I started this month determined to do (much) better then last month. However as often it did not go as planned.
Lets start with the positive points:
- I managed to cut back on restaurant expenses. From 418 last month to 287 this month
- I went shopping in the H&M, and had a 10% discount so I paid almost nothing for a whole bunch of winter items I needed, about 25 EUR for a scarf, gloves and hat!!! I will probably lose most of these items trough winter so I am happy I got them cheap this year.
- Another item I regularly seem to lose is my Umbrella. I ordered a new one with Thalys points I had collected (from work trips), so that costed me nothing
- I canceled my subscription for a news paper I had. It costed just 21 EUR, this month being the last one I paid, but even just 21 EUR has an effect on my savings rate
Unfortunately I got hit with a few unexpected expenses this month as well:
- I had to do some unexpected repairs at my apartment, making my living expenses a lot higher
- I had to pay my taxes, 726 EUR. They will do a recalculation so I will get these back in maybe 2 months, but for now I need to pay them
- I had to pay my yearly subscription for this site (= 118 EUR)
- I am still taking off cash once in a while (this month about 150 EUR), because unfortunately I still need to do cash payments in Belgium sometimes. But it does make it a lot harder to track where the money is going
When I count it all up, I am way beyond the 1270 EUR started wage I once had, it seems Even if I add inflation then it seems lifestyle inflation has much affected me, and even when I start crouching the numbers to see where I could cut back I have to conclude it is just not possible. Only if I pay off my loan I could have a chance to live at this amount. And I would need to give up my car!
The chart
The moment you all wait for 😉 The graph with my savings rate. What is more exiting is that next month I will finally have a month where I can compare my savings rate with. My goal is to do better then last year, so let’s see if I can pull that off!
Average saving rate so far…
As a final note I want to close with my average saving rate. So far I am able to get a 46% savings rate in the last 12M, a drop with 2% compared to last month. Lets do better next month!
When I look at my blog of last month, I reme
Whats next
When I look at my blog of last month, I remember saying I did not expect large expenses. Wow was I wrong, but I hope that next month will be the month I can turn things around. Although my suit did break. I usually have it repaired, but this one I had repaired for 4 times already, and maybe it will just be cheaper to get a new one at some point. You can only repair it so many times.
Additionally my 7 year old shoes are up for replacement, and I usually buy shoes that are 200-300 EUR. But as you can hear they also need to last a very long time. I do repair shoes if they are broke but my last casual shoes I bought still do not require repairs after so many years. Amazing! So in the case of shoes, it could really be better to buy quality.
So next month I will buy either a new suit or shoes, we will see!
I also have a weekend away with friends coming up next month. Although we usually do not spend to much, so it should not have such a big impact.
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Roadtrip to FIRE 