July has been a low month for saving for my mini-retirement. I put away $1,500 in June but will not be able to do that in July. Circumstances seem to be changing so the current plan is to hold off on the mini-retirement and continue to work my day job and save as much as possible. Major July status changes include:
Last minute trip to Ibiza
In early July I took a last minute trip to Ibiza which set me back ~$2k. Luckily I have a travel slush fund which allows me to take last minute trips (in which I tend to pay a little more), but that’s just the way life works. I would rather go and splurge a little than stay home and miss out on the experience. Disclaimer: If traveling will put you more into debt or make you miss certain payments if you are paying off debt, then this might not be the best decision. When you are ready, you can put away a rainy day travel fund for any last minute trips that may come up.
Apartment rent to increase:
I am currently leasing an apartment and the lease goes through April 30, 2018. However, it appears that my rent is going to go up $200-$400/month when the lease is up (based on similar situations with neighbors). The market is great where I live and the building is renovating apartments when people move out, so I guess the rent increase is justified. New appliances and floors = $2,400-$4,800 year increase (yeah right!). Inflation/cost of living increase at my current job will not cover this. So I need to figure out what I will do come spring. Worse case I budget for an extra $5k (annual) rent increase. But maybe it is time to buy a condo as well…Thoughts?
New Short-Term Goal
Beginning August 1 (to make tracking easy) I am going to go on a 4 week saving spree. August goal is to save $2,000.