February 2019 Spending

I spent $2,229 last month to cover my household budget. I track everything using YNAB which makes pulling a report up super easy. The majority of the spending was business spending. My cheapest category was utilities – not bad for the coldest month of the year in Portland.

I create a spending post every month on this website. It’s been a very helpful tool for me as I’ve transitioned to retirement. YNAB has been an amazing budgeting tool. But there are ton of other budgeting methods out there if YNAB doesn’t tickle your rear.

Business Spending – $635

Medical Boards

The majority of this $635 went towards dealing with the medical boards for my medical license. I spent money buying an airline ticket to fly out to California to appear before the medical board. I also spent nearly $100 in certified mail using OnlineCertifiedMail. Without OCM I would spend hours on end at the post office. Instead, I can do it all online.

Financial Advisor

This included $125 which I spend every month for my financial advisor. That’s the guy that everyone tells you that you don’t need. It’s always the people with a very high income who tell you that you don’t need one. And it’s always those people who eventually hire one.

Licensing

I spent $145 to renew my NBPAS family medicine board certification. This was the easiest administrative task I’ve ever completed in my medical career. If you aren’t board certified through them I highly recommend you do so now.

Business Investments

Finally, I bought $25 worth of books for my other business, the health coaching business which I’m trying to get off the ground. These were used books on herbal medicine. Rather interesting and scientific.

Groceries – $502

As much I spend on groceries you would think that I’m a fatass but I’m not. I look rather emaciated – borderline anorexic. I buy 90% organic and 99% vegan. But this month I made a few changes which increased my costs.

I started shopping at Whole Foods more because it was a busy month. I also bought more prepared stuff instead of making stuff from scratch. I try to cook my own beans, make my own rice, and bake my own bread. But when I get lazy I’ll buy a tub of hummus or some guacamole.

Entertainment – $410

I’m really happy about this. Anytime I can stay under $500 a month in my entertainment category is a good month. I include a lot of things under entertainment so I’ll break that down: dining out, socializing, coffee.

I didn’t dine out much. I bought a couple of burritos from Chipotle here and there. But they are so damn heavy that it’s becoming a shitty habit. There are great restaurants in Portland but I don’t care to take in all that salt. Gotta watch my blood pressure.

I cut out alcohol a lot. I now drink maybe once a month. In fact, I’m not even sure I can handle that little amount. Alcohol now gives me a hangover the next day even with 2 drinks. I get dry mouth and acid reflux. So maybe it’s time to say goodbye to booze.

Housing – $292

I pay my property taxes once a year, to the tune of $2,200 so you won’t see that reflected here. My HOA’s are monthly. For those of you who never owned a condo, it’s an association fee which covers a lot of stuff:

• water
• sewer
• trash
• insurance
• building maintenance and repairs
• window repair

Exercise – $195

I’ve been getting into racquetball and $100 was spend on buying a new racquet. The rest of the money was spent in $15 increments to pay for access to the RB courts. I can buy a membership for $30 a month with no commitments. But anytime I decide to pay a recurrent monthly expense I try it out for a few months. If I stick with it then I sign up. So I guess I’m signing up.

I pay for my Portland Planet Granite membership once a year which comes out to about $850. That’s not reflected in my exercise budget. And maybe every 4 months I pay $60 to resole my climbing shoes. Oh and buy chalk.

Health – $135

I don’t have health insurance. Shocking, I know. A doctor who doesn’t have health insurance. Well, I do, sort of. I have a health insurance in Spain but since I’m not going back there anytime soon I will need to purchase insurance in the US. I’m working on a great post for that, stay tuned.

The $135 was spent on my annual dental visit. I used to go every 6 months but after doing some hefty research and modifying my dental routine, I will only be going 1x a year. She wanted to do xrays – hell no. She wanted to sell me an electric toothbrush – hell no. She did sell me a $10 toothpaste. No idea why I bought it. Came home, tossed it out.

Overall Spending

You can see that my monthly spending on average has been somewhere in the $2,500 range. The top part, the yellow, is my business spending. This has been the largest spending category for me since I’ve been pursuing my entrepreneurial endeavors.

The income from my business ventures has been great. I hope to continue working on them.