Half of 2017 is in the books. Man oh man does time fly. I look forward to the first weekend of every month so that I can summarize my dividend income from the previous month. Summarizing my June dividend income, aka the third month of the quarter, is always a little more exciting since I get to include the dividends received from mutual funds. Enough talk, let’s take a look at how I performed in June compared to 2016.
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Lanny and I have talked extensively about our disdain for owning a car, forking over a monthly payment for a depreciating asset, and dealing with all the random costs and annoyances that come with owning a car. Well, a half a year ago, I caused some self inflicted damage to my car and have a massive dent to show for it. This time, I drew a line in the sand and determined I am not spending my hard earned money for the repair!
Well… my car was back at it again this month, as more repairs and maintenance were absolutely necessary given the winter and our CPA season of “busy season” coming on deck. I wanted to make sure a specific repair was taken care of before trenching through snow, ice and hundreds/thousands of miles of driving over the next 90 days. It’s an easy repair actually, but one that I have a tale of two cities, for lack of better words, to describe – Brakes and Rotors.
Since I gladly accepted the Dividend Diplomats 60% Savings Challenge, I have been brainstorming ways to increase my savings rate by both increasing income and reducing expenses. Let me tell you, it is fun brainstorming all the different ways you can accomplish this. A simple internet search will provide you with many creative, simple ways that you have probably never considered. After reviewing my expenses the last couple of months, there is one elephant in the room for my expenses: my car. Over the last month I have been working on reducing this expense. This article will walk you through my current situation and what I have learned over the last month.
Last month I accepted Lanny’s challenge to save 60% of my income. As I discussed in my post about my decision, I mentioned that I have been very bad about tracking my expenses and I have never put together a tracking mechanism to calculate my savings rate. Well that has changed and I am now watching my expenses like a hawk. In order to save 60% of my income, I need to watch all income and expense sources closely to figure out where I can trim the fat. Now that September is over, the questions is…Did I save 60% of my income??
Endless liabilities owning a car. I’m going to come right out and say it. I am sitting here in a hotel in the middle of Pennsylvania, very fortunate that one of my co-workers, which happens to be Bert, drove his car out here for our client. Owning a car is part of my fixed expenses that I had, that I discussed wayyy back in the beginning of the blog. Over the last 6 months I have found to discover that owning a car signs you up for endless liabilities. It is all on a mindset and how much time you spend on the road, and well, life as an auditor – gives you plenty of time for that.
