My Frugal Miser - June 2021 Expenses

Even though I splurged on a completely unnecessary and totally frivolous experience, expenses were lower than income in June.  

• I am contributing $1,050/month to a dedicated account for household spending now that we no longer have a mortgage to pay.  This will only be spent on improving the house.  Soon we will be adding a concrete patio and sidewalk.  After that I will get estimates on remodeling a bedroom to turn it into a master suite.
• Ever since we began the keto lifestyle our spending on food has been much higher.  Hopefully the weight loss means I am healthier and will benefit from lower healthcare costs in the future.
• I won 2 HealthyWage challenges.  The prize money offsets the Health & Dental category.  I've been having major lower back pain and visited the doctor for help.  The co-pay and a prescription, along with a physical therapy consultation, added a nominal amount to the category.

Fun

We love adventures.  Spending on experiences makes us better humans.  

• Now that we've moved, Regal has the closest theater to our home.  With movies returning, we signed up for Regal Unlimited.  I prepaid for a year at the monthly rate of $18.  This is a few dollars cheaper than AMC A-List and I know we will get our money's worth since going to the movies is a big part of our entertainment.
• After a hugely successful week selling put options on AMC, I decided to take a week of profits and splurge - seriously splurge - on tickets to Music Midtown in Atlanta.  I used to go to the festival years ago, and when I saw my favorite musician was playing, along with several others I would enjoy seeing, I decided to pull the trigger on "Super VIP" tickets.  As I get older, my tolerance for crowds, heat and gross restrooms has gone down.  These tickets give us a private air-conditioned lounge with unlimited free food and drinks, private viewing area, and our own restrooms, as well as golf cart transportation between stages.  I feel like we will be spoiled by the experience.
• We visited our friend for a day in Boca Raton.  She just finished a 12 week round of chemo and we went to see her just before her last treatment.  

June Expenses:  $5,970

$400 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)

$250 Bank Fees (annual fee on United Quest card)
$0 Clothing/ Personal Care
$3,104 Fun (vacations, movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets)

$621 Food

($166) Health and Dental income this month

$1,058 Household/Home Repairs

$0 Unreimbursed Job Expense

$19 Reimbursed Job Expense

$0 Interest Expense

$73 Miscellaneous

$366 Taxes

$245 Utilities 

My Frugal Miser - June 2021 Income

June was yet another strong month for income.

The Airbnb was booked 29 days.  I blocked one day because we were working in Orlando and don't have a cleaner for when we are away.  July is already fully booked with the exception of one day plus 3 days I have blocked due to our work schedule.

Rent was paid on two of my three Birmingham rentals.  The tenant at the condo did not pay rent.  This has been an ongoing issue that I will need to address once the eviction moratorium has been lifted.  I haven't decided whether I will evict the tenant or simply be more aggressive with collection.  For now, I am taking advantage of having a tenant in place by having some repairs/improvements done.  It's always beneficial having a tenant in place to allow contractors access to the home and to report back to me on their work.

I did a small amount of rideshare.  Lyft offered a $200 bonus for completing 20 rides one week.  Without the bonus it would be hard to justify doing it.  I did 4 meeting jobs:  3 small jobs and one multi-day.

June Income: $10,512

$0 Mystery Shopping/ Merchandising
$1,236 Meeting Jobs
$318 Gig Apps (Rideshare, Food Deliveries, etc.)
$922 Amazon Deliveries
$2425 Rental Income (Rental Expenses:  $1,103)
$3,729 Airbnb Income (Airbnb Expenses:  $1,019)
$10 Interest Income

$1,872 Other Sources

Investment Accounts Change in Value:  $2,574

My investment accounts were up slightly.  I sold a very small portion of my Vereit stock.  The shares fell almost $2/share in June, resulting in a $6,000 paper loss on the remaining shares I have.  I was able to offset that by selling more put options on AMC.  Thus far this has been an easy way to generate cash with relatively low risk.  The strategy is similar to an insurance company collecting a premium on a policy.  I offer someone the ability to sell AMC stock at deeply out of the money prices, and do so on short-dated options.  For example, when AMC was selling for $58/share, I offered a put expiring in one week that could only be exercised if the shares fell below $30/share.  Sure, it's possible for the stock to lose almost half its value in one week.  Just not terribly likely.

My Frugal Miser - May 2021 Income

 2021 has been great thus far with strong income every month.  May was no different.

