September 2015 Money Report

My September 2015 Money Report is here, and there is a lot of great stuff to share!  This includes some new records!!  Read on to learn more!

To view any previous monthly money reports, check these monthly money reports.

Actions Plans for September 2015

We will start with a review of my goals for the month of September to see how well I hit them:

Key: Complete/Some Progress/No Progress

• Write 8 posts for MoneyAhoy
  • Complete – MoneyAhoy.com had a total of 15 posts – so this goal was blown out of the water!!!! 
• Write 4 posts for HealthierDay.com
  • Complete – we were able to create 4 posts total for HealthierDay.com
• Get to below 5% cash through investing funds in savings
  • Some Progress – We did not get all the way there, but I did empty out one bank account.  So, we are making our way to less than 5% cash.  I hope to finish up this work in October.
• Create two YouTube videos for MoneyAhoy/HealtherDay
  • Complete – We made 3 videos total for the month: 21 Day Fix – Final Results, Do Kids Really Need to Stretch – Static vs Dynamic Stretching, and How to Fix a Zipper in Less Than 5 Minutes
• Lose 5 pounds by doing 21 Day Fix with my wife
  • Complete – I have lost about 10 pounds total over the past 6 weeks.  More to come about this soon on HealthierDay

We really nailed our goals for September.  I am surprised we were able to get so much done in just a single month 🙂  It will be tough to keep up this kind of momentum for October, but we will give it a shot!

Now, let’s see how we came out on our finances for the month of September:

 

Notes on Making Money for September 2015

Money making for September was phenomenal!  Our salaries/hour income was pretty run of the mill, but dividends plus side-hustle income set a new record!  See below for the breakdown – I always like making new records :-):

 

• Sponsored Posts – $1,000 (eight in total)
• Monthly Dividends – $728
• Starting up your own LLC on-line – $155
• Youtube – $91
• Air compressor – $90 (I finally sold my air compressor that I bought to blow out my lawn sprinkler system)
• Ad in sidebar – $25
• Google Adsense – $11
• Stock Market Investing for Newbies book – $2
• HealthierDay.com Adsense/Youtube- $1 (I will split this out as it begins to grow)
• TOTAL = $2,100

So, our total side-income for the month was $2,100 fricken dollars!!  That’s going to be a tough one to beat, but I’m up for the challenge.  I have high hopes for our new health blog HealthierDay, and MoneyAhoy seems to be making a little more each month bit-by-bit.

I love looking at this dividend graph each month – it really illustrates the real-life example of compounding interest and reinvesting your dividends.  Also, our monthly mortgage is right at $713/month, so it is an awesome feeling every month when dividends come in at or above this number.  It really makes me feel like financial independence is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality!

Notes on Money Saving for September 2015

Our total expenses for the month were a little blah 🙁  We had several non-routine expenses that spoiled the month from a savings standpoint – I will list the big ones here.

1. $342 in vet bills!  Yes – owning a dog is very expensive as we’ve found and Mr. Money Mustache wrote in a recent post titled: Great News – Dog Ownership is Optional.  We boarded our dog for a weekend trip, then he got sick afterwards and need medicine.  Sigh…
2. ~$500 – We went to Jacksonville, Florida for my wife’s 35th birthday and spent the weekend there.  Hotel plus travel plus food equals a pretty big bill!  But, it is a big milestone in her life, so we decided to spend a bit more to celebrate it doing something memorable :-).
3. $70 – we found out our daughter needed glasses.  One eye exam and two cut pair of glasses later and our wallet is seventy dollars lighter.
4. $70 – one of our kids got sick.  One doctors visit and pharmacy visit later, and well, you get the picture.
5. $53 – we had to get our daughter’s two front teeth pulled because her new ones were coming up behind (instead of under) her baby teeth.

All in total, our non-routine expenses were nearly $1,000 :-(!

Our routine expenses were pretty standard for the month.  One change is that our car insurance went up by about 10 dollars a month and the internet bill went up by $10 a month (one of those multi-year gimmicks where the price rises after the first year).  This was more than offset by savings at the grocery store as my wife goes into super-saving mode by planning out a weekly menu and sticking to it.  This allows us to only buy what we need an minimize food spoiling or spur-of-the-moment purchases.

Overall we had a savings rate of 70% for the month!  I said last month I would be happy with anything over 70% and looked what happened!

Notes on Investing for September 2015

For September I purchased 190 shares of VEA for a little over $6,000. VEA is the Vanguard Developed Markets ETF.  This is basically comprised of companies from Europe, Australia, and East Asia.  It pays an annual dividend of ~2.9% and  has a very low expense ratio.

If you are interested in stock market investing but don’t know where to get started, check out my excellent book: Stock Market Investing for Newbies.  It will get you up to speed with stock market investing very quickly!

Actions Plans for October 2015

Here are my goals for the upcoming month of October:

• Re-read the book I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• Publish 8 posts for MoneyAhoy
• Publish 4 posts for HealthierDay.com
• Get to below 5% cash through investing funds in savings accounts
• Create 2 YouTube videos for MoneyAhoy/HealtherDay
• Exercise at least 5 minutes every day

Other Points of Interest

If you missed any of the below posts for September 2015, be sure to check them out:

1. Should The US Move From Bankruptcy to Trust Deeds?
2. 10 Store-Brand Items That Are Better Than Their Branded Counterparts
3. How to Rent Out Your Property for Extra Income
4. 5 Tips for Touring America on a Budget
5. Benefits of Forex Trading over Stock Trading
6. August 2015 Money Report
7. Where Will Gold Value Head in the Next 5 Years?
8. 4 Fastest Ways to Add Value to Your Home
9. Difference Between Home Insurance and Home Warranty
10. 7 Tips for Financial Success
11. Five Ways to Live a Frugal Life
12. How to Fix a Separated Zipper in Less Than 5 Minutes
13. 7 Easy Ways to Cut Your Energy Bill This Winter
14. Three Simple Ways to Significantly Increase Your Retirement Savings
15. MoneyAhoy’s YouTube Channel Has 200+ Subscribers!

What are your money saving, money making, and investing plans for October?