Budget Breakdown

First, let’s do a recap of how things went in February.  

February 2020 Budget Recap

Where I overspent:

Groceries

Budgeted Amount: $200

Actual Spent: $221

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Where I spent less than allocated:

Auto Gas	Budgeted Amount: $150	Actual Spent: $0
Dry Cleaning/Shoe Repair	Budgeted Amount: $90	Actual Spent: $60
Pocket Change	Budgeted Amount: $120	Actual Spent: $114
Orthodontist	Budgeted Amount: $425	Actual Spent: $230
Ooma	Budgeted Amount: $17	Actual Spent: $16.55

A couple of notes on where I overspent and spent less than allocated:

• Auto Gas: The way I managed to not spend a penny on gas for this month was that: (1) someone filled my tank for me and (2) I haven’t really been going anywhere. I had some gas left over from January, which carried into February. Then, Jameson took me out in February and, without any solicitation on my part, filled up my tank for me. Since I’ve been working from home for the most part, and working with clients who don’t require in-person meetings, the gas that he put in the car for me lasted for the remainder of the month. Nice, right?!
• Orthodontist: I hadn’t been to the orthodontist in 5 years. I’ve been using the same retainers I’ve had for all of that time. Recently, my bottom retainer cracked. So, I finally made an appointment to see my orthodontist, have him look at my retainers, and get me a new bottom (and possibly top) retainer. The amount I budgeted contemplated me getting 2 new retainers. At my visit, he said I only needed to replace the bottom one that had split.
• Ooma: Yes, I still have a home phone. I don’t trust these cell phones completely. I need back up.

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I’ve written here about what I do with what I don’t spend in each budget category.  What I plan to do this month, however, is to finally address the water heater issue I discovered months ago. My water heater is on its last leg and has been so for awhile. With the $8,600 HOA assessment I had to pay recently, I decided to wait on getting a new water heater installed until I crossed the bridge of the HOA assessment. With the money that I put into a sinking fund for home repairs (including the HOA assessment), and the excess funds that have been accumulating in my checking account (when I underspend in budget categories), I am able to pay for the water heater this month.

March Budget Breakdown

Like I did with February, I’ve based the March budget on income of $9,000. 

I use Dave Ramsey’s EveryDollar software to do my monthly budgeting. Instead of using the premium version (EveryDollar Plus), I use the free version. The free version doesn’t connect with your bank and credit accounts, so this forces me to manually capture every single amount spent each month. I really want to connect with my numbers, instead of being able to simply drag and drop imported expenditures.

According to the summary of spending that appears in EveryDollar, here’s how the percentages of planned spending breaks down for the month:

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You’ll see that:

• 18% of the budget is going toward giving (tithe) and savings
• 16% is going toward housing
• 44% is going toward debt

The debt percentage isn’t completely accurate, since my 2 mortgages that appear in the housing category are debt.

In the health, wellness and grooming category, the largest expense is a projected dentist visit. I’m due for my semi-annual cleaning and I also will purchase more whitening solution. My teeth are a big deal to me, so, every 2 years or so, I buy more whitening solution for the whitening trays I bought about 5 years ago.

I just made the second half of the payment due for that beast of an HOA assessment. So, now I’ve got those funds I was saving each month (between $1,000 and $1,500) to apply to my budget. I view this as money that should now go to my debt snowball. If I was able to find that kind of money in the budget in order to pay for the HOA assessment, why can’t I find it in order to “pay myself” in my freedom journey? 

This month, I increased the amount I’m saving toward my 2020 taxes. Last month, I allocated $500. For March, I’ve increased that to $700. Again, this is me being proactive in preparing to address the tax bill that I’m likely to have for my 2020 tax liability. 

I’ve stated that I pay myself from my business via two different forms of income – W-2 employee income and owner distributions. With the W-2 employee income, taxes are automatically withheld through the payroll system I use (ADP). The distributions, however, don’t include withholding. So, I need to be prepared to pay whatever taxes I owe when it’s tax filing time. 

I’m glad to have that HOA assessment out of the way and that I can now allocate more funds to my debt snowball.

How are things looking for you for March? 

Last month was a good month. I had one budget surprise, but, otherwise, things went pretty well. 

