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Expenses For September 2019

October 17, 2019 by Jason Fieber 10 Comments

Time to open up the books on how much money I spent last month.

Managing expenses is absolutely critical to becoming financial independent at a young age.

In fact, I’d argue it’s much more important to be an excellent saver than an excellent investor in this regard.

And in order to save, you must limit expenses.

Making more money is great, but not locking down the appropriate lifestyle first by adopting a scarcity mindset will almost surely result in lifestyle inflation.

Someone earning $100,000 per year but spending $90,000 per year will probably never retire (and certainly not early), but someone earning $40,000 annually and spending just $20,000 of it per year will become financially independent in a reasonable amount of time (likely within a decade or so).

I consistently saved well over 50% of my net income in order to go from below broke in 2010 to financially independent in 2016. In fact, I was routinely hitting monthly savings marks above 70%.

And I was working a regular, middle-class job during much of that period.

Everything was hinged upon my ability to live below my means, enjoy most elements of frugality and minimalism, and totally believe in a future me who was already financially independent and taking advantage of that freedom.

While I no longer have to (or really even attempt to) maintain a high savings rate, keeping my expenses low is still vital to maintaining my financial freedom.

You can’t get to a point to where your passive income starts to cover expenses, then just ramp up spending. You have to more or less maintain the same spending that got you there.

That all said, I could technically spend much more than I do.

I earn five-figure and growing dividend income from my FIRE Fund.

Dividend income covers my essential expenses.

Furthermore, I earn passive online income, including royalties from my two best-selling books: The Dividend Mantra Way and 5 Steps To Retire In 5 Years (also available in paperback).

It’s a pretty wonderful life position to be in.

I’m very fortunate. And very grateful.

My overall passive income is north of $1,500 per month – and growing.

That’s not all.

I also earn a rather significant amount of active income from my ongoing writing and coaching efforts.

As such, the early retirement math has been rendered moot for me (as it will be for almost anyone in FIRE).

However, I don’t ever want to regularly rely on that active income.

If I were to rely on it, I wouldn’t be financially independent any longer. In addition, relying on that income would likely negate a lot of the enjoyment I get out of writing, turning work into a job.

I may sometimes use some of that excess income for travel or other extraordinary personal spending, but this is a complementary and voluntary addition to my everyday life that’s supported by passive income.

That everyday life, by the way, is fun, free, and functional. There’s no sacrifice. Even though I don’t spend very much, I don’t ever wake up and feel like I’d be much happier if I suddenly spent a lot more money. That’s not how happiness works.

While my ability to live on relatively little and still feel happy has been built on an overall life philosophy, that ability has been further bolstered in a major way by relocating to Chiang Mai, Thailand indefinitely as a dividend expat. I’ve taken maximum advantage of geographic arbitrage.

Because the cost structure here is so much lower than what exists in the US, I don’t have to watch and stress over every penny in order to get my spending down to a level that’s roughly in line with my passive income.

If anything, I spend exactly zero effort in managing my expenses these days. The “effort” has been replaced by a structural realignment of expectations and beliefs, along with a major move abroad that takes advantage of geographic arbitrage.

I’m living my best life these days. This is what it costs.

With that introduction out of the way, let’s get into my real-life spending for September 2019…

Rent & Utilities$527
Food$444
Health/Personal/Toiletries$291
Coffee Shops$99
Amusement$95
Transportation$32
Gym$30
Mobile Phone$17
Total:$1,530

As a note, I recommend Mint and Personal Capital for managing your finances.

This month was actually really, really solid in terms of spending.

Most categories were at or below long-term norms. I feel pretty good about where things landed.

But the bottom line was higher than usual.

That was obviously due to the Health/Personal/Toiletries spending category. It was about twice as high as normal.

I have to use specialized shaving products that I can’t find here in Thailand. So I order them online. Unfortunately, my skin is extremely sensitive, and I suffer from a number of skin conditions that necessitate certain products. It’s just something I deal with.

Anyway, I tend to order these products once a year and stock up. I usually order from the retailer’s shop on Amazon, have the package shipped to my virtual Traveling Mailbox shipping address, then have it forwarded to Thailand.

But the products were out of stock when I checked.

I then figured I’d check directly with the retailer (King of Shaves), which is based out of the UK. They have an online retail store, so I ordered the products directly and had them shipped to my address in Thailand. This seemed to be even faster and cheaper than the other way I was doing it, which is awesome.

However, the retailer uses DHL. And using DHL as a courier is apparently a no-no here in Thailand, which I found out the hard way.

There seems to be a weird relationship going on between DHL and Thai customs, which has been discussed ad nauseam throughout various online forums. DHL packages reportedly get stopped every time, upon which time questionable fees and sky-high taxes get assessed. I was quoted fees and taxes that were more than three times the cost of the package. I was also told I might need some kind of import license for a small handful of products that cost about $50. Umm, no. That’s ridiculous.

