ESTIMATED READING TIME: 12 MINUTES
Hello friends!
I’ve just finished reading the book ‘Walden’ by Henry David Thoreau - an American dude who in the mid 1800s went and lived in a cabin in the woods for two years and made a stringent record of every single dollar he spent.
I’m like, is he single?! 🤣
Over an 8-month period, he recounts spending $8.74 on food including: Rice $1.73½ (yes, he did note the half cent - truly a man after my own heart!), Molasses $1.73 (‘Cheapest form of the saccharine’), Rye meal $1.04¾, Indian meal 99¾ cents, Pork 22 cents, Flour 88 cents, Sugar 80 cents, Lard 65 cents, Apples 25 cents, Dried apple 22 cents, Sweet potatoes 10 cents, One pumpkin 6 cents, One watermelon 2 cents and Salt 3 cents.
“Yes, I did eat $8.74, all told; but I should not thus unblushingly publish my guilt, if I did not know that most of my readers were equally guilty with myself, and that their deeds would look no better.”
Which is kind of how I feel about sharing all my spending figures with you - it costs money to live and we’re all navigating this cost-of-living crisis together. (If you’re worried about Thoreau’s protein-intake there, as I was, note that he did also grow some crops, including beans, and catch fish from the nearby pond (named Walden Pond, hence the name of the book), and also ‘once I went so far as to slaughter a woodchuck which ravaged my bean-field’.)
Turns out, if you’re a city-dwelling single mum who counts every dollar and posts it on Instagram, you’re at risk of being labelled a neurotic flake.
But if you’re a 19th century dude who can escape to the woods, you’re destined to become a literary legend and inspiration to generations of people seeking simplicity and a meaningful life.
To be fair, he did have quite the way with words (Thoreau would have rocked it on Instagram, I reckon): “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
That’s the most famous bit of the quote, but it goes on, giving even more insight into his motives for turning his back on city-living and conducting his experiment in rustic living: “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.”
Spoiler alert: he finds living in the woods pretty sublime.
While I can’t personally quite arrange my life so as to move to the woods at present, I, too, have been counting my dollars and pondering what is truly necessary in life.
I’m not in paid employment at the moment, although I have been working on a book manuscript (which is due in 12 days - yikes) and picking up some paid speaking gig work here and there.
I’m not entirely sure what the future holds, income-wise. But I’m not stressed - at least, not yet.
I can tell from my monthly living expenses (full account below -Thoreau eat your heart out) that I still have a year or two left to figure things out before my cash savings run out. Beyond that, if I still couldn’t find suitable work, I could sell my city apartment and realise enough cash gain to completely offset the loan on my regional investment property (which has elements of the cabin to it…) and then slowly run down that cash over a decade or so (supplemented with some ad hoc work) and then use my superannuation to discharge the loan completely and - homeownership being sorted - enjoy a fairly modest retirement on the age pension.
I’d probably sit in the woods, go for some walks, read books, write and maybe kill a woodchuck or two.
Who knows. I’m still figuring it out.
But I think Thoreau’s central challenge to us all - to try to figure out what is truly essential for us each to lead our version of a good life, and to ‘put to rout all that was not life’ - is as relevant today as when it was written. You know I think tracking your spending for a period is a very helpful experiment to help with this and I suspect Thoreau would approve. Remember you can download my free budgeting worksheets at www.moneywithjess.com.au/shop or join me in using my The Money Diary book, which you can also find for sale there.
So, please enjoy my ‘unblushing’ account of my March spending below. Don’t forget to scroll all the way to the end so you can see my monthly total, plus a picture of my Monthly Budget Summary, so you can see how I lay it all out in my Money Diary.
I hope this all provides some inspiration and tips to help you live your own financial life deliberately. If you know someone who could also benefit, please do forward this to them and they can subscribe for free to receive future newsletters here: https://moneywithjessnewsletter.beehiiv.com/
Until next time, take care,
Jess xx
Financial advice disclaimer: All information contained in this email is of a general nature only and is not intended to influence your investment decision making. Do your own research and consider seeking advice appropriate to your individual circumstances before making any major money decisions.