January 2020 Budget Recap

Where I overspent:

Groceries	Budgeted Amount: $200	Actual Spent: $221
Doctor Visit	Budgeted Amount: $0	Actual Spent: $80
Do It Scared	Budgeted Amount: $15	Actual Spent: $25

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Where I spent less than allocated:

Gas	Budgeted Amount: $175	Actual Spent: $108
Dry Cleaning/Shoe Repair	Budgeted Amount: $90	Actual Spent: $31
Pocket Change	Budgeted Amount: $100	Actual Spent: $68
Chicago Trip	Budgeted Amount: $450	Actual Spent: $341

A couple of notes on where I overspent and spent less than allocated:

• Doctor Visit: This was the surprise expense. Though I knew that I had appointments to see both my general medicine practitioner and my gynecologist, I didn’t expect to have to make any payments for either visit. Under my insurance plan, when you go for the purpose of an annual, preventative exam, no co-pay needs to be paid. What I learned when I got to my general practitioner’s office, however, is that if you discuss anything other than what is related to the annual exam, there will be a fee. If you get a prescription filled (for me it is Albuterol because I’m a mild asthmatic), you’ll pay a fee. So, anything at all that goes beyond the limited scope of an annual exam will push the visit from being an unpaid one into a paid one.
• Do It Scared: This is a subscription program by Ruth Soukup, the woman who created the Living Well Spending Less Planner. When you purchase the Planner, you are given a 30-day free trial of the program – a program designed to help you crush the goals you’ve set out to achieve. I didn’t engage in the program enough during the initial 30-day trial, so I wanted to try it for an additional month to learn more about it and see if I found it to be valuable to me. When I registered for the program online, the sales materials stated that the monthly fee was $15. Once in the program, however, I found that they charged me $25.
• Chicago Trip: The Chicago trip was made to support my friend in her graduation from a coaching program and to celebrate her birthday. She paid for my plane ticket as well as our hotel room, however, I budgeted to have travel money and to be able to get her something for her birthday. For her birthday dinner, she chose a super sexy Asian restaurant, Tao (loved it!). The restaurant serves in a family-style manner. Though there were 7 of us who ate, we only split the bill 3 ways because there was one couple there and my friend’s minor son and twenty-something Goddaughter were there. My friend wanted to pay for her son and Goddaughter, but the rest of us didn’t feel that appropriate for the circumstances. So, myself, and two other people (the married couple counted themselves as 1 person) split the $519 bill. I also paid for parking, for lunch for me and my friend’s son and an appetizer at an event for me and my friend. I’m glad that I budgeted enough to accommodate whatever she decided to do. I’m delighted that I came in under budget on that item.

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I’ve written here about what I do with what I don’t spend in each budget category. 

February Budget Breakdown

I’ve based the February budget on income of $9,000. 

I use Dave Ramsey’s EveryDollar software to do my monthly budgeting. Instead of using the premium version (EveryDollar Plus), I use the free version. The free version doesn’t connect with your bank and credit accounts, so I am intentionally forcing myself to really connect with my numbers, instead of being able to simply drag and drop imported expenditures. This forces me to manually capture every single amount spent each month. 

According to the summary of spending that appears in EveryDollar, here’s how the percentages of planned spending breaks down for the month:

I’ve got a lot that has to get done this month and, as a result, the budget is higher than last month. One would think that the increase in the amount available for the budget would automatically translate into a larger amount being paid toward my debt snowball. It doesn’t. 

Note that I don’t have any funds allocated to a “Romance” category, even though Valentine’s Day is this month. I do have Valentine’s Day plans, however, I don’t have what I would consider to be a Valentine – at least not one on which I will be spending any money.

The increase in the budget will be used toward (1) taxes for 2020 and (2) medical expenses. I’m looking at spending an additional $1,200 between the taxes and the health-related costs. Saving $500 toward taxes is me being proactive in preparing to address the tax bill that I’m likely to have for covering my 2020 tax liability. 

I’ve stated that I pay myself from my business via two different forms of income – W-2 employee income and owner distributions. With the W-2 employee income, taxes are automatically withheld through the payroll system I use (ADP). The distributions, however, don’t include withholding. So, I need to be prepared to pay whatever taxes I owe when it’s tax filing time. 

It’s a short month, so I need to make every day count. How are things looking for you for February?