August 2015: Income & Expenses

    August made for a pretty great last month of summer. Had mostly good weather and the chance to enjoy some warm holidays relaxing without having to fly down south. As such I took it a bit easier during the month and enjoyed life a little bit extra. As such, I worked a bit less, which is reflected in my lower work income for the month, but that hidden column of happiness definitely was way up!

Income	$
Work	1035.06
Bonus	227.82
Dividends	96.59
Total	1409.47

    Overall my income was pretty much dead on the estimated amount of income on which I manage my budget from. August's lower income was mostly attributable to working shorter hours, but also taking a few extra days off during the start of the month to do a bit of traveling for an extra long weekend.

    My bonus income from other sources was unusually high this month due to an unexpectedly higher government rebate. I also had finalized the selling of and cashing out of my restricted stock units of Starbucks (SBUX) that I had from working there for some time. That amount was bolstered from the current exchange rate from American to Canadian Dollars, although was cut back from US withholding taxes, so come next tax season I should see a bit of that back.

    Dividend income this month was great, by no means the record smashing number of last month, but still showing solid continual growth of passive income. With nearly $100 in passive income , that $95.59 covers 7.5% of my expenses, and represented 6.8% of income.

Expenses	$
Rent	750
Phone	28.5
Travel	177.75
Groceries	118.74
Restaurants	52.18
Entertainment	82.04
Other	62.49
Total	1271.7

    Due in part to the previously mentioned extra traveling this month some of my expenses are higher than usual. In particular Travel, Restaurants and Entertainment. Going away from home, even when you get to stay at someones home still means a considerable increase in costs, especially when its over a long weekend! There were tickets for the bus there and back, as well as eating out at restaurants, although not often. When I go to Montreal, QC there is no way for me to resist eating some delicious authentic poutine, which tends to be where my restaurant budget takes a hit. Not to mention bringing back a few packs of cheese curds for homemade poutine later on!

    Entertainment costs are also generally higher during the Summer, as I like to enjoy some cold beer with friends, as well as get out to see the city of Toronto some. Its a pretty cool place! And Other costs were a bit higher as well due to going to the dentist, thankfully through my work I have a low cost, and pretty good health/dental coverage, so both my visits were almost completely covered! So far I definitely have no regrets over paying the small portion a month out of my paychecks to have the peace of mind of having insurance.

    Overall, the month turned out about as I had expected it would. With the extra enjoyment of taking some time for vacation eating away at my income a bit, and raising expenses, my savings rate of 9% for August is actually not too bad. In this case as well, most of that surplus is from my dividends, which means that that money has already been directly deposited into my brokerage account, so there is no temptation for it to be spent on anything but dividend paying companies! Makes for a pretty good setup to help further my goals of financial independence, and building another stream of income!