I’m gonna be quite honest: September was a damn expensive month. How the hell did I manage to pull out not only a positive savings rate, but a halfway decent one? I honestly have no idea (although this is the power of including my 401(k) contributions in my income as well!).
I didn’t post much in September: I had four posts, three of which were for things that happened in August (CampFI and August’s spending report). And a lot of that is because that month saw a few big changes in my life that have occupied a fair amount of my time, including the resumption of weekly chorus rehearsals. Ah, sleep on Tuesday nights, I miss you dearly!
And of course I had FinCon at the end of the month!
What happens during a rainy month?
A fair amount of September looked like that: overcast and rainy. I only went hiking once, and given the savings rate from August, it seems like maybe I should spend my weekends hiking since those tend not to include me spending money, especially if I’m also working that weekend! ?
So I spent a bunch of money
I spent money on FinCon and Cents Positive (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: spending money to spend time with my friends in this community is worth it to me). I broke my clothing shopping ban. Intentionally.
And as I said in that post, I also spent money on packing cubes/other assorted travel things (a toiletry bag, a travel towel, etc). Because I wanted to pack completely carry-on for FinCon, and I’ve got Cents Positive coming up in two weeks (and I refuse to pay Frontier for the privilege of taking a carry-on AND a personal item on the plane on my way to Denver ?), it was a good time to take stock and get some things that’ll enable me to pack more effectively.
I also bought a hammock. I didn’t need a hammock. I’ve wanted one since I spent a fantastic afternoon reading in Bianca‘s at CampFI Mid-Atlantic. I found one for a really good price. So I bought a hammock.
Is this the best $60 I’ve ever spent? Yeah, quite possibly.
Things I did not spend money on
This is a short list, but it bears mentioning!
I also didn’t post a ton last month because my computer was in the hands of Apple for the better part of a week getting repaired. Guess what you won’t find on my spending report? Money spent to fix my computer (they replaced my hard drive). Thank goodness, and this is why I pony up for AppleCare!
Last year my Amazon Prime membership renewal snuck up on me so I figured since I’d already paid it, I’d use the year to reevaluate if I wanted to keep paying for the membership again.
Part of decluttering and intentional living means just buying less stuff in general. Not that that’s reflected in this month’s spending report, but I’ve bought way less in the last year. And the Prime membership was no longer worth it, especially since they raised the price. If I want something, I’ll just have to be strategic about ordering a couple of things at once to get to the free shipping minimum and I’ll have to order them in advance since I’m not getting two-day delivery anymore.
And as someone pointed out to me, I can always pay for a month of Prime (say, around Christmas) here and there if I decide I need to.
Numbers time
| Rent | $1050.00 | My half of rent |
| Internet and utilities | $47.42 | Lower this month and for the next few months because of a credit on our gas account. Perfect timing with winter coming |
| Groceries | $60.87 | Not being around thanks to FinCon helped with this, but who knew that $200 in gift cards I bought a few months ago would last so long! |
| Gas | $25.74 | |
| Transportation | $6.85 | |
| Barre membership | $104.69 | |
| Restaurants/bars | $85.50 | |
| Misc household goods | $71.39 | I stocked up on some toiletries prior to my Amazon Prime membership ending |
| Charitable giving | $25.00 | |
| Misc dues/subscriptions | $61.00 | Patreon dues plus my Costco membership renewal ($30 because I split it with my roommate) |
| FinCon | $432.13 | Hotel room, food, lots of coffee (#badpersonalfinanceblogger), escape room, and the ride from the airport |
| Cents Positive | $311.18 | Flights for Cents Positive. I don’t want to talk about how there were NO GOOD OPTIONS FROM DC TO DENVER HOW |
| Clothes | $245.81 | Broke my shopping ban and bought a jacket, shirt, cardigan, underwear, and a pair of hiking socks |
| Packing cubes/travel things | $125.94 | |
| Hammock | $61.28 | Having a hammock I can take on hikes is AWESOME and I look forward to living my best #hammocklife often from here on out |
| Vacation | -$94.92 | Refund for the hostel I didn’t stay at for the wedding that got cancelled by a hurricane |
| Total spending: | $2619.88 | |
| Paychecks and other income | $2180.98 | |
| Side hustle income | $152.93 | |
| Retirement contributions | $1211.92 | My contribution plus 9% employer match |
| Bonuses | $250.00 | Not a work bonus, but rather a $200 statement credit on the Disney card I opened prior to FinCon and a $50 bonus for opening a bank account. This was fantastic timing for both of those to come in! |
| Total income: | $3795.83 | |
| Total: | $1175.95 | |
| Savings rate: | 31% |
After spending a bunch of money I somehow managed to get a 31% savings rate?!? Yeah, I’d say that’s because I’m pretty awesome. ?♀️
You are so awesome. and hammocks are so worth it.
Thanks, friend. SO WORTH IT.
You are living my dream with that hammock! It’s one of my fondest childhood memories and I have wanted that back ever since.
Way to hit that 31% savings rate even with all the spending.
Yeah we used to have one in the backyard growing up, but I don’t think I appreciated it nearly as much as I should’ve back then! And thank you!
I can’t believe your plane tickets cost almost $100 more than mine! Bonkers. CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU IN A WEEK.
MISS YOU ALREADY
Awesome sauce, you’re still killing it while picking up some items that make you happy.
No one ever regretted buying a hammock 😉
Oh yea killing the savings rate! Hammock=life, I can’t imagine you’ll ever regret that purchase!
Um nope! I’m just sad we’re going into winter now so #hammocklife might be put on the back burner for a while ?
I’m super impressed with that savings rate after all of that!
Thank you!