Well hello again! I hope you all got your fill of shamrocks and corned beef last month. With a lot of things moving and shaking, were our finances in March as green as the beer we were drinking? Also, I hold my nose and take a look at last year’s spending.
You can check the latest and greatest info on the Track Our Progress page.
First, the numbers:
Net Worth:
- End of March Balance: $826,866 up $31,960
- Year to Date (YTD): Up $66,486 (up 8.7%)
- Since January 2018 (this is when I started tracking our net worth): Up $521,866
Portfolio:
- End of March Balance: $671,366 up $27,156
- YTD: Up $55,495 (9.0%)
- Since January 2018: Up $431,366
March Highlights
Gratuitous Corned Beef Photo (I made it from scratch this year!)
2020 Spending Breakdown
I’m a little behind this year with our spending breakdown. This has mostly been out of dread, since I know last year was very “spendy”. There was a lot going on last year and and it’s time I faced facts and dug into the details. It feels a bit like piecing together a crime scene.
***Law and Order gong sounds***
I’m gonna need a stiff drink to get through this.
Nope… not strong enough
That’s more like it.
***cracks knuckles***
Here she blows:
| Category | Amount | Per Month |
| ATM/Cash | $565.50 | $47.13 |
| Automotive | $270.48 | $22.54 |
| Charitable Giving | $1,172.65 | $97.72 |
| Child/Dependent | $8,420.15 | $701.68 |
| Cleaner | $1,760.00 | $146.67 |
| Clothes/Shoes | $1,041.76 | $86.81 |
| Dues & Subscriptions | $342.87 | $28.57 |
| Entertainment | $777.05 | $64.75 |
| Gasoline/Fuel | $1,173.88 | $97.82 |
| General Merchandise | $16,211.53 | $1,350.96 |
| Gifts (for others, not our kids) | $208.16 | $17.35 |
| Groceries | $12,995.39 | $1,082.95 |
| Healthcare/Medical | $495.12 | $41.26 |
| Hobbies | $1,583.94 | $132.00 |
| Home Improvement | $29,953.84 | $2,496.15 |
| Insurance | $1,646.68 | $137.22 |
| Internet | $729.88 | $60.82 |
| Mortgages | $32,158.41 | $2,679.87 |
| Personal Care (hair cuts, etc.) | $187.46 | $15.62 |
| Pets/Pet Care | $1,037.23 | $86.44 |
| Phone | $1,459.04 | $121.59 |
| Restaurants | $3,937.34 | $328.11 |
| Security | $299.88 | $24.99 |
| Taxes (includes refund, excludes withholdings) | -$51.12 | -$4.26 |
| TV | $1,050.56 | $87.55 |
| Utilities | $4,627.65 | $385.64 |
| Vacation | $3,818.67 | $318.22 |
| Total | $127,874.00 | $10,656.17 |
Our 2019 spending was $115,000 for comparison… and we bought a car that year! Better make that drink a double!
Home improvement sticks out by far from the other categories and accounts for the vast majority of the increase. What the hell did we do?
- We replaced the kitchen floor
- We built a paver patio and firepit
- We renovated our master bathroom
- But the biggest price tag of all goes to renovating our rental house ahead of selling it. This accounted for over $12,000 in renovation costs, and a few hundred bucks in additional utility costs and lawn care. Thankfully, the sale of the house allowed us to recoup these costs.
It’s safe to say, we are trying to lay off the home improvement projects this year.
Two other categories stand out. Groceries and General Merchandise
Groceries makes sense, right? With the pandemic shutting down dining and most nonessential travel, we turned to making more food at home. Quite a bit more actually. We also took advantage of Instacart more frequently to limit travel further. Oddly, even though we saved on dining out (approx. $84 less per month), the savings there did not offset the increase in groceries ($260). A big part of this is due to us splitting two sides of beef over the year. Beef be pricey. Additionally, our kids were home from school and daycare which meant we were providing more meals and snacks than normal.
General merchandise was where I feel things got a bit fast and loose. Once the pandemic hit, we had a bit of a scramble to load up on activities to keep the kids occupied over the summer. With things being canceled left and right, it became very easy for us to justify buying more. We also stocked up on camping gear (new tent, canopy, air mattress, lanterns, etc. etc.) to allow us a socially distanced vacation. Lastly, I got hooked on duck hunting and had to outfit myself for the sport. Let me tell you… duck hunting ain’t cheap!
It wasn’t all bad. We saved $393 a month on childcare with the kids not attending daycare during the summer. We saved $87 a month on gas with less travel. And we saved $253 a month on clothing/shoes over 2019.
In the end, it was a weird year. (biggest understatement in this blog’s history). Here’s hoping for a more normal 2021 and a bit more fiscal intentionality moving forward.
I Think We are Gonna Need a Bigger Bed
We’ve never been shy about spending money on beds/bedding as we believe a good night’s sleep is one of the best investments you can make. We purchased a very nice mattress, a Temper+pedic, prior to getting married (around 12 or so years ago). It was a great mattress but in recent years we’ve found it too firm. We decided it was time to replace it, and this time, we decided to upsize to a king. What better way to say I love you than to Stop. Touching. Me. While. I. Sleep!
Now, many years have gone by since we bought a mattress for adults. During that time, internet mattress companies have taken the industry by storm, promising lower prices and better return policies, without compromising on quality. Was this for us? After checking out the price of a new Temper+Pedic (holy crap!) we decided it was worth investigating.
I did a lot of googling and read countless review websites and blogs. In summary, the overall sentiment seems to be that, yes, online mattress companies can provide a good product at a good price.
So we went for it and found a mattress (Novosbed) with comparable reviews with the Temper+pedics mattresses we knew we liked. In the end, we were able to buy the mattress, the foundation, and the king-size bedframe and bedding… for less than half the cost of the Temper+pedic mattress! It’s too soon to tell if we will be satisfied on the long-term basis, but the first week or so has been promising.
COMING UP APRIL
New Roof Goofing
With the return of spring, so comes spring storms. We had a doozy roll through at the end of March. This storm pummeled our house with hail. As a result, we are getting a new roof. Thankfully, we haven’t noticed any leaks, but the adjuster and the roofers that looked at it said the roof needs a fresh start.
So, I am getting quotes and researching roofers. But in the end it looks like we will be out our deductible ($2,500) or a little bit more.
Render Unto Caesar What is Caesar’s
After debating on whether to hire a tax professional again, for like the third year in a row, we decided to do our own again. More correctly put – Mrs. HoF did them and I nodded along and fetched forms like a good supporting husband.
Due to the sale of our rental property, we had a nice taxable gain (woohoo!), which means we have to pay capital gains and depreciation recapture (aw shit!). But we knew that going in when we sold. So Uncle Sam will get his due later this month.
Thanks for reading!
