January 2022 Budget Review
Monthly Review: January 2022 - 82% Savings Rate
Let’s quickly hit the notable moments from January:
Rounded out Marfa Trip
Built out Garage Gym
Finished Giant Wall Art
Leslie’s Launches into Candle Making
Friend’s Shrek Themed Bday Party
Lots of Wood Foraging
Became an Electrician
Fishing
****As always, every category depicts what I spent, what I made, and how my net worth changed. Just me, not our household****
Other than driving back from Marfa, there was no travel happening in January.
Kinda wild looking back at the month and realizing how different it is from almost any month we’ve had the last year.
But with that time at home came some projects. I’ve been especially getting interested in woodworking projects.
The problem is that I need to practice certain techniques but wood is too expensive to just be playing around with.
No fear though, craigslist and Facebook marketplace to the rescue.
The world is full of free stuff and the possibilities just got bigger now that I have the truck.
I got pallets, broke down a huge shipping crate, even took an old piano that had been gutted and turned it all into useable wood pieces for upcoming projects.
We also sprinkled in time with family, good dinners inside and outside of the home, and getting our house closer and closer to where we want it to be.
Keep scrolling for the full breakdown.
After-Tax Income: $18,253
Our company has a $9k 401k match for the year, but they also break that down into quarterly limits of $2,250. I maxed out my 401k well before we entered the fourth quarter so I didn’t get that match during the calendar year of 2021.
Luckily, they look back on the year and make us whole in January to make up for those of us that contribute too quickly.
So I got a nice chunk of 401k match for tax-year 2021, some more matching for 2022, my HSA employer contribution, and some commissions this month which gave the total a nice uplift.
On to the expenses
Expenses: $3,307.58
I used to feel uneasy about going over $3k in a month. It was pretty rare. But with the new house, I’ll be very happy if I can continue to land on numbers in this realm.
I think we’re about 4-months away from being in a good spot to start allowing the house to pay for itself via Air BnB so it’s only temporary in my mind.
Travel is also a big-ticket item this month with buying flights to Mexico, booking 3 nights near Vail, Colorado, and buying two different festival tickets for Leslie as a V-day surprise.
The beautiful thing about getting behind on writing these is that she already knows about the surprises before I have to splatter the info on the internet.
Let’s break down the expenses in detail.
Going Out: $127.72
We’ve been instituting date nights each week. Every week we alternate whose responsibility it is to plan what we do and generally keep it a surprise.
I took us to a local Mexican spot we’ve been wanting to try for a while. I didn’t seem to get a picture of the Al Pastor street tacos but they along with this choriqueso were phenomenal.
All of our excursions weren’t solo. We met up with Leslie’s brother for a lunch out at one of our favorite bars/venues in walking distance and had Ms. Pearl joining us. I think Leslie would trade me in for a frenchie if she could.
We also went out to Jester King (one of the best breweries in the country). They gave away one free beer if you came and got your booster shot. We took them up on that and stuck around for pizza and a few more drinks.
The total break-down for eating out this month was:
Jester King: $32.74
Dairy Queen: $3.44
Lums: $10.09
Watering Stop: $13
Shu Shus: $6.47
Gabriela’s: $11.25
Too Good To Go: $11.98
Armadillo Den: $17
Aviary: $21.75
Groceries: $128.41
This month saw the groceries a bit high again but I think it was mostly because we were stocking up on some higher-end items like protein shakes from Sams.
I’ve progressively allowed myself to get more comfortable with expenses in this category that are helping me maintain a good diet and add a lot of convenience.
Sam’s also has great prices on lean ground turkey and pre-cut broccoli florets. When you got like six chips left over you stick them in the hummus for that fancy effect.
It wasn’t all health foods though. You know I can’t quit making my pizza but it had been too long and I was a little rusty.
I had a snafu with the dough which lead to my first ever Calzone. Beautiful creations can come from mistakes I guess.
I doubt we see averages this high in the grocery department but I think the protein shakes are here to stay.
Full grocery cost breakdown:
HEB: $19.47
HEB: $26.10
HEB: $9.73
Sams: $25.18
Sams: $31.16
Walmart: $7.48
Bills: $1,587.96
I wish I could just say this is the new normal and I’m used to it. See the problem with that is my truck payments are kicking in next month.
Geez… am I just ruining the financial position I worked so hard to build? You’ll just have to keep an eye out for all my thoughts there and why I’m purposefully spending so much more money.
That’ll be a standalone post and I hope to get it out soon.
The full set of bills were:
Mortgage: $1,473.29
Internet: $27
Spotify: $10
Utilities: $77.67
Travel & Entertainment: $1,190.29
I think not traveling gives me way too much time on my hands and therefore I end up spending way more on travel.
This month we basically didn’t go anywhere but we made a lot of purchases for the future.
Flying to Mexico in March
Colorado Trip in Febuary
Music fest in Idaho for June
Music fest in Chicago for August
Multiple stand-up comedy shows
As always though, I’ll just talk about what I actually did this month even if those don’t line up with what I spent this month.
None of this is really travel but…kept me entertained I guess.
House -> Home
If you read last month’s article, you saw where I started work on some type of wood art project. It probably didn’t look like much then but now we have the finished product and I couldn’t be happier.