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
1. HOUSING
🏠 The calm before the mortgage storm
My home loan minimum payment in March was unchanged at $3623, with the latest two rate hikes yet to hit. They’re coming.
A friend asked me if I was stressed about interest rate rises - with more tipped to come later this year - and I’m in the fortunate position (see above) that I am not. My cash buffer is big enough and I know that interest rate fluctuations are the norm over the 30 or so years of a loan.
But if you are stressed about making your next mortgage payment, please reach out to your lender to discuss your options. You can also call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 to talk to a free financial counsellor who can help you to negotiate with creditors and get you back on track. Please don’t suffer in silence.
Housing Total: $3623
2. HOUSEHOLD
🏘 Thoreau didn’t have to deal with strata
I love the strata committee for my apartment block. Being on strata is a totally unpaid and largely thankless task to look after all the common areas and oversee the strata rules for your building. We’ve had a few repairs needed and it turns out my strata fees which I was expecting to be around $8,800 for the year will actually be just shy of $14,000.
I’ve bumped up my regular contributions to my Household Future Fund by $519 for the remaining months of the year to ensure I’m still socking away regular mental amounts for this expense (I say mental amounts, because in reality all my money is sitting in one mortgage offset account, which is just draining slowly over time…fun!).
That takes my monthly Household Future Fund contribution (which also includes home insurance, water and council rates) to $1511.11.
Elsewhere for this ‘household’ category I spent $134.28 on decor, $105.51 on cleaning supplies, $51.50 on hygiene supplies and $13.65 on home maintenance (a tub of Spakfilla to cover some holes in the wall!).
Household Total: $1,816.05
3. UTILITIES
💡 It is fun to have power and water
My monthly electricity bill came in at $125.35 for March. My NBN internet plan cost $65 and my mobile phone $25 (search whistleout.com.au for deals!)
I also paid $14.99 for 2TB of cloud storage.
Without going too far with this idea (all bills suck, obviously) it is nice sometimes to stop and have a moment of gratitude that I can afford to have these services reliably. They’re absolutely essential - they keep us warm and connected - so I don’t begrudge their place in my budget.
Utilities Total: $230.34
4. TRANSPORT
🚗 Petrol price comparison apps to know
I only filled up my tank once this month, at a cost of $135.55. I’m getting close to empty again, but trying to hold off filling up again until I can get the benefit of the fuel excise reduction. I’m not sure how long it will take to flow through to the bowser - apparently fuel stations have stocks on which they have already paid the higher fuel excise, so they will try to sell that through at the higher rate before passing on the saving.
I’m writing this before the Prime Minister’s address to the nation tonight! But my sympathies to anyone doing it tough with the higher prices. Do remember to look at the various petrol pricing apps before you fill up - although I’m noticing less variance in pricing between my local stations, on a casual check of NSW Fuel Check. If you’re in Victoria, try the RACV app, in Queensland RACQ, the RAA in South Australia, Fuel Watch in Western Australia, FuelCheck in Tassie, and nationally, you can try PetrolSpy and Motormouth.
I paid only $10 for public transport this month as I’m travelling far less at present.
I put aside my regular $328.33 monthly contribution to my Car Future Fund, covering servicing, parts, repairs, insurance, registration and roadside assist.
Transport Total: $473.88
5. FOOD
🥑 I seem to spend about $200 pw on food
My food spending was $868.80 for the month, to feed both myself and my son for half the week (don’t worry, he gets fed at his dad’s the other half! lol).
This includes all store-bought food I buy and cook at home (ie excluding takeaway which goes under my later ‘Lifestyle’ category). It’s higher than the $690.56 I spent in January and $702.81 in February.
I’m not sure if this is high. I’m sure it’s an area I could finesse. What do you think? How am I doing? You can always email me at [email protected]
Food Total: $868.80
6. HEALTH
💊 Mental health ain’t cheap
But it’s worth every penny. I don’t mind sharing that I have been experiencing some heightened general anxiety of late. It’s something that can flare up for me. I’m chatting to my GP regularly about what impact the type of Hormone Replacement Therapy I’m on could be having. We’re fine tuning. I paid $110 for a 15-minute session with my GP, on which Medicare paid me $43.90 back, so $66.10 out of pocket.
