Without further ado, let’s look at January’s numbers!
Click on the thumbnails to see the full budget photos:
This PearBudget spreadsheet really makes it easy to see where I’m spending money. Also of note, some individual things like rent, insurance, etc. aren’t listed here – but are all conglomerated under “regular expenses” in the second picture.
I feel like lots of good things happened in January. I paid off my store card, made TWO payments on my other credit cards, paid off a small medical bill that showed up, put a small amount in savings, and stayed under budget in three categories. I’m inching closer to those 2015 Money Goals!
Let’s break it down!
Housecare: OVER -$3.04 – Cold weather = slightly higher electric bill. I’ll survive $3.04.
Groceries: UNDER $30.62 – I’ll take this! I’m not entirely sure how this came to be, but I’m down with it.
Dining Out: OVER -$78.26 – This is the LEAST amount I’ve been over budget in this particular category! Typically, I’m $100+ over, but something must have shifted in my brain in January. Sweet.
Car Gas: UNDER $65.00 – This makes it look like I don’t ever drive anywhere! Haha! This is not true! I’m a daily commuter (…a very short commute) and I drive pretty much everyday for other things. All thanks to lower gas prices across the country, I guess.
Miscellaneous: UNDER $8.19 – A win!
Credit Card Payments: OVER -$179.26 – This one is extremely high because I made TWO payments in January, as well as pay off the store card. However, I’m not going to be too upset about going over budget in this category, it’s all going to make those cards disappear! 🙂
How did January’s numbers come out for you? Hit your goals? Or miss big time?
*Part of Financially Savvy Saturdays on brokeGIRLrich and Simple Cheap Mom*
One more BROKE TWENTY-SOMETHING 
Nice work with the credit card payments and paying off your store card! Groceries were an issue for us last month, we’re hoping to do better in February.
Thanks so much! I like adding things to my “Debts Obliterated” list! Good luck with the grocery budget, sometimes it just gets away from me too!
Congrats on the overpayment on the credit cards! I always get really excited when my grocery bill is mysteriously low too.
Yes! Thanks! I’m stoked about double payments! I haven’t been able to do that very often in the past, so I’ll take it when I can! I’m curious to see if I can repeat staying under budget for groceries this month as well!
Yay for mysteriously low grocery bills! And gas prices too! It’s great you could “overpay” the credit card, too.
On dining out, do you feel like having a category that you consistently overspend helps you spend less overall than you would if you increased that budget category?
When it comes to dining out, I’ve actually added more to that budget category over the past few months. I haven’t really given much thought to how it affects my overall numbers. I’m mostly just trying to keep getting it lower & lower so that I can put the money to use elsewhere.