September 2015 Progress

 

As discussed in my previous post, we had a significant extra expense this month in the form of a major vet bill.  On the one had, I’m happy that my wife was able to give the gift of sight back to her beloved pet.  On the other, I’m a bit embarrassed since this might be the single most 2%, privileged, or frivolous thing I’ve purchased.  I would never be able to explain such a thing to my grandfather.  He’d laugh and call me a knucklehead.

On top of that, we saw our highest outflow for food/household items in September at $1149.  Dining out was also high at $600.  There was also some repairs needed for my truck and that cost me an unexpected $900.

Goals are still mostly on track, but we may see a small interest charge in November.  Here’s how we stand:

  • Reduce overall outstanding debt (including mortgage) by 10%.
    1. At the end of September, overall debt reduction is 8.69%.  Still on track.
  • Make contributions to investments (taxable and retirement) of 10% of salary.
    1. Combined saving in investment accounts is 10.71% of income.  This includes 401k, IRA, ESPP.
    2. This may be impacted by the additional cost of major vet surgery.  My wife agreed to use her savings for this procedure, so I may have to draw some out of investments to cover or face an interest charge.
  • Eliminate any monthly interest payments due to credit cards.
    1. We maintained $0 in credit card interest in Sep. for a six month streak.
    2. We added approx. $3200 to a card with a $0 balance to pay for the vet surgery.  I have an RSU grant coming in Dec that will cover this, but we may be faced with a month of interest before that money is available.  I’ll calculate the estimated charge and see if it’s worth pulling out of an existing investment before we get charged with interest.

Total expenses for September were $12,241 with the addition of the extra vet expense.  With no additional income in September, this put us in the red by $3880.

I need to recommit to live a little more frugally for the rest of the year.  I personally am cutting out alcohol until the holidays to help reduce expenses.  I also need to help solve the grocery planning struggle so that we can consistently plan meals (Planned meals definitely helps combat dining out)

Here we go!

-cb3