My Frugal Miser - October Expenses: $10,632

October expenses were a bit higher than my income because I paid the property tax bill on two properties.  Property taxes are easily the largest expense I have on my rental properties.  I still have other property taxes to pay in November.

• Airbnb expenses increased a bit.  We are approaching the busy season so I've been investing in linens and landscaping.  I also bought a wood chipper so that we can tame the overgrowth in the backyard.  It's exciting to be able to clean it up without having to rent a truck to haul off the branches.
• The "fun" category ($1,315 in October) was pretty expensive.  We went to Las Vegas and Los Angeles to celebrate my partner's birthday.  I spent on the car rental, tour and garden tickets, and gambling and food.  I also bought tickets to see the Florida Orchestra, where live performances have resumed.
• Spending on food was crazy expensive, but this can be attributed to our transitioning to the keto diet.  If we can stick to the diet, I think we will save on restaurant bills which will offset the increased cost of the food we have to eat on the diet.
• I spent $537 on my car.  Most of this is for gasoline.  Those Amazon routes eat a lot of gas.  Fortunately my Walmart + membership now allows me to fill up at Sam's Club.  We have one a couple miles from home, and it is consistently the cheapest gas around.  As an example, earlier this week I paid $1.72/gallon there.  The gas stations around it were charging between $1.94-$2.03.  In addition to gas I paid for an oil change and tire rotation, and I stocked up on engine air filters to take advantage of a cashback offer on one of my credit cards.

October Business Spending:  $4,982
October Personal Spending:  $5,650

October Expenses:  $10,632

$537 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)

$0 Bank Fees
$0 Clothing/ Personal Care
$1,315 Fun (vacations movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets)

$1,186 Food

$586 Health and Dental

$1,602 Household/Mortgage Payment/Home Repair

$0 Interest Expense

$18 Miscellaneous

$131 Taxes includes quarterly tax payments
$0 App Jobs Expenses (tolls, car washes, etc.)
$0 Unreimbursed Job Expenses
$0 Reimbursed Job Expenses

$274 Utilities
$4,181 Rental Property Expenses
$801 AirBNB Expenses

Changing Health Insurance: $397/mo savings!

 The snowball keeps accumulating!  Open enrollment for 2021 Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) plans began this morning.  

I've been using an alternative called Liberty Healthshare for the last 2 years.  In 2018 I earned too much money and had to pay back the credit on my ACA plan, so I switched.  At the time it saved me money.  The problem?  Liberty Healthshare is an alternative to regular health insurance, meaning there aren't a lot of doctors who take it.  This was my excuse for not seeing a doctor in the last two years, simply not knowing where I could use my insurance and whether Liberty would pay (reviews I read in the last year indicated they were slow to pay).  Then a couple months ago Liberty had a massive price increase ($100/mo).  This is on top of the fat premium (pun intended) they have been charging me for being overweight ($79/month).

Bottom line:  even if I didn't qualify for a credit under ACA, the new plan is virtually the same cost as my current insurer, but it is a Florida Blue plan, which is accepted all over the place.  I will no longer be worried about using my insurance.

The tricky part will be making sure my income is close to what I estimated for 2021.  My goal will be to ensure I get as close as possible to the income I reported.   I haven't done much research, but it looks like there are some levers I can pull.  For example, selling stock at a loss seems like one way I could lower my income if it is tracking too high.

For those of you using Obamacare, do you have any suggestions for keeping your income in line with estimates?  

Downgraded Internet Plan: $35/monthly savings!

 Maybe this is common knowledge for most people, but did you know that you have to be hard-wired (ethernet cabled) into your Internet in order to reach the advertised speeds?  Wireless routers are only capable of a fraction of the speed you are paying for.

About a year ago I increased the Internet speed at the Airbnb.  The TV in the living room was buffering, so I blamed it on the slow speed.  I later learned I just needed a range extender; speed was not the issue.  As so often happens with recurring expenses, it slipped my mind that I had upgraded the plan and was paying more.  

I've been taking a look at all my recurring expenses when I stumbled on this one.   I was paying for the fastest possible speed, but getting none of it because everything is wireless, so the speed was already capped.  To sweeten the deal, I told the representative I was thinking about canceling so that I could get an even better rate than first quoted.  

Bottom line:  I reduced the monthly fee from $70 to $35, and all it took was a 10 minute phone call.  That's a $35/mo savings!

I'm Cancelling Netflix

 I'm feeling hardcore the last few days.  So after reading a comment online about users who cycle through streaming services, I questioned the value of my Netflix subscription.  A few months ago I downgraded to the single user $8.99 plan, which isn't very expensive.  However, I got to thinking... what's the worst that would happen if I cancel for a few months?

Tonight, I found out.  Once I logged into my account, I saw the cancel button.  Once I clicked the button, Netflix offered me a choice of new plans, which I declined.  It then said my profile and preferences would be saved for 10 months.

I'm fairly certain I'll be back.  But after sales taxes, a 3 month divorce will save me almost $30.  During that time, I still have Amazon Prime, Spectrum with Showtime (included with HOA dures), plus a number of free streaming services.