July 2020 Update

 Happy August everyone. The weather is picking up, and so is life.

July was a fun month - roller derby went back, worked picked up and the weather was great. We've had a few rainy at the start of August, but overall the sunshine and warmth have made a big difference.

In July we spent a lot of time meeting Collies, researching Collies and really making sure they were going to suit us. It took a lot of looking to find a dog that will get into dog-sports with me, but also couch potato on the days when we need to flop. While a Collie is a herding breed that will need plenty of exercise and entertainment, they've also been bred for pet homes for a long while and don't have that crazy high-drive of Border Collies and the like. 

We're confident we've made the right choice, but I do still get hit with regular panics about bringing a puppy into our house. We've always said we don't want children, so raising a baby animal is a big commitment. That said, we've always wanted a dog and everything is lining up right - not just the ability to work-from-home with the pandemic, but Mr. FIRE has gotten a promotion and my team has really embraced flexible working long term.

What does this have to do with a FIRE blog? Puppy is going to be expensive. Not only are we collecting our puppy from a breeder and paying the related prices, but after much discussion, we've agreed that it's time to become a two-car household. Once we have a puppy in the house, it'll be a safety requirement to always have a car available, and I've been turning down a lot of hiking opportunities because of a lack of transport. 

The financial impacts will be quite large in the first year and should taper off over time. We'll be spending a lot in the start on puppy classes, teething toys and exercise pens and baby gates. While we could do it cheaper, we want to do it right. I'm doing as much second-hand shopping as possible, but I'm not skimping. My big goal is to have a puppy I enjoy with minimal accidents (bathroom and chewing!)

While this is a pricey exercise, I'm excited about it. I plan to get into dog sports once our puppy is old enough, and my post-FIRE plans have always been full of dogs. I'm really excited to take this step towards our post-FIRE plans - and get a realistic idea of what the expenses will be. 

Goals For 2020

Goal #1: 50% Savings

I have a confession to make: I'm a FIRE blogger and my savings rate sucks.

At the end of The Year of Investing in 2018, my savings rate was sitting comfortably at 55%. At the start of 2020, it was a weenie 35%.

Getting my 3-year average savings rate to 50% is going to be next to impossible, but I'm going to track it for interest. The actual goal is for this 12month period to sit comfortably above 50%.

July Rate:  47%

2020 Average: 39% 

Three-Year Average: 37% 

 

This is pretty obviously and sadly not happening. Looking below at the spending reduction, I don't know if 50% was ever a realistic idea. Still, aim high :) We'll try again next year. The important part is upwards trending.

Goal #2 Reduce Average Spending by 10%

Having two investments has gotten expensive, and my spending has been creep-creep-creeping. From an average $3,500 spending back in 2018, now I'm sitting at $4,800 at the start of 2020.

The goal is to reduce my average spend by 10% from January - excluding donations. My goals to do better with my money shouldn't limit my hopes for changing the world

July Spend: $3,699.79 
2020 Average Spend: $4,391.42

Goal Spend: $4,378.30 (or less)

So close! Just a few dollars left to go.

Spending

Here's what I spent in July, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,050	$875	$943.30 (up 99cents)
Over Budget. We've been living here for almost 18months now. The last five of that I've been home all the time due to the pandemic, and I'm grateful we're here instead of the old house. July was a three-rent month, but otherwise, nothing was spent.
Investment Property 1	$1,032.71	$1,145.83	$1,138.92 (down $47.21)
Under Budget. Thankfully nothing went wrong this month - but I did have to pay the council rates. Otherwise a nice quiet month.
Home turned IP2	$547.08	$1,000	$1,039.98 (down $10.18)
Under Budget. Just the mortgage. Sometimes we have quiet months.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$127.26 (no change)
Under Budget.
Groceries	$219.24	$190	$213.46 (up $6.38)
Over Budget. Not much to say here. Supermarkets are more expensive than the fruit and veg market I've lost easy access to.
Pets	$300	$100	$111.26 (up $25.83)
Over Budget. Most of this is setting money aside to pay for our puppy. Due to come home at the end of October 😀
Roller Derby	$120	$175	$161.50 (down $89.99)
Under Budget. The 12month average dropped dramatically because I was able to wipe July last year where I was spending for a trip to Utah. Unsurprisingly, there has been no travel this year. Just paying for training from July, and putting aside money for new gear.
Travelling	$100	$122.50	$22.92 (down $148.54)
Under Budget. Again, 12month average dropped dramatically because last year was the international trip, and this year is COVID. Half of this 'spend' is putting aside money for our next travel, whenever that is. The other half is puppy savings 😉
Comfort Food	$53.50	$40	$71.95 (up $0.29)
Over Budget. We threw a Christmas in July party and had friends over where we split Thai food. Then three days later restrictions in our area increased and we weren't allowed to do that anymore 😅
Donations	$0		$92.50
None
Other	$150	$187.00	$231.09 (down $3.57)
Under Budget. Most of this is savings - I've been wearing the same glasses for a decade. I also bought juggling balls though - a $4 impulse purchase I have zero regrets about.
Total	$3,699.79	$3,987.67	$4,154.14 (down $247.99)
Total ex. Donations	$3,699.79		$4,061.64 (down $247.99)
Under Budget. with 6 out of 10 categories under! I guess my most interesting purchase was puppy prep. I've been buying plenty of chew toys - my big goals for puppyhood are sleeping through the night, housetraining, and minimising any damage done by a teething whirlwind of a puppy.

June 2020 Update

Happy Financial New Year (how many times can I make that joke? As many as I like!)

Pandemic life is starting to get to me. As an introvert, I was quite comfortable with the shutdown and working from home. I made a big point of always putting 'adult' clothes on for work every day, and changing to comfy house pants at the end of the day. In June I added an end of day walkies - just taking myself for a lap of the neighbourhood and a podcast. However, the same-samey environment is starting to get to me. Weekends don't feel relaxing because it's the same space I've been working in for the last five days.