I thought I was out the money. I was okay with eating the charge, but I did decide to contact the retailer directly about the issue and let them know that they should probably stop using DHL to ship to Thailand.

The retailer had no idea about it. But they went to bat for me and got involved, only to be shocked about the information they were receiving from the people over here.

The retailer is now going to rethink using DHL and/or even shipping to Thailand at all.

But it ended up okay for me.

The retailer refunded me the entire cost of the package, as they were unable to recover the package or help me in any way (even after offering to pay fees/taxes on my behalf). Kudos to them. A+ customer service.

Fortunately, after some time had passed with this entire process, the products were back in stock over at the Amazon online store. I went my usual route and had it forwarded, except I did have to place a rush on the package because I was running out of the products I had left on hand. Rushing a package overseas is not cheap, so this entire episode did cost me a little bit of money.

Other than that saga, everything else was great about the spending this month.

The Food category surprised me. It came in low.

I’ve been eating more Western and international food, as I discussed last month. That would ordinarily increase spending in this category. But Oh was working more late nights throughout September, which left me eating dinner by myself a few more evenings than usual. That had the effect of lowering spending in that category.

I do expect a higher level of overall spending for October, though.

I’ll soon book a trip to Bangkok and Isan.

Oh and I will be traveling south in late November, which we’re excited about. I always look forward to spending time in crazy Bangkok. And it’s been a while since she’s visited her family just outside Korat. We’ll take a bus to Isan after spending a few days in BKK.

Most of the related travel expenses (like airfare and accommodation) will be be showing up in October’s expense report.

Other than that, I don’t anticipate anything else of note for October. The month is going well, thus far. Most spending categories are at or below long-term norms.

I hope all of you had a great September in terms of sticking to your budgets. It’s so important to manage those expenses, both before and after retirement.

Let’s continue to make the most of every dollar and every second!

I’ll quickly point out that there’s no visa expense in this report. I’m staying in Thailand on a one-year ED visa, which was settled earlier this year. As such, there are little ongoing costs to maintaining that. But I think you could go ahead and add $100 or so (based on the visa costs stretched out over a year) to the above expenses to get a full look at what life is costing me here.

And, of course, this factors out any outgoings that wouldn’t exist if I didn’t have an online business (business expenses, business taxes, philanthropy, student loans, etc.).

This level of spending on the essentials is a comfortable base for me. I suspect that I’ll be more or less in this range of spending most months, outside of occasional travel and the annual visa concerns. Of course, I could spend less (especially on housing), but I have no desire or need to. Likewise, it’s easy to spend quite a bit more, but I equally lack that desire and need.

How was your spending for the past month? Did you meet your expectations? Why or why not? 

Thanks for reading.

Image courtesy of: imgflip and Warner Bros. Pictures.

P.S. If you’re interested in becoming financially independent at a young age, which will involve controlling expenses, check out some amazing tools and services that personally helped me become financially free at 33.

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Filed Under: Finances

About Jason Fieber

Jason Fieber became financially free at 33 years old by using dividend growth investing to his advantage. Jason has authored two best-selling books: The Dividend Mantra Way and 5 Steps To Retire In 5 Years (also available in paperback).

 

Jason recommends Personal Capital for portfolio management, Mint for budgeting, Schwab for the brokerage account, and Morningstar, Daily Trade Alert, and Motley Fool for stock ideas. This blog is hosted by Bluehost. If you'd like to start your own blog, Jason offers free coaching when you use our Bluehost affiliate link.

 

Jason's writing and/or story has been featured across international media like USA Today, Business Insider, and CNBC.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andrew Kamchi says

    October 17, 2019 at 11:13 am

    Hey Jason, I thoroughly enjoy your monthly accounting of what it takes to be an expat ‘on the road’, which is my way of saying that you reside outside of the good ole U S of A. I know that you are living a robust life there and not depriving yourself of great experiences, which inspires me as to what is possible starting next year when I shift into a semi / working retirement model and take my show ‘on the road’ as well to discover what international destination I will call my home away from home. As we have discussed, my business partnership will keep me coming back to the US from time to time, but more so than not, I will have freedom to travel to / work from any international location in the world that has internet (and by way of that, phone) service.

    At this point, my financial wranglings are arbitrary, but I set goals and meet / exceed them for fun since what will be my active earnings far surpass what I need to pursue the goals mentioned above – as per what you have shared as well. It is a blessed position to be in for sure, and the result of hard work for many years (which I wish a lot of these ‘digital nomads’ who think they can go abroad and start a business while being transient would take into consideration before heading off with backpack in hand (or on back) so that they can ensure a higher success rate).

    To that end, in my mind, my goal is to live off of 50% of active earnings max after paying taxes and continuing to fund my investment accounts / health plan, and have that be at least $2500 / mo. I also set another arbitrary goal of having at least $2500 / mo come in from my retirement accounts, which I won’t touch for a long time since I am not near retirement age, to replace my active income if / when that should happen – yes, I know that is a moot point, but tis the game I play.

