September is officially in the books after a quick review of the income & expense breakdown for the month. It was another fun overall month, busy with work, travel, clients and other activities. I wonder if I still am achieving the 60% savings challenge? Only one way to find out, let;s check out my income & expense summary for September!
Income & Expense Summary for September:
Below is the snapshot of what September looks like compared to the prior month. I figured this way gives you much more of what had fluctuated from the last month I reported on to the current month being reported on, with explanations of what happened.
Income Side Summary: Interesting. Salary went down as a % of the whole pie as I received a decent bonus from an unusual event at my employer this past month for activities, events and other items that I had proceeded to do for the firm. It’s funny, you don’t even realize they are happening with how busy you are and the impact it actually has on the personal financial statement side of things. This then allowed for an easier gateway to save more. Also – my September dividend income hit a decent amount this month and that was a large increase there overall. The other category had a few credit card bonus redemptions through USBank and Chase. Thank you CC companies for rewarding me for spending money anyways – always nice!
Expense Side Summary: Very consistent here, that’s all I have to say. My traveling I would somehow say was down slightly, with food coming in just a tad lower as a %, however, though that was lower, the $ amount was actually higher – given more income to use. We had a few nice date/dinners for an anniversary month, “date” night and a lunch or two here and there. Also we had one of our close friends in town so had another person for a few meals as well. Overall, I can see food being approximately 5-7% of the budget. House side of things stayed relateively the same, with decrease coming given that water and sewer bill came in during the August income & expense breakdown.
The transportation was surprisingly a bit lower. This is easily due to traveling for clients, as I was out of town quite a few days/weeks during the month – so no mileage on the car when that happens, though this was offset partially with a trip to a friend’s celebration of life event for a relative this month that was approximately 2.5 hours away. Just a moment in one of our close friends lives that you don’t want to see or have happen, and to be there at the drop of a dime would be in the cards, no matter what. Always being there for a close one is one of the most important things in life and will always be a priority. No matter what.
All in all – expenses have remained very consistent month to month, but I need to do a better job of when I’m home to still make that extra effort even after traveling to buy groceries to make for the house/date/you name it. I got stuck into being so busy without taking a deep breath and making the push to go and pick up the items to make something. Changing that this month, at least will attempt to starting next weekend. I currently am out of town from October 13th through October 23rd. Thanks? No comment here. But it’s the fall and I will chime in to always look at four frugal ways to enjoy the football season this year from Bert!
Conclusion
NICE! Another month in the books and another month over 60% – at 67% to be approximately close. It’s been a rollercoaster ride for my income & expense tracker, but it’s been fun seeing the tick over the 60% mark! This was all due in part to a larger than normal dividend income month, a few bonuses here and there at work and also cashing in credit card rewards where possible. This allowed me to make a purchase in September for EMR and also to continue adding to my position into JNJ. Further, I still had enough capital on the 1st of October to make my 3rd purchase into EMR as well, which is, of course, one of Bert’s top 5 stocks to always buy when you can! What is everyone’s thoughts this month? Any tips for dinner? I love to cook and a have a few items on the agenda to whip up in the future. Thanks everyone, appreciate the stop by, the comments, suggestions and any further guidance! Talk soon.
-Lanny