I’ve been tracking my income and expenses online since I initiated this blog back in early 2011. I do this for a few reasons.
First, I want to prove to the world that it’s possible to become financially independent at a relatively young age even if you don’t make a lot of money. I don’t make a six-figure income. I never have and I probably never will. But it’s not necessary. Oftentimes, people focus on income too much. Expenses are just as important, because if you make $200,000 per year, but spend $190,000 of it, you’ll never become financially independent. Conversely, bringing home $40,000, and learning to get by on half of it means you’ll likely be able to retire if you want to within 15 years or so. Making less means you have less potential income to save, but spending less means you need less passive income to retire off of.
The second reason I do this is because I want this to be a live look at one man’s journey. You can find countless books by financially successful people, but often it’s long after they’ve completed their trek to significant wealth that they’re then telling you how they did it. It’s easy to postulate. It’s much more difficult to actually show the whole process in action, for better or worse.
And finally, knowing that every dollar I spend is going to be published for the world to see serves as reinforcement to stay frugal. There’s been more than one occasion where I decided against a particular expense after realizing I might be a bit embarrassed to write about it.
So each month I will post my income and expenses for the previous month. I track every dollar in and out, so what you see is exactly what I earned and spent (rounded to the nearest dollar).
| Income From January 2015: | |
| Online Income | $3,815 |
| Dividend Income | $434 |
| Other Income | $237 |
| Total Income | $4,484 |
| Expenses From January 2015: | |
| Rent & Utilities | $535 |
| Restaurants | $364 |
| Student Loans | $224 |
| Groceries | $211 |
| Engagement Ring | $200 |
| Health Insurance | $193 |
| Hosting | $113 |
| Pharmacy | $71 |
| Amusement | $67 |
| Auto Insurance | $65 |
| Fast Food/Takeout | $56 |
| Fuel | $42 |
| Gifts | $32 |
| Cable/Internet | $27 |
| Mobile Phone | $25 |
| Everything Else* | 430 |
| Total Expenses | $2,647 |
Income
The first month of the year is off to an incredibly amazing start. Online income was once again fantastic. This really exceeded my expectations since I set up a more aggressive quarterly tax schedule, though this month was aided by a couple of payments that just so happened to coincide with one another. In addition, I continue to write more than I ever thought I could. The only unfortunate aspect about writing for a living is that it isn’t really scalable. I’m probably about maxed out right now in terms of content production. But this income is largely due to the support of everyone in the community and those that hire me for freelance writing. As such, thank you all very much!
January’s dividend income was also fantastic. This income covered a healthy chunk of expenses, even factoring in a more-expensive-than-usual month. Generating well over $400 is really a dream come true, especially considering I have more than seven years still ahead to complete the journey to financial independence. I couldn’t be happier with the progress thus far.
Other income was an anomaly this month, though I’m very happy about that. I signed up for a Discover it credit card a few months ago only because they were offering $150 in cash back if I spent at least $750 over the first three months. Spend I did, though not on anything out of the ordinary. The $150 in rewards hit my account this month, so that’s mostly what you see here. It pained me to use a competing company since I’m a shareholder in Visa Inc. (V), but I wasn’t about to pass up $150!
Expenses
*The Everything Else category includes expenses I don’t have a regular budget for. My laptop finally crashed after almost six years of usage. I think the heavy use over the last year or so after moving to blogging full time must have took its toll. Luckily, I had a nice thumb drive that backed up all essential files. The crash took place during a very busy workday, so I had to be quick about finding a replacement. I searched all over town for a few hours, looking for a computer that was affordable and also still had Windows 7 (I didn’t want Windows 8). I ended up spending $400 plus tax, which wasn’t bad. I could have done better if I had had more time to shop around or look online, but it is what it is. I would have lost far more in income than what I would have saved by taking any longer to get a replacement.
This month was unfortunately and unexpectedly expensive. The laptop certainly didn’t help, but I also spent too much in a few other categories.
Namely, I spent a lot on food. In fact, this might be the most I’ve ever spent on food in any one month since I started tracking my expenses back in 2010. There were a couple of reasons for this. First, my buddy, Kraig, came down from Minnesota to catch some sun and meet up. Claudia and I took him out for dinner one night, so that was an unusual expense. We had a great time, though, and it’s great talking in person to someone who’s like-minded and gets what this is all about. It’s hard to find people in our everyday lives that really understands the joy and value in this lifestyle.
However, the majority of my food expenses were actually related to feeding five people for a week. My sister and brother-in-law stayed with us for more than a week near the end of January. It was great to see them, but buying groceries for five people hurt the wallet. In addition, they were on vacation, so they wanted to hit the town. We ended up going out to eat three times (Yikes!) while they were here, which obviously adds up quick.
Other than that, everything else was mostly in line.
I will say we had a huge win for the budget this month. Claudia and I took her son and two of his friends to Epcot on a beautiful Saturday afternoon toward the middle of January. As a Walt Disney Co. (DIS) shareholder, I was looking forward to seeing just how busy one of their parks is. Well, it was absolutely packed. Go Disney, go!
Tickets are $100 per person. Say what?! We weren’t about to spend $500 to hang out at an amusement park, folks. Even as a shareholder, I’m not shelling that kind of cash out to spend a few hours at Epcot.
Well, check it out.
Our win came in the form of the whole trip being almost free. Claudia has a good friend that works there, and that person was able to get all five of us in for free. Score! No tickets, no parking, no fuss. Other than gas to and from and some cash for lunch, it was free. We spent about $40 on food that day and gas was really minimal. About as frugal as it gets, I imagine.
