My monthly Savings Rate report: April 2021

April was amazing! From both an income and expenses point of view, I achieved my best result in months. I continue the substantial savings I started in March in large part, thanks to my profit participation.
On the expenses side, my wife and I were finally able to limit our grocery bill a bit. The month changed right on time, though; on the 2nd of May, we are married one year, so that called for a celebration which of course means a higher food bill ;).

Belgian’s social system also played a massive part in April’s fantastic result. We received the growth package (Dutch: groeipakket).

What does the ‘growth package’ consist of?

1. A one-off starting amount of € 1,144.44 when your child is born.
2. Monthly amount per child (2021’s amount = €166.46)

I finally receive my dividends for all those years as a single and paying the highest taxes in the world!

Let’s sum up all those numbers. I earned €5,933.27 from my day job thanks to €2756.40 profit participation and my regular €3176.87 salary (which includes on-call).
Adding the growth package of €1144.44 gives a total of €7,097.71.

The situation for my wife hasn’t changed yet. No job, so no income. At the moment, everything is covered by one salary and thus we receive the marriage quotient.

Dividends

I received dividends this month:

• Taiwan Semiconductors (TSM) – $4.39 (~€3.67)

Home management and ownership

Another month, another downpayment and interest payment for the apartment. €815.35 in principal and €161.34 in interest.

On top of that, we bought a second-hand display cabinet since we didn’t have any sort of cabinet in the living room. My grandmother had quite a bit of closet, but as we but a 2 person sofa in the living room, we didn’t have much space left for a larger closet. We ended up getting a narrow but tall full wooden cabinet that matches the rest of the furniture perfectly.

Sewage, stickers, and keys

Besides the extra piece of furniture, we also got an extra pair of keys for the front and side door (€12.58).

While we have freshwater now, some taps still use non-drinkable water, so we got some no-drinking-water stickers for those. I saw a no-parking sticker and a new garden hose head in the store, which were some at the moment but still much-needed expenses for a total of €25.67.

Finally, we had our sewage pipes professionally cleaned. However, this was a waste of money because they didn’t do anything extra we hadn’t already done, nor did they see anything more with their camera. The cost for 30 minutes of work? €243.80! And it was useless. Luckily, my dad decided to pay for it as it was related to the existing pipes.

In the end, €283.73 left my wallet for everything related to our home and apartment.

Sports

Expenses in the sports category are simple. I brought my bike in for major repairs. Why didn’t I do it myself? I don’t have the tools for it -some are very specific- nor the time at the moment. For €235, I got:

• New rear and front gears
• New brake wires and breaks
• A new saddle
• A new backlight
• New chain

Including work hours, I consider that reasonable.

Luxury

Something happened that I never experienced before. My computer’s power supply exploded!

Nothing caught on fire, but there was smoke, and the bang was so loud my wife could hear from downstairs. Without a power supply, a computer is pretty useless, so I bought it (€122.95) within 30 minutes of it happening. Because it was before 22:30, Megekko.nl delivered it the next day before noon. Can you believe that? Less than 12 hours, and it hailed from Breda, The Netherlands. Talk about service.

Subscriptions

Besides the typical Spotify subscription (€9.99), I also paid for an extra month of Audible (€9.62), paid for my yearly Amazon Prime (€49.00) and monthly Patreon contribution (€2.26). Good for a total of €70.87 in subscriptions.

Floralia Groot-Bijgaarden

Being stuck at home for months on end isn’t healthy, so as part of our first wedding anniversary on the 2nd of May, I bought tickets for Floralia Groot-Bijgaarden, which we visited on the 29th of April (€28.00).

Finally, My cousin gave birth to a baby girl in April, so of course, we had to get her something. We got her towel for €8.90 but got a discount and only paid €4.50.

In total, we spend €226.32 on luxury.

Kids

The last big category I want to go over is ‘Kids.’ Even though our little girl is here yet, we got €118.45 worth of baby stuff.

Mind you, this is only what we bought. Of course, over the past couple of months, family and friends bought quite a bit off our baby wish list. So if you were wondering why expenses remain so low -well, besides the stroller and car seat-, this is why.

Other expenses

The rest of my expenses are limited once more. Some monthly stuff such as health insurance and family insurance—medical bills and refunds through our NHS. Finally, I went for it, and using a 40% discount code, bought Grammarly Pro for one year.
A quick summary:

• Banking – €18.04:
  • Health insurance: €10.46
  • DVV Family insurance: €7.66 + Rectification Family insurance DVV: €2.50 = €10.16
  • Beobank Cashback: €2.58
• Person – €23.70:
  • Medical bills and refunds: €19.61
  • 2 Bath bombs: €4.09
• Online business – €70.27:
  • Subscription to Grammarly Pro: €70.27

Supported by a high income of €7,097.71 this month, my remaining net income in April was €5,651.84. This gives me a Savings Rate of €5,651.84/€7,097.71 = 79.62%.

Another splendid month. Next month’s result will deviate without a doubt. Our newest family member will arrive after all. Diapers, extra clothes, medical expenses, etc. will come on top. I’m curious how we will fair.