It's an interesting look into what FIRE life could be if I wasn't consciously filling the time. It's also a bad comparison because when I reach FIRE I have a lot of things I want to do that I can't do now because A. I'm still working 40hours a week, and B. there's a heckin' pandemic on and the world is shut down. Sports have started to go back, and pubs have started opening but every outing is a potential danger.

Plus it's hard to start anything not knowing if the pandemic will spike back up (forcing things to close) or conditions will improve, and I'll have to head back into the office.

I am actually really looking forward to office life again. I don't want to be there five days a week (and commuting an hour each way) but I'm hoping to go back two days a week. All those big meetings will be much better in person, plus actually seeing people in person.

Goals For 2020

Goal #1: 50% Savings

I have a confession to make: I'm a FIRE blogger and my savings rate sucks.

At the end of The Year of Investing in 2018, my savings rate was sitting comfortably at 55%. At the start of 2020, it was a weenie 35%.

Getting my 3-year average savings rate to 50% is going to be next to impossible, but I'm going to track it for interest. The actual goal is for this 12month period to sit comfortably above 50%.

June Rate: 15% 

2020 Average: 37% 

Three-Year Average: 36% 

 

Goal #2 Reduce Average Spending by 10%

Having two investments has gotten expensive, and my spending has been creep-creep-creeping. From an average $3,500 spending back in 2018, now I'm sitting at $4,800 at the start of 2020.

The goal is to reduce my average spend by 10% from January - excluding donations. My goals to do better with my money shouldn't limit my hopes for changing the world

June Spend: $5,280.82 
2020 Average Spend: $4,506.69

Goal Spend: $4,378.30 (or less)

Another not great month, which I'm starting to accept as normal. In June I had to pay to rewire one of my rental properties because it tried to burn down. Okay, not quite. The circuit breakers kept tripping, and when the electrician came out they found part of the wiring starting to melt. Thankfully they were able to put an emergency fix in, re-wire and bring everything up to safety standards for just over a thousand. I didn't see much of my rent this month, but IMO I got off lightly.

This meant paying for the re-wiring, and not seeing any rent from that property (the rent went towards the bill, but wasn't enough alone). Outside of that I also paid the big Body Corporate bill for that property. Almost half of the months expenses came from that house alone.

It is interesting (read, frustrating) trying to control my spending/saving when it's so far out of my control. It makes me wonder if it's time to revisit how I record expenses and split out 'investment expenses' from 'life expenses'.

Spending

Here's what I spent in June, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,176.63	$875	$924.31 (up $32.44)
Over Budget. Rent and the quarterly utility bills. Even though I've been WFH for three months, our gas and electricity bills are pretty normal.
Original Investment Property	$2,003.46	$1,145.83	$1,186.13 (up $101.58)
Over Budget. Mortgage, plus body corporate fees, plus my house tried to burn down (see above).
Home turned Investment Property	$608.15	$1,000	$1,050.16 (down $38.99)
Under Budget! Just the mortgage and I got all the rents this month. Yeehaw.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$127.26 (no change)
Under Budget! So this is basically it until either my health insurance premiums change, or I get a new phone.
Groceries	$134.29	$190	$207.08 (down $4.23)
Under Budget! Nothing fancy happened to make this a cheap month - I just had a lot of leftovers from May, and did a big shop on the first of July. It was just the timing of the shopping more than anything.
Pets	$102.66	$100	$85.43 (up $0.56)
Over Budget. It was an expensive month where everyone wanted to be fed. I bought my first big bag of cat food since November and restocked the chicken snacks. I also caved in and bought another food puzzle for my cat - after making three from cardboard earlier in the month.
Roller Derby	$120	$175	$251.49 (down $6.33)
Under Budget! Derby is back! I actually spent more this month to replace my toe-stops and my wheels, but thankfully that cost came out of the month I've been putting aside for the last three months.
Travelling	$0	$122.50	$171.46 (down $16.67)
Under Budget! Nothing... no surprises.
Comfort Food	$55	$40	$71.66 (down $0.42)
Over Budget. This is a spend I'm really annoyed about. Mr. FIRE and I went out on a date night to an 'American Style' burger joint. The burgers were expensive and average. There were no chilli cheese fries. And it took over an hour to make. Super let down.
Donations	$0		$92.50
Nothing here. It was a quiet June.
Other	$150	$187.00	$234.66 (down $3.43)
Under Budget! It was a mish-mash of spending - I bought three puzzles (and did one and a half of them), two console games on super sale, and one game on Steam for my partner and I to play together. I also bought some seedlings for the garden, and put a lot of money aside for random bits and pieces in the future. Including new glasses... I've been wearing these for at least eight years.
Total	$4,477.45	$3,987.67	$4,402.13 (up $65.35)
Total ex. Donations	$4,477.45		$4,309.63 (up $65.35)
Over Budget. with 4 out of 10 categories over! June was a quiet month, but when the big bills come in it doesn't matter what your day-to-day lifestyle expenses are.

May 2020 Update

 May was a roller-coaster of a month. I got a dog, I gave back my dog, I had a huge burnout, and I pulled it all back together.

My biggest financial and emotional news of May is that we got a dog. She was an Australian Cattle Dog and she was amazing. She came to us with all her house manners, great leash manners, a very polite fetch and a love of food that made her really easy to train. She also wanted to be on the go All The Time. We worked constantly on teaching her when to lay down and settle, and when it was okay to hassle mum and dad for playtime. 

At the end of our two-week trial, I was going to bed early every night, zonked out in the middle of the day and completely run down. If she had 'issues' we had to work through then we probably would have kept her, but there was nothing to fix about her, we just didn't have the energy to keep up. Taking her back was pretty gut-wrenching, and as much as I regret it I also couldn't keep going the way I was.