Savings
I managed to save 41% of my net income this month. It’s a slow start to the year, but not bad considering I had to buy a computer. Factor that out and I would have saved almost half of my net income. Regardless, I’m pretty happy with that result. I have a brand new laptop which will hopefully serve me well for another 5-6 years and I was still able to save a healthy chunk of my net income. Plus, I hosted friends and family from out of town and even took a daytrip to Epcot. Not too shabby.
One of my goals is to save 50% of my net income throughout 2015, averaged monthly. So far, I’ve hit rates of:
So the average is 41% since I’ve only got one year recorded. This puts me a bit behind, but I still have 11 months to catch up and surpass my goal. I knew this year was going to be tough since it’s my first full year writing for a living, so I have no conventional job income to rely on. In addition, I likely have a hefty tax bill waiting for me which will further slow my progress. However, I’m excited to power through it all and see exactly what I’m capable of.
Looking forward, I expect expenses to be high until the summer. Claudia and I will be getting married, though we plan on a very inexpensive wedding. I also still have a trip to Omaha to fund, which will include a hotel stay, food, and possible transportation costs (I already paid for the plane tickets in December). And there’s those pesky self-employment taxes as well. But I expect to have a very strong summer and fall, which will help the average out. We’ll see how it goes. Please follow along so we can save together!
Full Disclosure: Long V and DIS.
Did you start the year off strong? Have a great month for savings?
Thanks for reading.
Photo Credit: bplanet/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Pretty solid income expenses for January. Definitely scored big on getting those free tickets for Epcot. No parking fee is a plus too!
It’s always nice to be able to host friends and family. Although the expenses go up a bit, I think the good times you had are well worth the little extra spending no?
3800+ in online income!? Wow! I would already consider that financial independence.
Pretty sweet start, especially considering the large one-off expense. I’m consistently amazed at your low food spend! That’s pretty damn awesome. Good job.
Nice job on this month! 41% saved even in a high spending month for you, and that’s with an unexpected expense. Plus it seems like all of your spending was for entertaining and connecting with others, and it doesn’t seem too out of line. Seems like it was worth it to me!
I think six years for a laptop is really solid, that’s basically what I got from my laptop out of college. I was hoping for a few more but then one day I went to start it up and lights just flashed – after some searching around it looked like the motherboard had called it quits based on the sequence of the lights.
I had the same thought! I’d love if he provided more details about how he generates his online income.
I think Joel is right! In Portugal we say (I hope my translation is correct)
“Find what you really like to do and you will never have to work again.”
So you love writing and you are paid for that, you shouldn’t consider that “work”. I believe it’s hard, but then is what you like and want to do.
Cheers!
You may already know this, but hotels in Omaha are ridiculously priced during the BH annual meeting. Many of them are already sold out, so you may want to make that a February expense! Plus, if it’s your honeymoon, you may be hoping to stay in something higher end than a Super 8 (which is currently $149/night). If you’re willing to get a rental car and drive about 50 miles, you could stay in a much nicer hotel (e.g., a Staybridge) for a similar price in Lincoln. (Or $47/nt for the Lincoln Super 8). I know this from personal experience, having learned it the hard way when I showed up for the meeting a few years ago without having done proper planning!
Tawcan,
Yeah, the Epcot trip was a major score. Got lucky there. Good to see Disney packing them in! 🙂
And spending a bit more to have those memories/moments with family/friends is definitely worth the extra spending. And it’s great to be in a position to where I can lay off the throttle just a tick without really worrying about it.
Thanks for the support!
Best wishes.
Hi Jason,
Just out of curiosity, how will your strategy change in retirement? How would it change if your net worth was 100x or 1000x what it is?
Thanks!
Joel,
It was definitely a great month. I have zero complaints. And I appreciate the support I get here on the blog!
I don’t necessarily consider myself financially independent because I’m still dependent on online income – I’m not 100% independent. That said, this about as close to FI as it gets, in my view, while one is still “working”.
I hope you had a great month as well!
Best regards!
ERG,
Thanks so much. It wasn’t as strong a start as I had anticipated, but it’s still really good. I just hope this new laptop gives me a good six years like the last one. 🙂
The food was kind of out of control this month. But I’m off to a much, much better start in February. Things should be back in line there.
Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers.
DH,
Thanks. To be honest, the fact that I can still save 41% while living out my dream is just amazing. Being able to write for a living and save 0% would still be pretty great, but I’m so fortunate to continue marching my way to FI.
I think the same thing happened to my laptop. I had no time to investigate, though, since a lot of my articles are on a deadline. But I still got a decent deal.
Thanks for stopping by!
Take care.
Even though you didn’t hit 50%, you spent on food and fun with family and friends. That’s what living well is all about. Accumulating experiences, not more stuff. Congrats on the writing income and another solid month.
Adam,
I discussed that not too long ago. The only thing that has really changed is that I’m now freelancing more:
https://www.dividendmantra.com/2014/06/blogging-about-blogging/
I hope that helps!
Cheers.
Nuno,
I’m very fortunate. Thanks for dropping the note. I never would have thought I’d be in this position.
Thanks for the support! 🙂
Best wishes.
Congrats on the online income, that’s amazing !
one question though, How do you manage to only spend $42 on fuel for one month ?
All the best for February and beyond!
Marc,
Good call. We actually already scored an amazing deal at a hotel within two miles of the meeting. Very, very cheap and the lodging looks pretty decent. Didn’t really have much of a choice about it as all the nice stuff around the downtown core was booked up a while ago. Looking forward to seeing Buffett in person, even if I need binoculars. 🙂
Best regards.