A 50-minute session with my psychologist cost $280 up front, on which Medicare paid me a whopping $218.55 back, which was waaay higher than usual and I suspect I’ve reached some sort of cap to get a higher payback. Anyway, I’m not questioning it for now. So, my session only cost $61.45 out of pocket.
My health insurance cost $120.50 for the month and I paid $220.50 for the gym.
Health Total: $468.55
7. EDUCATION
📚 Turns out buying books does add up…
I’ve already spent close to $300 this year on books, despite becoming a regular library-goer! I’ve completed reading eight books so far this year:
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte (Loved - see previous newsletter!)
Margo’s Got Money Troubles, by Rufi Thorpe (An easy, fun read)
The Underworld, by Sophie Laguna (Also easily digestible, with some more challenging subject matter)
One Common Hour, by Sita Walker (An outstanding romp of a read spanning a one-hour lunch break at a high-school set in beautiful surrounds)
Walden, by Henry David Thoreau (just in case I haven’t banged on enough about it already 😀)
Retire Life Ready, by James Wrigley (a financial advisor who makes great short-form explainer videos you can follow on Instagram @iamjameswrigley)
Know Your Worth, by Victoria Vivente (a former financial counsellor and coach, who is the sassy but infinitely kind and wise money best friend you need in your life, particularly if you are just starting out. Follow her on Instagram @badbitchmoney)
Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing, by Jacob Goldstein (a presenter from the Planet Money podcast presents a thrilling and easy to comprehend history of money - read if you’ve ever wondered about crypto and Modern Monetary Theory, if only to probably decide that’s all you ever really need to know about them 😄 )
Turns out if you don’t have a job, you can really get cracking on your TBR pile!
Elsewhere in Education, I paid a $800 installment on my Diploma of Financial Counselling, set aside $1640.30 for school fees and sundry costs and paid $93.26 to Centrelink for overpayment of childcare subsidy on after-school care fees.
It’s a good thing education is one of my highest life values! (Along with Freedom and Kindness 💕 )
Education Total: $2,637.70
8. APPEARANCE
💄 Can you put a price on comfy shoes?
Yes, yes you can. I paid $199.45 this month to buy three pairs of shoes, including some Nike slides that are like walking on air https://www.nike.com/au/t/nike-offcourt-womens-slides-rGNF5W1O/BQ4632-002
I don’t think I have a budget lesson for this, just that I did get 10% off for shopping through the Nike app. Oh, maybe the lesson is don’t go shopping straight after a therapy session, because another pair of slides I bought after my session turned out to be uncomfortable and I’ve gifted them to a friend. I’m not immune to impulse spending. Sorry, Mr Thoreau.
Appearance Total: $199.45
9. LIFESTYLE
📺 Bye-bye alcohol, for now
I spent $326.61 on eating out in March, which is creeping up again. I also paid $75.99 for two bottles of wine across the month. Nothing excessive, but my body has sent me a firm message that it’s time to not drink much anymore, or it will make us stay up all night and worry about A LOT OF THINGS 😅
In more pleasant news, I paid $120 for tickets to three sessions at the upcoming Sydney Writers’ Festival, $9.99 for Netflix (currently bingeing Virgin River, in case the current wilderness obsession wasn’t clear) and $54.98 for a boardgame (Azul).
I put aside $91.67 into my Gifts Future Fund and $411.62 into my Holidays Future Fund.
Lifestyle Total: $1,090.86
10. PROFESSIONAL FEES
🤓 Nothing much to see here…
Just $62 for kiddo’s pocket money in this category this month.
Professional Fees Total: $62
Total March expenses: $11,470.63
If you have read this far, wow, can we be best friends?! Seriously, thank you 😍
Friends who budget together, stay together, I believe. So, if you’re keen to give all this a go yourself and start using the same system I use to track my money each month, I currently have my The Money Diary book and highlighter sets on sale in my online store for just $39.95, plus flat-rate Australia-wide postage of $9.95. Head to www.moneywithjess.com.au/shop.
And if money’s tight, you can also access all my free worksheets there too - just add them to your cart for FREE dollars 😀
That’s it for this week.
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Thanks for reading and, as always, take care! xx