March Budget Review

I feel like I’m writing these budget reviews a lot more often than I truly am. That just goes to show how fast these months are flying by. We officially made it through the first quarter of the year and I hope everyone is still rockin their annual goals. You can check out my first quarterly update on my goals here.

On a side note, I’m sharing my journey toward saving half of my income after taxes on Frugal Portland today, so my budget reviews are going to become even more valuable as I strive to increase my savings rate.

If you’re new here, I post my monthly spending, saving, and debt payments to increase my budgeting skills and be accountable for my goals. I split a few living expenses with my bf like rent, groceries, and household toiletries, but we’re happy with keeping separate finances for now. I also like to post my highs and lows for the month to highlight the good and the bad and make changes for future months.

Highs

I got new tires this month. It was pretty costly as you could imagine, but I’ve been saving up for them for several weeks so I had plenty of time to prepare financially. My tires were going downhill fast and safety on the road is a priority for me. I found out about a great rebate program by looking online and the auto shop was happy to give me the information to receive a $40 mail-in rebate for my tires. Since the process took so long, the store manager gave me a free oil change coupon to use the next time I came in. Ask and you shall receive 🙂

I was searching on Groupon and found a great deal pertaining to my staycation. The deal included 4 all day passes to an indoor water resort along with 4 arcade passes and a $10 food credit all for $55. For some reason Groupon didn’t charge me any tax so it comes out to just $13.75 per person. Frugal luxury entertainment at its best. I just couldn’t pass up a chance to take a day trip to hang out at a water resort all day and it’s only about an hour away from my house

All the sacrifice and saving is paying off because my emergency fund is finally getting up there. I should be meeting my goal of a solid financial cushion in a few months so I can use the rest of the year to focus on paying off my debt.

Lows

Initially I had a plan to file my taxes for free in March but when it fell through I got anxious and went with a paid service instead. I could’ve been patient and waited to file my taxes another day or ordered some type of software but I’d already been waiting for weeks and settling for a convenient option got the best of me Silly I know, and a bad PF blogger move on my part but I can’t hide from my misjudgements

I feel like know that my numbers seem off this month, and that’s because I suspect ‘missing money’ that didn’t get counted in my budget somehow. I think the confusion stems from the fact that I have been putting money aside to save for short term goals like funding my staycation and getting new tires. Then when I pay off my credit cards each month and spend the money I saved for a short period of time, it messes with my overall numbers since I didn’t actually earn the money that month (if that makes sense, confusing I know).But I’m heavily leaning toward developing a zero sum budget so I can pinpoint my spending categories better. I definitely think it’s time.

Onto The Budget

Living Expenses/Utilities/Other Bills
Rent: $315
Fuel: $165.05
Groceries: $150
Household Toiletries: $15
ComEd: $80
HealthShare: $131
My Phone: $12
Daycare: $212
Gym: $14
Bed Payment: $25 (Read more about Ray and I’s decision to purchase our Tempurpedic bed here)
Credit Cards from last month: $129
Auto Expenses: $43.03

Entertainment/Misc.
Movie Theatre:$8.90
Friend’s Birthday: $35
Dining Out: $49.44
Easter Items: $14.40
Water Resort Groupon: $55
Gifts: $43.29
Clothes: $0 (Month 2 of my 6-month shopping ban is complete)

Debt Payments/Savings
Car Note: $300
Student Loans: $140
Emergency Fund: $250
Car Savings: $0 Got new tires instead
Insurance Payment: $60

Professional Development
$182

Total: $2,429.11

How did your budget go for March?