I wanted to give y’all a sneak peek into my monthly spending and savings, so here is a breakdown of my income and expenses for the month of January. I’ll be doing this at the beginning of each month, so stay tuned for more!
To give you a more complete picture, each section of this post breaks down my income, my expenses, and then my total savings. Let’s start with income:
January 2020 Income
This January was a good month for my income and my savings because it was a three-paycheck month (rather than my usual two) for my full-time job. But, the dog walking check that I received in January was a bit less than usual, since it’s actually for the walks I did in December. I took more time off dog walking in December to visit family for the holidays and for the wedding. Next month’s should be back up to between $500-$600.
Here’s the full breakdown:
Income Source | $$$ | Notes |
Full-Time Income (Salary) | $3,506.62 | Three-paycheck month! |
Deferred Retirement Savings & Match | $852.20 | |
Dog Walking | $376.43 | This is for the walks I did in the month of December. I did fewer walks than I typically do, so this is lower than usual. |
Other | $47.40 | Savings interest, cash back rewards, selling stuff online, etc. |
Total January 2020 Income: $4,782.65
January 2020 Spending
January was a pretty typical spending month for me. Some categories are a little higher than usual and some a little lower, so overall, it evens out.
It’s been great weather, so our electric bill was a bit less than usual. At the same time, I’ve been throwing extra money at my car loan the past few months to kill it off early. I should be done with that by the end of March (so it’ll be paid off two years early) and that money can all be redirected toward savings and investments.
I also bought a plane ticket for a quick trip we’re taking in February. We’re still working on cutting down our dining out costs a bit, but we managed to stick to the meal plan pretty well this month. (Stay tuned for the meal plan update, complete with recipes, later this week).
We didn’t quite do a dry January, but we did manage a slightly damp January. We drank less frequently but didn’t totally abstain.
I bought a bike and paid for the start-up costs for this blog, so those are some other one-off costs listed here.
Overall it was a pretty good month. I spent a lot of time outside, enjoyed time with friends and family, attended an Ira Glass talk, started this blog, and tried out some new restaurants and recipes. A swell start to the new year, if I do say so myself.
The chart below shows how my spending broke down. Everything with an asterisk* means that Cassie and I each pay that amount (so our total rent is $1,410 per month, but we each pay $705).
Category | $$$ | Notes |
Rent* | $705 | |
Water/Waste* | $53.65 | Our city is in the middle of overhauling the water infrastructure, so we have extra high fees/taxes along with usage costs. |
WiFi* | $32.49 | |
Electric* | $35.67 | |
Renters Insurance* | $9.71 | |
Car Payment | $634.64 | My car payment each month is only $184.64, but I’ve been paying an extra $450 each month towards the principle for the past few months so that I can just be done with it. Two more months to go! |
Auto Insurance | $77.43 | |
Gas | $45.22 | Took a trip to visit my parents one weekend, so that added an extra tank of gas. |
Groceries* | $209.19 | Includes household items and a trip to Costco where we bought a year’s worth of dish soap, floss, lint rollers, and a couple months’ worth of laundry detergent. My next post will be an overview of our meal plan from January. |
Dining Out & Entertaining | $106.04 | Hopefully next month’s will be lower. |
Fun Money & Bars | $7.46 | |
Coffee | $6.30 | |
Subscriptions & Memberships* | $40.19 | Costco membership came out this month along with our regular monthly subscriptions. |
Stuff for the House* | $81.79 | New set of sheets, new hose hookups for the washing machine, new air filters, garden supplies, and a space heater so we don’t have to heat the whole house for the few weeks it gets cold here. |
Travel | $200 | Bought a plane ticket for our trip to Pennsylvania in February. |
Insurance (Health, Dental, Life, Disability Insurance) | $96.60 | |
Health Spending | $5 | Got sick and bought some medicine. |
Work Expenses | $74.89 | Annual domain and web hosting costs for blog, as well as supplies for work and food for my staff. |
Misc. | $67.99 | I bought a bike! and little tire cap screws. |
Total Spending: $2,489.26
January 2020 Savings & Investments
I earned $4,782.65 this month, spent $2,489.26 on expenses, and the rest of my money went into various savings vehicles. So, I saved $2,293.39 this January.
Total Saved: $2,293.39
Savings Rate: 48%
Current Net Worth: $22,719.97
I’m pretty happy with how things went this month, especially since I have some savings goals that might be a bit of a stretch this year.
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