These big guys are 43” squares. They were made out of a lot of 1x4s. I’ve gotten so much good feedback that I think I could sell them and want to explore that.
I made these for around $50 apiece in materials but I see them selling for over $500 on etsy that are this size. I do need to get some examples built with different designs and just generally practice and get more proficient….but the wood costs.
So I look to the wild for free wood.
This giant crate not only came with some night 10ft 2x4s that I hope to help build a table but also good plywood for making the backing of art pieces and/or adding floor structure to my attic so I can store things.
The fun didn’t stop with that crate or just simple pallets. I also picked up a baby grand piano that had been gutted for parts. All this was broken down and cut into more standard rectangular planks for future projects.
It wasn’t all just wood projects this month though. Another big thing that drew us to wanting a house was having an at-home gym setup.
We took some rubber horse stall mats and laid out a nice flooring on one half of the garage. Then hung an extra TV we had over two free body length mirrors we got.
That along with the multi-position bench and Bowflex selectable dumbells has created a pretty functional space. We’re adding a pull-up bar soon and maybe some kettlebells.
Another thing we hated about our condo spot was not being able to store and use my pizza oven when and where I wanted to.
With the new house we have no silly HOA and that’s no longer a problem. But my custom cabinet was looking pretty rough.
From the day I got the giant piece of butcher block (the picture is only half the original piece) from Facebook for $30, it really needed to be refinished.
Having gaps in the protective coating along with all the weather it has been abused by, meant it needed to be refinished. So I sanded it down and gave it a few nice coats of urethane and she’s looking great again.
Then my attention turned to the other side of the garage.
I am extremely committed to parking my truck on the non-gym side of the garage is a must-have for me. But I also want a space to work on projects.
Luckily there is a 30inch deep step-up of concrete on the side my truck goes on. So while I can’t park the truck and do projects on my work table at the same time, I have both options.
I took some garage organizing stuff my brother got me for Christmas and made my workspace dreams come true.
This is a weird recap month so I’ll just continue to spew the random things I did around the house. The next one might come as a shock.
Yep… dad joke engage. This is a picture I took of myself while in the attic where I was trying to fix an outlet in our bathroom that never worked yet somehow made it through the inspection.
It took me a long time to diagnose but with the help of Captain DIY (check him out on twitter) I now can charge my toothbrush somewhere other than my bedside table.
I can’t take all the DIY credit this month though. While we were in Marfa, Leslie pitched the idea to the Marfa Spirit Company (distillery) that she should make them a candle to sell in the giftshop
It turned out to get a lot more serious than I think she initially thought and next thing you know they’ve ordered 50!
These were a few testers she sent off in concrete vessels. She’s refined the scent and the vessels and will be shipping those off at the end of Feb.
End Things with some Feel Good
My neighbor is a funny elderly veteran and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him. I love having neighbors and not just people in a complex you live at.
We really feel like we’re a part of a community now.
One thing I noticed after moving in was how tattered the man’s U.S. and Texas flags were.
So I snagged him some new ones to surprise him. I quickly stopped seeing him at home though and couldn’t find a good time to give them to him.
Finally, I see both vehicles there and go to surprise him. That’s when I found out he’d been at the hospital in rough condition but was back home and recovering.
I wasn’t sure how much he’d care about the flags but it almost brought him to tears he was so thankful. He’s not someone who couldn’t have afforded the flags himself, I think it was genuinely the gesture that moved him.
I don’t say all this to pat myself on the back, but to remind folks to look out for these asymmetrical opportunities. Times when you can do something that is not even a large burden to you but can completely change someone’s day.
Most of the things I covered don’t really line up with the expenses for the month but you know I have to list them out.
The full list of expenses for travel and entertainment were:
Mexico Flight: $292.45
Big Bend Gas: $30.36
Joe Rogan Show: $37.74
Colorado Hotel: $201
Vday: $134.30
Vday: $221.42
My Ticket to Idaho Music Fest: $221.42
Comedy Night: $21.55
Miscellaneous: $263.09
A couple of small things for the house, replacing my running sunglasses, and materials to build some projects paint a pretty good picture of this random category.
Oh, and my sweet house shoes that look terrible but keep my feet toasty warm from Chacos was also a must-have expense.
Here’s the complete list of random purchases this month:
Aloha Dental: $20
AWS: $1.28
Ikea: $37.76
Cabinet Latch: $5.41
Sunglasses: $27.06
Caliper: $11.90
TV Mount: $8.68
Root Killer: $13.38
Pull-Up Bar: $16.23
Home Depot: $66.39
Chaco Shoes: $53.03
Dollar Tree: $1.98
Haircut: $9
Gas: $10.11
When you don’t go anywhere, you don’t buy gas. I entered the month with a full tank in the truck and she’s got a long-range.
Big Picture: Net Worth Decreased $33,792 to $1,063,451
These months when you go backward sucks, but it’s just part of the journey. I certainly get a lot of emotional comfort from still having a well-paying job to minimize the pain of market corrections.
With all that being said, I saved $15,099 while the market pulled back $48,892 worth of value for a setback of $33,792.
How bad will the portfolio get hit before things start coming back? Guess you’ll have to tune in next time