Welcome to the second installment of the monthly money recap, where we reflect, learn, and grow from tracking our monthly expenses.
Tracking your expenses is a hill many financially savvy people will die on.
Call it a spending plan or a money management system- all households should have one.
In this post, I’m spilling the tea and sharing what my family spent in February.
Interested in reading last months Click Here
Necessary expenses:
Mortgage: $1,500
Electric: $222.70
Internet: $106.99
Gas (cars): $258.20
Groceries: $782.42
Max (🐶): $112.13
Total: $2,982.44
**Notes for the reader:
Now that we are officially on month two- let’s talk about going over budget.
I always budget $100 for our dog 🐶 Max.
This month, we went over by $12.
It was a bad mom moment because I ordered his food too late. I had to run to a local pet store to purchase a second bag until the other arrived.
And $12 is not a -make or break- your budget amount, but what do you do when you go over in a category?
You rely on your cushion: checking account cushion, that is.
A downside to zero-based budgeting is having nothing left for human error.
An error will always exist when predicting the future, which is what budgeting is.
Having a reserve in your budget for mistakes allows you to have money when things don’t go to plan.
And things will almost always not go to plan.
So think about leaving a small amount of money to lessen the blow when you forget, underestimate, or overspend in one or multiple categories.
$100 or so should suffice for most families.
Unnecessary expenses
Netflix: $16.73
Eating out: $203.66
Clothing: $137.79
Hobbies/entertainment: $35.39
Beauty/Health: $126.21 (hair appointment)
Gifts: $252.70
Coffee/alcohol: $24.77
Automotive: $10.00 (car wash)
Subscriptions:$180.87 (blue host so I can have this blog)
Travel: $1,560.90 (flights to Vegas)
Target: $103.19
Marshall’s: $64.21
Amazon: $22.98
Total: $2,739.40
Total w/o travel: $1,178.50
February was much pricier than January.
Yearly spending:
January: $3,386.17
February: $5,721.84
(excluding business expenses)
I want to point out that you don’t see any financial goals represented in our numbers. With inconsistent income we have to be more strategic about when and how much we put towards our goals.
Reflect 💭 :
February is always a higher spend month for us. The uncomfortable part is how extreme it feels compared to January. And I admit it sometimes feels like going from a win to a loss. But not spending any money is not the goal.
Feel ☺️ :
A bit more disorganized, but realizing a lot of February spending is yearly, infrequent, and worthwhile.
Wins 🏆 :
Food was the highlight of the month. We went to a wholesale store TWICE and still stayed under budget. We ate out four times last month, and $127.80 was my birthday dinner.
**Notes for the reader:
Eating out has never been a financial priority for us. But it might be for you. Eating out because you enjoy it, is different than eating out because of poor planning.
Loving 💕 :
The purchases I have been loving this month are my new sneaks!
I treated myself and got these new Blazers (I used a gift card), and my husband got me high-top Nike’s for my birthday. Yes, we are a family that still gets each other gifts 🎁. And you can see that reflected in my budget.
Clothing and material items are often the purchases we regret the most. Much of what we buy is impulsive and to fill a void. Our closets are full of clothing we dislike or don’t wear. Being able to shop for items like clothes and do it intentionally is a learned skill.
I wear sneakers every day. I work in sneakers, work out in sneakers, and in the rare event I go somewhere, I’m likely wearing sneakers 🤭.
February was nothing like January.
I got my hair done for the first time since last February. We bought flights for Vegas. It was my birthday, my sister’s birthday, and Valentine’s Day. I went to the car wash because winter is taking a beating on my car. These are all expenses that set this month apart from the last.
Let this be a lesson that it’s not about not spending. It’s about spending within your means.
Now we are heading into March and we’re nearly 10 weeks into the year. If your money goals have not gone to plan- restart. There is no shame in picking back up and trying again!
Talk soon,
Coach Sam