PF&B is an important component to managing and optimizing one’s lifestyle.
For a long time, I have considered myself a poor practitioner of the above and have decided to try to improve. I am going to list my initial thoughts (to help motivate those that may also be seeking the same); and then sit back and hope to gain some feedback from the successful guys out there.
Some resources that I have found superbly useful in my quest to get better:
-Danger and Play (recent podcast on Personal Finance)
-Wall Street Playboys (excellent articles on investment principles, strategies, and guidance)
I’ve used mint.com to help me track my spending habits for a few years now, but other than simply linking my accounts to the site and occasionally checking some random trends from time to time… I feel like I could be taking much better advantage of the free service.
(Note: One Mint.com tactic I have found personally useful is logging in at least once a month to “tag” each “tax-related” purchase I have made. When tax time comes around at the end of the year, all my “tax-related” purchases that are potential write-offs are now simply a click away and easily shipped off to the accountant.)
On the advice of some comments in various goal tracking threads and time management threads, I have started to use simple excel spreadsheets to track various things in my life. If not for just getting me to be more organized in general, they have provided a psychological boost in that I feel a lot more “aware” and “in control” over more of my life. I’ll digress for a moment to give a few examples of spreadsheets I now have set up:
Lab Work
-I have been trying to optimize my overall health recently and have been getting quarterly blood work done. This helps me track trends; which in medicine/health can sometimes be MUCH more meaningful and telling than one off values.
-I have been considering TRT for some time and have researched a ton. Before making the plunge, I wanted to track T levels as well as other labs to see if I could raise them significantly on my own prior to committing to HRT. The spreadsheet will help me track my changes visually.
Fitness
-I have started to keep track of big lifts (DL, Sq, Bench, OHP, etc.) on a separate sheet
-This sheet also allows space for weekly measurements (every Sat morning) of various body measurements (waist, chest, arms, hips, thighs, etc.) to help gauge progress and allow me to look back in time to gain some extra motivation when I feel like ‘the weight is just not going up’ … but progress is still being made
-It can also be helpful in spotting stalls or potential diet issues
-I’ve added a weekly picture component to this as well (selfies, yes)
Nutrition
-I have been working with a nutritionist to dial in a meal/diet/nutrition plan to help supplement my fitness goals
-I use a spreadsheet on which I have broken down the macros for my most commonly prepared/procured meals
-I also use this sheet to help plan and breakdown macros for training days versus rest days
-Every weekend I plan out each meal for each weekday depending on if it’s a training day vs a rest day and make sure I count up the macros so that I remain compliant with my daily/weekly macro goal (note: I’m currently chasing a body recomp)
-Using the meal plan on the spreadsheet; I then create a shopping list for the week’s items; which then gets shot over to my iPhone to be used to get me in & out of Whole Foods in an efficient manner
Budget
-I’ve started to come up with a budget sheet; but it is quite crude at the moment
-I’ve broken it down into the following sections:
Housing (Condo Fee, RE Tax)
Utilities (Electric, Cable+Internet, Laundry, Cleaning Lady, iPad 4G)
Fitness (Gym fees, Personal Trainer, Protein shakes, Massages, Yoga, Dance Lessons)
Health (monthly orthodontist visit)
Food (Groceries)
Taxis
Misc
The above are my main categories of spending on a monthly basis.
Then I have 2 other categories where I spend on a bi-monthly or maybe quarterly basis:
Supplements/Vitamins
Skin Care
Misc
----
After budgeting out my monthly fixed costs I wanted to see how much disposable income I had left and how best to split that up between further spending, saving, investing. (This is where the D&P and WSP sites have provided a great start to my education… can’t recc browsing the podcast and blog enough.)
For illustrative purposes I’ll give some numbers from my own example.
Housing (18%)
Utilities (6%)
Fitness (38%) [!!! This is by far my largest expense. I am okay with it for now.]
Health (4%)
Food (10%)
Taxis (4%)
That comes to about 80% of monthly post-tax income already spent on recurring purchases. Does not take into account other incidental purchases not taken account for in above categories, entertainment budget, saving for travel, spending on quarterly items, saving for other things, etc. … all of these monies need to come out from the remaining ~20%. Does this lend enough to start investing (i.e. Dollar cost averaging into SPY)?? Or do I need to cut back on monthly fixed spending to enable investing to start happening? [Or even better … I probably need to diversify into other income streams to allow investing to start happening.]
[side note: I feel like I have to mention that psychologically I know I am currently investing in myself a TON as evidenced by my disproportionate Fitness spending. Personally this is important to me, as I am actively trying to get healthier and more fit … it is my current #1 goal. Perhaps, once I have a good handle on things I can scale down this spending.]
Investing
I am currently a wage slave with employer-provided health insurance coverage. Through my job I have the opportunity to invest pre-tax income into a 403B and a 457 retirement plan. The 403B is matched by my employer. It has a deferred vesting scheme whereby it vests a certain percentage the longer you stay at the job. It will vest 100% at 5 years; I am currently in my 2nd year of employment. (Starting this year, I also started contributing the max to my healthcare FSA each paycheck as well.)
