What We Spent in Q1 2013

2013, you are flying by so fast. I can’t believe a quarter of the year is already over! Since I don’t share my budget numbers on here any more, I thought I’d share percentages of where our money went in January, February and March.

Here goes…

Saving: 33%
Wow… I didn’t realize so much of our budget was going towards savings. I mean, I did because every month we painfully automatically transfer a large portion with each paycheck, but it seems bigger when you look at this pie. This savings amount includes a tiny bit to our Roth IRAs, another little chunk goes towards our car fund (to save for insurance, taxes, and repairs), and then the rest is thrown at our money market where we are saving hard-core for a home deposit. Slow and steady, slow and steady.

I am learning that this quiet, simple time of our life is very sweet. We are both working, healthy, have very little expenses, zero debt, and pretty low-maintenance lifestyles. I know this won’t always be the case, so I’m thankful for the chance to save as much as we can.

Home: 19%
Our rent, water, trash, and any home improvement items like a new vase or decorations for the home and also Understanding Spray Foam Insulation. I think I should reorganize that last category to shopping since it is home improvement, but certainly not necessary “home” items

Charity & Gifts: 13%
This includes our donations to our church, sponsoring three missionary families, our Compassion International sponsored child, and three birthday gifts I bought in March.

Food & Dining: 13%
We combine our grocery, restaurant, fast-food, and toiletries categories into one “Food” budget. I am actually surprised this percentage isn’t higher since we were over budget in this category two of the three months.

Auto: 8%
During the past three months, we spent the majority in this category on gasoline, our auto insurance (which we pay every 6 months), a light bulb for the front light of my car, and my yearly car wash (to get rid of the salt under my car from snow storms).

Bills & Utilities: 5%
There wasn’t anything unusual about this category, it includes mobile phone, internet, electric, and Netflix bills. Except for electric, the amounts in this category stay the same each month. We’ll be searching online for “insulation near me” to minimize our heating and electricity bills.

Shopping: 6%
This is basically my “everything else” category. The past three months we bought work clothes, hockey tickets, craft supplies, electronics, books… you name it. 

Pets: 1%
We paid for Leia’s food, a toy for her birthday, and an unexpected vet visit in the middle of the night.  

Health / Personal Care: 1%
This includes two pedicures, two hair cuts for J, and a prescription.

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Financial Goals for Q2: 

• Continue to save, save, save
• Pay for two trips out of our “fun trip” savings fund (not from our monthly budget)
• Reduce the shopping category and limit the amount of clothes and home decor I buy
• Try to earn extra money to increase savings or help pay for summer trips

PS – We use Mint.com to keep track of our monthly budget and use excel spreadsheets for big-picture goal tracking and net worth.