to get together and strategize for the upcoming year.
I tacked on a few extra days (at my expense) to utilize my Epic Pass and actually got to ski three different mountains while I was there.
Skiing was the highlight for me but it is something I’ve done plenty of times, and I talked about the hot springs earlier (amazing), but I’ve done that before too.
What I hadn’t done was visit this little amusement park fused with a cavern tour establishment near the hot springs.
The place is called Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.
It had these awesome caves as part of your entry. The guides walked us through the story of the people who found them and how they’ve been managed as privately owned natural beauties.
There was also this incredibly fun roller coaster contraption that we rode at least four times.
This is a stock photo from their site but this little thing is a blast. You can ride with two passengers and you’ll be certain that you’re about to fly off this thing…but you won’t.
Weekly Date Night Tradition
Leslie had this awesome idea for us to alternate planning a date night each week.
The one I’m highlighting here was a really cool space at a private club they opened up to the public for a songwriter night.
Not sure I can make it a month without live music.
One last freebie for the road!
On the final day of February, we started our journey to Mexico where we’ll be spending a couple of weeks with my podcast co-host Cody and his fiance Lauren, our friends James & Emily, as well as a host of other folks we’ve met through the personal finance space.
I’m very excited to update you next month on how Mexico goes and equally excited to cover my journey to Saudi Arabia in May.
The full list of expenses for travel and entertainment were:
Caverns: $35.10
Beaver Creek Parking: $5
Hot Springs: $32
Koe Wetzel Tickets: $60.73
Saudi Arabia Visa $140
Movie Tickets: $15.74
Miscellaneous: $757
The big expense here is for my new skis which I decided to treat myself to for my birthday.
I had been skiing for 7 years on a pair of $50 used rental skis from an Air Force base.
I feel like I earned the right to upgrade.
Paid the city of Austin for wasting months of my life a certificate of occupancy so I could finish our Airbnb application.
I also spent a little money at lowes as part of my dining table project.
Before the structural engineers come after me, I know I should probably put a runner on it, but I did beef up the supports underneath and I just really like the minimalist look it has without the runner.
We need to get some chairs for it but I just mocked up the scene with our barstools. Very happy with this little project.
Here’s the complete list of random purchases this month:
Lowes: $72.05
ATX Bikes: $13.70
Lowes: $23.27
Shoes: $30.30
Certificate of Occupancy: $114
Watch $54
New Skis!: $450
Gas: $0
We just really don’t drive much some months so when you start off on a full tank in both cars, sometimes you don’t spend any on gas.
Big Picture: Net Worth Increased $9,464 to $1,072,916
Well, the market did its best to stop me from moving forward but thankfully I was able to fill the bucket faster than it could leak.
The only thing I can control is my savings, and that’s what I have to keep reminding myself of and remove all emotions related to the market.
I saved $34,409 while the market pulled back $24,944 worth of value for a total increase of $9,464.
If you made it this far, all I can say is thank you!
And if this feels like it’s a bit far in the journey to be relatable, don’t forget that I started tracking when I only had $38k!
That was in 2015 and I started blogging about my expenses and net worth in 2017 which you can find here.
Until next time
