October Budget Review
Monthly Review: October 2021 - 86% Savings Rate
Let’s quickly hit the notable moments from October:
Became a Millionaire!
Austin City Limits
Miley Cyrus, Doja Cat, George Straight, Tyler the Creator, Rufus Du Sol, Megan Thee Stallion, Greta Van Fleet, Billie Eilish, MGK, and much much more
Camp FI
X-Ambassadors Concert
Six Flags (Oh the funnel cake)
Ford event (New Bronco, Maverick and electric F-150)
Free food/drink/music events around Austin
****As always, every category depicts what I spent, what I made, and how my net worth changed. Just me, not our household****
What better way to end our last few nights in our little downtown condo than Austin City Limits!
ACL is a huge concert festival, but I’ll cover all that in the travel section.
This month was packed with great events that didn’t even require me to hop on a plane.
Camp FI (yes, an adult summer camp for money nerds), concerts, insane Ford demonstration site, and my dear friend Six Flags.
Oh yea, one more thing. This month came with the huge accomplishment of becoming a millionaire. Something I truly never even dreamed of while walking the halls of Biggersville High School in north Mississippi.
It’s been a wild and blessed journey.
As always, read on for the details.
After-Tax Income: $23,288.07
This month’s income came with a major part of my yearly variable compensation and our annual well-being allowance.
Numbers like this will never stop being insane to me.
On to the expenses
Expenses: $3,341.79
The biggest driver was my $1,500 annual sponsorship for Norma. For those who don’t know, I sponsor Norma through this fantastic organization (Ciudad De Angeles).
They are a children’s orphanage in Cozumel, Mexico. If you’ve been looking for a good cause, stop what you’re doing right now and check them out.
I’ve been sponsoring Norma for about 7 years and couldn’t be more proud. She’s about to become one of the first kids to graduate college from the program and the first to do so outside of Cozumel. She’s getting her degree in nutrition in Merida, Mexico. Her dream has always been to work in the medical field.
Let’s break down the expenses in detail.
Going Out: $108.22
We had a few good meals out at some local spots but why not highlight an over-the-top amusement park heart attack instead.
As part of my annual pass to six flags, we got a meal plan. It includes one dinner and one snack. All snacks are not created equal.
The “snack” we chose was the funnel cake with snickers, chocolate syrup and ice cream.
Yea, it was ridiculous, but tasty.
Apparently, I did a terrible job at taking photos of the other places.
One treat I did want to highlight though is Snap Kitchen via the Too Good to Go app. This app lines you up with restaurants that have food about to expire. This allows you to get really discounted food and save some food waste.
Most of these meals are delicious, high protein, and low calorie. Different regions seem to have different apps but take a look and see if you have one in your area.
The total break-down for eating out this month was:
Dope Chinese: $22.06
Bombay: $21.50
Armadillo Den: $24.00
Jacoby’s: $15.00
Uncle Nicky’s: $5.24
Too Good To Go: $5.99
Uber Eats Mexican: $1.80
ACL Food: $4.07
Praxis: $2.50
Subway: $3.14
McDonald’s: $2.93
Groceries: $107.96
Cooking up some similar dishes but in a much more comfortable setup.
No longer am I using the tiny corner of our 375 sq ft condo to make pizza. I’m fully enjoying this awesome kitchen with it’s open layout and giant island.
The prep for the pizza was much more enjoyable thanks to the inside of the new house, but the cooking portion was also greatly improved.
Instead of storing my pizza oven in my car thanks to my nosey neighbors who love to narc on you for no reason…still some anger there.
I now have my dedicated pizza oven cabinet being fully utilized.
Overall, we spent a bit more on groceries this month but it always has some ups and downs.
Full grocery cost breakdown:
HEB: $4.19
HEB: $30.84
HEB: $17.82
HEB: $17.94
HEB: $37.18
Bills: $1,915.91
The final month pre-mortgage is unfortunately here. The big jump in “bills” this month was thanks to the sponsorship of Norma from the children’s orphanage I mentioned earlier.
Even though the mortgage hasn’t started, the utilities have.
The full set of bills were:
Mexico Orphanage Sponsorship: $1,500
Rent - $275.00
Internet - $10
Spotify - $10
Car Insurance - $49
Netflix: $4.87
Utilities: $66.72
Travel & Entertainment: $195.64
Concerts and concert festivals can be a ton of fun, but normally there’s a little added complexity and stress when you’re trying to figure out the logistics.
Luckily for us, we have a world-class festival in our own back yard.