Dave,
That’s a great question.
Well, I’d probably be writing a lot less. I love writing and inspiring, but I’d probably take more time and enjoy the ride. Travel is something we might be interested in. Or perhaps more of a long-term stay at international locales where we can really see how the locals live. I don’t get to see the beach enough, so that’s something I’d do more of.
I guess, all in all, I’d probably just slow down even more. And we might investigate travel. I guess it depends on what the imagination has in store in 2022. 🙂
Thanks for asking!
Best regards.
CG,
Good question on fuel. We typically spend little on gas. We have a Toyota Corolla which gets great gas mileage. And other than the trip to Epcot, there wasn’t much driving this month. I work from home and Claudia takes the bus to work, which explains why we almost never spend much on fuel.
Thanks for the support!
Best regards.
That is some impressive online income. Still be able to save over 40% of your income with the type of month your had, going by those activities, is amazing.
A lot of people I work with complain about Windows 8. I have no problem with it, but my laptop at home has Windows 7. Windows 8 has a “culture ” shock to it, tiles can be used or place the mouse pointer in bottom left corner then click and a regular looking windows desktop shows up. To get back at the other screen repeat the process.
Glad to hear it! I fly by the seat of my pants, so I confused your needing “to fund” it with needing “to plan” it. Sounds like you’re already all over it, but I’ll go ahead and share one other thing I learned the hard way, and that’s to show up EARLY if you want a seat in the same room with Buffett. We showed up maybe 15 minutes prior to the official start time and ended up in an annex watching a video feed for the first few hours. We were able to move into the main room after lunch, but could still only find nosebleed seats. Still, even from nosebleed territory, it was bizarre to see two people in the same room (Buffett and Bill Gates, who is on the board), whose combined net worth is larger than the annual GDP of more than 100 countries. Have fun! (Also, the NetJets display is a fun side trip.)
Great work with the income!! I had a great month as well. Since we had 3 pay checks i was able to save 70% of my income.
IP,
Thanks so much. It’s a pretty decent start to the year. Like I said in a previous comment, I’m just blessed to be able to live out my dream and continue to save on my way to FI. It’s really the best of both worlds.
I tried 8. I didn’t like it at all. In fact, most of the time spent looking around town was looking for a laptop powered by 7. Of course, I wanted the best deal possible, but I was willing to pay a premium for 7, if necessary.
Cheers!
Marc,
Another good call. I think the festivities start around 7? We’ll probably show up at least an hour early. Maybe even two. I’m not a morning person at all, but I’ll make an exception once in a while. I may end up staying up all night due to both excitement and my inability to wake up at 4 a.m. 🙂
It’ll indeed be nuts to be in the same room. I don’t agree with everything he says/does, but I have a lot of admiration for the guy. Really looking forward to it.
Cheers!
FFD,
That’s awesome! Congrats on the huge number over there. 70% is amazing. I’m not sure if I’ll get back to those days or not, but I also wouldn’t trade this lifestyle for the world.
Keep up the great work!
Best regards.
Sounds like a wonderful month! And, seems like all of your expenses were either extremely necessary (laptop) or for the things that really matter in life (spending time with family and friends 🙂 ). I’m all for spending on meaningful experiences! And, nicely done on the free trip to Epcot–that’s fabulous.
Surprised to see all your different expenses this month. Even tho it is higher than your normal you are still able to save quite a bit.
Crazy notion of living within your means in full effect here.
great job on that online income. Very healthy amount.
Keep on keeping on and Grind On!
Adam,
Absolutely. I spent where it counted and saved where I could. Even better, I was still able to make another good stride toward financial independence. 🙂
Thanks for the support!
Take care.
Mrs. FW,
Thanks for stopping by!
Yeah, we got lucky with the Epcot trip. It was a lot of fun, but not $500 fun!
I’m really just blessed to be able to wake up and live the life I want every single day. Being able to still save about ten times the national average is just icing on a cake that’s already delicious. 🙂
Keep up the great work over there. Really inspired by your savings rate.
Best wishes.
A-G,
Thanks so much. I’m doing my best to grind on, that’s for sure. 🙂
Hopeful I can get the average up above 50% by the end of the year while still enjoying myself to the max. I think I have a decent shot at it. We’ll see how it goes!
Cheers.
Fantastic savings rate considering you purchased a computer which could be considered a necessity considering your online work. I think next month you will get to that 50% mark.
CD,
Yeah, that laptop kind of put me in the hole this month. Without that, I would have been right where I wanted to be. But I knew the time was coming. It was barely running toward the end. Kind of a miracle I limped along for as long as I did. 🙂
Take care!
Have you taken a look at DFS since you are now a cardholder?
Your online income looked great and considering all the hosting you did and the new computer, a 41% savings rate is pretty amazing! We have a 50% savings rate goal for the year too, so it will be interesting for me to follow along on your journey too!
Yes, we have a similar saying in English: “Do what you love and you’ll never work another day in your life”. Of course, the hard part is it’s easier said than done!
As expected, things continue to roll along quite impressively down there in Sarasota! Should be exciting down that way with baseball getting ready to start up again. Of course, more importantly is how awesome you’re doing with your self-employment and ever expanding online income. I’d say we’ll have a $4,000 month here in the relatively near future.