Note: If your employer offers to match your contributions to your retirement plan, it seems like contributing to this FIRST is a no-brainer. As in, you may want to consider funding this even BEFORE paying off some debts you may have accruing... depending on your situation. For those without debt, not contributing to take advantage of employer-match simply seems like leaving free $$ on the table (in most cases.)
I have been investing the maximum $17,500 yearly into both the 403B and the 457. They are both invested in a “Target retirement Fund 20XX” thru TIAA-Cref who helps run the plans. Not sure if this investment allocation is ideal.
I had a previous 403B from a previous job, which I just rolled over into a new Traditional IRA (I think?) near the end of 2013. This $$ is just sitting in a money market account now with TIAA-Cref. This is probably a mistake, and I feel unsure of what to do with it exactly. Put it in another Target Retirement Fund managed by TIAA-Cref? Put it in a trading account with TIAA-Cref and then dump it all in SPY?
I also deposit 5500 annually into a Roth IRA. (again, most of which if I remember correctly is sitting in money markets... face-palm worthy?)
Credit Card
Currently I just have one credit card and one ATM/debit card.
Based on my reading, I think I need to get at least one more credit card.
I don’t have any big purchases upcoming where I will need a ton of credit in the very near future. My one CC currently is an airline mileage card through Citi/Amer Airlines.
Not sure what the next best move is here. Maybe a high-cashback credit card?
What would then be the best way to split up purchases between the two? 50/50?
Checking Account
I have a regular old checking account through BoA. Nothing special about it.
I have over 6 months equivalent worth of monthly expenses sitting there in just cash. I guess this could be thought of as an “emergency fund.” But for some reason it seems like I could be doing something better with this $$$.
Perhaps it should be invested in a set of rotating CDs that come to maturation sequentially each month?
Maybe 6-months expense equivalent cash is too much for an emergency fund? Especially, given the fact that I have an extremely stable job. Also I am probably making a mistake of including my entire “Fitness” budget in to my expense equivalent when calculating out the needs for my emergency fund… when should an emergency hit, that fitness budget could be nullified.
I do not have a savings account. This intuitively also seems like a mistake.
---
Hope this was useful and generates some discussion.
Check out the D&P podcast and WSP blog for more motivation/guidance on how to get your financial lifestyle in better order. I’d be interested to hear about other resources people have found beneficial.
For a long time, I have considered myself a poor practitioner of the above and have decided to try to improve. I am going to list my initial thoughts (to help motivate those that may also be seeking the same); and then sit back and hope to gain some feedback from the successful guys out there.
Some resources that I have found superbly useful in my quest to get better:
-Danger and Play (recent podcast on Personal Finance)
-Wall Street Playboys (excellent articles on investment principles, strategies, and guidance)
I’ve used mint.com to help me track my spending habits for a few years now, but other than simply linking my accounts to the site and occasionally checking some random trends from time to time… I feel like I could be taking much better advantage of the free service.
(Note: One Mint.com tactic I have found personally useful is logging in at least once a month to “tag” each “tax-related” purchase I have made. When tax time comes around at the end of the year, all my “tax-related” purchases that are potential write-offs are now simply a click away and easily shipped off to the accountant.)
On the advice of some comments in various goal tracking threads and time management threads, I have started to use simple excel spreadsheets to track various things in my life. If not for just getting me to be more organized in general, they have provided a psychological boost in that I feel a lot more “aware” and “in control” over more of my life. I’ll digress for a moment to give a few examples of spreadsheets I now have set up:
Lab Work
-I have been trying to optimize my overall health recently and have been getting quarterly blood work done. This helps me track trends; which in medicine/health can sometimes be MUCH more meaningful and telling than one off values.
-I have been considering TRT for some time and have researched a ton. Before making the plunge, I wanted to track T levels as well as other labs to see if I could raise them significantly on my own prior to committing to HRT. The spreadsheet will help me track my changes visually.
Fitness
-I have started to keep track of big lifts (DL, Sq, Bench, OHP, etc.) on a separate sheet
-This sheet also allows space for weekly measurements (every Sat morning) of various body measurements (waist, chest, arms, hips, thighs, etc.) to help gauge progress and allow me to look back in time to gain some extra motivation when I feel like ‘the weight is just not going up’ … but progress is still being made
-It can also be helpful in spotting stalls or potential diet issues
-I’ve added a weekly picture component to this as well (selfies, yes)
Nutrition
-I have been working with a nutritionist to dial in a meal/diet/nutrition plan to help supplement my fitness goals
-I use a spreadsheet on which I have broken down the macros for my most commonly prepared/procured meals
-I also use this sheet to help plan and breakdown macros for training days versus rest days
-Every weekend I plan out each meal for each weekday depending on if it’s a training day vs a rest day and make sure I count up the macros so that I remain compliant with my daily/weekly macro goal (note: I’m currently chasing a body recomp)
-Using the meal plan on the spreadsheet; I then create a shopping list for the week’s items; which then gets shot over to my iPhone to be used to get me in & out of Whole Foods in an efficient manner
Budget
-I’ve started to come up with a budget sheet; but it is quite crude at the moment
-I’ve broken it down into the following sections:
Housing (Condo Fee, RE Tax)
Utilities (Electric, Cable+Internet, Laundry, Cleaning Lady, iPad 4G)
Fitness (Gym fees, Personal Trainer, Protein shakes, Massages, Yoga, Dance Lessons)
Health (monthly orthodontist visit)
Food (Groceries)
Taxis
Misc
The above are my main categories of spending on a monthly basis.
