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 are my income and expenses for February 2017. You can see all my monthly budgets here.
| Feb 2017 | |
| Income | |
| Wages | $10,296.36 |
| Dividends | $285.91 |
| Other Income | $370.96 |
| Total Income | $10,953.23 |
| Expense | |
| Federal Income Tax | $735.83 |
| Federal Tax Pmt/(Refund) | |
| FICA-SS | $427.02 |
| FICA-Medicare | $99.87 |
| Housing | $450.00 |
| Student loan repayment | $160.47 |
| Food | $108.22 |
| Car Insurance | $158.71 |
| Car Reg/Tax/Maint | $180.99 |
| Cell phone | $12.84 |
| Electric | $38.38 |
| Clothing/laundry | $8.00 |
| Ebay fee | $1.40 |
| Total Expense | $2,381.73 |
| Ex-Tax Total Expense | $1,119.01 |
| Surplus/(Deficit) | $8,571.50 |
| Before Tax Saving Rate | 78.26% |
| After Tax Saving Rate | 88.45% |
Income
Wages remain my primary source of income by far. Dividend income hit a new 3-year low.
Wages remain my primary source of income by far. Dividend income hit a new 3-year low.
Here is a chart of my dividend income by month for the past 13 months:
Total dividends for the trailing twelve months: $13,624.39, up 14% from $11,972.05 last year.
Expense
Expenses are higher this month than typical, due to transportation expenses. Car insurance was $158.71 for 6 months, up 19% from 6 months ago. The insurance agent said much greater accident claims recently caused all rates in GA to go up significantly. $180.99 is for replacement of all four tires at Walmart, net of new credit card application bonus. (The actual cost is $247.78 including installation.)
Total expenses for the trailing twelve months: $10,263.36.
Dividend to expense coverage ratio = 1.33.
Savings
My after tax saving rate was 88.45% for the month of February 2017. The extraordinary $339.70 car expenses dropped me below 90% saving rate target. I am optimistic, though, that my saving rate will get back up above 90% for the remainder of the year.
My after tax saving rate was 88.45% for the month of February 2017. The extraordinary $339.70 car expenses dropped me below 90% saving rate target. I am optimistic, though, that my saving rate will get back up above 90% for the remainder of the year.
How was your budget? Thanks for reading.
Curious to know why you don't pay off your student loan?
ReplyDeletePID,
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting. My student loan has a low interest rate of 2.4%. Investing in stocks should earn higher than that. Paying that off the low interest loan will cause me to lose money that could have been invested for a higher return.
I thought you were a big fan of debt and leverage yourself, based on a few posts I read on your blog. You know it would be unwise to pay off loans when you can invest the money for a higher return.
Kind regards,
JTF