The Airbnb was booked most of the time.  I blocked a few days off early in the month to deal with some maintenance issues.  There was just one available day that went unbooked.  Rates remain high.

I received two rent payments for one of the Birmingham rental properties.  Rent was paid on all three of my Birmingham rentals.  I also received a couple of distributions from Realty Mogul.  I am mildly disappointed thus far with the performance of my Realty Mogul investments.

I did a small amount of rideshare, worked a one day event in Vero Beach, and did some Amazon deliveries.  The meeting industry is finally returning (slowly), and I already have work booked in June and July.

I thought it was April that brought showers, but May was raining cash.  I finally received the third, $1,400 stimulus payment.  I also received an escrow refund from selling my house (not income since it offsets housing, but a hefty refund nonetheless) and my 2020 tax refund (again, it offsets the tax expense and doesn't show up as income).  Thanks to cash flow continuing to exceed expenses, I transferred an extra $3,000 to savings last month.  

May Income: $13,677

$0 Mystery Shopping/ Merchandising
$190 Meeting Jobs
$830 Gig Apps (Rideshare, Food Deliveries, etc.)
$1,053 Amazon Deliveries
$4,577 Rental Income (Rental Expenses:  $525)
$3,453 Airbnb Income (Airbnb Expenses:  $762)
$19 Interest Income

$3,555 Other Sources

Investment Accounts Change in Value:  $3,203

My investment accounts were up slightly.  I sold a portion of my Vereit stock.  Also for the first time I sold a couple of put options on AMC.  These were small transactions mostly done to gain experience with selling puts, but this accounted for almost $2,000 of the balance increase.  Time will tell if the transactions end profitably.

My Frugal Miser - May 2021 Expenses

In May I was able to keep my expenses significantly lower than my income.  I received my tax refund and home escrow refund, which I posted to the expense category since the refunds are money I previously marked as an expense.

• The household expense benefited from the $3,691 refund of my escrow balance from the sale of our home.  
• We ate out during our 3 day trip to Las Vegas, including a splurge on an $80 meal.  I also visited my mom in Birmingham and we ate out every meal.
• I paid $706 to the Vespa dealership to get our scooters running again.  After a few years of not using them, neither would crank.  This included repairs, new brakes, oil changes, and a new mirror.
• I inadvertently paid the water bill twice, making utilities look higher than they were.  In June the credit will be applied towards the balance.

Fun

We love adventures.  Spending on experiences makes us better humans.  

• Carnival's casino player's club offered me two "free" cruises.  They weren't technically free - I had to pay a non-refundable $200 deposit that is refunded as an onboard credit, plus taxes and fees.  But they were still a bargain.  I booked a 13 day trans-Atlantic from Lisbon to Tampa and a 5 day cruise from New Orleans, both sailing in 2022.
• We spent a few days in Las Vegas.  We gambled a lot on the first day.  I lost $100 but my partner won $400 that first day.  On the second day we went hiking at Mt. Charleston.  Beautiful mountain hike, but on the way back down the mountain I got caught in a speed trap and was ticketed for driving 40 in a 35.  For perspective, a 55 mph sign was visible in front of me and the spot where I was ticketed screamed "speed trap."  We did a small amount of gambling later in the day and I lost about $100 on video poker.  Our third day I broke even.  We saw a movie and had a nice but expensive early dinner at Brigg's Oyster House.  Summary:  For 3 days in Vegas, I paid $160 for flights, $200 for gambling, and $93 for a rental car.  There was also the speeding ticket, two movie tickets, meals and gas.  Our hotel was comped.  Were you to include my partner's winnings, our trip was nearly free.
• I attended the Biglari Holdings shareholder meeting in San Antonio.  This increased the food budget and the rental car was more expensive than usual, increasing the Auto category.

May Expenses:  $380 

includes tax refund and home escrow refund

$1,890 Auto (service, gas, insurance, AAA, etc.)

$0 Bank Fees (annual fee on Chase Hyatt card, trustee fee for Self-Directed IRA)
$90 Clothing/ Personal Care
$1,024 Fun (vacations, movies, gambling, alcohol, concert tickets)

$875 Food

$217 Health and Dental

+$3,394 Household/Home Repairs (income this month)

$0 Unreimbursed Job Expense

$40 Reimbursed Job Expense

$0 Interest Expense

$44 Miscellaneous

+$2,288 Taxes (income this month)

$658 Utilities