Bienvenido o’ legendary email subscriber. This is my November finance report, as prepared from a fine chunk of wooden table at my apartment in the center of Medellín, Colombia.
As usual, I’ll share with you all the details of my finances below, along with a few notes that I think you’ll find interesting. Keep in mind that I was living in Medellín for the entire month of November.
Diving in…
November Expenses
Food and Drink
Eating out | € 153 | $ 191 |
Groceries | € 111 | $ 139 |
Total | € 264 |
$ 330 |
Almost the exact same as the previous month, when I spent €266/$333 on food and drink. Eating out is very cheap here in Medellín, even in the city center. I can get two good meals a day in restaurants for less than $10 total.
Housing and Utilities
1 month + 5 nights at Medellín apartment | € 504 | $ 630 |
Total | € 504 | $ 630 |
Almost double the €255/$319 I spent on housing and utilities in October. I could definitely have found a cheaper place to rent for a month, but I put a high value on being in a central location so I can walk everywhere.
Travel
Taxis in Medellín | € 14 | $ 18 |
Total | € 14 | $ 18 |
Way down from the €406/$509 I spent on travel in October, back when I was moving through Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia.
Business Expenses
PayPal fees | € 91 | $ 114 |
Domain renewals | € 29 | $ 36 |
AWeber email marketing | € 24 | $ 30 |
Skype Credit | € 20 | $ 25 |
Total | € 164 | $ 205 |
Up a good bit from the €35/$44 I spent on business last month, mostly because I barely worked in October but worked a ton in November.
Gifts and Donations
Book (Wealth Warrior) for a friend | € 6 | $ 7 |
Restaurant meal for an elderly Colombian woman | € 4 | $ 5 |
Medication for a friend | € 1 | $ 2 |
Street musicians in Medellín | € 1 | $ 1 |
Total | € 12 | $ 15 |
Up from €2/$3 last month. I no longer have a specific goal for donations (I used to try give away 15% of my income), having decided to focus on building up a decent savings cushion before trying to save the world.
Books
Your Money Or Your Life | € 7 | $ 9 |
Women | € 7 | $ 9 |
The Rational Male | € 6 | $ 7 |
Total | € 20 | $ 25 |
About the same as last month. You can see all my book recommendations over on Goodreads.
Miscellaneous Expenses
Dues for Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Club | € 100 | $ 125 |
Pablo Escobar tour in Medellín | € 25 | $ 30 |
Nightclub entry fees in Medellín | € 16 | $ 20 |
Phone credit | € 15 | $ 19 |
Apple EarPods | € 13 | $ 16 |
Toiletries | € 9 | $ 11 |
Kitchen cleaning supplies | € 5 | $ 6 |
Key cutting | € 3 | $ 4 |
Laundry | € 3 | $ 4 |
iTunes movie rental: Jiro Dreams Of Sushi | € 2 | $ 3 |
Stamps | € 1 | $ 2 |
Total | € 192 | $ 240 |
Up a little from €161/$202 in October. The dues for the Irish Channel Club is so I can march in the Paddy’s Day parade with a bunch of friends once I’m back in New Orleans in March 🙂
Expense Summary
Housing and Utilities | € 504 | $ 630 |
Food and Drink | € 264 | $ 330 |
Miscellaneous expenses | € 192 | $ 240 |
Business Expenses | € 164 | $ 205 |
Books | € 20 | $ 25 |
Travel | € 14 | $ 18 |
Gifts and Donations | € 12 | $ 15 |
Total Expenses | € 1,171 |
$ 1,463 |
Almost the same as October’s expense total of €1,147/$1,437. I’m pretty happy with that as my goal as stated in the previous report was to try keep my expenses under the $1.5k mark for the month.
November Income
Away from the minuses and on to the pluses…
Freelance web design | € 2,320 | $ 2,898 |
Book sales from Amazon | € 60 | $ 75 |
Reader donations (muchas gracias!) | € 32 | $ 40 |
Amazon affiliate income | € 17 | $ 21 |
Book sales: The Cargo Ship Diaries (direct from ebizfacts.com) | € 14 | $ 17 |
Total Income | € 2,443 |
$ 3,051 |
Way up from last month’s income totals of €321/$402 🙂
(In case you’re wondering why I don’t have more than $5k listed under income, given that I succeeded in my $5k November goal, remember that the goal was to “win” $5k worth of business in November, which I did. I have a nice chunk of money coming to me in December as long as I follow through and complete all the work contracts I’ve secured.)
Biggest regret?
Nothing major. I could get picky and say I shouldn’t have spent some of that money on nightclub entry fees, since I rarely enjoy such places, but I’d consider only $5 of that $20 a waste, so no big deal.
Where that leaves me
I had €1,855/$2,323 to my name at the end of October. After applying the most recent exchange rates (I have accounts in EUR, HKD and USD), those totals shifted a little to€1,863/$2,326. Taking into account all my November income and expenditure, my total bank and cash balances now work out to €2,934/$3,664.
Here’s how I’m doing so far this year:
- €891/$1,202 in January
- €550/$759 in February
- €1,105/$1,525 in March
- €1,616/$2,241 in April
- €1,394/$1,900 in May
- €1,033/$1,412 in June
- €780/$1,050 in July
- €1,349/$1,771 in August
- €876/$1,105 in September
- €826/$1,035 in October
- €1,272/$1,588 in November
- €1,152/$1,564 overall
Outlook for December
Income-wise, I’ll be fine, since I already had a big paycheck come through at the beginning of the month. More of a challenge will be my expenses. I’ll have to drop about $500 on a sailboat trip from Colombia to Panama, and renew my travel insurance.
Also in December I’m planning to book my transatlantic passage for next year, so it will be an expensive month on the travel front. My goal will be to try keep total expenses under the $2k mark, which would give me a good chance of breaking even for the year, rather than finishing in the red.
Feedback welcome
Thoughts? Questions? Speak up in the comments below.