October was the month I fell out of my blogging routine in earnest. Our weekends were packed with outdoor activities. We did some spooky things, like watching scary movies with a close friend with whom we’ve made a sort of quarantine bubble.. We also went to an outdoor haunted maze. 

Renovations on our new home began. Starting that progress had a significant spending cost–from paying for a few projects that were completed to placing deposits on ordered items like kitchen cabinets. This is good and it was planned for, but it sometimes feels like moving backwards in terms of our financial independence goal. 

The pandemic began to worsen this month, with new cases on the rise everywhere and our area is no exception. Election stress was also in full effect. This month was a challenge. As a result of not keeping up the blog, I didn’t set any particular goals for the month. I did have various items on a personal to-do list, though. These items included continuing to pack, maintaining my run streak and achieving my AppleWatch activity challenge. I managed to do all of these things by taking the month one day at a time. 

Work [from home] was also busy in October. I passed the six month mark at my current job. The job change has been so right. Even though it caused upheaval in our lives and financial plan, it was a great move for me. I’m fortunate to still be remote, which has allowed us to take our time with the new housing arrangement. 

Here is a look at our savings rate chart. Note that spending spiked. Eighty-six percent of our October spending was directly related to the house. If we subtract that amount, the month would have been one of our lower spend months for the year. Maybe it doesn’t make sense to include these one-time costs in our chart. But we want to keep things transparent. One-time expenses impact our budget and our ability to invest. At the same time, when we have big expenses on the horizon, we try to cut back in other areas to minimize the effect on our investments. By early 2021 we expect to have completed the renovations and paid for most of the items. Within the next two to four months, our spending should be back in line with what’s typical for us. We also anticipate renting one of our homes as soon as the new house renovations are complete, which should be by January 2021.

As mentioned, I didn’t set any goals for October. But in the spirit of getting back to a normal schedule, I will set some for November.

November Goals:

• Cross off one item from 101 Tasks List
• Continue packing
• Schedule moving company
• Complete run streak day 365
• Keep professional inbox to <50 messages