The Money List: May 2024
what I spend living on the road, debt paydown, goal setting
I am on a mission: to pay off my debt, share what I spend living on the road and hopefully in the process make money sharing less anxiety-ridden.
Did you grow up in a household where discussing money was taboo? I did. Maybe it was my perception, maybe it was fact. Regardless, discussing money made and money spent has always been a source of anxiety. I tried with my kids to make it a little less daunting. Now to work on myself.
Personally, I love reading others’ money resets, roundups, tell-alls and yet I’ve never felt confident enough to publicly announce my own. Here we go. This is it.
June 1st. Already?! Really? You know it was on your mind too. June 1st has always signified the beginning of summer to me. Yes, I realize the official start to summer isn’t until sometime later in June but I am a diehard June 1st summer start. Also, summer ends August 31st. I believe I was in my mid-20s before I grasped the fact that there was an official start and end date to summer and I thought What the hell? Not having that.
Anyways, May’s numbers have been tallied. Let’s get into it.
The Unchangeables
Car - $720
Car insurance - $93
Life insurance - $21
Gym - $27
Cell Phone - $72
Storage - $68
The monthly car payment is NOT $720. It is $360. During May, I paid May and June payments. Pretty proud of the fact I was able to pay June’s bill as soon as I got the bill email. This may be the norm for some of you and I admire that; however, as a lifelong paycheck-to-paycheck person, it is quite the feat. More on this below.
Also, if you want to read any descriptors about the above items, please go back to March and April. Going forward I’m only going to make note of anything different such as the double car payment.
The Changeables
The Dreaded Credit Cards
May $628
April $466
March $500
I have 3 cards - one for car repairs (Card C) and 2 regular ones (Card 1 and 2). Card 1 is priority. I dropped Card 2 and Card C down to minimum payments.
Card 1 got it’s minimum payment plus $260. Card C also got a little extra ($29) as it had a 0% portion coming due and I paid that part off.
As you can see we are moving in the right direction with paying off. (by We, I mean you and me as I feel like we are in this together) The amount paid is higher. I am feeling GREAT about seeing the balance going down on Card 1. My payoff goal for this card is mid-July.
Groceries - $245
This amount is down $70 from last month. I have been making a conscious effort to limit my grocery spending. When I set up my May work schedule (others may call it a budget but I hate that word), I added $25 on Tuesdays and Fridays. Those are the only days I can spend at the grocery store. I started this the 2nd week of May when my housesitting gig began. It has helped immensely in making me feel freer about what I spend at the grocery store and having the funds set aside to do so.
This idea may seem odd. It does to me too because I’ve always spent whatever I want at the grocery store. I love food shopping, always have. Now that I am focused on paying off my debt I found myself debating every dollar I spent or wanted to spend. It became mentally taxing.
By adding in a line item two days a week, it gave my brain something else to focus on. Now I think “oh on Tuesday I get to buy xyz” versus thinking “I shouldn’t buy xyz because all money goes to Card 1.”
Does anyone else have this problem?
Gas
May $474
April $500
Gas is high again as I was still traveling from Arizona to New York.
Car Wash - $0
No car wash this month as I find them senseless when doing long distance travels, i.e. too many bugs. Plus it has rained so much here in Syracuse and my parking spot is under electric lines (uh, birds).
Out to Eat - $131
The amount is only $20 higher than last month which I think is pretty good considering I was traveling. When I am on a long distance road trip, I generally don’t cook my meals. I splurge on restaurant food even if that restaurant food may be Arby’s or McDonald’s eaten in my car while watching a tv show before passing out for the night.
Coffeeshops - $61
This amount is the same as last month as I was traveling back from Arizona to the East Coast. When I am traveling versus stationary in a camp spot, I utilize coffeeshops far more.
Laundry -$0
A perk of housesitting is having a washer and dryer at my disposal.
Water - $0
Same as above
Stuff - $436
May’s number is significantly less than April’s $2,083. Phew!
$113 subscriptions (Britbox, Hulu, Paramount+, Patreon, Substack)
$60 books
$53 massage
$65 Costco annual membership
$45 ceramic mug made by my friend Ann
$100 stuff
I’m calling the catch-all category Stuff because it will be the only-happened-this-month items or emergencies or things I purchased.
The subscription number is higher this month as I reallocated funds from some creators to other creators on Patreon and Substack and there was overlap. I swap funds about every 6 months as I like to support multiple creators and unfortunately can not support as many as I’d like all the time.
I also knew I absolutely had to buy a mug from my friend Ann as she is incredibly talented plus I was passing thru her city. A win-win. Look how gorgeous this desert themed mug is! Plus the little feet! Message me if you’d like a link to her shop.
The books were purchased as part of my intention to support local independent bookstores on my road trip.
Savings - $95
Not much but it feels good to have put something in the savings account in addition to paying down debt.
Total: $3073
*amounts are in US dollars
*all amounts have been rounded to the nearest dollar
*all writing in italic is copied from last month as descriptions
*You can read further descriptions on past Money Lists.
Debt Paydown and Goal Setting
My mission is to pay off my debt (credit cards and car) by THE END OF THE YEAR!
Full disclosure: I feel like I was really lazy in May between the long drive and multiple rainy days in Syracuse. It felt like I took more days off than normal. Looking back, it was only a few days more. My adversion to rain did set me back more than I planned.
Regardless of all that, I am happy with where the numbers landed this month. It felt amazing to have all of June’s bills paid by the 3rd week of May then focus on debt paydown. Goal achieved!
One thing I noticed is even though I was working for June’s bills, I felt like I was missing deadlines. I had to keep reminding myself that May’s bills were already paid and that I was working forward. I think it’s a leftover from paycheck to paycheck living.
The Plan
I am using the snowball method. The snowball method is putting all your extra money towards the smaller balance first. Then as you pay off debt, adding that payment money to the next debt while paying the minimum on everything else.
Since June’s bills are already taken care of, I want to keep this month in advance plan in full momentum. Monday, June 3rd starts the 8 day cycle I have in place to work towards July’s bills. I also leave my housesit this week too and have a week of traveling before I start my next housesit. This travel week will be the first time incorporating traveling with the new work/payment cycle. Fingers crossed I can keep it going.
June’s plan of attack:
Save for July’s bills (June 3 - June 11)
Then put all money toward Card 1
Put $15 per work day into savings
Continue the $25 twice a week food spending
How well I do in June will determine if Card 1 gets paid off mid-July.
There you go. It’s out in the open. My intention is to update every month.
Keep on trying,
Patricia
Find the joy in things whatever it may be
How are you doing on your financial goals?
Currently:
Reading - The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker - I am only a few chapters into this speculative fiction novel. The speculative aspect is exploring what would happen if the world slowed in it’s revolution and days increased in time. Last week, I finished Becoming Madame Secretary by Stephanie Dray. Oh yeah, so good. Frances Perkins was a fascinating woman, a true force of nature. I can’t wait to read more from Stephanie Dray.
Watching - Hacks (Season 1) - I am binge watching this so hard. Jean Smart is incredible.
Listening -
I am floored by your low expenses! And admire your determination to pay down debt. My husband and I moved to Arizona from Colorado because we discovered we could outlive our retirement savings! Yikes. At 78 and 80 years old, going back to work was not an option for many reasons. We don't call it a budget now...it is our spending plan. Totally different spin but same careful observing of finances. So Patricia, I am following your nomad/van life with great interest. Carry on girl. You are doing so well.
This is really cool to see! I admire that you're sharing when finances are usually something we are trained not to talk so openly about.