And kudos on the Disney trip. A great experience at an ideal cost! Lastly, don’t sweat the laptop – a verifiable business expense and write-off! Net of the tax impact, it cost you far less than $400.
blahblah903,
Haha. Good question. I still prefer V and, to a lesser degree, MA due to the business model and risk structure. DFS is more akin to AXP. That said, I probably won’t be a cardholder for much longer. 🙂
Cheers!
Emily,
Congrats on the 57% rate for January. That’s fantastic. You guys are well on your way to that 50% mark for the year. Feels good to get a jump start on the year and be right on track. 🙂
Keep up the great work!
Best wishes.
W2R,
Thanks, bud. The online income continues to exceed my expectations. And this month even included a fairly large reduction of gross income to account for taxes. So things look good!
I doubt I’ll try to deduct the cost of the computer. I use it for both personal business purposes, and the idea of logging dates and times to take a deduction off of a $400 purchase doesn’t make it worth it to me. I could make $5,000 in the amount of time it’d take me to keep track of logs. Fortunately, I’ll have a lot of easy deductions to take advantage of, like healthcare and hosting. I’m going to try and limit the damage of that tax bill this year so I can keep on rolling. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by!
Best regards.
Hi DM
I would love to go inside Epcot for free. Walt Disney just loss $500 revenue there!!! Just kidding 🙂
It’s a great achievement out there considering you have spent your week through that looks like the biggest expense out there but you managed to pull it off. In terms of scaling up your writing, what do you mean by content is maxed? Sorry I didn’t get this part.
DM,
Sounds like an extremely fun filled month AND you were able to save 41%! Nice job and I think the memories of hanging with your sister, your buddy from Minnesota and your time at epcot were priceless and built something stronger than saving a couple hundred extra bucks.
You have a really cool thing going mantra, you’re writing, earning cash for what you love, saving and investing at a high rate while growing that dividend income stream, living in sunny Florida. Aka. What the hell am I doing?! Nuff said… Great post and helped me reflect.
-Lanny
I am still amazed of your online income. Well, my income from advertising and writing also surprised me, but it is not reaching your level at all. I wish I could get into your shoes. With that income I could go retiring already.
Good job man!
B,
Haha. I failed as a shareholder. 🙂
By content being maxed out, I mean I’m writing about as much as I can. Writing unfortunately isn’t scalable in that you can’t clone yourself. Only so many hours in a day and one can only write so much. I’m in a good spot, though. I don’t really need to grow from here. I’d be perfectly happy just maintaining this position for the next 8-10 years. We’ll see!
Thanks for dropping by.
Best regards.
Lanny,
I’m fortunate, bud. Really fortunate. And my options – as I’ve recently been writing about – are expanding every day. It’s an amazing position to be in. The good news is that we can all do this. We all have control over our lives and our futures. We can be whatever we want to be. When I picture myself 10 years from now, that Jason IS financially independent. So every action I take is simply completing the inevitable.
You’re doing great over there as well. You’re aggressively saving and investing. As such, your options, too, are expanding every day. You’re probably more free – much more – than you give yourself credit for. Keep it up!
Best wishes.
Martin,
This didn’t happen overnight. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears (well, maybe not too much blood) went into all of this. I sometimes look back on these budgets from a year or two ago and can’t believe it. Persistence goes a long, long way. 🙂
Cheers!
A savings rate of 41% is still awesome. I know we all covet the 50% mark and some bloggers strive for 60%+ but it’s a very respectful number to have achieved especially with all the extra food expense and other entertainment related outflows. Always nice to have a hookup for DIS too. Always said it’s good to know friends in certain places. Now you need a friend who owns a gas station and restaurant 🙂 Thanks for sharing and looks like you had a great and fun month hosting too.
Hi DM!
I would very much like to visit a Disney park someday. Closest one to where I live is in Paris I think (I live in Finland) but I would like to visit your country some day as well. I have a question: I remember you are aiming for 1800 $ in dividend income monthly that would make you reach FI. Is this enough because this months expenses were over 2000 $? I know you had to buy a laptop and host some family so maybe it’s enough but you might have months like this when you reach FI. Keep up the good work!
It’s funny how having family and/or friends in town increases expenses, especially in the food area. We were bit by that as well when we met in San Francisco for a friend’s birthday. A celebration plus San Francisco equals way more spending than we would have liked for the month.
But like you said, you have 11 months to get back on track and kick that average up a bit more. I do as well, and that’s exactly what I’m looking forward to doing.
You are doing great. My savings rate used to be over 50% when I was working but is down to a few percent in FIRE. I’m only barely saving enough to beat inflation so I may pick up some contract work this year to pad my accounts. Tax exempt munis that pay monthly are helping with cash flow a great deal.
DM,
Wow! That is a great month you had. I wouldn’t worry too much about the expenses as you were able to live your life on your terms spending time with family members and still save 41%. I still personally believe you have already reached FI even though technically you are writing to earn a living. FI to me is doing what you love on your schedule and since you are following your passion and covering your expenses you have arrived.
Now when are we going to see DM caps, coffee mugs, and T-shirts on your sidebar?? Or better still how about some cool DM action figures. 🙂
MDP
Those are some pretty awesome numbers DM! Especially considering all the extra costs this month and if IIRC Jan is a lower div income month for you. Keep it up!
DM,
Oh how I envy your grocery bill. Mine to feed four is four times as much. It won’t always be four so I weather the storm for the next decade-plus until the kids are on their own two feet. 🙂
Getting five people into Epcot for a day for FREE is a HUGE deal. Wow. Incredible score there.
You should be able to make at least one, if not two solid stock purchases every month as long as that outstanding online income persists. Definitely keep in mind the idea of averaging out expenses over the course of the year. There will always be unavoidable anomaly months.
