August 2019 Wrap-Up

Welcome back from the States! It has been super busy.



Here I am again, putting up my monthly report super late. I came back from the States all full of energy and pizzaz. I had plans to take up more hobbies, spend time with friends, be a tourist in my own town, maybe even start volunteering! Then my 40-hour work week kicked in and I got sick and I'm so drained. I'm seriously contemplating dropping to 4 days a week as a 30th birthday present to myself (just under 18months!). It might delay FIRE (it also might not) but it might also mean having energy to enjoy my life.

It's an idea that deserves an entire post.. if I find the time.

August Goals Update

Investing Goal: $110,000 in Vanguard

The goal is to have $110,000 in my Vanguard account by the end of the year. I started with $78,424, which means I want to gain just over $31,500. I hoped at the start that $5,500 would come from growth and dividends, and the remaining $25,000 would be from investments. Halfway through he year, I've cracked the hundred thousand mark!! I've been kicked out of the $100k club, how rude!

Full year

Opening Balance: $78,424.57

Deposit: $7,075
Dividends: $5,615.30
Market Gains: $8,669.23

August

Opening Balance: $101,350.67

Deposit: $0
Dividends: $0
Market Gains: -$1,566.56

Current Balance: $99,784.11

Sometimes the market goes up, and sometimes it laughs at you for thinking you've finally broken the $100k threshold and it goes back down again. Swings and roundabouts - as I type this mid-September I'm already back above $100k, so there is no stress here.

Spending Goal: Under Control!

The goal is simply to have my spending under control, and for August... I was on holidays! These numbers are super rough because I tracked what I withdrew, but then kinda guessed where I spent it. For honesty sake, I also listed a significant negative spending item as my mother gave me some spending money for while I was away.

Here's what I spent in August, which includes the save-to-spend amounts. Also, I had this post written up, and then Blogger ate it... because of that I lost the annual averages so I've left the ones from July in here. 

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$700	$938.17	$361.53
Under Budget! No bills in August, nice.
OG Investment Property	$719.17	$1,190.83	$1,366.64
Under Budget! Just the rent, lovely times
Home turned Investment Property	$650.37	$1,042.33	$1,520.49
Under Budget! Rent only, it was a great month.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$128.90
Under Budget Just the phone bill and health insurance. Sometime soon I need to replace my phone, before it falls apart entirely
Groceries	$227.50	$190	$182.73
Over Budget! This is a bit of a guess. We did a lot of cooking our own meals while we were in the States, but I didn't recorded dollar-for-dollar how much was spent.
Pets	$6.25	$50	$64.75
Under Budget. My house sitters decided that my cat didn't like the food I left her, and they bought her different food... I don't get it.
Roller Derby	$175.23	$175	$301.23
Over Budget! This is a rough split of the money spent in the States. I split the spend between derby, travel, food and 'other'.
Travelling	$175	$122.50	$271.05
Over Budget. Again, a rough split of spending in the States
Comfort Food	$428.52	$40	$44.68
Over Budget! We went out to a lot of restaurants, and ate a lot of snacks. I was told I'd gain weight in the States, but since we did so much hiking I actually lost weight.
Other	$217.17	$187.00	$247.35
Over Budget. Travel :)
Total	$3,426.47	$4,063.17	$4,489.35
Under budget, with 5 out of 10 categories under  Honestly, I actually spent more than this, but my mum gave us a big chunk of spending money, so I listed it in the budget as a negative transaction, and here we are..

Bonus Goal, if we can: $10,000 worth of an Asian Markets focused ETF

Now that my Utah trip is over I've been able to assess the likelihood of meeting this goal, and I'm happy to say we're going to be smashing it out of the park! I could actually invest this money tomorrow, but it would leave me with a very small cash cushion. Instead I'm shifting $600 a week into one of my mortgage accounts, where I can redraw it without any penalties.

I'm still keen to purchase an Asian Markets focussed ETF such as Vanguard FTSE Asia ex Japan Shares Index ETF (VAE), though I'm also looking closely at BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders ETF (FAIR) as I mentioned last time.

I'll be investing the first $5k in late October, and the second $5k just before the end of December. Although given all the public holidays in December, and the tendency for prices to drop a bit in the first week of January, I might wait till the new year.