It's been awhile since we did a month re-cap so I thought I would hit a couple of highlights from the last two months.
States passed through: Fifteen
Cars gifted to us: One
Number of days said car was in our possession: Six
Length of story about that: Long
Things wrong with the van: Overheating, slipping transmission, broken back door
Number of times broken down on the side of the road: ZERO
Monnaies
I only have reliable numbers for October. Why? Because I hate Mint. Also, because when I went back to Mvelopes, I had to delete a bunch of transactions because I was so far behind and thus lost the data for September. So, anyway, here's what we spent in October (which included some time in Phoenix, our drive to Colorado and getting set up in our house in Fort Collins).
Comments:
Food: Ouuuuccchhh. Eating out just kills us. That is all.
Auto: Thank goodness we will get a break from this level of gasoline purchasing for awhile!
Lodging: We were fortunate to only have to get a hotel once in the entire trek west. Thank you to everyone who hosted us!
Allowance: CHECK OUT how much I spent this month out of my allowance! I'm awesome, yes? I think I'm getting the hang of this non-consumerism thing!
Not included in this summary: Expenses related to the gifted car (we made that money up when we sold it on craigslist) and the security deposit fees for our rental house.
Moving Forward
As you all know, I feel strongly that budgeting is the key to financial freedom. Here is our projected Living In Fort Collins monthly budget.
Comments:
Utilities and such: I estimated what our natural gas, electric and water bills will be based on worst case scenarios I got from the utility companies about past usage at this address. Jon and I are being fairly frugal with our usage (i.e. the Selective Flush and air drying our clothes) but with winter coming, we may just go crazy with the heating. We'll see.
Auto: Yes, that is not a typo. I have budgeted only $100 per month for gasoline (the insurance is rolled up into the State Farm bill). We are so far having great success at getting around by bike or bus and I feel relatively confident that we can get by this way most of the time. Of course, we'll see what happens when winter comes.
Vacation/Travel/Savings: You may have noticed that there is no budget for these. That is because we are living on much less than we are making right now in the hopes that not only will we be able to have money to live on between consulting contracts but that there will be leftover money to use for travel and retirement savings.
Freedom
This is what it all means for us. Every dollar that we stretch gives us that much more opportunity to continue on the path of self-employment. We are now quite fond of having total control over our time and plan to continue on this path as long as we are able (forever, we hope).
All togther now:
Hell No, We Won't Go (Back To Regular Full-Time Employment)!
sounds like a great plan! i totally understand the hell no we won't go concept. i was offered a part time job in an attorney's office today. i have not given them my answer yet but the thought of returning to an office setting, even part time, is absolutely dreadful. hell no i won't go either. i find it feels pretty good to cut back on the consumer goods. viva la freedom!
ReplyDeletei may have to eat my words. i bought a new car yesterday & financed more than i thought i'd have to. i could dip into my investments but i think i need to bite the bullet & earn enough to pay it off asap. oh how i wish i'd wake up one morning to find money growing on my trees.
ReplyDeletelol - you are too funny! Hey, if you needed/wanted a car, you should get it! I think it's all more about making thoughtful decisions rather than never buying anything ever again. And congrats on the job offer even though you don't really want it...will they let you do contract work for them like you are for the other company??
ReplyDeleteWhat is included in the service warranty? You could price out all of the maintenance services offered and if it comes close to the $3000, I think it would be worth it for the extra security. But if it is pretty far off, it might not be worth it. Toyota's are pretty reliable so the gamble is a good one that you won't have anything major go wrong in the first six years. Of course, that being said, I did the warranty on my Honda when I bought it new and I ended up having to replace the compressor which made it worth it. It's always a gamble.
ReplyDelete