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Last month, my savings rate ended up at 75%! This marks one of the lowest savings rate months I have had in awhile, but I am extremely proud of it! There are months where you should always expect your savings rate to go down. Whether this is from a vacation or some extra fun you decided to have, you should celebrate every month!
Time to go through a breakdown of February!
February Total Money Earned
February brought a little dip in my income. The main reason for this is how I breakout my W2 income when looking at earned income. For me, I take my pay and determine how much money I earn per day and then multiply that number by the number of days in the month. For that reason here is the breakdown of my income I generated. Note I exclude any investment income as I track that separately.
Income Breakdown:
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W2 – $13,543
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House Hack Room #1 – $900
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House Hack Room #2 – $800
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House Hack Room #3 – $650
This brings my total income for the month $15,893.
Not a bad income month. Now time to look at expenses.
February Expenses Breakdown
February brought some expenses that were definitely not planned for. I ended up taking a last minute trip to Vegas to celebrate a friends birthday and we went all out. Between VIP at Omnia ($5,500 for the night) and a suite at Planet Hollywood, we definitely didn’t hold back on expenses.
Breakdown of expenses:
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Housing – $2,207
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Entertainment – $1,329
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Food – $234
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Transportation – $123
Total expenses for the month ended at $3,895. The rest of my money went straight to investment accounts.
Investing For February
What a wild market we have been seeing the last couple months. This wild market doesn’t stop my investing strategy. In a singular statement, I would outline my investment strategy as follows:
Setup automatic investments in the market and retirement accounts while continuing to add income streams through real estate and other investment vehicles.
With that in mind, I had two paychecks for February. I have been automatically sending 50% of each paycheck to my 401k. This puts me at $13,076 sent to my 401k so far this year. I am close to maxing out my 401k. Only two more paychecks and I will be there.
I also maxed out my HSA with my first paycheck this month! Now that this account is maxed out, I can work to invest that money elsewhere and save for my next property!
From a taxable account perspective, I continue to invest $1,200 each week in my Vanguard account into VTSAX. At some point I think I am going to transition this investment strategy to buy a few other index fund. For now, I am going to continue investing in VTSAX!
All in all, it was another great month! House hacking and earning a great income at my W2 have been incredible ways for me to continue with my high savings rate.
Key Takeaways:
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Have some months where you spend! Be just as proud of the months where you spend a little extra on doing some fun things!
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House hacking continues to be an incredible way for me to have a high savings rate. If I wasn’t house hacking, my savings rate would be around 70%. Still not bad, but there is nothing better than living for free.
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Automating your investments is extremely helpful! Don’t worry about what the market is doing. You can’t time the market. Trust me. You might hit the right timing once in a while, but over a 10 year period, you don’t beat the market.
Don’t forget @TheYoungRetireeBy33’s 3 Core Principles:
1 – Your money should make money for you⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
2 – Start early to realize the power of compound interest⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
3 – Eliminate your largest expense by house hacking
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