Outside of the dog whirlwind, May was more of the same pandemic lockdown. Things should be changing in June with sports being approved to start again (pending figuring out the hygiene rules) and work has started trialling return to the office systems. With that being most of my team has agreed we don't want to be back in the office five days a week, and are starting to negotiate partial working-from-home arrangements. 

I've gotten used to my at-home routines and I'm finding the best part is knowing which meetings are 'hands-on' and which are just catch-ups. Every morning I have a catch-up that doubles as my 'check the chickens and water the garden' time in the sun. Without my commute, I'm saving over an hour a day and I actually get to see the sunshine. Plus I can take a fifteen-minute work break if my brain is overloaded and do quick house chores. That being said I miss seeing my team, and I definitely miss working right next to the markets - my diet has had a lot fewer veggies.

All of this change contributed to a pretty stressful May. It's hard to be sure if our dog-adoption failure was really because she was going to be too much, or because our lives are looking to be so shaken up she was one more thing I wasn't ready for. Knowing that everything is changing, and we're going into winter (a traditionally hard time for me) we've put a hold on our dog search and we donated a lot of the supplies we bought. At the earliest, we're planning to try again with a doggo towards the end of August when the sun comes back.

Goals For 2020

Goal #1: 50% Savings

I have a confession to make: I'm a FIRE blogger and my savings rate sucks.

At the end of The Year of Investing in 2018, my savings rate was sitting comfortably at 55%. At the start of 2020, it was a weenie 35%.

Getting my 3-year average savings rate to 50% is going to be next to impossible, but I'm going to track it for interest. The actual goal is for this 12month period to sit comfortably above 50%.

May Rate: 47%

2020 Average: 42%

Three-Year Average: 37%

 

Goal #2 Reduce Average Spending by 10%

Having two investments has gotten expensive, and my spending has been creep-creep-creeping. From an average $3,500 spending back in 2018, now I'm sitting at $4,800 at the start of 2020.

The goal is to reduce my average spend by 10% from January - excluding donations. My goals to do better with my money shouldn't limit my hopes for changing the world

April Spend: $4,102.25
2020 Average Spend: $4,656.38

Goal Spend: $4,378.30 (or less)

May's spending numbers were pretty average. I spent a lot more in the pets column than I ever have before, but most other categories were down. 

Spending

Here's what I spent in May, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$800	$875	$891.87 (up $8.33)
Under Budget! Just the rent and a quick trip to Bunnings for another set of garden beds.
Original Investment Property	$1,027.55	$1,145.83	$1,084.55 (down $63.89)
Under Budget! Mortgage plus council rates.
Home turned Investment Property	$549.20	$1,000	$1,089.14 (down $137.02)
Under Budget! Just the mortgage. It's nice having the mortgage super cheap because a month without rent wasn't fun at all.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$127.26 (no change)
Under Budget! So this is basically it until either my health insurance premiums change, or I get a new phone.
Groceries	$255.53	$190	$211.31 (up $4.76)
Over Budget. I haven't been able to get to the fruit and veg markets for cheap produce so my shopping bill is up, and I've been eating worse. Not a huge fan.
Pets	$342.02	$100	$84.87 (up $24.33)
Over Budget. We got a dog! And then we returned her to the rescue. It was a big intense heartbreaking two weeks where she seemed perfect on paper but exhausting and stressful in real life. We're really questioning now if we're in the right place in life for a dog :(
Roller Derby	$120	$175	$257.82 (down $7.46)
Under Budget... Just like the last couple of months, I spent nothing, but I put aside money for new skates. Training starts again in two weeks!
Travelling	$0	$122.50	$188.13 (down $16.67)
Under Budget! Nothing... no surprises.
Comfort Food	$0	$40	$71.24 (down $2.11)
Under Budget! Another one of those months where I could probably put some of the grocery bill in here, but I forgot to.
Donations	$10		$92.50
One of my friends played a livestream gig. I guess this could be a misc. spending, but I'm calling it a donation because... reasons.
Other	$151.49	$187.00	$238.09 (down $3.31)
Under Budget! Most of this was my three-yearly birth control update. It's far cheaper than those children I don't want. I also put aside $50 for future spending.
Total	$3,383.05	$3,987.67	$4,336.78 (down $192.20)
Total ex. Donations	$3,373.05		$4,244.28 (down $193.03)
Under Budget, with 8 out of 10 categories under! May was really stressful with our dog. She was wonderful but I also had a proper panic attack, took a sick day off work and went to bed early 3 days. I think there was more to it, but she was definitely the catalyst.

April 2020 Update

 Happy Pandemic month. It's been very bland

April was such a bland month I really struggled to write this extended intro. I've been putting it off all month and now I haven't got anything to say. At the end of April, I couldn't remember April, and now three weeks later I really can't remember it. 

Goals For 2020

Goal #1: 50% Savings

I have a confession to make: I'm a FIRE blogger and my savings rate sucks.

At the end of The Year of Investing in 2018, my savings rate was sitting comfortably at 55%. At the start of 2020, it was a weenie 35%. 

Getting my 3-year average savings rate to 50% is going to be next to impossible, but I'm going to track it for interest. The actual goal is for this 12month period to sit comfortably above 50%.

April Rate: 49%

2020 Average: 41%

Three-Year Average: 37%

The good news about April is I counted Marches rents in my income. The bad news is that I gave my tenants four weeks free to get through till their CentreLink payments came in and so I won't be seeing any income in May.  

Goal #2 Reduce Average Spending by 10%

Having two investments has gotten expensive, and my spending has been creep-creep-creeping. From an average $3,500 spending back in 2018, now I'm sitting at $4,800 at the start of 2020.

