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 2016. You can see all my monthly budgets here.
| Mar 2016 | |
| Income | |
| Wages | $8,676.82 |
| Dividends | $1,798.17 |
| Other Income | $1,085.16 |
| Total Income | $11,560.15 |
| Expense | |
| Federal Tax | $329.38 |
| Federal Tax Pmt/(Refund) | |
| FICA-SS | $371.89 |
| FICA-Medicare | $86.97 |
| Rent | $450.00 |
| Student loan repayment | $159.53 |
| Grocery | $58.44 |
| Car Reg/Tax | $27.99 |
| Cell phone | $12.90 |
| Electric | $37.24 |
| Clothing/laundry | $8.00 |
| Total Expense | $1,542.34 |
| Ex-Tax Total Expense | $754.10 |
| Surplus/(Deficit) | $10,017.81 |
| Before Tax Saving Rate | 86.66% |
| After Tax Saving Rate | 93.00% |
Income
Dividend income hit an all time high at $1,798.17 this month. March tends to be the strongest month in terms of dividends for me. This month's dividends will most likely be more than dividends for the next 2 months combined. Wages remain my primary source of income by far. Here is a chart of my dividend income by month for the past 13 months:
Dividend income hit an all time high at $1,798.17 this month. March tends to be the strongest month in terms of dividends for me. This month's dividends will most likely be more than dividends for the next 2 months combined. Wages remain my primary source of income by far. Here is a chart of my dividend income by month for the past 13 months:
Total dividends for the trailing twelve months: $12,182.74
Expense
Car expense went up this month due to oil change for $27.99. All other expenses are typical.
Car expense went up this month due to oil change for $27.99. All other expenses are typical.
Total expenses for the trailing twelve months: $9,409.87.
Dividend to expense coverage ratio = 1.29. If this ratio gets above 3, I would be comfortable retiring. If it gets above 5, retirement relying on dividend income would pretty much be bullet proof. I still have a long way to go.
Savings
My after tax saving rate was 93% for the month of March, which is a great. I have now maintained 13 consecutive months of above 90% saving rate. I expect to meet or exceed my 90% savings goal this year. Maybe I need to start setting a higher target, but 90% is a nice round number and it is good enough for me.
Savings
My after tax saving rate was 93% for the month of March, which is a great. I have now maintained 13 consecutive months of above 90% saving rate. I expect to meet or exceed my 90% savings goal this year. Maybe I need to start setting a higher target, but 90% is a nice round number and it is good enough for me.
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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