Monthly Expenses Report: May 2021

This is my Monthly Expenses Report: May 2021. Over the past 3 years, I have managed to achieve over a 50% savings rate each month on my income. More money saved means more money to invest. The more invested means that money is working for you. As a result, that money works to generate more money over time and your wealth grows. That is the power of compound interest. Learning how to manage your finances and living within and below your means is an essential component to achieving financial independence.

Using the model of dividend growth investing, I am on course to achieving financial independence. Over the years, I have built a six-figure portfolio that generates dividend income each month. The results have been amazing! I also like to compare my monthly expenses with my dividend income. Once passive income is greater than living expenses, financial independence is achieved. So here are May 2021’s expenses:

• Rent: $720.38
• Utilities: $52.72
• Internet: $79.99
• Cell Phone: $35.00
• Food & Supplies: $415.36
• Home Insurance: $220.00
• Miscellaneous: $25.00
• Amazon : $56.56

All in all, my expenses for May 2021 totaled $1,605.01

**Please note that I use the word “rent”, however, I own a Co-op apartment which means I pay what is called monthly “maintenance fees” (everyone in the building pays to cover the operating expenses of the building). If you don’t know what a Co-op is, Investopedia has a good article describing this type of apartment dwelling. To keep things simple, I will just refer to it as “rent”.

As nice of a month May was, it was also one expensive month. In fact, like last year, it is going to be my most expensive month of the year. There are 3 reasons why:

Firstly, my rent was increased earlier this year and a temporary additional fee of $106 was added onto my rent that will last until September. Secondly, I do my food and supply shopping on Sunday and there was 5 Sundays this month instead of the usual 4 Sundays. It also didn’t help that much of my supplies ran out at the same time as opposed to happening at different time intervals. Thirdly, my home insurance payment was due this month which I paid for the year. The result was one expensive month.

Now let’s compare my month expenses to my dividend income. I will compare my expenses to my May dividends and my average yearly dividend income going forward. As of this post, my portfolio is set to generate $11,373 in dividend income over the next 12 months.

• May 2021 dividend income: $690.56 = 44% of my expenses covered last month.
• Yearly dividend income average: $947 per month = 61% of my expenses covered last month.

Thus, this concludes my monthly expenses report: May 2021. Writing these numbers out like this is really quite exciting. It helps you really get a good grasp where your financials are, where they are going, and how far you progressed. I am really getting closer to covering all my expenses. Financial independence is obtainable in the next few years, but I won’t stop there at the bare minimal. I will continue to build my dividend dynasty!

So, how about the rest of you? Do you track your monthly expenses? Also, how close are you to covering expenses via passive income? Let me know in the comments below!