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 February 2015. You can see all my monthly budgets here.
Below is my income and expenses for February 2015. You can see all my monthly budgets here.
| Feb 2015 | |
| Income | |
| Wages | $8,422.47 |
| Dividends | $395.11 |
| Other Income | $80.02 |
| Amazon sale | $18.26 |
| Total Income | $8,915.86 |
| Expense | |
| Federal Tax | $355.56 |
| FICA-SS | $356.13 |
| FICA-Medicare | $83.29 |
| Rent | $450.00 |
| Student loan repayment | $157.49 |
| Grocery | $58.87 |
| Gasoline | $19.14 |
| Car Insurance | $129.69 |
| Cell phone | $17.95 |
| Electric | $51.54 |
| Clothing/laundry | $15.50 |
| Amazon sale costs | $7.55 |
| Ebay fee | $1.34 |
| Total Expense | $1,704.05 |
| Ex-Tax Total Expense | $909.07 |
| Surplus/(Deficit) | $7,211.81 |
| Before Tax Saving Rate | 80.89% |
| After Tax Saving Rate | 88.81% |
Income
Savings
My after tax saving rate was 88.81% for the month of February, which is okay, although below my target of 90%. My monthly savings rate for the trailing 13 months is shown below. If I had expressed the 6-mo car insurance payment on a monthly basis, I would have exceeded my 90% savings goal, but I chose to deduct the full expense on a cash basis instead. It would make no difference to my annual savings rate either way.
Dividend income this month was lower than expected, a decreased of 2.6% from February a year ago. Here is a chart of my dividend income
by month for the last 13 months:
Expense
The only extraordinary expense for me this month was $129.69 for renewal 6-mo car insurance policy, which was a 7.7% increase from 6 months ago. All other expenses were typical. The relatively low food expense may be attributed to a short month.
The only extraordinary expense for me this month was $129.69 for renewal 6-mo car insurance policy, which was a 7.7% increase from 6 months ago. All other expenses were typical. The relatively low food expense may be attributed to a short month.
Savings
My after tax saving rate was 88.81% for the month of February, which is okay, although below my target of 90%. My monthly savings rate for the trailing 13 months is shown below. If I had expressed the 6-mo car insurance payment on a monthly basis, I would have exceeded my 90% savings goal, but I chose to deduct the full expense on a cash basis instead. It would make no difference to my annual savings rate either way.
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.
