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!

September 2019 Wrap-Up

 The year is flying away from us and I'm so keen for long sunshiney days.


This isn't my photo of the Golden Gate Bridge, but I did ride over it on a foggy day! So it's how I remember it - great tourist attraction, super crowded.

September was the last month before Australia kicked off daylight savings. That means the mornings were bright but it was still dark when I was getting home. When summer kicks in properly I'll complain about the heat but right now I'm just desperate for some more daylight. Once the sun comes out I'll find the energy to do things and work on projects again.

September 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. With just three months to go, I'm back in the $100k club and a bit more comfortable than last time.

Full year

Opening Balance: $78,424.57

Deposit: $8,300
Dividends: $5,973.54
Market Gains: $11,000.53

September

Opening Balance: $99,784.11

Deposit: $1,225
Dividends: $358.24
Market Gains: $2,331.30

Current Balance: $103,698.65

It's nice to report this number because as I write this mid-month (I'm behind on the report, again) things are going backwards once more. It's that time of year for yo-yo numbers. Given I'm still six years from the goal retirement date I'm not worried. If prices go down, I buy more units, if they go up, I have more value.

Spending Goal: Under Control!

The goal is simply to have my spending under control and for September... I don't even know. As a whole, it's a good month but I spent almost double my grocery budget! We did have to restock a lot of things when we got back from our holiday, but I really didn't expect this.

Here's what I spent in September, which includes the save-to-spend amounts. Note that the average change covers two months because I lost half my data from August, so I'm comparing September averages to July.  

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$1,400.43	$938.17	$535.83 (up $174.30)
Over Budget! The thing about paying rent fortnightly is that some months you pay rent three times. Plus our power bill for the last quarter (while we had housesitters) was ridiculous.
OG Investment Property	$715.13	$1,190.83	$1,321.67 (down $44.97)
Under Budget! Once again this is only the mortgage. I have already scheduled $1,500 worth of bill payments for October though, so that will be a fun report.
Home turned Investment Property	$635.64	$1,042.33	$1,434.65 (down $85.84)
Under Budget! Again, just the mortgage. The managing agent for this property pay my bills out of the rents, so I won't (often) see big spend months, but I do see reductions in my income.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$126.93 (down $1.97)
Under Budget! I still haven't got a new phone, so still no change
Groceries	$383.93	$190	$199.08 (up $16.35)
Over Budget! I am baffled. There are two parts to this - firstly I had to restock a lot of staples after being away for a month. Secondly, I bought a lot of the meat this month, normally Mr. FIRE does that.
Pets	$88.00	$50	$64.38 (down $0.37)
Over Budget! I have finally started building my new chicken coop! The current one is five years old and it was very cheap and very nasty when I first bought it. The new one I'm building myself and will mirror the design I had a my childhood home. It should last a good decade, and hold twice as many hens.
Roller Derby	$65	$175	$252.91 (down $48.32)
Under Budget! I bought some drinks at our end of the year celebration, and I did put aside $50 towards new skates.
Traveling	$0	$122.50	$268.96 (down $2.09)
Under Budget! Nothing! I need to bring the average back down after a pricey trip overseas. In a couple of months, I'll start saving again for the next trip.
Comfort Food	$0	$40	$73.14 (up $28.46)
Under Budget! Nothing! I'm telling myself I'll do more baking so we have snacks around the house and I can keep this cost down.
Other	$52.53	$187.00	$236.78 (down $10.57)
Under Budget! I went on a date at the start of the month! Other than that, it was a really cheap month.
Total	$3,467.92	$4,063.17	$4,514.34 (up $24.99)
Under budget, with 7 out of 10 categories under. How great are cheap months! I thought I'd had a terrible month because the grocery budget was so ridiculous, but it was nice to see that I kept everything else under tabs.

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

I have $3,700 ready to go and will deposit another $2,400 into this account by the end of the month. If all goes to plan I'll be telling you next month about how I bought $5,000 of either Vanguard FTSE Asia ex Japan Shares Index ETF (VAE), or BetaShares Australian Sustainability Leaders ETF (FAIR).

I am on the fence about investing in the Asian markets at the moment. I still believe that there is a good investment opportunity there and that it's a chunk of the global market I'd like to be invested in, but I have been reading about a lot of ethically questionable events in China and Hong Kong, and I'm questioning the impact of pouring my money into those places. I need to do some digging.

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.

July 2019 Wrap-Up

This post is super late because I didnt get it finished before going to the States for a month. Woopsie!

July 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!!

Full year

Opening Balance: $78,424.57

Deposit: $7,075
Dividends: $5,615.30
Market Gains: $10,235.79

July

Opening Balance: $98,829.35

Deposit: $0
Dividends: $4,051.04
Market Gains: -$1,529.72

Current Balance: $101,350.67

I love July dividends. As usual paying dividends its generally a bit more than the market gains, but more units owned means more payments next time. Finally cracking the $100k mark is such an exciting thing as well. It finally truly feels like my money is working hard for me.

Spending Goal: Under Control!

The goal is simply to have my spending under control, and for July (with the exception of travel spend) I think we did pretty okay.

