February is in the history books and we are well into the third month of the year. It’s time to update you on my progress. After all, when the new year comes, motivation is high. So high in fact that I made my resolutions and my financial plan for the year. But, as the weeks and months go by, motivation tends to weaken. But still, it’s important to stay motivated. That’s one of the reasons I started the Inspirational Quotes of the Month project. It’s all about finding that extra bit of motivation every single month in order to keep going. For example, to help stay motivated this month, Confucius offers good advice. He says, “It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.” Let’s see how much progress I made in February.
Student Loan Repayment
In February, the beginning balance of my student loans was $17,762.62. The minimum payment is $97.61 and the interest rate is 2.625%. My goal for this year is to pay off my student loans by October at a rate of $2000 per month.
In February, I was able to achieve my goal. I made a $2000 payment towards my student loan. The new balance is now $15,807.21.
To follow me on my progress towards paying off my student loans, visit my debt tracker for 2018.
Savings Rate
In January, my savings rate was 45.54%. In February, my savings rate stands at 43%. This wholly excludes the extra money that I’m putting towards paying down my student loans. For some reason, I can’t decide if that extra money is an expense or income. So, I just ignore it. Let me know what you think as to whether the $1900 extra I pay on my student loans should count as income or expense. It affects the savings rate, but ultimately, it might be a difference without a distinction.
Fitness Goals
I worked out consistently for most of February. The only reason why I had to slow down was towards the end of the month and that squarely had to do with work. Quite frankly, I haven’t been to the gym in the past two weeks. The main reason was because of work, but that’s not the entire reason. When you stop going to the gym it’s easy to lose that extra motivation to go. So laziness was definitely part of it. The good news is I should be able to start going to back to the gym as early as on Tuesday. But, that’s for the March update.
For February, I did achieve my goal of consistently going to the gym about 4 times per week.
Eating Out
I’ve all but abandon my goal of not eating out everyday. I MIGHT be good for one day, maybe two. But, honestly, I’m not even really trying anymore. And, work is such that it’s not even feasible or practical for me to do anything other than eat out. I realize I can’t keep blaming everything on work. I think, deep down, I just like the ease and comfort of just buying food and not cooking. I just hate how expensive it all adds up at the end. I guess everyone has their vices and eating out is definitely mine.
The good news, to the extent there is any, is that as I ease back into the gym, I AM doing small things along the way to change my habits. So, those small things include making my own protein shake. That I can do and it tastes reasonably ok. I also buy fruits so I can eat about one fruit a day at least. I also try and drink more water. So, I am making baby steps towards a more healthy eating lifestyle. As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’ve been eating out for many decades and it’s going to take some time to change that habit. I’ll be happy though as long as I don’t stop and keep moving in the right direction where this is concerned.
Conclusion
All in all, February was a good month. I’m still squarely focused on reaching my goals for the new year. Undoubtedly, there will be bumps along the way. I won’t be perfect. But I will try to do my part to succeed.
Let me know your thoughts by commenting below.
Great saving rate you have there 43% including 1.9k$ loan repayment. I thing this extra repayment is not expenses. It would be interesting to know what is your saving rate excl. 1.9k$ repayment. I done a rough calculation that if you manage to save and invrst 1/2 of you income you will be fin.independent in10y.
Regarding gym and eating out… been there. Your losing your motivation and falling back. So did I. Work is no excuse. Make time. Wrong prioritization. Work 1st then everyting else. And making food for your own is a bit boring. Im actualy doing quite well myself in these fields. 90% of days in Feb was with morning routine of exercize + cold shower + meditatio 🙂 And since it no option for my wife to eat out im more nd more cooking meals for us 🙂 yes boring, especialy the dishes cleaning part 😀 Keep up, dont give up. The bigest obsticle in your life is you 😉
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Sagely advice p2035. I got to get back in the gym big time. If I don’t count the 1.9k as income, then my savings rate would likely exceed 50%. I just suck at math. 10 years to be able to retire would be nice, as that would be before my 50th birthday. My actual goal is to retire in 16 years.
I’ll get back in the gym today but will take a rain check on the cooking for myself. Glad to hear you’re doing well in those areas though.