I’m curious, and perhaps this is a topic for a future post: will you and your bride-to-be combine your finances?
Best,
DWC
DivHut,
Yeah, it’s tough going sometimes when a goal isn’t met. But the good news is that I have a shiny, new laptop to show for the effort. 🙂
Got lucky there with the hookup at Disney. I think Epcot is nice, but not $100-per-person nice. Not even close. But it’s something to check out every once in a while if we’re able to get in free.
Thanks for dropping by.
Cheers!
Sampo,
I definitely hope you’re able to visit the US or the Paris park someday. I imagine Finland is beautiful. It’s funny because our homeland is never exotic to us because we’re from there. Florida is home to me, but I get emails from readers all over the world about how much they’d love to visit “exotic” Florida. Much the same, Finland is very exotic to me.
$18k/year USD is my long-term goal for dividend income. I think that’s fairly appropriate, but that’s in today’s dollars. May need to be adjusted slightly upwards as time goes on, which I’m on track for. But some expenses you see here will be gone. My student loans will be paid off by then, so that’ll reduce my monthly outlay considerably. In addition, healthcare would be cheaper if I’m living off of much less income. So how much I need in dividend income might vary depending on how much active income I receive. But more active income also means I don’t need as much passive income. They kind of work in tandem with one another. In the end, I think $18k is a pretty solid/accurate goal. That wouldn’t factor in extraordinary/one-time expenses, which could be covered by a cash reserve. Plus, the dividend income will be increasing year after year.
Best wishes!
Steve,
Gotta love family. They bite the wallet, but it’s great to have those relationships. Pros and cons with everything in life, right? 🙂
Best of luck getting back on track. I’ll be fighting for that alongside you!
Cheers.
FV,
I’m sure you had some pretty aggressive savings back when you were striving for FI. I don’t personally plan on having any kind of substantial savings rate after FI, though I imagine that’ll happen automatically as the dividend income likely increases faster than spending. We’ll see, but I wouldn’t mind at all being in a similar position to yourself. 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
Take care!
MDP,
Haha. That’s funny. I actually had an idea for a T-shirt. I had a logo and slogan and everything, but it seemed gimmicky to me. I do want to put a product out there at some point, if only to spread the word. But my favorite idea is still a book. I always go for the ideas that take the most time and are probably the least monetarily rewarding. Just the way I am, I suppose. There are a lot of sites out there making WAY more money than I am with Dividend Mantra, with arguably much less substantial/meaningful/thoughtful content. Such is life. I do this for the love of it. But, yeah, I did have an idea for a T-shirt.
Appreciate the support. I would agree that I’m quasi-FI here. I work largely on my own schedule and I get to live life mostly on my terms. Not completely there, but this is very, very close. I’m fortunate. 🙂
Best wishes!
DW,
Thanks so much. I just have to power through the first few months of the year and then I think things will really pick up. Dividend income should be higher toward the latter half of the year and expenses should also be somewhat lower. Looking forward to it! 🙂
Thanks for dropping by.
Cheers!
DWC,
Claudia and I are keeping separate budgets for now. That could very well change at any point:
https://www.dividendmantra.com/2014/12/marrying-budgets-when-you-marry/
I think you’re right about the stock purchases. If I can make 1-2 solid purchases every month throughout 2015, I’ll be well on my way. There were months back in the day when I’d have huge commission checks from the dealership and record 3-4 purchases. But that early hard work got the snowball rolling, which has allowed me to scale back a little bit. All part of the plan. 🙂
I can imagine it’s a lot more expensive to feed an entire family. We’re fortunate in that we have a lot of control over it. We don’t eat particularly much and we just have her older son. So there’s not an army waiting at the dinner table. But you’re doing great over there as well. As long as we’re all on track for our individual goals, that’s all that matters.
Best regards!
Jason, your online income is incredible! Congrats!
I hear you on the crowds at Disney parks. I used to be an annual passholder at Disneyland for many years, and the parks were constantly packed, no matter when I went! It got even worse after Carsland opened a few years ago.
Very nice on the free tickets – for a moment there, I thought you had gone off the deep end and actually paid the $100/person to get in!
DM,
Another amazing month regarding your online income. I’m not sure if you’ve ever broken it out, but I’d love to see the breakdown between advertising/writing income. I just started writing on SeekingAlpha (great seeing you on that site), and my first month was just under $300 for three articles. I could see myself scaling up to 12-15 per month, but even that wouldn’t get close to your online income number.
Thanks for posting these.
Eric
Haha, loved your anecdote about discover. Well, if you got 150 bucks from them, you may be helping Visa more than anything else. Good luck for the next months…We will keep (our friendly) eyes on you 😉
Great income for the month and 41% savings is still pretty impressive. And a free trip to one of the Disney parks is the icing on the cake 🙂
Eric,
Seeking Alpha is a great platform. It’s more specific to our niche, which is wonderful for freelancers. I find the commentary there at times a bit much to deal with, but it is what it is.
You can actually view how I make money online here:
https://www.dividendmantra.com/2014/06/blogging-about-blogging/
The only thing that’s really different since then is that I’m writing more freelance articles.
Keep it up!
Cheers.
Seraph,
Thank you. I’m really blessed in that all of my hard work is being rewarded in this way. I never would have imagined I’d be able to make a living online. I always figured I could make at least a few hundred dollars per month out of it to supplement the dividend income, but nothing ever like this. Of course, freeing my time up after leaving the dealership has helped tremendously.
