Hello May!
April flew by and was quite a productive and positive financial month for me. It feels good to have a debt pay-off plan and it has become like a game to me to see how much I can pay off each month.
I’ve learned a lot through this journey.
DEBT PAYMENT/INCOME SPREADSHEET
Current FICO Score: 748
Current Debt: $62,605.65
Roth IRA Value: $1,852.72
THE GOOD NEWS
My credit score increased significantly
Last month I shared that I paid off the last $1600 on my credit card. With my utilization rate now at 0%, my score jumped over 20 points! I’m so excited that it’s back up this high again. This also helped me with my next good news.
I refinanced my car
I purchased a used Toyota Camry (2015) in June of 2018. At the time my credit score was fairly low and I had recent negative marks on my credit history due to my name being on someone else’s car loan, whom was missing payments. My dad co-signed on my car and my interest rate was 6.79% with Ally Bank. My original plan was to pay off my car by December of 2019, but I recently realized that Ally bank doesn’t allow principal only payments. Last month I went to Associated Credit Union to apply, and got a refinance for 3.85% and 48 months! That is SO much better and should save me at least $1200 over the long run.
I put an extra $1,000 to my student loans
Since I refinanced my car, it is no longer the loan with the highest interest rate. I have 7 student loans that have a higher interest rate, so I decided I would put extra toward those before my car. I’ve never made an extra payment to my student loans, so an extra $1K felt kind of exciting. It’s definitely just a drop in a bucket, but it already is saving me some money on interest!
My groceries were well under budget
I’m not sure how this happened but I barely spent $250 on food/groceries! I guess over the last few weeks I’ve been opting for more whole food options, not so many vegan meats and such. I was really excited about this though because if you read my monthly updates, then you know I’m very rarely under budget.
THE BAD NEWS
My taxes were returned
My income from my full time job is not taxed so I have to make estimated payments. Well, I paid my estimated taxes in 2018, however, I failed to correctly report all of my income when I actually filed my taxes. Therefore, they returned all of the tax payments I made. I have amended my taxes now (with a professional) so I should be good to go!
SPENDING
Savings/Sinking Funds: ($1483.95) I’m not including this in my “spending” total because it’s not actually spending. $180 went to my sinking funds which I’m SO GLAD I’m doing (I use Qapital for sinking funds), and BOA automatically transfers some of my money to my savings for me. I transferred $1350 for my full-time taxes and about $128 for my side hustle taxes into my Marcus by Goldman Sachs savings account.
Investing: ($100) I automatically invest $100 into my Roth IRA each month.
Donate: ($50) Every month I want to donate at least $50. This month I donated to Farm of the Free. An amazing non-profit farm that is home to many rescued cows, pigs, chickens, goats, etc.
Rent: ($1,316) The cost of my one bedroom one bath apartment near Atlanta, GA!
Renter’s insurance: ($16.66) I am required to have renter’s insurance for my apartment.
Trash: ($35) Valet trash is mandatory at my apartment. Dumb, I know.
Wi-fi: ($50) I have Google Fiber. It is $50 a month.
Electricity: ($49.19) My electricity bill without use any heat or air at all for the month.
Water: ($14.76) I wasn’t expecting it to be this low! I’ll take it.
Food: ($255.90) Last month I decided I would increase my food budget, and then I somehow didn’t pay much at all! I just was eating more whole foods, which are a lot cheaper.
Gas: ($38.92) I got gas twice this month but didn’t drive as much.
Health: ($32.40) This is the price of my Ritual multivitamins.
Car: ($315.73) My minimum payment for my 2015 Toyota Camry is $315.73.
Student Loan Debt: ($1,288.37) I pay $288.37 every month. This month I was able to put an extra $1000 toward one of my student loans and it was pretty exciting!
Credit Card Debt: ($0) Still credit card debt free 🙂
Insurance: ($147.15) This includes vision, dental, and life insurance. I have health insurance through work on top of my salary which is really nice.
Business: ($887.34) This includes paying for hosting/my domain for this blog and G Suite (by Google), which is $12.99 and $5 each month. I also pay for a Tailwind membership ($14.99). I also finally bought a new camera! I’ve been saving all of the money I make from my side hustles, so all of the money used for it came from that! To me, this is an investment and definitely something I can write off in my taxes next year.
Google Play: I pay $9.99 to listen to any music ad free.
Lor (Phone bill/car insurance): ($220) Lor = my sister. She pays my phone bill so I pay her for that. I also pay for my dad and step mom’s phone bills because my dad pays for my car insurance…the costs basically equal out. That will be about $220 each month.
Other: ($521.74) This category basically includes unnecessary spending. I wanted to break this down to exactly what I spent my money on.
Books from discount store – $25.35
LUSH (my signature perfume is from here) – $56.52
Tanning oil – $16.97
Amazon (vegan collagen pills and tooth brush heads) – $45.94
Flight to Miami (in August) – $104.60 (-$61.11 because I used my CO rewards!)
Living room rug (Overstock) – $138.77
Balcony furniture and rug (Overstock) – $194.70
Excluding my savings and debt I spent a total of $3,644.90.
Let’s review my April goals
- Put an extra $1000 toward my car loan CHECK
- Make over $600 from Mediavine NOPE, $466 though!
May Goals
- Put an extra $250 to my student loans
- Spend less than $250 on groceries
- Make over $600 from Mediavine