The goal is to reduce my average spend by 10% from January - excluding donations. My goals to do better with my money shouldn't limit my hopes for changing the world

April Spend: $3,566.95
2020 Average Spend: $4,794.91

Goal Spend: $4,378.30 (or less)

I managed to spend both not much and a lot. COVID life is weird.  

Spending

Here's what I spent in April, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$838.68	$875	$883.54 (up $1.79)
Over Budget. Just the mortgage and a quick trip to Bunnings for... something, I didn' write it down.
Original Investment Property	$1,004.75	$1,190.83	$1,148.44 (down $52.67)
Under Budget! Mortgage plus water bill.
Home turned Investment Property	$859.38	$1,042.33	$1,226.16 (down $259.36)
Under Budget! Mortgage and insurance, but interest rates are on the floor, so the mortgage is wild cheap.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$127.26 (no change)
Under Budget! So this is basically it until either my health insurance premiums change, or I get a new phone.
Groceries	$234.19	$190	$206.55 (down 23cents)
Over Budget. I scored a 48 box double-length rolls from Who Gives a Crap! It's a good price per roll, but it does mean I spent $54 in one go.
Pets	$205.69	$50	$60.54 (up $6.54)
Over Budget. Did a get a dog? No. Did I get all the things I need for a dog? Mostly.
Roller Derby	$120	$175	$265.28 (down $4.58)
Under Budget... Just like last month, I spent nothing, but I put aside money for new skates. We cancelled training till COVID blows over and it looks like we might be back in June.
Travelling	$0	$122.50	$204.80 (down $9.16)
Under Budget! Nothing... we had a lighter lockdown than the rest of the world, but I've only left my house for jogging, food and a couple of puppy-play dates.
Comfort Food	$125	$40	$73.35 (up $7.08)
Over Budget. I bought a mix box of 15 wines. All prepped for Winter now
Donations	$0		$91.67
I ended up extending my tenants two weeks rent-free to four weeks. Other than that, nothing exciting.
Other	$52	$187.00	$241.40 (down $4.54)
Under Budget! So I was wondering what I spent and the answer is actually nothing. I just put aside some money for a new pair of glasses and some house updates.
Total	$3,566.95	$4,000	$4,528.98 (down $223.61)
Total ex. Donations	$3,566.95		$4,437.31 (down $406.94)
Under Budget, with 6 out of 10 categories under! There really is nothing much to say about April. Nothing happened. Which I guess is a good thing during a pandemic.

March 2020 Update

I'm FIRE'd! Aprils Fools... I'm not FIRE'd or fired, just working from home forever.

It's mid-April and the end of my third week working from home due to the pandemic, and here's my three big takeaways:

• Humans are not 'houseplants with complicated emotions'. We need more than sunlight and water, we need exercise. Lots of it.
• WFH is far easier than working in the office, but even I miss people, and I'm a huge introvert.
• I need a dog.

The biggest impact so far has been the complete overhaul of my exercise routine impacting my ability to sleep. Financially, almost nothing has changed. If anything I've been spending a bit more because I keep looking at my house and I finally have the time to do the things I wanted to do since we moved in and it's right there in my face.

We haven't changed our eating habits, but I haven't been able to access the cheap fruit n veg markets, so my spending has been impacted. Also, because I'm sure everyone wants to know, we haven't been in toilet paper crisis mode yet. This week will tell though...

Goals For 2020

Goal #1: 50% Savings

I have a confession to make: I'm a FIRE blogger and my savings rate sucks.

At the end of The Year of Investing in 2018, my savings rate was sitting comfortably at 55%. At the start of 2020, it was a weenie 35%. 

Getting my 3-year average savings rate to 50% is going to be next to impossible, but I'm going to track it for interest. The actual goal is for this 12month period to sit comfortably above 50%.

March Rate: 25%

2020 Average: 38%

Three-Year Average: 36%

Marches rent actually got paid in April, so my income was lower than it could have been. That being said, I gave my tenants two weeks free rent (they're both hospitality workers) so I won't be seeing a huge income next time either, which will affect my savings percentage.

Goal #2 Reduce Average Spending by 10%

Having two investments has gotten expensive, and my spending has been creep-creep-creeping. From an average $3,500 spending back in 2018, now I'm sitting at $4,800 at the start of 2020.

The goal is to reduce my average spend by 10% from January - excluding donations. My goals to do better with my money shouldn't limit my hopes for changing the world

12 Month Average Spend: $4,752.59

2020 Average Spend: $5,204.23

Goal Spend: $4,378.30 (or less)

Success! My actual spend for March was $3,952.86. I didn't get a cash refund for my flights and at this stage, I'm wondering if the flight voucher will even be honoured - last time I checked Virgin was almost underwater. Considering I'm still employed and all my tenants are paying rent I'm not too badly put out, but it is $400 that I'll miss having. 