I can tell you Disney isn’t going anywhere! Great to be a shareholder when you see droves of people everywhere. Gave me goosebumps. 🙂
Cheers!
LTI,
Great point there. I’ll squeeze every dime out of Discover I possibly can. 🙂
Keep up the great work over there. Good-looking portfolio with some growth names as well. You should do very well over the long haul.
Thanks for the support and for dropping by!
Best wishes.
DGJ,
Icing on an already delicious cake! 🙂
January was really solid, all considered. To be able to do what I love and still maintain a very high savings rate is a dream come true. I’m blessed.
Thanks for dropping by!
Best regards.
You are doing amazing. I think it was very sweet that you and Claudia took your friend out. You’re living the American dream! You mentioned not everyone understands your lifestyle but it seems to me that your frugality has won you freedom to work as you want and do what you want with your loved ones. I used to think that luxury goods were the greatest luxuries but now I believe time to do what you want is the greatest luxury…
If a new computer can’t crash your budget, then just about nothing can. Good luck with the rest of 2015.
Hosting friends and family really changes the food budget from groceries to restaurants. It is cheaper than you travelling to seem them though. I don’t mind a few dinners out to celebrate or to catch up, it’s when it becomes your lifestyle that you are spending too much.
Vawt,
Haha. You’ve got a point there. A new computer was a potential torpedo, but I had some room to dodge it. Thanks for pointing that out. 🙂
Yeah, this arrangement worked out pretty well. Instead of traveling up to Michigan for Christmas as I usually would, I paid for some of the flight for my oldest sister to come visit me. And then I also took them out and about here and there as well. Still ended up cheaper than us traveling up there. Not to mention avoiding the hassle of flying.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope all is well over there for you!
Cheers.
Lila,
Thank you very much. Very kind of you. 🙂
“I used to think that luxury goods were the greatest luxuries but now I believe time to do what you want is the greatest luxury…
That pretty much sums up what this is all about. It’s all about time, not money. It just so happens that money can buy time, so that’s why the focus is on building the money. But I call it my Freedom Fund for a good reason. I couldn’t agree more with you!
Thanks for stopping by.
Best wishes.
Almost 50% even after all of those big expenses! Great job. I continue to be amazed at your online income. I really like the fact that you let off the gas pedal a bit this past month and enjoyed your current life with family and friends. Sometimes the body just needs a much needed break to re-energize and get back on track. I was feeling a bit sluggish at work and in life recently and I contribute that to my busy schedule recently. As such, I am using points that my wife and I have earned on our credit card and purchased a flight to Austin, TX so we can visit her friend and hang out for a long weekend. I’ve never been to Austin and I needed a present for Valentines day so you can say I killed two birds with one stone.
Looking forward to seeing you back on the gas pedal and push it over 50% again!
ADD
That’s awesome that you got to enjoy Epcot for free… I love how transparent your blog is. You break down your income and expenses and I love following your journey. To me, you have already reached financial independence since you are no longer slaving away at the auto dealership for long hours and are doing the things you enjoy. Congrats on the savings rate… 41% is very impressive.
ADD,
Sounds like a great trip you have planned over there. That’s fantastic! I’ve always heard great things about Austin. Seems like the Portland of Texas or something. Would love to check it out sometime. No state income taxes as well. Sounds like a great place to live. 🙂
Yeah, I’m fortunate in that I’m able to lay off the accelerator a bit. To be honest, I don’t even think about saving money anymore. These reports are just the result of ingrained habits, rather than some kind of day-to-day struggle or thought process. I’m always interested in saving a high rate of my net income, but these days more in the way of eliminating waste and maximizing efficiency. I’ve got an idea about that that I’ll be discussing very soon.
Thanks for all the support. Keep up the great work over there!
Best regards.
ACI,
Thank you so much. I wanted to be transparent right from the start to show what the journey to financial independence looks like. It’s a lot more than a calculator and an idea, that’s for sure. It’s years of hard work and planning, but I can tell you the rewards are COMPLETELY worth it. 🙂
This is definitely about as close to FI as it gets without having passive income cover all of my expenses. I don’t consider myself financially independent yet because I am dependent on writing income. Without writing income, I can’t cover my lifestyle. That said, it’s not really “work” anymore, so it’s really wonderful. This is about the best possible path to FI as I can possibly take. I mentioned when I first quit my job that this is like getting off the highway to FI and choosing to take a back country road there instead. A bit slower, but much, much more enjoyable.
Thanks for dropping by!
Best wishes.
Jason,
If I lived in Florida, I would have a season pass to Epcot at the very least-Probably the entire park would be the best for me. Did you see the fireworks? I drove to Epcot from Louisiana in 1992 just to eat and see the fireworks with my wife—Then drove right back. One of the best times I ever had was in that park. By the way, Beethoven’s 9th symphony was used at the time for the fireworks display. Wow! Feels like yesterday.
Nice job on the income and expenses. You are doing very well for yourself.
Keep cranking,
Robert the DividendDreamer
Excellent. 41% of saving rate is pretty good start for the year. I am always aiming to 50% but I don’t think I would be making it this month. I love that $150 back on credit card. I thought I was probably the only one who would take advantage on those promotions but guess what… Hahaha
Great job on Online income as well
Cheers
BeSmartRich
Hi Jason,
Good job by saving 40% in your first month of 2015. I feel like we are sharing the journey, as I also decided to join the 50% club from this year and saved around 30% in my first month. I am also getting married this summer, which will make it a litte harder but I know it is worth it right?:)
Talking about the expences and income I wanted to ask about your dividend investment strategy. Are you investing from under private person or company? Why I ask is that from March I start getting my salary into my Ltd´s account to get more capital to invest (otherwise I could not invest so much because then I could have all the money into my bank account before any taxes).
