The month of May was an expensive month at the Amber Tree house. And at the same time, it is the first month that we see the impact of the new rules for the Saving Rate. All in all, I am happy with results and the way our budgeting system lets us navigate through months like this.
Saving Rate
In May, we had a part of our holiday allowance that was paid. Usually this means that we see a nice peak in the Saving Rate. This year however, we decided to boost our travel fund. As we know we will spend this money in the future on travel, we do not consider this a saving, we account it as an expense. Going forward, when we plan a big trip, we can do this guilt free as the “pain” of the expense is already taken before!
We also had a 2,5K house repair and drying machine replacement. Ouch, that hurts. Thanks to our living now fund, we do not need to use or May income to pay for this and we can keep other accounts intact as well. As such, this rather high expense does not affect our savings rate. We use money labelled for this in prior months.
All things considered, we came in well below our targets. The YTD results are still on track to reach what we want. As from July, this will change as I start to earn less.
We also had great fun in May. 
There was a long weekend at the beach. Not only did we have friends over for a barbecue, we also had a lot of fun with the girls on the various beaches we visited. The main attraction for them was running around in a city fountain. They loved it. Will do again. I was happy to get some photography time as well. We also decided to join the FIWE week in Budapest. All paid for with our fun money! And some free entertainment including planting potatoes in bags. I hope to get a lot of garden dividend this year!
Amber Index
May has been an interesting month on the stock market. My main tracker had a nice increase. You have to let the markets do what they do best… be unpredictable in their way up!
At the end of May, we happen to touch again the target line! We are now officially on track!
How is your net worth doing?
amber tree leaves 
Sounds like you have done very well planning ahead! I am sure that helps with your stress levels too. You seem to have a very good sense of your priorities. Looking forward to watching what happens as you change jobs. I am heading down that same path soon myself! We will need to compare notes!
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First step is to read your process. I can then see if I made the right decision! 😉
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Nice work Sir! Repairs and replacing appliances are never fun
Looking for to updates on your new job once you get started
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They are not fun, rather necessary evil for the well being of the house.
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Glad you could get some quality family time in during May. Really important, I would argue more so than hitting any number.
Our net worth did very well May 1 to June 9. A combination of our savings, 401k’s and taxable accounts growth thanks to Mr. Market, and also Mrs. PIE company bonus (weird it is paid mid year). This together saw our net worth rise by 6.1%. We’ll take that any month. Of course it is skewed by market doing very well and bonus.
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Where can I sign for the monthly 6pct increase?
Agreed that family time matters more than hitting a number.
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If I ever find it again, I will be sure to let you know…….for a small fee!!
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Sounds like May was a great month for you guys. Happy to hear you were able to fit in some fun family time before you get started with your new job. 😃
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The weekend away was really nice. Lots of fun with the kids. We even made 8 sandcastles, all vanished in the rising tide
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Looks good to me. Your Amber Index chart was down, but it looks like you’re trending on pace. Nice job.
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We are back on track… That is nice.
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Sorry to hear about the tough month on your savings rate, but the catch up progress on the amber index is impressive!
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The future holiday is worth the low savings rate. It is valuable to us to travel the world and 7 seas…!
We are happy with the amber index progress…
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Hey ATL, if having great experiences is what money is all about – then you nailed it this month with friends, family and future travel plans 🙂
Don’t feel bad about your repairs, that’s just part of being a homeowner. Life happens sometimes.
Great to see the Amber index back in line, you should make that line an orange / amber colour 🙂
Tristan
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Great job! It sounds like you barely blinked on eye on coming up with $2.5K for house repairs and a dryer. And having family fun at the beach is awesome. It’s so important to find time to enjoy yourself!
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The life happens fund takes hits like that. It will need to recover a few months..
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Repairs and maintenance are a fact of life. I have actually been putting off some major home repair work. And that’s bad, as it is only getting worse. Home repairs are not a place to be cheap.
I do like the detailed tracking and bucketing on funds.
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Hi atl,
Congrats on moving things forward! Having savings for replacing things and unexpected expenses is important. I’m already saving a little each month for replacement appliances even though ours are still under warranty for the next 2 years. It’s not a question of “if they will fail”, but “when they will fail” so I try to plan a little for that.
Best wishes,
-DL
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It’s great to see that you’re still going to the beach and doing BBQs. I know with a lot of us, savings and investing is such a goal we start eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to save a few bucks to buy 1 more stock. We have to live life too and it looks like you’re doing it. Keep it up!
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Minus the repairs, sounds like you had a really fun May. Sometimes you need to sacrifice the savings rate for a little bit of life and fun! Your savings rate was still positive, so it was a great month in my books!
Bert
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Hi Ambertreeleaves,
thank you for sharing. Nice to read about your great time in may! congratulations
“when we plan a big trip, we can do this guilt free as the “pain” of the expense is already taken before! … We use money labelled for this in prior months.”
Very interesting way to handle personal money. I like it!
Greetings
Valuetradeblog
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Nice to see your June progress! I’m sure, like the rest of us, you’ve taken a big hit on things since the Brexit vote. In the U.S., people don’t seem too concerned about it, but I’m sure it’s different there — what are financial analysts predicting for the European economy? Is any of it causing you to rethink any of your strategies?
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Opesi Doepsie… My title is very misleading. This post is written in June and reflects May… I will change that logic.
Brexit is not yet in here… I will be down a lot in the June report…
According to what I read, the impact on the economy should be limited. There has been business for years and that will not stop directly… There is the fear that others will follow as well.
My strategy was on hold due to the new “riskier” job. I will use the occasion to buy some trackers below my average price (the european tracker is down a lot) and I will keep an eye on Belgian DGI stock on my wishlist.
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I think you’ve done a good job of sticking to a sound plan and really like the way you break down your savings vs. planned expenses. I know my own net worth for June will take a fairly big hit, thanks to Brexit and traveling abroad, but in the long term Brexit will likely be a brief blip on the radar, and seeing more of the world will be enriching for years to come.
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