Spending

Here's what I spent in February, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,089.72	$875	$881.75 (up $30.76)
Over Budget. Dang power bill ruining my budgets. It was less than expected for a summer of air-conditioning use, but more than hoped.
OG Investment Property	$1,630.01	$1,190.83	$1,201.11 (down $7.96)
Over Budget. Ah, the expensive body corporate payment... my favourite.
Home turned Investment Property	$573.19	$1,042.33	$1,485.52 (down $33.60)
Under Budget! Just the mortgage. Happy times.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$127.26 (up 5cents)
Under Budget! The old phone has had some blips but it's hanging in there. My health insurer was 'kind' enough to delay the annual premium rise by six months so... yay? Considering most electives are shut down at the moment it would have been really rude to charge me more.
Groceries	$281.23	$190	$206.78 (up $6.44)
Over Budget. I tried really hard to ignore the madness, but it seeped in. I didn't buy that much extra, but I did pick up a dehydrator that I've had my eye on for a while. It works really well because now I can buy a whole pumpkin, shred it and dehydrate the spare. It means I've kicked off the garden as well! We have enough freezer meals for another week, but I really miss fresh vegetables.
Pets	$53.45	$50	$54.12 (up 4cents)
Over Budget. My chickens had mites. Thousands of the little bastards that were also coming in through my bedroom window. Insect powder was absolutely worth spending money on. April is going to be a whole new month, at the time of writing we don't have a dog, but I've started collecting supplies.
Roller Derby	$120	$175	$269.86 (down $7.36)
Under Budget... So technically I spent nothing, but I put aside money for new skates. We cancelled trainings till COVID blows over and god, damn, I am bored.
Travelling	$0	$122.50	$213.96 (down $9.17)
Under Budget! Nothing... we're not even allowed to leave the State so... yeah
Comfort Food	$0	$40	$66.27 (down $2.97)
Under Budget! Probably could have shifted some of the grocery spending to this category? Oh well
Donations	$0		$91.67
I did give my tenants two weeks free rent in April, but otherwise, it's penny-pinching time as the world spirals out of control.
Other	$78	$187.00	$245.94 (up $3.16)
Under Budget! Some very boring purchases include new towels, some air-tight jars for the pantry, soap, and veggie garden supplies. A little bit pandemic-panic, but mostly just getting around to doing the gardening we've always wanted. I also got a refund for a gig that was cancelled.
Total	$3,952.86	$4,000	$4,752.59 (down $24.61)
Total ex. Donations	$3,952.86		$4,844.25 (down $158.71)
Under Budget, with 6 out of 10 categories under! Apart from regular bills and a little food shopping, nothing much happened. My shares bounced back a bit, but (like everyone) I'm not feeling the best at the moment. I'm used to be able to take action to fix things, this watch and wait business is no fun.

February 2020 Update

Halfway through March, it's past time to report on how February goes.

I know it's a long way into March to be doing a February report. I have to admit that COVID-19 has thrown my financial confidence for a spin. I won't talk about it much more than I need to, but I will say that all the gains I made in 2019 have been wiped off the board. It's a tumultuous time. With that said, I made goals for 2020 around saving and spending! Regardless of the world climate, I should have a reasonably large measure of control over this.

Outside of global pressures, March so far has been really stressful (hence this post being really late). I've been overwhelmed with pantry moths wiping out my food supplies, mites on my chickens (gross) and a fruit fly outbreak in my suburb. It's been a crazy bug month.

February was... a long time ago. I know in this introduction I'm supposed to talk about what happened in February, but I can't even recall what I did. Moving swiftly onwards!

Goals For 2020

Goal #1 : 50% Savings

I have a confession to make: I'm a FIRE blogger and my savings rate sucks.

At the end of The Year of Investing in 2018 my savings rate was siting comfortably at 55%. At the start of 2020 it was a weenie 35%. 

Getting my 3-year average savings rate to 50% is going to be next to impossible, but I'm going to track it for interest. The actual goal is for this 12month period to sit comfortable above 50%.

February Rate: 65%

2020 Average: 44%

Three-Year Average: 37%

February was a quiet month, and even with only 29 days I still managed to sneak in 3 paydays. It definitely helped push the rate in the right direction.

Goal #2 Reduce Average Spending by 10%

Having two investments has gotten expensive, and my spending has been creep-creep-creeping. From an average $3,500 spending back in 2018, now I'm sitting at $4,800 at the start of 2020.

The goal is to reduce my average spend by 10% from January - excluding donations. My goals to do better with my money shouldn't limit my hopes for changing the world

12 Month Average Spend: $4,299.96

2020 Average Spend: $5,829.91

Goal Spend: $4,378.30 (or less)

Success! My actual spend for February was $3,630.37, including booking flights to the Gold Coast. Roller Derby is not a cheap hobby to start with, and I get to travel interstate (and sometimes internationally!) to compete with my team. I don't consider myself to lead a super restricted life, but I do recognise that all this roller derby travel is a wild expense. Technically no one needs to travel for a sport, but it's g'damn amazing and I'm going to do it for as long as I can. I wrote that last sentence a couple of weeks ago... since then my tournament has been cancelled. I'm not sure if I will get a cash refund, and I have no idea when I'll be able to travel again. 

Spending

Here's what I spent in February, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,050	$875	$850.99 (up $54.16)
Over Budget. Had to pay rent three times :( But after a year of living here, I've decided I'm comfortable dropping the budgeted amount from $940 down to $875 a month.
OG Investment Property	$664.20	$1,190.83	$1,209.07 (down $38.50)
Under Budget! Just the mortgage, and it's a really small mortgage!
Home turned Investment Property	$914.15	$1,042.33	$1,519.12  (down $89.81)
Under Budget! House insurance and the mortgage. A much appreciated low spend month.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$127.21 (up 6cents)
Under Budget! Still using my old phone. Wild!
Groceries	$125.74	$190	$200.34 (up $3.87)
Under Budget! Still eating lots of greens. I've been on a fruit binge and I'm eating heaps.
Pets	-$3	$50	$54.08 (down 80cents)
Under Budget! I had to buy a mousetrap. Having my old and news hens separated means I don't have enough secure feeders and now I have mice :( But I also sold two dozen eggs, so negative spend month
Roller Derby	$615.77	$175	$277.25 (up $21.24)
Over Budget Ah yes... the year begins. Flights to the Gold Coast are not cheap.
Travelling	$0	$122.50	$223.13 (down $9.17)
Under Budget! Nothing again! I honestly just forgot to start squirrelling holiday money away.
Comfort Food	$18	$40	$69.24 (down $9.07)
Under Budget! I went on a date. It was okay, but there wasn't a second date. We went to a free lecture on fossils and drank beer!
Donations	$0		$91.67
While it's been a stressful month across the globe, I didn't find anything that tugged my heart enough to open the purse.
Other	$195.75	$187.00	$242.78 (down $5.91)
Over Budget! I went out to a Fringe gig. It was an okay show, but not recommendable. I also restocked the ol' underwear drawer. Thrilling!
Total	$3,630.37	$4,000	$4,777.20 (down $161.20)
Total ex. Donations	$3,630.37		$4,685.54 (down $161.20)
Under Budget, with 7 out of 10 categories under! It was a good month all told, even though it ended with an intense stock market crash. These things happen and given I'm five years away from my FIRE goal, it's not a huge concern.

