It’s December already. How it is December already?
The year is speeding by and it’s nearly time to say goodbye to 2018 and hello to 2019. It’s also the start of summer, but for three days now all I have seen is rain.
I don’t handle being cooped up in the house when it is raining on the weekend. I’m an outdoors kinda person. I wanted to tend to my garden, go for a walk in the hills. I guess that will have to wait until next week.
I’ve finally resolved my dispute with Viagogo this month as well. It’s nearly been three months dealing with them after I accidentally bought tickets through their site. Disputing a transaction is one advantage of having a credit card. It’s much harder to dispute a cash transaction.
Spending in November
November, the month leading up to the holidays and summer. Generally quite an expensive month. One of the larger expenses we had was hiring a mini excavator to remove some invasive plants that were destroying a retaining wall. Homeownership does come with benefits, but also large expanses. You should always remember that if you are renting and looking to buy.
- Groceries $652.84
- Entertainment $507.61
- Mortgage $4000.
- Investments $2400
- Eating out $115.80
- Petrol $403.39
- Power $314.44
The mortgage expense was 43% for the month of November, and investments accounted for 26%. Investments were lower than last month but combined it’s still 69% of our spending.
Portfolio in November
Just like everyone else, my portfolio took a hit with the recent downturn in the stock market. Midway through November, I logged in to check how it was doing and it had decreased in value by $1800. By the end of the month though, it had rebounded to a decrease of $300.
I’m not too worried about it. It feels bad knowing that I have lost $300. However, I know that eventually, I will claw it back over time.
Here is how my portfolio looks for August.
Goals
As mentioned earlier my goal now is to book a holiday! We are planning on taking a trip to Patagonia. There is still a lot of research to be done. Budgets to be estimated, and leave approved from work. At this stage, it looks like it will be towards the end of next year. I can’t wait!
Total Portfolio >100K by December 2019
I’m now 55% towards my stretch goal of investing 100k by December 2019. The month of November only saw an increase in investment of $2400, which is less than usual. I have 12 months left to achieve this goal. That means I need to invest $3750 per month. I’m going to get December off to a good start and invest $1000 right now.