So my question is, are the dividends in yahoo finance calculated as tax free (the money you will get) so the income tax is already deducted? Sorry for the question but I am still not sure wheather to start buying stocks (foreign ones, since I am from Estonia, which does not have any big stock companies) or stick with real estate.
I am not saying, that stocks are bad, just want to find the best asset class. As I understand correctly, if I invest from under Ltd. then the dividends are taxed by the income tax of 15% (USA stocks) and after that if I want to take the money out from the Ltd. I have to pay the tax again for the second time and If the yield is only around 4-5% from the stocks (also the transaction fees+account manage fee), it seems to me, that the ROI will be very slim.
If we take the real estate for example, then the rent is 100% tax free as long as I keep it in my Ltd. but since in real estate you have so many options to use “smart” ways to use your money 100% tax free (you can bretty much use it for your home utilities, car, home expences etc.) Also the real estate rent income can be easily 10+% of return of investment. The bad side is, that you need a lot of capital before you can make the purchase and with the stocks you can bretty much invest every month (by saving the money for the real estate can take time and you lose the income you could potentsially generate with the stocks meanwhile).
Sorry for the long letter and noob questions about the stocks and dividends but I need to make clear in which asset I will start investing within near future.
Best Regards,
Congrats on the income and the savings rate, its awesome. Did you ever consider being more aggressive on the student loans, because it is taking away from you monthly. Reducing that expense will help achieve financial independence sooner.
DM,
I feel you on having house guests. My wife is extremely frugal, but when out-of-towners come to visit she loves to buy them food and drinks and pay for their parking to make them feel comfortable. That is the only thing she wants to spend her money on. Sometimes I add her house guest expenses as “non-deductible charitable contributions” on my expense spreadsheet. It makes me feel better 🙂
Conrad
I’m very jealous about you guys going to Disney for FREE! 😛 Been there two years ago with the lids and it was awesome! Go Disney go for sure! 😉 I also envy your expenses as mine are so much higher… especially house and groceries. My reinvesting might not be impressive, but I’m almost debt free (house and car to be sold when we leave for our RV trip!) so that is something I’m proud of!
*with the kids
Robert,
We actually left right as they were setting up the fireworks. I’ve heard it’s a great show they put on, but we had to get kids home by a certain time and it was a two-hour drive back home. But I do know the food is pretty amazing at Epcot. They take it very seriously there. I ate some of the best tacos I’ve ever had in my life at the Mexico Pavilion.
Appreciate the support. I’m doing my best to crank away! 🙂
Cheers.
BeSmartRich,
50% is definitely a great goal to shoot for. That’s what I am for pretty much every year as well. It’s not quite as imperative as it used to be for me to hit that savings goal, but I plan on remaining aggressive for the rest of the way. We’ll see how it goes. Best of luck as you aim to hit it this year.
Credit card rewards are great. I know there are a lot of people out there that hack them for travel and what not, but I’m happy just to have the $150. Better than $0. That was like a massive dividend, and I didn’t have to invest a dollar. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by.
Take care!
RichUncle EL,
I’ve considered paying off the loans earlier, but decided against it due to the low rate and tax-deductible nature:
https://www.dividendmantra.com/2014/07/four-reasons-i-havent-paid-off-my-student-loans-yet/
However, I keep in mind that they’ll be gone by the time I’m financially independent, meaning that’ll be more than $200/month I won’t need in income. 🙂
Cheers!
heiksz,
Congrats on the impending nuptials. Wish you two the best! 🙂
I’m not quite sure I understand your question. But it could be lost in translation there since you face a different tax climate than I do.
I can tell you that dividends are taxed fairly favorably here in the US. If you are within the 15% ordinary income tax bracket, qualified dividends are taxed at 0%. I’m above that threshold right now due to my online income, but, depending on how active I am with writing down the road, my dividend income (and possibly overall income) will be well under that level by the time I want to live off of my dividend income. And that’s right about the time the dividend income will be sizable.
Generally speaking, an intelligent real estate investor could probably see a better ROI with RE than what they’d get in stocks. But it’s comparing apples to oranges. Totally different asset classes with different liquidity, risks, time horizons, passivity, etc. I really can’t say what’s best for you as I’m not familiar with all of your tax laws and what not. We’re lucky here in the US as we get to invest in REITs. Exposure to real estate without the hassle.
I also don’t know what the historic return on your market is. The historic returns on our domestic stock market (total returns) is somewhere around 7% annualized after inflation, which is fairly substantial. If 7% real returns aren’t enough to get you to where you want to be, you’re not doing something right.
So, if I were you, I would investigate all of my potential possibilities and pick what suits me best, based on risk tolerance, time horizon, personality, capital availability, etc. Only you can answer that question.
Hope that helps!
Best wishes.
Conrad,
That’s funny. I suppose that’s a great way to look at it. Some expenses like that are just plain unavoidable. We can only make the best of them. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Best regards.
DivGuy,
Hey, nothing wrong with being debt free. Once these student loans are gone in a few years, I’ll be in the same situation. Debt is like an anchor that weighs you down and limits your freedom.
Your expenses will probably change quite a bit once you guys are off in the RV. Housing will be a lot cheaper, but fuel will go way up. Overall, I imagine that’s a cheaper way to go, depending on how much driving you guys do. Have fun with it! 🙂
Cheers.