January 2020 Update

New year, new goals!

If you didn't notice, I snuck through January without setting any goals for the year. 2020 is in full swing and I'm starting to feel like I've recovered from the holidays and I'm ready to take on the year. The upside to not having any goals set for January means I can use the numbers as a baseline to improve from. And there is a lot of room for improvement... The downside to not setting any goals is that the month slipped by without anything exciting to report on.

Goals For 2020

Goal #1 : 50% Savings

I have a confession to make: I'm a FIRE blogger and my savings rate sucks.

At the end of The Year of Investing in 2018 my savings rate was siting comfortably at 55%. Looking at the big picture since the start of 2018 to now, it's sunk to a weenie 35%. I've made excuses over that time of having house renovations, and a big overseas trip, but honestly I could make excuses for the rest of forever. At some point I need to suck it up and do better.

I crunched the numbers and getting my 3 year average savings rate to 50% is going to be next to impossible - I'd need to save more than 75% each month till the end of this year. I'm going to track the 3-year rate, but the actual goal is for this 12month period to sit comfortable above 50%.

January Rate: 24%

2020 Average: 24%

Three-Year Average: 35%

Goal #2 Reduce Average Spending by 10%

Having two investments has gotten expensive, and my spending has been creep-creep-creeping. From an average $3,500 spending back in 2018, now I'm sitting at $4,800

For starters, some honest facts - owning investment properties costs money. You can't buy a house, pay the mortgage, get adequate insurance and stay on top of the maintenance without spending any money. However I shouldn't need to spend an average of $5,000 a month.I've written out a budget for $4,000. I'm not confident that $4,000 is a correct number - even after almost a year in this house I still don't feel like I've settled into a groove. And my old place keeps needing repairs - they're all valid repairs of things that I know need doing in a 30 year old house, but they're also ones I kinda wish the tenants would just suck it up and deal with.

With all that in mind, the goal is to reduce my average spend by 10% from January - excluding donations. My goals to do better with my money shouldn't limit my hopes for changing the world

12 month Average Spend: $4,864.78

2020 Average Spend: $8,029.45

Goal Spend: $4,378.30 (or less)

Spending

Here's what I spent in January, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$700	$938.17	$796.83 (up $58.34)
Under Budget. Just rents :)
OG Investment Property	$1,508.83	$1,190.83	$1,247.57 (down $9.51)
Over Budget Bills are no fun, water and council rates.
Home turned Investment Property	$5,314.71	$1,042.33	$1,608.93 (up $321.93)
Over Budget! Really hoped the A/C would make it through a summer before I had to replace it, but no. It was a pricey one, but definitely necessary.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$127.15 (up 5cents)
Under Budget! I'm not sure how long I can stay amazed at my phone. Three and a half years and it's sill beating manufactured obselecence.
Groceries	$158.10	$190	$196.47 (up $3.76)
Under Budget! Time to recover from Christmas. We're eating a lot of fruit and veg.
Pets	$124.30	$50	$54.48 (up $8.43)
Over Budget! After all the coop building it was finally time to buy new chickens. I got three sussex / wyandotte mixes and they are gosh darn pretty birds! I could have gotten slightly cheaper chickens by buying a standard petshop breed, but in my experience the heritage breeds are healthier and last longer.
Roller Derby	$120	$175	$256.01 (up $3.67)
Under Budget! I say under budget but it's a lie. I siphoned a few dollars from the new skates fund to pay for camp...
Travelling	$0	$122.50	$232.30 (down $9.15)
Under Budget! Nothing again! I was going to start saving for the next trip but it was an expensive month.
Comfort Food	$58.25	$40	$78.31(up $4.11)
Over Budget! This year I want to spend more time with friends. I did really well in January going out for Friday night beers - but obviously that's not free. It wasn't $58 on beers - there was some snacks in there too!
Donations	$60		$91.67
In January I got angry about right-wing biased media and threw some money at the Guardian.
Other	$228	$187.00	$248.69 (down $16.84)
Over Budget! Board games and house plants! 2020 is the year of more time with friends, but also of making home a nicer place to be.
Total	$8,399.45	$4,063.17	$4,938.40 (up $369.71)
Total ex. Donations	$8,339.45		$4,846.74 (up $364.66)
Over Budget, with 5 out of 10 categories under, there was still no way to stay under budget with the huge blowout in paying for the air-condiioner.

December 2019 Wrap Up - End of the Decade!

End of a Decade!

The end of 2019 has been and gone and it was a pretty quiet wrap up. Mr. FIRE and I went out to the beach, watched some fireworks, and agreed that firework tech really hasn't changed in 20years so maybe it's time to move on to something new.

2020 is set to be an interesting year because while we haven't reached FI yet, Mr/ FIRE and I are starting to feel really comfortably rich and questioning why we live the way we do. Building better relationships and working through our mid-life identity crises is taking a higher priority to building our bank accounts.

With that being said, we're both on track to FIRE before I'm thirty-five, so we're comfortable to take a wider look at our lives and question what our aims are.

December, End of Year, Goals Summary

Investing Goal: $110,000 in Vanguard

The goal was 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.

In November we ticked over $110k a couple of times, and in December we were... flat. There was less than $100 growth even after deposits, but we did hit our goal.

