Spending Update - Jan & Feb 2019
- Andrew
- Feb 28, 2019
- 1 min read
Welcome to my very first spending update!
As someone who is seeking financial independence in order to retire early in 15 years, keeping track of my family's spending is very important.
I made a goal of spending only $24,000 on variable expenses this year - an average of (only!) $2,000 per month.
Raising a family of five on just one income is extremely difficult, so we try to be as frugal as possible.
However, we do enjoy travelling once in a while, so we went on a family trip to Cuba for about 2 weeks. Nearly everything was paid for months in advance, so we only spent about $300 on our vacation in January.
Below are the spending charts for both January and February. This includes all our outflows other than debt payments and investments.
January 2019
February 2019
February was a pretty bad spending month for us since our family vehicle needed major engine repairs. We also paid for some skating lessons for our children for the next few months. Without those expenses, our monthly spending would have been under $1800.
We'll just have to work harder to keep our spending under $24,000 for the year.
2019 Spending to date: $4,697.93
Remaining: $19,302.07
Thanks! Basically, we only buy groceries and gas, and the food we buy is usually vegetarian based. Peas, lentils, beans, oatmeal, and lots of pasta! Activities are usually just outdoor activities, going to the park, or playing boardgames inside. We keep it pretty simple!
I'm so impressed with your very low annual spending! How do you do it with three kids?! Nice work. You should be very proud, especially since you live on the West Coast.