Considering I worked from home for another whole month, May went REALLY fast.
I’ve been loving the warmer weather though! I’ve been walking a ton, going to the pool, sitting on my balcony…it’s lovely.
May wasn’t the best or worst month for me financially, but I did go over budget and also had some unexpected expenses come up.
Let’s get into the details.
DEBT PAYMENT/INCOME SPREADSHEET
CURRENT FICO SCORE: 763
CURRENT DEBT: $48,441.11
ROTH IRA VALUE: $3,279.38
FINANCIAL UPDATES
I put $500 to my emergency fund
Until September (when the student loan waiver ends), I have decided I want to save any money I have left over at the end of the month.
Then in September I can decide whether I want to put some of it to my student loans or keep it in my emergency fund.
I expect to have over $4,000 by then.
I discuss this in more detail in the video below:
A lot of variety in my extra income this month
I made over $500 in extra income. Most of it was from my online business ($446 – ads, course sales, affiliate sales, Etsy shop) but I also sold a few things on Poshmark and Facebook Marketplace!
Every little bit helps!
I went WAY over my grocery/food budget
May had 5 weekends in it which automatically increased my grocery purchases. However, I also got vegan pizza twice (for multiple people both time), I subscribed to Misfits Market (organic produce) and purchased razors, toilet paper, etc.
I know I say it every month, but I’m going to try again to get under $250.
My health insurance saved me over $10,000 for one incident
Long story short I chose to get the rabies vaccines after being bit by a chipmunk, which requires you to go to the ER for the first dose.
With 4 visits to the hospital my bill was over $10,000. Luckily I have really good insurance through my job and everything is going to cost me <$200 (including all the parking I had to pay).
Lesson learned.
I broke a ‘No Spend’ rule
I purchased 2 courses for a total of $19.98. They were on sale on Udemy. However, the topic is related to my online work so I am including it as a business purchase.
I also purchased new bands for my FitBit because mine broke.
SPENDING
Taxes: ($900) I put this money into my High-Yield Savings account until I have to pay taxes.
Sinking Funds: ($400) My sinking funds include car maintenance, vacation, gifts, medical/dental, and my emergency fund).
Investing: ($300) Last month I transferred my Roth IRA to Vanguard and contributed $300 so I could invest in VTSAX.
Donate: ($50) Every month I donate at least $50. This month I donated to Charlie’s Army, a cat rescue. I donated specifically to a little kitten named ‘Amber‘ who needed eye surgery (**Graphic photo).
Please donate if you can!
Rent: ($1,330) My first 15-month lease ended and I started my second year. My rent increased but because the shift happened mid-month it was a prorated amount.
Renter’s insurance: ($15.50) 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: ($55) I have Google Fiber. It was recently increased to $55 per month.
Electricity: ($61.06) My electricity bill.
Water: ($41.56) My water bill.
Food: ($388.84) This is all on groceries and food out.
Gas: ($8.74) I got gas once and haven’t been driving much.
Car: ($382.55) My minimum car payment.
Student Loan Debt: ($0) As I mentioned, student loan interest and payments are deferred right now. I decided not to put anything toward my student loans.
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.
Health: ($91.58) This includes my Ritual multivitamins ($32.40) and a visit to the Minute Clinic for my tetanus vaccine + antibiotics.
Phone bill/car insurance/Dogs: ($230) My sister 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. I pay an extra $50 to help her out with our dogs. My dad and stepmom paid off their phones so I offered my dad the $50 difference each month but he said to save it, which I’m so grateful for.
Business: ($252.96) This includes paying for Tailwind, GSuite, website security monitoring (annual), anti-spam (annual) and 2 courses.
Spotify: ($9.99)
Grow You: ($0) I cancelled my group coaching membership!
Gifts: ($40) For Mother’s day I bought both my mom and step mom Starbucks gift cards.
Amazon: ($28.86) I purchased brush head replacements for my toothbrush and 2 news bands for my FitBit because mine broke.
Parking: ($19.00) This was for 4 visits to the hospital.
Stamps: ($5.50) I don’t know why I bought 10 stamps when I really just needed one?? But I did.
Excluding my savings and debt I spent a total of $2,810.74.
As always, I upload videos every month with all this info on my Personal Finance YouTube channel!