Austin City Limits 2021
Plenty of people complained about the line-up this year but we had a killer time with very few moments where there wasn’t someone we wanted to see.
The full line-up below didn’t end up surviving thanks to some artists cancelling and others being replaced.
There were plenty of artists who I wasn’t exactly pumped about who ended up completely changing my mind.
I think that’s a beauty of live music. There are certain artists who you may never listen to in your car but put on this incredible experience.
I would certainly put Miley Cyrus in that category. I have no idea how she does shows multiple nights in a row.
One of my favorite performances though was Greta Van Fleet. If you are a fan of Led Zeppelin, check these guys out.
The live music wouldn’t end there. I also caught an X-Ambassadors show at a small venue I had been wanting to check out.
It was honestly one of the better performances I’ve ever seen. Highly recommend.
Camp FI
If you’ve never heard of Camp FI, you’re missing out. Imagine three days with strangers talking about money.
Ok, that probably didn’t get anyone too excited. But when you get there and you make these real world connections with people who share a passion with you, it’s pretty remarkable.
There will be people you can learn a ton from and people who you can help start out on their journey. Many lives have changed thanks to CampFI.
We were also lucky enough to have a camper from the local area who took us to some cool park areas such as this little swimming spot.
There’s no way to make a money camp not sound a little crazy, but I’m extremely confident that if you gave Camp FI a chance, you’ll never regret it.
Big City Freebies
We took one weekend day and hopped between three different freebie venues. The one pictured below is a Ducati dealership who had free pizza and beer to celebrate a MotoGP race being held in Austin.
Another cool freebie I got the chance to check out was this Ford demonstration site downtown. They had a ridiculous obstacle course that I got to go through in a new bronco.
They also had the newest pickup truck on the market, the Ford Maverick. This thing is going to be a game changer. A four door pickup that gets 42 miles per gallon and starts at $20k.
The Maverick was the truck I was obsessing over for months until I test drove the F-150. Who knows, I could step back down to the Maverick in the future.
The best part about the day though was getting a personal QR code worth $750 off the purchase of a new vehicle. That certainly made the stop worth it.
The full list of expenses for travel and entertainment were:
FinCon 2022 Ticket: $195.64
Miscellaneous: $969.50
Most of this category was purchasing my new tools, random stuff for the house, and some wood to add onto my walk-in closet.
But that random stuff is starting to allow the house to come together.
Drilling into a tile wall of a house you just bought was nerve racking but dang it was worth it. Look at that TV!
I’m also no longer relegated to the phone booth for taking work calls anymore. I’m starting to get my desk setup perfected.
This desk is a motorized standing desk and fits in nicely with the dark wood beams in the ceiling.
My new desk isn’t my only workplace though. I took a day and walked to some of the new neighborhood spots.
Me and Cody knocked out an intro for the Podcast while I was working at one of the spots down the street.
I mentioned last month but we have seven…SEVEN spots that I can walk to and see quality live music. Loving this area.
Here’s the complete list of random purchases this month:
Home Depot: $13.14
Home Depot: $2.69
Mail Keys: $12.50
AWS: $1.18
Uhaul: $73.66
Dollar Tree: $1.09
Bug Chemicals: $21.38
Sams: $23.09
Buffalo Exchange: $8.66
Glass Tupperware: $15.69
Fabletics: $57.00
Home Depot: $5.40
Power Tools: $192.86
Sprayer: $6.49
Fatigue Mats: $21.10
Portable SSD: $83.98
Dryer Fitting: $6.49
Bar Cart: $77.94
Home Depot: $52.91
Powerstrip: $4.66
Bolts: $2.70
Blinds: $103.44
Speaker: $19.36
Tree Trimming: $150.00
Gas: $44.57
Fairly standard month, no big road-trips or anything.
Big Picture: Net Worth Increased $77,135 to $1,045,890
WOW WOW WOW
We did it fam. I’m a Mississippi Millionaire.
For those that have been following me for years, I hope you understand there’s not one ounce of boasting here. I’m just pumped and proud of what I’ve accomplished.
When you grew up where I did, you never imagine things like this.
Even when I started this blog journey, I had ~$38k and everyone thought I was insane to think I could retire by 42. Fast forward six years and I’m looking to retire almost a decade earlier than originally planned.
For those that love the numbers, I saved $19,946 and the market was kind enough to through in $57,177 for a whopping increase of $77,135.
No matter where you are on your journey, enjoy all the wins. The next $100, $1k, $10k, it doesn’t matter.
Celebrate it and enjoy the journey.