It was a pretty uneventful month, but the market really shot up this month, so I had the biggest net worth gain since I started tracking my monthly finances.

I’m looking at some new properties in November, so hopefully I’ll have something interesting to report next month!

Income: $7,444

• Dividends and interest: $107

Expenses: $2,676

• Rent $1,450
• Phone $25
• Utilities $55
• Bars + Restaurants $411
• Groceries + Pharmacy $281
• Transportation $58
• Business related $0
• Clothing $24
• Entertainment $41
• Health $0
• Gifts $110
• ATM $180
• Vacation Travel / Lodging $0
• Home $2
• Books $38
• Other $0

Metrics

• Savings rate: 64%
• Average trailing 12-month expenses: $2,750
• 12-month SWR: 7.57%

I reached a big milestone in September: a sub-8% safe withdrawal rate! This was mostly due to the market recovering, but it’s great to see that number. It means that I’m more than halfway to my goal of 4%.

On the other hand, my expenses were higher than normal due to my buying gifts and my rent increasing, which brings me to my next point. I’ve reached my breaking point when it comes to my monthly rent. Soon we’ll be paying $3K+/month for our apartment, so I’m looking into moving out of the city to get more space and to lower my monthly housing costs. Making this move would come with the risks of living in a place with a weaker job market and longer commute, not to mention giving up many of the perks of living in an urban environment, like restaurants and cultural events.

Income: $8,598

• Dividends and interest: $1,184

Expenses: $3,067

• Rent $1,525
• Phone $25
• Utilities $84

• Bars + Restaurants $524
• Groceries + Pharmacy $324
• Transportation $65
• Business related $1
• Clothing $0
• Entertainment $24
• Health $0
• Gifts $204
• ATM $280
• Vacation Travel / Lodging $0
• Home $0
• Books $11
• Other $0

Metrics

• Savings rate: 64%
• Average trailing 12-month expenses: $2,727
• 12-month SWR: 7.88%

Every month I post detailed reports on my progress towards financial independence. In each post I’ll talk about what went right and what went wrong and try to articulate my life goals as they evolve. I post real numbers simply because I think it’s more interesting.

This month I took yet another two week workcation. It was relaxing and productive. I got my spending down about $200 this month, to $2618.

I made a small $500 investment in Solar City this month because I have a feeling they’ll do well. I didn’t do any research beyond their general business model, so it’s purely speculative. I’m thinking of doing these types of small speculative investments every couple of months as a form of nerdy entertainment.

Income: $7,477

• Primary income: $6,545
• 401(k) contribution: $825
• Dividends and interest: $107

Expenses: $2,618

• Rent $1,375
• Phone $25
• Utilities $98
• Bars + Restaurants $504
• Groceries + Pharmacy $372
• Transportation $28
• Business related $1
• Clothing $0
• Entertainment $60
• Health $0
• Gifts $0
• ATM $45
• Vacation Travel / Lodging $87
• Home $1
• Books $22
• Other $0

Metrics

• Savings rate: 65%
• Average trailing 12-month expenses: $2,802
• 12-month SWR: 8.38%

Sorry for the delay in getting my July numbers out. I ended up taking a two week vacation that cost me about $400 total. Not bad. I ended up renting out my apartment for more than what I pay, so that almost offset the entire cost of the vacation.

I went to get my spending back down to the $2400 to $2500 range, so I can get back to a 70% savings rate.

I’ve also been thinking seriously about buying a multi-family home in my area, renting out the basement and living in the main house. This wouldn’t happen until spring of 2014 at the earliest. I’m still mulling this over so may talk about it in my August post, which is only a week away.

Income: $8,020

• Primary income: $6,575
• 401(k) contribution: $750
• Dividends and interest: $695

Expenses: $2,832

• Rent $1375
• Phone $25
• Utilities $89
• Bars + Restaurants $597
• Groceries + Pharmacy $205
• Transportation $63
• Business related $1
• Entertainment $40
• ATM $30
• Vacation Travel / Lodging $394
• Books $13

Metrics

• Savings rate: 65%
• Average trailing 12-month expenses: $2,792
• 12-month SWR: 8.27%

I had to do quite a bit of traveling for social engagements, did some clothes shopping, and bought a few gifts, so I had my second highest spending month since I started tracking my expenses. On the other hand, I had a pretty good month on the dividend front. I’m now averaging about $475/month in dividends across all my accounts. Those dividends helped me stay above my goal of a 60% savings rate.

