March was a special month as the 2018 year bonus from my previous job paid out…netting us $60k. In addition, the severance payments continued so that added another $19k. So almost $80k of the increase in net worth was due to new money added to the pile. On a smaller note, we also got a $3k tax refund … when it rains…!
Our expenses for the month were $9,264. This is significantly higher than the norm because of a series of one-off expenses all bunching up together. College visits for our son added on travel and eating out expenses and an improvement project in our backyard cost $1.400. The detailed expenses are in the table below.
The investment portfolios spat out income … doing what they are designed to do! The distributions from the taxable income portfolio were $8,977. It was a bit concerning to see a number that was lower than our expenses for the month, but only by a little.
The retirement portfolio income distributions were $5,244 which were reinvested without any further ado.
| Home improvement | $1478 |
| Restaurants | $1362 |
| Travel | $1228 |
| Groceries | $1114 |
| Automotive | $754 |
| Home Maintenance | $555 |
| General Merchandise | $494 |
| Telephone | $448 |
| Tax Prep | $424 |
| Simplysafedividends subscription | $399 |
| Clothing/Shoes | $267 |
| Entertainment | $239 |
| General Merchandise | $210 |
| Utilities | $179 |
| Gas | $118 |
| Everything Else | 443 |
| Core Expenses: $3,619 | Non Core Expenses: $5,645 |
We had some concrete work removed from the backyard that cost $1,400. There were also lumpy automotive costs due to a ripped tire in the Mercedes SUV that cost about $500 and some repair work on the van. Phone costs were higher due to overage charges by ATT. We have switched to an unlimited plan since then so there should not be any more surprises though the monthly costs will increase a bit.
Our income for the month was $98,617
Paychecks : $80,000
Taxable Portfolio Distributions: $8,977
Tax Sheltered Portfolio Distributions: $5,244
All in all, a month of good progress. Our expenses till the end of March totaled $21,166. Our income in the corresponding period was $169,149. Of this, taxable investment income was $30,837. This is an important metric as sometime in the future, this will be the only income available for us to depend on and we will have to also allow for the impact of taxes and healthcare.
