August 2014 Income & Expenses

    This month has been a very interesting and somewhat stressful month for me. Income wise my hours were not that great and so I had to find shifts at other stores which I am happy to have that option to boost my weekly hours to make up for a lack of scheduled hours. Also some extra work on the side and selling an item helped to boost my income this month, and of course a great month of dividends as well! On the expenses side, I'v had to buy a few extra things for my new apartment which I have now moved into with my girlfriend. Moving not only brings a few extra one time expenses but since I've moved out of my parents house other costs will also being going up, such as; groceries and rent which wont be fully realized till Septembers update. The extra freedom and the feeling of finally getting out on my own is fantastic though!

Income
 

Income	$
Work	1112.12
Other	165
Dividends	37.45
Total	1314.57

     Work income was 'ok' but lower than my monthly average by a little bit. Part of that is due to days off for vacation which I am perfectly ok with. Definitely enjoy sitting out in the sun next to a pool, visiting Montreal and spending my time however I like!
    Other income for this month is quite a bit higher than usual. Generally the only income that falls into this category would be my portion of tips, which is usually around $30-60. This month however I sold an aquarium pump for $50 and did some yard work for a neighbor which earned me $70 which definitely made up for the slightly lack luster work income.
    Dividend income this month was pretty good at $37.45, its actually my second highest month for dividend income ever! Due to all my monthly paying companies I can generally expect ~$29.61 in dividend income, and Royal Bank and National Bank of Canada added to my monthly dividends as well. Least to say I am quite happy with the added income hitting my brokerage account!

 Expenses

 

Expenses	$
Rent	200
Phone	5.65
Travel	109.5
Groceries	110.75
Entertainment	77.38
Other	291.46
Total	775.03

    Due to moving out I have some 'unusual/irregular' expenses incurred during August such has higher grocery costs than what I expect will be the new norm going forward. Primarily due to having to buy a lot of items that last a long time such as; herbs, spices, 10lb of rice, flour and soaps/detergents etc. Also other one time items such as my new coffee maker/grinder, an HDMI cord and 48" tv we bought from the girlfriends brother on the cheap, of course!
  
    For rent, I'v actually paid it already for September and the landlord was nice enough to let us move in on August 23rd and not have to pay for the months rent which is a great trade off for having paid Septembers early. So I have somewhat amortized Septembers rent into this months however it will be showing a lot higher in the coming months.
  
Traveling expenses for the most part is simply my cost to use public transit to get to and from work on the subway or for getting around downtown went going out or to friends places who live further away.

    My phone plan is currently just a pay-as-you-go text only plan which I will soon be changing since I no longer have access to a land line and will need the minute to talk with my parents who don't always text and as I step up my job search as I am about to finish the Canadian Securities Course and would really, really like to find myself a career orientated job(here's hoping!). Entertainment was also quite high this month for a few reasons, mainly its summer and while in Montreal we went out, and had fun! Also with the new place we've been having friends over and celebrating a bit, which means buying some beers and snacks! As we settle in this area of spending should ease down.

    All in all considering recent changes and buying more than I usually ever would expenses for the month have been actually below my 2014 average. Income was a bit lower as well, but relatively speaking I still made ~540 more than I spent, a savings rate of 41%. I consider this pretty good even though it is less than July's 49.4%. With this saved money, plus the extra cash I was building up in case of additional moving/apartment costs and dividends sitting in my brokerage account I believe I'll have a nice amount of cash to invest in another quality company this September. I can't wait to put together and post a new watch-list for this September.

    I hope everyone had a great last month of summer(sorry to mention it) and made some good money and some not worked for money!