But What About Summer?
This is a Financial Freedom Update post. Each month I report the status of my journey towards more financial freedom and reflect on my progress. To learn more about financial freedom please see my Think Week 2021 post where it all started.
I had a number of personal purchases in May, most of which I’m satisfied with. A few books, some online expenses, etc. The biggest personal expense was payment for an upcoming trip with friends—an investment I’m more than happy to make.
Results
I saved 58% of my income in May. Good result and above target.
The numbers below show I spent more on the personal category than usual. Other than that May seems to be a rather average month and a fine result.
| Category | Percentage of expenses |
|---|---|
| Home | 54.68% |
| Food | 12.56% |
| Personal | 12.03% |
| Transportation | 6.14% |
| Health | 5.11% |
| Utilities | 3.81% |
| Union | 3.80% |
| Gift | 1.84% |
| Other | 0.04% |
Next Episode: Summer and Vacation Time
As I write this update we have entered June. It is now officially summer (in Denmark). And with summer comes vacation time. I have a number of things planned and I’m looking forward to some time off. But as I’m planning I also start to see some challenges ahead.
Vacations can be expensive. My favorite vacations are hiking in the mountains. Not exactly luxury. But they can still cost quite a bit—getting to the destination (we don’t have any mountains in Denmark), accommodation, maybe a rental car…
My last trip was a two week vacation to Germany. A rather low-key journey but I still paid for Airbnb, rental car, flight tickets, and a hotel stay near the airport. And while I’m away I still pay rent for the apartment at home.
Staying home is cheaper. Or going somewhere close to home is also an option that can be much more affordable. But the reason I save money is so I can spend it on something. And one of those things are experiences.
So there is a balance here. I definitely do not like the idea of going cheap and doing something that does not excite me. I think this relates to my favorite message from Can I retire young?:
Instead of downgrading, choose to live differently.
I don’t want to downgrade my vacations. Instead I want to spend my time off differently. I believe it is possible to find exciting things that are worth their investment. And that is my goal for June (and the rest of this summer).