Full year

Opening Balance: $78,424.57

Deposit: $13,775
Dividends: $5,973.54
Market Gains: $11,872.14

December

Opening Balance: $109,912.21

Deposit: $1,600
Dividends: $0
Market Gains: -$1,466.95

Current Balance: $110,045.26

And we're done!! Let's break it down a bit:
Goal: $110k Done
Goal to deposit $25k - umm... no
Goal to have $5.5k of gains - smashed.

So it's great that I hit my goal, but I was supposed to deposit $25k over the year and I only deposited $13,775. If I'd put in the rest as intended, I'd have over $121k. Things to think about... but also not to kick ourselves over. It was a good year both in saving, and in spending :) 

Spending Goal: Under Control!

The goal is simply to have my spending under control and for December I did quite well - the numbers are inflated because Tax Returns are expensive ($580 for me and Mr. FIRE) and given the state of Australia and my disdain for our government, I donated my $1,040 'tax relief' to Conservation and Homeless charities. Basically places where the government should have spent that money, rather than trying to buy the middle-class vote.

Here's what I spent in December, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,114.19	$938.17	$738.49 (up $91.59)
Over Budget. Bills bills bills - for the end of the year Mr FIRE and I tallied up what we've spent and balanced the books - I had to throw $90 over to him, not bad. We also paid gas and electricity - I'm pretty pleased that this was only $200 for electricity and $130 for gas.
OG Investment Property	$645.93	$1,190.83	$1,257.08 (down $10.13)
Under Budget Just the mortgage again. I've already received two bills to pay in January though.
Home turned Investment Property	$692.88	$1,042.33	$1,287.00 (down $29.50)
Under Budget! Just the mortgage. In January I should be replacing the air-conditioner, which I may need to pay out of my actual account, not just from the rent. Either way, I believe I'll lower the budget next year.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$127.10 (up 6cents)
Under Budget! I still haven't got a new phone, and I don't know when I will. It's great.
Groceries	$213.87	$190	$192.71 (down $1.81)
Over Budget! It was Christmaaaaas. We got fat for Christmas!
Pets	$100	$50	$46.05 (down $9.21)
Over Budget! We spent a lot on shade cloth, a misting kit and more supplies for building out the chicken coop. It's almost done now, and honestly, I don't want to think about what I spent on it. It's good quality and I like it, but most importantly I enjoyed the process of building it.
Roller Derby	$120	$175	$252.40 (up $7.08)
Under Budget! This is entirely saving money for new skates! Which is problematic because the season starts in a couple of weeks, and I haven't bought new skates and no one wants to break in new skates during the season. Dilemmas...
Travelling	$0	$122.50	$241.45 (down $9.18)
Under Budget! Nothing again! Next year I'll start saving for my next trip.
Comfort Food	$27.50	$40	$74.20 (down 16cents)
Under Budget! Christmas lunch with my work pals.
Donations	$1,040		$86.67
This is a new, none budgeted category. As I mentioned above, I would rather my taxes are paying for a better country, not being given to me as a vote grabbing manoeuvre. The only appropriate thing for me to do was to donate the money to issues I want actioned.
Other	$879.35	$187.00	$265.53 (up $53.07)
Over Budget! So the majority of this is just paying for tax returns. My partner tends to spend a bit more in our relationship, so I always pay for our tax returns. He has an ABN and I have two investment properties. Our tax returns are not cheap.
Total	$4,860.98	$4,063.17	$4,568.69
Total ex. Donations	$3,820.98		$4,482.02 (up $95.45)
Under budget, with 6 out of 10 categories under.

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

I sunk $10k into the Betashares FAIR ETF in November, so this goal is met!

I have another $5k ready to go, but I'm holding out to see how much the air-conditioner in my second rental is going to cost before I lock this money up in investments.

November 2019 Wrap-Up

Merry almost Christmas! Just a couple of weeks left of 2020 - how did your year go?

November felt like a really quiet month. My biggest memories are the wild weather, swinging from pouring rains on a Monday to heatwaves on a Friday. It might be a bit late in the year, but I'm hoping to plant out a lot of annuals in December to reduce the heat in the yard of summer. I say annuals because I haven't finalised te plans for the yard yet and don't want to stress about planting perenialls that will stick around for years - or that I'll have to move and replant wen I decide what I'm doing.

November 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.

November ticked over $110,000 a couple of times, but at the end of the month, we sat sliiiiightly under. Unless the markets nosedive heavily, we're sitting pretty for kicking goals.

Full year

Opening Balance: $78,424.57

Deposit: $12,175
Dividends: $5,973.54
Market Gains: $13,339.09

November

Opening Balance: $105,126.96

Deposit: $2,100
Dividends: $0
Market Gains: $2,685.25

Current Balance: $109,912.21

I've almost hit my target but it's interesting to see the breakdown. At that start of the year, I planned to achieve this goal with $25,000 of investments and only $5,500 of gains. Instead, I've only deposited $12k and seen almost $20k of gains.
It's amazing to see my money doing the heavy lifting, but it's also upsetting to realise that I didn't get anywhere near my deposit goal. I have invested elsewhere (see my bonus goal below) but invest 50% less than planned isn't ideal. Something to keep in mind for 2020.

Spending Goal: Under Control!

The goal is simply to have my spending under control and for November I did really nicely. I spent a bit at the dentist, which normally adds up quickly, but the totals still stayed nice and low.

