Since 2014, I have been tracking my monthly income and expenses. You can see a breakdown of every penny I earn and spend. For perspective, this budget is for a household of two in a small US city. By documenting my journey, I aim to demonstrate the feasibility of saving a significant portion of your income and provide some ideas and inspirations for your own budget.
Below is my income and expenses for March 2015. You can see all my monthly budgets here.
Below is my income and expenses for March 2015. You can see all my monthly budgets here.
| Mar 2015 | |
| Income | |
| Wages | $8,422.47 |
| Dividends | $1,494.19 |
| Other Income | $29.68 |
| Amazon sale | $39.04 |
| Ebay sale | $18.92 |
| Total Income | $10,004.30 |
| Expense | |
| Federal Tax | $355.56 |
| FICA-SS | $356.13 |
| FICA-Medicare | $83.29 |
| Rent | $450.00 |
| Student loan repayment | $157.49 |
| Grocery | $100.03 |
| Cell phone | $17.95 |
| Electric | $49.98 |
| Clothing/laundry | $15.75 |
| Amazon sale costs | $9.51 |
| Ebay fee | $1.00 |
| Total Expense | $1,596.69 |
| Ex-Tax Total Expense | $801.71 |
| Surplus/(Deficit) | $8,407.61 |
| Before Tax Saving Rate | 84.04% |
| After Tax Saving Rate | 91.29% |
Income
Dividend income this month was an all time high, a 31% increase from March a year ago. March tends to be a strong dividend month for me. Next month's dividend income will almost certainly be lower. Here is a chart of my dividend income by month for the last 13 months:
Expense
Expenses were typical for me this month. My dividend income covers my ex-tax total expense 1.9 times. This is good progress toward financial freedom, but still inadequate expense coverage because dividend income is variable, and the my dividend to expense ratio will almost certainly be lower in the next two months. Just as I would demand at least 5 times interest coverage by earnings for industrial stocks, I likewise would like to see at least 5 times expense coverage by dividends before I retire.
Expenses were typical for me this month. My dividend income covers my ex-tax total expense 1.9 times. This is good progress toward financial freedom, but still inadequate expense coverage because dividend income is variable, and the my dividend to expense ratio will almost certainly be lower in the next two months. Just as I would demand at least 5 times interest coverage by earnings for industrial stocks, I likewise would like to see at least 5 times expense coverage by dividends before I retire.
Savings
My after tax saving rate was 91.29% for the month of March, which exceeded my target of 90%. Going forward, I expect to meet or exceed my 90% savings goal for the year.
How's your budget? Did you save as much as you wanted to? On track to meet your savings goals for the year?
Thanks for reading.
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