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

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$822.06	$938.17	$361.53 (up $62.67)
Under Budget! Paid the gas bill and still under budget :) I don't expect the average to settle down until we've lived here for a year, which means April-ish next year.
OG Investment Property	$1,559.23	$1,190.83	$1,366.64 (up 39.61)
Over Budget Had to pay the water bill and the council rates. Standard practice when you own a property.
Home turned Investment Property	$669.24	$1,042.33	$1,520.49 (down $26.41)
Under Budget! Just the mortgage. As part of my contract with my agent all my bills are sent to them, and all bill paid before the rent makes it to me. Once I'm back from Utah I'll need to reassess how much is budgeted, because I originally set the budget based on paying my own bills from my own pocket.
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$128.90 (down $2.03)
Under Budget Down down, averages down. I decided not to get a new phone till I'm back from the States.
Groceries	$142.61	$190	$182.73 (down $7.70)
Under Budget. Down again :) I made an effort to clean out the cupboard before going to Utah, but it turns out I have lots of condiments, and not much real food. Nice to know I'm not wasting things.
Pets	-$10	$50	$64.75 (down $3.86)
Under Budget. No, that's not a typo. I didn't spend anything this month, but I did sell two dozen eggs, so my 'expense' really is negative $10
Roller Derby	$1,199.87	$175	$301.23 (up $91.53)
Over Budget! UTAH! I'm so so excited that we qualified for a tournament in the States. It's expensive but it's such an amazing opportunity.
Travelling	$1,882.56	$122.50	$271.05 (up $152.72)
Over Budget. Utah, then Las Vegas, then San Francisco. We fly out on Tuesday.
Comfort Food	$50	$40	$44.68 (down $4.06)
On Budget. I pushed all the money in this category into a 'Save to Spend' for the trip. My actual spend was zero.
Other	$192.89	$187.00	$247.35 (up $2.72)
Over Budget. Most of the spending was Utah prep, including buying new contact lenses so I can, umm, see. I'm kinda a fan of seeing.
Total	$6,675.71	$4,063.17	$4,489.35 (up $305.20)
Over budget overall, with 4 out of 10 categories over. Did you know international trips are expensive? What a shocker. $1,100 of it this spend passing money to my partner to put on our Global Currency Card, so I've kinda pre-paid for parts of the trip.

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

I've just discovered the Raiz has doubled their fees, and for me that's enough to show them the door. There will be a blog incoming, once I'm back from my travels - but in the meantime you can check out my two posts containing my original review of Raiz (then Acorns) and 12 month wrap-up - both of those posts note that their fees were a big negative, and it's just gotten bigger. I've pulled $5,200 out to close my account and that will sit in my bank account while I'm away in Utah.

Once I come back I'll be making a decision about how to best deploy that money - 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).

I'll probably end up investing into both, it's just a question of which one first.

June 2019 Wrap-Up

 Guess who forgot to publish their June update! Awkward



Clearly June wasn't a very exciting month, and July was a busy one because I forgot to hit go on this post. I wrote all of it but this introduction, and just never got back to it. Oopsie

June 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 seen a full $11,000 from growth alone - might be time to aim higher!

Full year

Opening Balance: $78,424.57

Deposit: $7,075
Dividends: $1,564.26
Market Gains: $11,765.51

June

Opening Balance: $95,715.30

Deposit: $725
Dividends: $0
Market Gains: $2,389.05

Current Balance: $98,829.35

Utter madness. I stripped back my contributions because I'm saving for an international trip, and the market prices are going mental. 

Spending Goal: Under Control!

The goal is simply to have my spending under control, and for June it was! A wonderful way to found out the tax year, and nice to see considering I'm about to spend way too much on a trip to the USA.  

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

Category	Spent	Budgeted	12 Month Average
Home	$787.34	$938.17	$298.86 (down $7.52)
Under Budget! Paid both rent and electricty this month. This was our first power bill at the new house and at $180 for a quarter including a connection fee, we're stoked.
OG Investment Property	$784.52	$1,190.83	$1,327.03 (up $2.46)
Under Budget! Just the mortgage, nice.
Home turned Investment Property	$1,075.94	$1,042.33	$1,546.89 (up $82.08)
Over Budget! I paid the closing utility bills (I thought I did that last month, I was wrong), and then the mortgage. Now we should be back to normal. I also got my first rent check!
Personal Bills	$127.26	$127.33	$130.93 (down $4.06)
Under Budget Still nothing new. I plan to get a new phone in July so I'm not carrying my dodgy barely-surviving one on an international trip (or maybe I should.. no worries about losing it!).
Groceries	$185.05	$190	$190.43 (up $1.17)
Under Budget. Bang on target.
Pets	$96	$50	$68.61 (down 4.21)
Over Budget! Over budget, but I should have enough cat food, chicken food, quail food and kitty litter to last until September. Just need a box of budgie seed and everyone is fed!
Roller Derby	$196	$175	$209.70 (down $17.37)
Over Budget! Over budget... cause I AM GOING TO UTAH. Pending any sneaky jiggery pokery, we qualified for the tournament and fly out on the 7th of August. Talk about giving us plenty of notice! Sheesh.
Travelling	$200	$122.50	$118.33 (up $33.33)
Over Budget. Utah prep. Nothing spent, just a whole lot saved.
Comfort Food	$50	$40	$48.74 (up $0.89)
On Budget Technically next to nothing spent, but I put this money aside for all the eating I'll be doing in the States.
Other	$191.15	$187.00	$244.63 (down $21.63)
Over Budget. Just a little over... I had to buy new bike tyres because I was getting punctures almost weekly. Other than that, it's mostly money put aside for future (USA) spending.
Total	$3,693.26	$4,063.17	$4184.15 (up $78.75)
Under budget overall, with 5 out of 10 categories under. How wonderful! For the first time in three months having the budget behaving. Since I've been putting money aside for Utah it'll ease the sting next month. It's not going to completely cover it (not by a long shot) but it will soften the blow.

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

Obviously not happening right now because (in case you missed it) Utah! But, I have hope. I'm going to set up a graph when I get back from Utah and see what the required savings is. With the house changes this year, and the overseas trip, this bonus goal is looking very tenuous.