Hey DP,
I would look at the pay down of your debt in the same way you look at payments for your other investments. You can choose to put the extra cash you have available towards debt payment, savings, stocks, etc. You are choosing debt repayment. It’s really more a question of where you choose to direct your “free cash flow”, not whether it’s income or expense. Your free cash flow results from your income less expenses. Hope that makes sense (sorry but I’m a CPA) and couldn’t help myself. The way I do it for my own record keeping is:
Income minus expenses equals free cash flow
Free cash flow should be directed to the most productive areas of your choosing: cash savings, debt repayment, investments, etc.
Free cash flow minus the areas you are directing it to should be zero
Regardless of what you call it or how you account for it, you are doing a great job. Keep it up. Tom
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I appreciate it and it makes total sense. Looks like I have to redo my math. So annoying, but then again, I guess that’s why I’m not a CPA.
Nice job on that savings rate. I agree the extra $1900 should be included in your savings rate calculation. It is essentially savings as it is directly affecting your bottom line by reducing your debt and increasing your net worth.
brian @ singledadmoney recently posted…February Dividend Income – $2.16
Thanks Brian and fair point regarding the extra $1900. I’m gonna redo the math for the next post.
Great savings rate DP! And Congrats on knocking off a nice chunk of your student loan. Glad to see you are hitting most of your goals. Kicking eating habits are tough, but it is good to see you making small changes to move in the right direction. Keep it up! 🙂
My Dividend Dynasty recently posted…9 Months of Frugal Living = 50% Savings Rate
Thanks Dynasty. I fell off the wagon for this month regarding my student loans, but hope to make up the difference next month. Overall, I’m still on track and that’s a good thing.
DP –
Nice job. Curious if you could curb the eating out just 1 more day, you can fricken do it – I KNOW YOU CAN!!! COME ON!!!
-Lanny
Will definitely be tough Lanny. It’s not good when I buy chicken but have it stay in my freezer long enough to pass the expiration date such that I have just throw it away without cooking. Such a waste of money.
Looks like another month on pace. I like the student loan goal. Mine is similar but paying off tuition as I go instead of paying down loans. Will make our growth from investing very minimal, but after school expenses are done and accounted for that will really pick up with the extra capital we can put into our portfolios. Kind of in the same boat as well on eating out for lunch. It isn’t great and gets expensive, but it is one of the few areas I slack off in. At least you are trying to actively work out to balance out the health part of it. And you savings rate and monetary goals are still on pace so that helps. Keep it up. Will be nice to get rid of those loans once and for all.
Yea, I honestly can’t wait until I get rid of the loans. The thought of dumping $2000 a month towards paying off a loan sucks, but the good part is that once it’s done, then every extra income I get will be used towards investing.
How do you save 40%+ of your income each month? Surely that must be after tax, no?
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Yea, it’s definitely after tax. I’m an avid believer of paying yourself first. I also follow the conscientious spending plan approach. So, I make sure that the fundamentals are taken care of with each pay check, including my contribution to my roth 401k, roth IRA and dividend portfolio. Whatever money is left over is what I spend on bills, debt, entertainment and the like.
Looking solid mate. I am very sure you will eliminate your student loan by end of this year. Keep going strong.
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Thanks. Although a final decision hasn’t been made, I think I might use part of my tax return to pay down my student loans. I’ll use the other part to build up my emergency fund and contribute to my dividend portfolio. I fully expect to get rid of my student loan by the end of the year.
You are on the right track DP! It’s great to see you making progress each month. You’re crushing that student loan of yours with payoffs like this one. And your gym routine seems awesome! I can squeeze out max 3 times a week and my gym is on the attic!
With regards to your less eating out. Have you tried meal prepping? You can start for example for 2 days in a week. You cook the meals in the weekend and save them in the fridge / freezer. Just take it out and heat it up. It might just fit in your busy schedule, I hope you give it a try!
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I did, and the first time I tried it I got food poisoning. I can cook and eat the food the same day, but if it says in the fridge, it doesn’t taste as good. I might be a picky eater, or more likely, I just don’t know how to cook that well to last beyond one day. I’m not making excuses, and might try some version of meal prep in the future, but my last experience trying that approach has left me cautious. Good suggestion though and thanks.
Awesome job paying down that loan DP! Just think, once that thing is gone you can go shopping at the stock market. They have some nice deals going on right now. MO, GIS, KMB, PG to name a few. Keep up the great work and it’ll be gone before you know it!
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Can’t wait to pay off student loans. It’s going to be exiting trying to figure out what to do with that extra money per month.
I really can’t wait for that to happen MH. It’s going to be great!
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