Hi DM,
Seem like you had a solid month. I managed to achieve a savings rate of 77%. I’m certainly a happy camper this month.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers,
Geblin
Jason,
41% after so much fun is still very impressive, seemed like January is a blast not just with savings rate but with the time spent with family and friends.
I love Discover (DFS), as a shareholder having a high growth rate and as my primary credit card, they have regular promotions that make their customers loyal. Watch out for those promotions.
Take care,
FFF
Awesome month! I think that you did pretty well for the first month of the year 🙂 we had quite a good month too, as we managed to exceed our savings goal 🙂 Here’s to February being great!
Geblin,
Congrats! That’s a phenomenal savings rate. I’ve only been able to hit that kind of monthly savings rate twice. I’ve hit a rate above 70% quite a few times, but nearing 80% is really difficult. Keep it up! 🙂
Cheers.
Nicola,
That’s great. Looks like you did really well in January with the savings and the NSDs. I hope we both have an even better February. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by!
Best regards.
FFF,
It was definitely a great month. To be honest, I don’t really have to save 50% of my net income anymore. So it’s wonderful to be able to relax, save what comes natural, and have a great time at it. I suspect that I’ll come close to 50% regardless of effort put in, just due to ingrained habits. It’s really more about efficiency and maximizing happiness at this point, which is really what it was all about all along. Just so happens that money buys time/freedom, which is why one saves and invests.
I’m not sure if I’ll be a Discover cardholder much longer. Maybe I’ll keep the card around just for the free credit reporting and the extra credit in case an emergency were to befall me. I think my credit line is something like $15,000 or something on this card, so that provides more flexibility than I’d ever need. Not sure if I helped you out there as a shareholder as I kind of took $150 and ran. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by!
Best wishes.
Great month for saving! I’ve started being a lot less hands-on with my budget over the past year, and have regularly and heavily put capital to work. It’s a great feeling when your job allows that, although I’m excited for a day when I no longer NEED that job. 🙂
As a side thought, have you given any consideration to selling strategies? I know you’ve mentioned that you plan to hold most of your stocks forever, but that doesn’t always happen. I liked your rationale for selling Sysco (I believe?) a little while back, but other peers have urged me to consider setting my own sort of thoughts/ideas on a selling strategy. I originally thought that selling ~1/2 once a stock doubles was a solid plan as any, but now I’m sitting on two that have done so (MO and AAPL), and both seem to still be good holdings. I’m still looking into things, but I do like the analogy of soap and investments, and prefer not to touch them too much, but having a strategy probably makes sense. Since I’m still accumulating, it’s not so much a need for capital that drives this, but just medium to long term risk management. I’d prefer to avoid letting emotions get hold of that decision, so it’s something I still need to think about before doing anything.
Aside from a few stocks that didn’t pan out, or the thesis changed materially (like ARCP), any thoughts on a broad exit strategy, even for stocks that seem like winners (not necessarily selling all of it)?
Ravi,
I hear you. I was blessed to have a pretty solid income back when I was in the auto industry, but I’m more than happy to not need that income any longer. The longer I go and the more I learn, the less and less income really matters. It’s really about finding balance and happiness, of which money does very little once your basic needs are met.
Selling stocks is very subjective. I have quite a few stocks now that have doubled or are very close to it. But I expect to eventually be sitting on 500%+ gains, as being a successful long-term investor almost guarantees that. I wouldn’t be opposed to selling a stock if it’s grossly overvalued, but, again, that’s subjective. One could argue that SYY wasn’t, but I felt the valuation combined with the slowing growth just didn’t warrant my capital. That said, I anticipate I’ll be selling even less moving forward. Stocks can stay in a band of overvaluation for a considerable period of time (like CL, for instance), so selling a stock simply because it’s overvalued could prohibit a successful investment. I’m not saying I’d buy an overvalued stock, but I think, outside of a major fundamental change, I’m less inclined to sell than before.
Just my take on it. Some investors tend to be more active. But turnover isn’t something that I think I’d be any good at and/or would help me accomplish my long-term goals.
Thanks for dropping by!
Best regards.
Gotta love seeing Disney pack the people in. The best part is that Disney theme parks do not represent the bulk of annual revenue. Long on DIS. Keep up the good work Jason.
DD,
Yeah, it’s great to see their parks so packed in. And I also noticed the ESPN restaurant was slammed, so it looks like the flagship brand is going strong. 🙂
Thanks for dropping by!
Best wishes.
Great Job on the savings! I always hate it when an unexpected expense pops up! I have a laptop around 7 years old and it is definitely just a Internet Surfing machine now. Every time I try to do more with it, it has a funny way of restarting itself 😉 Any day now that little fella is going to bite the dust.
I actually bought one of those $80 Android tablets from SamsClub over the holidays. It will be a great replacement for internet surfing, but absolutely not good for much else.
41% man! Great job. Keep up the good work and congratulations on having a solid backlog of work you like to do!
Take care!
ILG,
Seven years is awesome. I was hoping to get seven out of my laptop as well. Wasn’t meant to be. But I really put it through the paces over the last year. 🙂
Appreciate the support. It was a really solid month, all things considered. If I could continue to write and inspire while saving ~40% of my net income along the way, I’d be very, very happy. Always shooting for more, though.
Thanks for stopping by!
Best wishes.
Not a bad month at all! Congrats with the increase in online income…keep it up!
Debtless,
Thanks so much. Doing my best to inspire others through a high volume of high-quality work. 🙂
Cheers!