Money and Finance
December's income was lower than what I'd averaged through the first 11 months of 2012 but was still great at almost $6,500. It wasn't a great month for expenses but considering how much I went over budget on a few areas I'm happy that the expenses were still in line with the last few months. Gas was a bigger expense than normal this month, but I'm fine with that because I got the chance to go home a few times while we were down at work so I got to see my wife a few extra days and got to see my family on Christmas and the day after. Both were very much needed and appreciated. My minimum expenses for the month came in at $1,426.97 which brought my average minimum expenses down to $1,501.62 for the year. Not bad considering through the first 5 months I averaged over $1,610 per month. Total expenses for December totaled $1,584.34 which was up from November but still below my average through November of $1,676.74. After December I ended up averaging $1,669.04 total expenses each month. Dividend and interest income set a record providing $318.00 in passive income for the month. This covered 22.28% of my minimum expenses in December. I know I'm not at the point where I'll be close to averaging that amount of coverage on a monthly basis but it's great to see that over 1/5th of my minimum expenses were covered for the month. With the 30 year Treasury yield creeping back up to 2.95% and my net worth less my traditional retirement accounts, my FI number increased for the 7th straight month for an average monthly income of $224.63. This would have covered 15.74% of my minimum expenses in December.
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- Income Update - February 2013
February was a great month. I had a higher than normal income and put the difference to straight to savings. I did a pretty good job with controlling expenses for the month. Restaurants and groceries both overshot their budget, but by a combined $14 so...
- Income Update - January 2013
January was a truly awesome month. I ended up bringing home over $2,200 more than my average for 2012 and the best part is that all went straight to savings. I only overshot one category by a lot but that'll start getting in check beginning with...
- Income Update - October 2012
October's spending was right in line with August and September which is good because it hasn't increased but it's still higher that where I would like for it to be. I was hoping to be able to get my spending down to the $1,300 mark but I...
- Income Update - September 2012
September was an okay month for my spending. I let my expenses creep up higher than where I would like but I was still lower than my average for the year so far. My minimum expenses for September ended the month at $1,422.25. This brought my average...
- Income Update - August 2012
August was a decent month for my spending with it being below my average so far for the year, but it was still higher than it should have been. My minimum expenses in August ended the month at $1,417.13. So far in 2012 my minimum expenses have averaged...
Money and Finance
Income Update - December 2012
December's income was lower than what I'd averaged through the first 11 months of 2012 but was still great at almost $6,500. It wasn't a great month for expenses but considering how much I went over budget on a few areas I'm happy that the expenses were still in line with the last few months. Gas was a bigger expense than normal this month, but I'm fine with that because I got the chance to go home a few times while we were down at work so I got to see my wife a few extra days and got to see my family on Christmas and the day after. Both were very much needed and appreciated. My minimum expenses for the month came in at $1,426.97 which brought my average minimum expenses down to $1,501.62 for the year. Not bad considering through the first 5 months I averaged over $1,610 per month. Total expenses for December totaled $1,584.34 which was up from November but still below my average through November of $1,676.74. After December I ended up averaging $1,669.04 total expenses each month. Dividend and interest income set a record providing $318.00 in passive income for the month. This covered 22.28% of my minimum expenses in December. I know I'm not at the point where I'll be close to averaging that amount of coverage on a monthly basis but it's great to see that over 1/5th of my minimum expenses were covered for the month. With the 30 year Treasury yield creeping back up to 2.95% and my net worth less my traditional retirement accounts, my FI number increased for the 7th straight month for an average monthly income of $224.63. This would have covered 15.74% of my minimum expenses in December.
Read more »
- Income Update - February 2013
February was a great month. I had a higher than normal income and put the difference to straight to savings. I did a pretty good job with controlling expenses for the month. Restaurants and groceries both overshot their budget, but by a combined $14 so...
- Income Update - January 2013
January was a truly awesome month. I ended up bringing home over $2,200 more than my average for 2012 and the best part is that all went straight to savings. I only overshot one category by a lot but that'll start getting in check beginning with...
- Income Update - October 2012
October's spending was right in line with August and September which is good because it hasn't increased but it's still higher that where I would like for it to be. I was hoping to be able to get my spending down to the $1,300 mark but I...
- Income Update - September 2012
September was an okay month for my spending. I let my expenses creep up higher than where I would like but I was still lower than my average for the year so far. My minimum expenses for September ended the month at $1,422.25. This brought my average...
- Income Update - August 2012
August was a decent month for my spending with it being below my average so far for the year, but it was still higher than it should have been. My minimum expenses in August ended the month at $1,417.13. So far in 2012 my minimum expenses have averaged...