I think it takes a little bit of guts to share your income and expenses openly with the world. But that said, I think there is value for both of us in reading this post. I will do a similar post every month.
General Thoughts on this Month: Progress is happening, albeit slower than I would like. Fortunately I think I will reach another of my goals for this year JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME! Thanks to diligent saving and spending I believe I will have my family debt reduced to my goal amount of only $5000 left (I know, still high!...agh) by the end of the year, but I started the year at $29,000, so I am not too disappointed, with this goal actually being achieved on December 15th. Very thankful for this! It may not seem like a big deal, but to me it is!
All of that said, listed below is a detailed display of all income and expenses for the month of November 2016.
1) Income was a little lighter this month, but two rental costs reduced my rental income by a little over $115. Thankfully I made up for it with additional income from my 'side gig.'...always trying to work hard! Now if only all of my income wouldn't all go towards paying down debt!..soon, I hope.
2) No change to Lending Club 'sales'. Here is a detailed description from June's report, explaining this number, as I unwind my Lending Club investment as quickly as I can. This number will eventually go to zero.
3) Dividends were solid and just shy of $300. I am very thankful for this level of consistent passive income, but to be honest, I am very excited for December's dividends. Stay tuned for what I hope will be a record month for me personally. Ever. Overall, not a bad month at all for Passive Income in November, which ultimately supported my 'total income' amount.
General Thoughts on EXPENSES:
1) Expenses were pretty normal this month. Several items were reduced becuase of family members staying with us for Thanksgiving and paying for things (groceries, etc), and several items increased due to family membersstaying with us! :). Several items increased as well because of the holidays (gifts, restaurants, kids). Finally, auto costs continue to be higher than I'd like, but should be reduced next month.
Takeaway - I continue to believe that we can live relatively normal lives, albeit while remaining very conscious of our expenditures and staying very disciplined, and as a result achieve a savings rate of ~25% rather consistently. This month a 25% savings rate translated into to have a positive difference of ~$2500. Very cool! Unfortunately I still have family debt and some credit card debt (details here, in Goals), so I definitely didn't "feel" the extra yet. It went straight to paying down those items. Eventually! ....How many months am I going to say this???!
What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts below.
Thanks for reading!
Passive Income Dude
Fantastic job tackling your debt this year. I've been debt free for the past 5-years and it's a great feeling. I've found that I can be a much more involved investor when I don;t have bills to worry about. I hope the same is true for you. Kudos on the monthly dividend total too.
ReplyDeleteThanks IH! It really does take a lot of diligence and patience, but we are so thankful for the progress we've been able to make up to now. I cannot wait to be debt free for five years! :)
DeleteDiversification at its finest. This post shows the huge benefits of diversifying your income stream and how it can pay help grow your income and savings rate. Love all the side gigs. What was the new one??
ReplyDeleteBert
Hey Bert,
DeleteThanks for commenting!! What you guys do at DivDiplomats is awesome, so it's cool to be able to reply to someone as famous in the community as you! The recent side gig has been tutoring business school students in finance and accounting. Unfortunately it's about to dry up, so bad news on the income side, but good news for blogging, as I'll be able to pick up writing more frequently again. It's been cool doing it though.
Keep in touch,
Fantastic income and totally awesome on tackling your debt. You should see that savings rate increasing quickly once your debt is paid off.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tawcan. It has been a LONG, SLOW road, let me tell you. I went into debt specifically to buy my 3rd property (~20k) and then I went into more debt when I decided to refinance the property this summer (another ~$15k), because I was anticipating a rate increase. So long story short, I essentially have been paying those debts back slowly for the past 18 months. I think this investment will turn out very positively in the long term, but it has prevented significant 'new' investment in the short term. Mid 2017 should see an inflection point in my progress, which is why I've raised my 2017 passive income goal significantly (50% higher) from what it is this year. Thanks again for stopping by! We'll see how it goes,
DeleteYou are making great headway PID!
ReplyDelete$300 divi dollars of passive income is sweet. I can't wait to see how your year ends.
Soon as your debt is gone you will be laughing.
Hey thanks Steve. You are a good friend! I intend not to complain with these posts or to pursue wealth too avidly (...it is such a temptation of mine that I have to keep in check), but finances and investing are my passion, so I'm looking forward to no more debt soon! Take care,
DeleteThat's great progress on the debt! I'm liking the improvement on savings rate versus last month as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks timeinthemarket! We'll see what happens with savings in December...always an expensive month!
DeleteNice savings rate. I'm sure once you knock out your debts, your savings rate will increase, which will free up more capital for your use. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Christian Investor! I CANNOT wait to no longer have any debt. I am still at least half a year away though probably. :/
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
Congrats on a great month! I just came across your site (and im glad that i did), so moving forward i will include you in the monthly dividend income round up. http://www.predictablesnowball.com/2016/12/11/dividend-income-around-world-november-16/
ReplyDelete