Then I have 2 other categories where I spend on a bi-monthly or maybe quarterly basis:
Supplements/Vitamins
Skin Care
Misc
----
After budgeting out my monthly fixed costs I wanted to see how much disposable income I had left and how best to split that up between further spending, saving, investing. (This is where the D&P and WSP sites have provided a great start to my education… can’t recc browsing the podcast and blog enough.)
For illustrative purposes I’ll give some numbers from my own example.
Housing (18%)
Utilities (6%)
Fitness (38%) [!!! This is by far my largest expense. I am okay with it for now.]
Health (4%)
Food (10%)
Taxis (4%)
That comes to about 80% of monthly post-tax income already spent on recurring purchases. Does not take into account other incidental purchases not taken account for in above categories, entertainment budget, saving for travel, spending on quarterly items, saving for other things, etc. … all of these monies need to come out from the remaining ~20%. Does this lend enough to start investing (i.e. Dollar cost averaging into SPY)?? Or do I need to cut back on monthly fixed spending to enable investing to start happening? [Or even better … I probably need to diversify into other income streams to allow investing to start happening.]
[side note: I feel like I have to mention that psychologically I know I am currently investing in myself a TON as evidenced by my disproportionate Fitness spending. Personally this is important to me, as I am actively trying to get healthier and more fit … it is my current #1 goal. Perhaps, once I have a good handle on things I can scale down this spending.]
Investing
I am currently a wage slave with employer-provided health insurance coverage. Through my job I have the opportunity to invest pre-tax income into a 403B and a 457 retirement plan. The 403B is matched by my employer. It has a deferred vesting scheme whereby it vests a certain percentage the longer you stay at the job. It will vest 100% at 5 years; I am currently in my 2nd year of employment. (Starting this year, I also started contributing the max to my healthcare FSA each paycheck as well.)
Note: If your employer offers to match your contributions to your retirement plan, it seems like contributing to this FIRST is a no-brainer. As in, you may want to consider funding this even BEFORE paying off some debts you may have accruing... depending on your situation. For those without debt, not contributing to take advantage of employer-match simply seems like leaving free $$ on the table (in most cases.)
I have been investing the maximum $17,500 yearly into both the 403B and the 457. They are both invested in a “Target retirement Fund 20XX” thru TIAA-Cref who helps run the plans. Not sure if this investment allocation is ideal.
I had a previous 403B from a previous job, which I just rolled over into a new Traditional IRA (I think?) near the end of 2013. This $$ is just sitting in a money market account now with TIAA-Cref. This is probably a mistake, and I feel unsure of what to do with it exactly. Put it in another Target Retirement Fund managed by TIAA-Cref? Put it in a trading account with TIAA-Cref and then dump it all in SPY?
I also deposit 5500 annually into a Roth IRA. (again, most of which if I remember correctly is sitting in money markets... face-palm worthy?)
Credit Card
Currently I just have one credit card and one ATM/debit card.
Based on my reading, I think I need to get at least one more credit card.
I don’t have any big purchases upcoming where I will need a ton of credit in the very near future. My one CC currently is an airline mileage card through Citi/Amer Airlines.
Not sure what the next best move is here. Maybe a high-cashback credit card?
What would then be the best way to split up purchases between the two? 50/50?
Checking Account
I have a regular old checking account through BoA. Nothing special about it.
I have over 6 months equivalent worth of monthly expenses sitting there in just cash. I guess this could be thought of as an “emergency fund.” But for some reason it seems like I could be doing something better with this $$$.
Perhaps it should be invested in a set of rotating CDs that come to maturation sequentially each month?
Maybe 6-months expense equivalent cash is too much for an emergency fund? Especially, given the fact that I have an extremely stable job. Also I am probably making a mistake of including my entire “Fitness” budget in to my expense equivalent when calculating out the needs for my emergency fund… when should an emergency hit, that fitness budget could be nullified.
I do not have a savings account. This intuitively also seems like a mistake.
---
Hope this was useful and generates some discussion.
Check out the D&P podcast and WSP blog for more motivation/guidance on how to get your financial lifestyle in better order. I’d be interested to hear about other resources people have found beneficial.