Income: $8,581

• Primary income: $6,575
• 401(k) contribution: $750
• Dividends and interest: $1,256

Expenses: $3,244

• Rent $1,375
• Phone $25
• Utilities $60
• Bars + Restaurants $327
• Groceries + Pharmacy $344
• Transportation $542
• Business related $28
• Clothing $203
• Entertainment $13
• Health $25
• Gifts $143
• ATM $140
• Vacation $0
• Home $20
• Other $0

Metrics

• Savings rate: 62%
• Average trailing 12-month expenses: $2,789
• 12-month SWR: 8.53%

My investments took a big hit this month, but my spending was in line with my 60% saving rate.

Income: $7,074

• After tax salary: $6,224
• 401(k) contribution: $750
• Dividends and interest: $100

Expenses: $2,472

• Rent $1,375
• Phone $25
• Utilities $54
• Bars + Restaurants $505
• Groceries + Pharmacy $285
• Transportation $114
• Business $0
• Clothing $0
• Entertainment $0
• Health $80
• Gifts $34
• ATM $0
• Home $0

Metrics

• Savings rate: 65%
• Average trailing 12-month expenses: $2,472
• 12-month SWR: 8.28%

Bad news: I owed a lot of taxes in April, so I lost a lot of my cash reserves. Good news: portfolio went up by $7K, so that minimized my losses. I also improved my bars and restaurants spending by quite a bit. However, my SO made a bunch of home enhancements, which resulted in me dipping below my 60% savings target.

Income: $7,054

• After tax salary: $6,224
• 401(k) contribution: $750
• Dividends and interest: $80

Expenses: $2,986

• Rent $1,375
• Phone $25
• Utilities $46
• Bars + Restaurants $427
• Groceries + Pharmacy $439
• Transportation $25
• Business $150
• Clothing $0
• Gifts $0
• ATM $140
• Home $359

Metrics

• Savings rate: 58%
• Average trailing 12-month expenses: $2,720
• 12-month SWR: 8.28%

Average month because I went a bit crazy on the bars and restaurants side. My spending seems to follow a sine curve – big spending one month, then adjusting back to lentils and rice the next month. I’ve pretty much given up on my rental property project, which I’ll discuss in a future post. Therefore, I moved about $28K in to my Vanguard REIT to get my asset allocation back on track.

Income: $8,032

• After tax salary: $5,724
• 401(k) contribution: $1,303
• Dividends and interest: $1,005

Expenses: $2,741

• Rent $1,375
• Phone $25
• Utilities $66
• Bars + Restaurants $709
• Groceries + Pharmacy $326
• Transportation $47
• Clothing $0
• Gifts $13
• ATM $180

Metrics

• Savings rate: 66%
• Average trailing 12-month expenses: $2,687
• 12-month SWR: 8.35%

Assets: $386K

• Cash: $32K
• CD: $20K
• Investments: $215K
• Retirement: $131K

I then came across the “Rich-O-Meter 2.0” on the WSJ website, which uses the Survey of Consumer Finances for it’s data source. I split the data into 1% chunks and came up with the following data. I had to split the data up because the top guy had a net worth of $167 million, which really skewed things.

I’m not a statistics expert, so I probably missed a step somewhere because once you get past $1 million, my numbers really deviate from the WSJ percentiles. Any experts know what I’m missing?

Here’s the data

I had my second best month on the spending side. Just missed matching my expense record by one dollar!

Income: $7,029

• After tax salary: $5,672
• 401(k) contribution: $1,246
• Dividends and interest: $111

Expenses: $2,161

• Rent $1,375
• Phone $25
• Utilities $61
• Bars + Restaurants $264
• Groceries + Pharmacy $344
• Transportation $64
• Clothing $27

Metrics

• Savings rate: 69%
• Average trailing 12-month expenses: $2,687
• 12-month SWR: 8.35%

Assets: $386K

• Cash: $55K
• CD: $20K
• Investments: $183K
• Retirement: $128K