    I am beyond excited that after reading your article, I went and updated my spreadsheets (I use your post as a reminder to do my accounting each month), and voila, I have hit all my goals. well over $2500+ / mo after taxes in active, and I just crossed the threshold in my retirement where $2500 is my lowest paying month, reinvested of course. These are all numbers of a screen that I am very grateful for, and again, I pay homage to the man who helped steer me in a direction that I never imagined possible… you.

    A tremendous thank you again, and I will continue sending them your way with each new milestone that is crossed. I no longer earn points and miles the way I used to, so sadly there won’t be any more hotel stays I can gift you, but I am sure that I can figure out other ways to say thanks when we see each other again. It may be a plate of pad thai, or some other local delicacy based on where you ultimately end up.

    Humbly, Andrew

    Reply
    • Jason Fieber says

      October 17, 2019 at 11:24 am

      Andrew,

      That’s awesome stuff. Congrats on hitting all of the goals you’ve set for yourself. A little bit of hard work upfront pays dividends – literally and figuratively – for the rest of your life. There’s a future version of you out there already enjoying the fruits of past labor and living la vida loca. You’ll meet him soon enough. 🙂

      The cool thing about all of this stuff is that the best is yet ahead. Even with all that you’ve already accomplished, there’s still so much to look forward to. Places not yet explored. Adventures not yet encountered. Meals not yet enjoyed. Conversations not yet had. Lessons not yet learned. Learning, growing, and knowing the best is yet to come is what gets me out of bed in the (late) morning.

      I’m glad I could serve as some inspiration. To know that I’m positively impacting a few people out there makes all of this worth it for me.

      Best regards!

      Reply
      • AlexG says

        October 17, 2019 at 1:55 pm

        Jason – you inspire MANY! The feedback you receive on your posts is proof that there are legions of dedicated savers who follow your example and charting their ways to an ultimate goal – freedom from the rat race.

        Keep it up and we all are rooting for you and your situation with Thai visas and all.

        Cheers,

        Alex

        Reply
        • Jason Fieber says

          October 17, 2019 at 2:08 pm

          Alex,

          Much appreciated. Love the feedback! 🙂

          Life’s too short to not chase your dreams and make them come true. And part of my dream is to inspire others out there to make their own dreams come true. So I’m blessed to be in this position.

          Best wishes.

          Reply
  2. Kiel says

    October 17, 2019 at 2:56 pm

    Hi Jason,
    I love reading your blog every week it’s one of my favorites that I follow in my own journey to Fire. Was wondering what kind of cash buffer or (how many months worth of expenses) you keep in savings for the unknowns in life? I really like the bucket system I read about through rockstar finance where you refill each account from the previous so you always have extra in emergency or if the markets go poorly and you never feel the need to touch principle ie sell the cash cows.

    Kiel

    Reply
    • Jason Fieber says

      October 18, 2019 at 2:34 am

      Kiel,

      I’m perhaps not the best guy to ask about this. I’ve never really believed in something like an emergency fund. If you’re living a typical life, then I think it makes sense to build an emergency fund as you go about straightening out your finances. That’s where your mainstream financial advisors come into play. But my life is anything but typical.

      If you’ve got hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets, 1X+ expenses covered with passive income, easy access to credit, and you’ve got some businesses/side hustles built up, keeping a bunch of cash in the bank seems nonsensical to me.

      I’m with Warren Buffett on this (about 5:00 in):

      https://youtu.be/SEZwkbliJr8

      Cheers.

      Reply
  3. Chickenwizard's DivBlog says

    October 18, 2019 at 1:48 pm

    I’ve been using Mint for about 6 years now, but recently started using YNAB. What’s you take on their type of budget?

    Reply
    • Jason Fieber says

      October 18, 2019 at 2:05 pm

      Chickenwizard,

      I looked at YNAB some time ago, but I passed. Mint is free and very easy/intuitive. I’m not gonna fix what isn’t broken.

      Cheers!

      Reply
  4. Dividend Latitude says

    October 18, 2019 at 2:13 pm

    I seem to remember you wrote an article about the most extreme things you did to achieve FIRE. Any thoughts on adding “growing a beard” to the list? Although I can’t imagine the Thai climate being the most friendly atmosphere to beard guys.

    Reply
    • Jason Fieber says

      October 18, 2019 at 2:17 pm

      DL,

      I tried laser hair removal years ago:

      https://www.mrfreeat33.com/three-crazy-things-ive-done-to-save-money/

      I couldn’t grow a beard even if I tried, not that I’d want one anyway. In fact, what hair I have left is kinda patchy, so it makes shaving even more necessary than it was before. I’m thinking about finishing the laser hair removal at some point. I’d love to cut down on the time and money I spend shaving.

      Cheers!

      Reply

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Hi. I'm Jason Fieber. I achieved financial independence and retired in my early 30s by using dividend growth investing to my advantage. I cover stock analyses, market news, dividend updates, and the dividend growth investing strategy.

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