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Happy Fall!
I have SO much going on over the next 3 months and lots of big goals I am working towards.
One of my goals is to pay off my credit card debt by the end of December! I am on track to do so, but I definitely need to be saving more and making more.
I knew I would spend a lot of money in September, and I started off on the wrong foot the first weekend. I feel like every weekend of September I was spending a couple hundred.
October will be better, but this time of year I typically end up spending the most money. My sister’s birthday is in October, we host our own Thanksgiving, Christmas gifts, etc.
Like I said, I am on track but I can do better.
Anyway, let’s get to my debt and spending updates:
DEBT PAYMENT/INCOME SPREADSHEET
*This spreadsheet does not include payments for my insurance (life, health, vision, dental)*
CURRENT FICO SCORE: 692
THE GOOD NEWS
My credit score went up 1 point
I know, I know you’re tired of seeing this on the list, but I won’t stop celebrating my credit score going back up! I should be in the 700s by November or December.
I paid off $914
While the amount I paid off decreased from last month, $914 is the second highest amount of debt I’ve ever paid off.
My Bank of America Credit card is now at only $1000
Last month my goal was to get my BOA Cash Rewards card under $1000. It’s not under but it’s right at it which is pretty good!
THE BAD NEWS
I went WAY over budget on everything
My food spending was way out of control this month and so was my unnecessary spending. All of which you’ll read about below.
I didn’t make as much extra income as I wanted
Last month I made $650 in extra income. That decreased to about $250 in September. My goal was to make $800, but I didn’t even get close. I STILL need to post things for sale, I just keep procrastinating doing it. I am still trying to increase traffic to my blog, which will hopefully result in affiliate sales. And my subscribers/views on YouTube are growing, which is good for ad money and receiving sponsorships.
SPENDING
Highlighted fields are spending areas I can/should improve in!
Savings: I’m not including this in my “spending” total because it’s not actually spending. My income is not taxed, therefore I transfer $1550 from each paycheck every month into my savings. For months I was using the app Qapital which I think is great. In July I started using the app Acorns. Acorns invests your money in stock for you which I think is so cool. If you use my link to sign up you’ll actually get $5 invested for free!
Rent/Utilities: I live with my sister (and her boyfriend) so $600 goes toward the mortgage, electricity, internet, etc. $100 goes toward the money I owe her!
Food: WAY over budget here. This total is mostly groceries, but I did order food a few times here and there. A few of my grocery trips also included “healthcare” purchases such as deodorant or digestive enzymes which would really go in the health category, but I didn’t even bother to adjust that.
Gas: I drive 22 miles to and from work Monday-Friday so I have to get gas every weekend. $118-$130 is expected for gas each month.
Health: This includes my multivitamins and my gym membership. In September I also got a massage ($95 total) and I decided to try out Balance from Alaninu (about $50).
Car: My minimum payment for my 2015 Toyota Camry.
Credit Card Debt: Self-explanatory. I do still use my Bank of America credit card for the rewards, which is why the total didn’t go down as much as it could have.
Student Loan Debt: I pay $288.37 every month. Once I pay off my credit cards I will throw extra to my student loans!
Insurance: This includes vision, dental, and life insurance. I have health insurance through work on top of my salary which is really nice.
Business: This literally includes just paying for hosting/my domain for this blog and G Suite (by Google), which is $7.99 and $5 each month. This month I purchased an SSL certificate ($127) for my blog, it’s now secure! 🙂 I am also now paying for a monthly membership to Tailwind ($15).
Other: This category basically includes unnecessary spending. I wanted to break this down to exactly what I spent my money on.
Google Play – $9.99
Clothes (Alphalete leggings, work clothes/shoes, socks) – $265.61
Gifts – $131.27
Pets/Foster Kitten – $277.84
Beauty (Lush, handmade soaps at a festival) – $91.33
90 Day Planner – $36.90
Target (throw blanket, notebook, pens, razors, poster board, glue) – $76.44
Acorns app – $1.00
Some of these things I did NEED, but I also chose to purchase more expensive products. For example, I needed shampoo and conditioner, but I decided to purchase those from Lush (not cheap). I know that I could buy really cheap products and/or not shop at all but sometimes I like to buy things OK!?!
I’ve realized that including my debt payments in my total money spent is kind of doubling what I actually spent. This is because I do still charge on my credit card and end up paying it off.
So BESIDES my debt I spent a total of $2,592.91. And I paid a total of $1,240.63 toward my debt, but because of interest the actual amount paid off is $914.89. Hope that all makes sense.
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My goals for October
- Lower my interest rate for my Capital One credit card by calling them
- Spend less on myself/unnecessary items
- Make at least $500 in extra income
- Get my Bank of America credit card debt under $500
- Track my spending WEEKLY so I stay on top of my food budget (~$250)
- No going out to eat!
October should be good! That’s all for now and I’ll update in a month 🙂
