Goal: To share how my spending for the month of April compares to the budget I set for myself at the beginning of the month. I believe this information is valuable to share because of it provides insight into the obstacles I face during my debt-free journey and strategies I am putting into place to stay on track.
Since the pandemic has arisen I have definitely seen a change in not only my daily activities but my finances as well. When creating my April budget, I decided not to include discretionary spending in my budget. With the shelter in place order, I assumed I would spend less money on clothes and eating out so those funds could be redirected to reaching some of my debt repayment goals.
If you have not had a chance to check out my April budget you can check it out here. At the beginning of the month, I created a budget on how I was going to spend my income and now I am sharing an update on how my spending compared to my budget. Did I stay on budget or did I fall off track? Let’s find out
PSA; I have decided not to show my actual income and the number of my bills. Instead, I am sharing what percentage of my income goes where.
ESTIMATED INCOME
100%
ACTUAL INCOME
100%
My estimated income increased by 60%. For example, If I estimated I would make a $100 and it increased by 50% so I then made $150)
Budget
- Rent (37.42%)
- Renter’s Insurance (.52%)
- Car (11.32%)
- Car Insurance (4.51%)
- Groceries (3.23%)
- Personal Care (1.61%)
- Gas (.65%)
- Internet (1.61%)
- Cell phone bill (.65%)
- Savings (.65%)
- Credit card 1 payment (15.08%)
- Credit card 2 payment (22.75%)
Actual Spending
- Rent (22.8%)
- Renter’s Insurance (.31%)
- Car Payment (7.03%)
- Car Insurance (2.81%)
- Groceries (3.99%)
- Personal Care (.51%)
- Gas (0%)
- Internet (1%)
- Boost Mobile (.4%)
- Laundry (.4%)
- … (2.83%)
- Savings (22.84%)
- Credit card 1 payment (9.37%)
- Credit Card 2 payment (14.85%)
- … (2.50%)
- Adobe Creative Cloud (.43)
- Discretionary Spending (7.93%)
FINANCIAL GOALS ACCOMPLISHED
- Paid off Credit Card 1
- Paid off Credit Card 2
- Set aside $900 to go towards paying off my car
THINGS I LEARNED
- That I should always account for discretionary spending. The amount can vary but having no discretionary spending at all is unrealistic. More specifically I need to incorporate clothing into my budget. Had I not gotten a refund for my Rolling Loud ticket and AirBnb then I would have spent more money than I made.
- This month I decided to set three specific financial goals that I wanted to accomplish and this really helped to keep my morale up. My three goals were to pay off my two credit cards and put a specific amount of money in my car fund. Crossing those goals off as I accomplished them was the most satisfying feeling.
- I need to use the envelope method for my groceries and personal care. My clothing and food fund I will transfer to another debit card. The purpose of this is to ensure that I don’t overspend and have my money separated.
I hope that sharing my financial journey is useful and inspires you as you continue your financial journey. What is something that you have learned about you and your finances this month or were able to accomplish?