I started this month by sharing my monthly budget with my Budget for a Recent Grad Post, and I thought I would update you guys with how my budget went, what worked, what didn't, and how I adjusted my budget throughout the month. I knew that I will very soon (and very sadly) have to pay excise tax on my car, as well as an additional premium to my car insurance because I moved to a different state and am closer to a city. Those 2 items I am estimating will total to $900, which is fine since I am already living on less than half my income, so I can shoulder those costs with my income from this month without having to dip into savings. That being said, I stayed pretty tight with my budget this month, and tax returns helped me put a good chunk of extra money towards my car. Without further ado, here is the breakdown of everything I spent this month. For explanation on the budgeted numbers I have here, check out my other blog post.
Budgeted:
Rent: 775
Internet/Electricity: 75
Car Insurance: 120
Car Payment: 140
Food: 160
Gas: 60
Restaurants: 50
Subscription: 5
Miscellaneous: 115
Total: 1500
Actual:
Rent: 775
Internet/Electricity: 72.66
Car Insurance: Sinking fund: 120
Car Payment: 140 (again, I pay a lot more than this, but this is my minimum so it's what I include)
Food: 190 (took the extra $30 I needed from my restaurant budget, which I still didn't use. Not quite sure why I spent so much on groceries this month, but I already have a meal plan ready for the first half of next month to make sure that this doesn't happen again)
Gas: 20.25 (still working on getting a good number for gas, but this was filling my tank up once)
Restaurants: 0 ( can I get a pat on the back for this one, I'm proud of myself)
Subscriptions: 5
Miscellaneous: 107
- 25 - wine (needed to stalk up, you just never know when you're going to need a glass of wine)
- 32 - Pinterest Strategies book, eventually I would like to make this a solid side hustle, although I understand it's going to take a lot of time and work to get to that point, but this book seemed like a good start to try and understand Pinterest.
- 50 - Hydroflask, I haven't bought this yet, but in honor of tax returns I am going to treat myself a little, and I have been eyeing these for a long time. This is definitely not a necessity, but it's something I will use everyday and will last a long time. I also was well below in a few categories, so it's okay.
I was supposed to buy apartment stuff and clothes with this budget, but the things we need for the apartment my roommate covered with the difference between electricity (she pays) and internet/cable (which I pay). Also, my company just switched over to being casual, so now I don't need to buy more dress pants, score! This also had roll over from the previous month, and my budget for miscellaneous next month is half on this.
Total: 1,429.91
I was able to stay under budget this month. Throughout the month I do shift around to reallocate the money, but never add to the budget. I realized pretty early on that I would probably go over on groceries, so took money from my restaurant budget, a not completely necessary item, and moved it over to groceries. I really wanted to make sure I was at or below the budget for this month because of the couple expensive costs coming up. However, I have started to recognize that it's okay to splurge on things, especially when they are within my budget. There was definitely room for improvement in March, but this was only my second full month budgeting, so I'm still learning. If you have any tips and tricks, let me know. If you haven't already checked out my budget for April, check out this post.
I hope you guys enjoyed seeing my progress and let me know if you have any tips for budgeting and let me know what you think I can cut back on!
Total: 1500
Actual:
Rent: 775
Internet/Electricity: 72.66
Car Insurance: Sinking fund: 120
Car Payment: 140 (again, I pay a lot more than this, but this is my minimum so it's what I include)
Food: 190 (took the extra $30 I needed from my restaurant budget, which I still didn't use. Not quite sure why I spent so much on groceries this month, but I already have a meal plan ready for the first half of next month to make sure that this doesn't happen again)
Gas: 20.25 (still working on getting a good number for gas, but this was filling my tank up once)
Restaurants: 0 ( can I get a pat on the back for this one, I'm proud of myself)
Subscriptions: 5
Miscellaneous: 107
- 25 - wine (needed to stalk up, you just never know when you're going to need a glass of wine)
- 32 - Pinterest Strategies book, eventually I would like to make this a solid side hustle, although I understand it's going to take a lot of time and work to get to that point, but this book seemed like a good start to try and understand Pinterest.
- 50 - Hydroflask, I haven't bought this yet, but in honor of tax returns I am going to treat myself a little, and I have been eyeing these for a long time. This is definitely not a necessity, but it's something I will use everyday and will last a long time. I also was well below in a few categories, so it's okay.
I was supposed to buy apartment stuff and clothes with this budget, but the things we need for the apartment my roommate covered with the difference between electricity (she pays) and internet/cable (which I pay). Also, my company just switched over to being casual, so now I don't need to buy more dress pants, score! This also had roll over from the previous month, and my budget for miscellaneous next month is half on this.
Total: 1,429.91
I was able to stay under budget this month. Throughout the month I do shift around to reallocate the money, but never add to the budget. I realized pretty early on that I would probably go over on groceries, so took money from my restaurant budget, a not completely necessary item, and moved it over to groceries. I really wanted to make sure I was at or below the budget for this month because of the couple expensive costs coming up. However, I have started to recognize that it's okay to splurge on things, especially when they are within my budget. There was definitely room for improvement in March, but this was only my second full month budgeting, so I'm still learning. If you have any tips and tricks, let me know. If you haven't already checked out my budget for April, check out this post.
I hope you guys enjoyed seeing my progress and let me know if you have any tips for budgeting and let me know what you think I can cut back on!
Be First to Post Comment !
Post a Comment