Here's what I spent in November, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$700	$938.17	$646.90 (up $55.40)
Under Budget. No Bills, just 2 rent payments. All the bills are due next month though, Merry Christmas? We've now lived in this house for 9 months, so the average still not representative of a full year, but it's getting closer.
OG Investment Property	$674.04	$1,190.83	$1,267.21 (down $9.85)
Under Budget Just the mortgage. Very nice
Home turned Investment Property	$612.20	$1,042.33	$1,316.50 (down $53.56)
Under Budget! Just the mortgage. The water bill was paid out on my rental income.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$127.04 (up 5cents)
Under Budget! I still haven't got a new phone, so still no change. The ol' phone does struggle some days though.
Groceries	$241.02	$190	$190.90 (down $3.51)
Over Budget! I've been experimenting with cooking tofu and absolutely loving it. I've been buying a couple of different spices as well.
Pets	-$79.08	$50	$55.26 (down $14.34)
Under Budget! That's right, I MADE money. I had a pet sitting guest, and he was lovely. Since it's an inconsistent income, I made the choice to put it as a negative cost.
Roller Derby	$120	$175	$245.32 (down $4.29)
Under Budget! This is entirely saving money for new skates!
Travelling	$0	$122.50	$250.63 (down $9.17)
Under Budget! Nothing again! In January I'll probably start putting money aside again for the next trip.
Comfort Food	$97.60	$40	$74.36 (up $2.61)
Under Budget! Mr. FIRE and I went on a couple of dates :)
Other	$493.35	$187.00	$212.46 (up $5.26)
Over Budget! No shame here! I went to the dentist (boring) a friends birthday wine tour (fun!) bought tickets for my favourite artist (yay) and spent up on Black Friday sales. Here's the thing, for Black Friday, I make a list of what I want, and what I'm willing to pay for it - then I buy it. Everything I bought had been on my list for months, and I saved an average 50%
Total	$2,986.39	$4,063.17	$4,386.57 (down $31.49)
Under budget, with 8 out of 10 categories under. Spending less than $3k is a great month. Plus I splurged on 2 dates, trips out with friends, and a whole stack of video games. November was pretty darn good.

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

I sunk $10k into the Betashares FAIR ETF in November, so this goal is met!

I may have the funds to do another purchase in January, but I may also have to replace my tenants' air-conditioner. We'll see how things go.

October 2019 Wrap-Up

Happy November! Are you one of those '51 sleeps till Christmas' people or a Jingle-hater?


Personally, I'm a Jingle Hater. There is no need for wasting money and resources and our mental energies on plastic trash that we don't need - decorations and bad gifts. However, I am getting keen to have big meals with friends and family, take a rest from work and enjoy the summer sun.

October 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.

October scraped through $500 above the goal with another low returns/high saving month. It's really interesting that at the start of the year I planned to invest $25k and earn $5.5k in returns. Instead, it looks like I'm on track for $15-20k in returns, and a bit under $15k in investments. Have a look down at the bonus section to see what else is going on.

Full year

Opening Balance: $78,424.57

Deposit: $10,075
Dividends: $5,973.54
Market Gains: $10,653.84

October

Opening Balance: $103,698.65

Deposit: $1,775
Dividends: $0
Market Gains: -$346.69

Current Balance: $105,126.96

Here we have a pretty standard October where we got stuff all from the markets, and all the portfolio gains are from me pumping money in. Across the month there was a lot of ups and downs, but at the end of the day, the annual gain is a beautiful five figures. 

Spending Goal: Under Control!

The goal is simply to have my spending under control and for October...

Here's what I spent in October, which includes the save-to-spend amounts.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$700	$938.17	$591.50 (up $55.67)
Under Budget. No Bills, just 2 rent payments.
OG Investment Property	$2,041.22	$1,190.83	$1,277.06 (down $44.61)
Over Budget! All the bills at once! But the 12-month average is down, so I can't complain.
Home turned Investment Property	$622.79	$1,042.33	$1,370.06 (down $64.59)
Under Budget! As I mentioned last month, I don't actually pay (most) of my bills. They're paid by the managing agent, so instead of seeing expensive months, I just see low income. Which means I need to review how much I've budgeted..
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$126.99 (up 6cents)
Under Budget! I still haven't got a new phone, so still no change
Groceries	$86.90	$190	$194.51 (down $4.57)
Under Budget! Remember how I spent almost $400 last month and claimed it was restocking the panty? Well, turns out I was telling the truth :)
Pets	$94.83	$50	$69.60 (up $5.22)
Over Budget! It's an interesting month because I spent more on the new coop, and I bought a baby gate so we could petsit! Then the one dog we had visit decided to scratch through our new paint... and petsitting is probably off the cards again. We have one more guest coming because he was pre-booked, and we've seen him before (and we LOVE him).
Roller Derby	$122	$175	$249.61 (down $3.30)
Under Budget! I paid for the off-season bonus training and set aside $5 for new skates.
Traveling	$0	$122.50	$259.80 (down $9.16)
Under Budget! Nothing again! Still working to bring the average down before we start saving for another trip.
Comfort Food	$0	$40	$71.75 (down $1.39)
Under Budget! Nothing again! I probably should have put some of the regular groceries here?
Other	$125.44	$187.00	$207.20 (down $29.58)
Under Budget! What thrilling expensive thing did I buy? A frying pan and a shampoo bar... plus I put aside a bit of money for video games later in the year. So thrilling.
Total	$3,920.44	$4,063.17	$4,418.06 (down $96.31)
Under budget, with 7 out of 10 categories under. Another month under $4k makes me a happy camper. I didn't feel like I tightened the belt at all this month, and with $2k of the costs being one rental property, I just feel really smug about how easy this month was.

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

As I mentioned last month, there is some humanitarian horrors happening in China and Hong Kong that have put me off investing there. Instead I sunk $10,000 into the Betashares FAIR fund - which tracks ethical and sustainable Australian companies. I already have $5k in the worldwide version of this fund, and I'm happy to put more money behind it - despite our scum-sucking coal loving moronic government...

One of the companies I've invested in accepted a takeover offer and paid out all the shareholders, so I now have an extra $5.5k looking for a new home. I also haven't done my tax return yet (please don't judge me!) so I'm expecting to be able to invest another bonus $10k before the end of the year. Double the initial goal. Heck yeah!