Accountability: June 2025 – brokeGIRLrich

Profile

I am forty years old, an occasional digital event producer and freelance stage manager. I work as a TA and an adjunct. I also work a variety of side hustles and am a full-time student working on a PhD in Drama.

Spending & Saving

So I spent all winter looking forward to this summer because there are lots of fun things scheduled, which is true. The fun kicked off at the end of last month and rolled into the first few days of this month with a visit home to go camping. The last day I was home, my car broke down, so it currently sits in my dad's driveway, as he offered to take it to the stop to see what it needs for me, but I am concerned this may be the end of Mona the Matrix. I have removed her from the net worth tracking below, because if it's not the end of her, she really cannot be worth much to anyone but me at this point.

Other fun things in June have been a Frosthaven weekend with friends, a quick beach overnight trip when I went for my UK driving test take two (which did not go well, fingers crossed for attempt three sometime in the fall) and then a research trip to Portugal over the last weekend in June. My boyfriend and I also found a group of folks who like to play Blood on the Clocktower in Peterborough, which is kind of great because we really still don't know many people around here despite living here for almost a year. They all seem very nice.

I have also been frantically revising my thesis in the hopes of submitting it in September and doing a ton of student grades this month.

It's been a crazy fast one.

Portugal was a pleasant surprise, since I didn't expect my request to get approved, but my school sent me there to research immersive theatre safety in non-English speaking contexts and I got to see A Morte do Corvo twice. The school will reimburse approximately $337.66 of the trip. The rest was an absolute ton of water, a few souvenirs, and an organised tour for most of the day on Saturday since I didn't just want to sit in a hostel and wait to go see the show in the evening.

My boyfriend and I also went to Skegness, which I later learned is the murder capital of Lincolnshire. Fortunately, we are both still alive. And the beach was really lovely. We had a very nice getaway.

Utilities were a bit high due to the quarterly water bill. Why bills are all estimates and billed in strange intervals, I will never understand here. Entertainment was actually mostly a theatre ticket to see Operation Mincemeat when the BFF comes to town next month.

Also, as though I haven't been doing this for years, I forgot to cancel one of my rewards cards before the renewal and I still haven't used any of the rewards points from it, so not my credit card hacking foot forward there. I also had a small expense to pay for some stuff for Egypt in August and, very exciting, I bought a nightstand for my bedroom. Wild times.

I do expect next month to have a kind of pricey clothes spend because I am low-key terrified of the desert in Egypt in August and I plan to buy some outfits I've been eyeing and a new pair of sandals. Like, I have about $250-300 earmarked for this project because I want to get a very nice pair of walking sandals and clothes that will be overall useful even not in Egypt. I'm hopeful it will be like the trip to Iceland where I didn't own any of the right clothes, invested like that same amount to buy the suggested items and 7 years later they are all still regularly used.

Expenses this month:

• Rent – $856.01
• Food – $527.98
• Portugal – $445.85
• Beach Vacation – $264.26
• Trains – $245.04
• Utilities – $234.60
• Entertainment – $176.63
• Taxes – $161.00
• Uber -$102.25
• Credit Card Annual Fee – $99.00
• Council Tax – $78.07
• Gifts – $74.65
• TfL – $61.93
• Charity – $59.24
• Egypt – $42.60
• Manicure – $42.00
• Home – $41.85
• Blog – $37.00
• School – $18.97
• Clothes – $17.62
• Toiletries – $7.25

Total Spending in June:  $3,593.80

Hustling

This month's income:

• Adjuncting – $1866.53
• Teaching Assistant – $702.27
• Digital Producing – $288.75
• BF Repayment – $65.49
• Dividends – $43.20
• Murder Mysteries – $41.09

Income This Month: $3,007.43

It never stops being weird to me when my expenses are higher than my income, but my net worth goes up anyway.

Goals

Onwards to the goals!

1. Max Out My Roth IRA for 2024:Done.
2. Max Out My Roth IRA for 2025: $7000 to go.
3. Max Out My HSA– $4300 to go.
4. Go to Egypt with My Boyfriend and Family: This is paid for. Vacation is in August.
5. Best Friend Summer Adventures: This is also paid for. Vacation is in July.
6. Sunshine Getaway –This is officially pushed to the fall. We are aiming for some sunshine and cocktails over a long weekend to the cheapest decent all-inclusive we can find in Europe the week after my doctoral defense – whenever that winds up being scheduled.
7. Save $1,200 for my US Car Insurance by June
8. Buy a Used Car in the UK– I currently have $10,000 in a new car account because my Toyota Matrix is on her last legs. I was saving to purchase a new car, but instead I'm looking to buy a used car in the UK after I finish my driving lessons for approximately £5,000 or less.
9. Pay for a Graduate Visa– this is going to cost around £4000 and I have $6000 left in my tuition account, so this should be good to go. We will see at the end of the year.