In the last quarter of 2019, there was a whole lot of spending going on—enjoying a two-week road trip in October and then moving and getting the apartment set up in December. It was tempting to feel justly about foregoing a budget report altogether. But one of my goals here is to document this SLSR experiment while I’m living in it so attached please find my quarterly budget report.
Summary: Even with 1) tracking my move/apartment setup expenses separately and 2) having $ set aside for a yearly vacation, I was $1275 over budget for the quarter. Yikes! In the previous seven quarters (since I started tracking this stuff two years ago in January 2018), the highest overage was $463 (in CY19Q2).
Callouts and Comments:
- In October, the cost for my personal healthcare insurance went up 17%. Because I only made claims for dental check-ups in 2019, I got back only 6% of what I paid in. When I think of the lousy ROI, I remind myself this is insurance.
- I have $ set aside for a yearly vacation and I used gifted $ to pay for the meditation retreat, but I was still over-budget on my two-week road trip by $637. My vacation budget was in CAD—and CAD only went 77% as far for meals and hotels on the US segment. I need to plan future trips outside Canada with the exchange rate(s) in mind.
- I hired a plumber to help winterize the water lines in both the tiny house and the farmhouse. With the tiny house, it was much quicker and easier to do than I thought* (of course it was) and I will know how to do it myself next time.
- In November, the expensive winter hiking boots I bookmarked went on sale for 30% off and I acted! I think of them as an investment—I had a goal to get back into winter hiking and this month I have been out for weekly group hikes/snowshoeing and daily walks in these comfortable boots. Love ’em.
- The always-something-something expense was an item I was glad to check off the Master Procrastinator List: going to a lawyer and updating my Will for Nova Scotia.
- In December, I was way over budget for food. I didn’t pay for any restaurant meals other than lunch at the farmers market, this was the expense of stocking my new kitchen.
So now, with this first pivot, the SLSR budget needs updating. I will also do a yearly review to compare all expenses vs budgeted amounts and further update the SLSR budget based on that. Oh, and I need to plan for cat adoption. Although I have monthly rent to pay now, I am optimistic that cost for gas and food, along with utilities, will go down. The experiment continues.
*Because I procrastinated, my worrying-brain used a lot of energy over days, weeks, and months pondering this.
References and related links:
- CY19Q4: Calendar Year 2019, Fourth Quarter (October to December). Calendar Year distinguishes from a company’s Financial Year (FY) which has a different start date than January 1st.
- SLSR: simpler living semi-retirement.
- ROI: return on investment.
- simpler-living report: CY19Q3 (post #127)
- vacation bundle (post #126)
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