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 November 2016. You can see all my monthly budgets here.
| Nov 2016 | |
| Income | |
| Wages | $10,061.76 |
| Dividends | $362.05 |
| Other Income | $1,305.42 |
| Total Income | $11,729.23 |
| Expense | |
| Federal Income Tax | $678.24 |
| Federal Tax Pmt/(Refund) | |
| FICA-SS | $418.24 |
| FICA-Medicare | $97.81 |
| Rent | $450.00 |
| Student loan repayment | $160.47 |
| Grocery | $112.31 |
| Cell phone | $12.87 |
| Electric | $26.49 |
| Donation | $8.00 |
| Total Expense | $1,964.43 |
| Ex-Tax Total Expense | $770.14 |
| Surplus/(Deficit) | $9,764.81 |
| Before Tax Saving Rate | 83.25% |
| After Tax Saving Rate | 92.69% |
Income
Wages remain my primary source of income by far. Dividend income dropped to a new 1-year low at $362.05. November tends to be a low dividend income for me. Next month's dividend income will most likely be much higher.
Wages remain my primary source of income by far. Dividend income dropped to a new 1-year low at $362.05. November tends to be a low dividend income for me. Next month's dividend income will most likely be much higher.
Here is a chart of my dividend income by month for the past 13 months:
Total dividends for the trailing twelve months: $12,805.92, up 9% from $11,794.81 in November last year.
Expense
Expenses are fairly typical this month. Grocery was a bit higher, but still reasonable. A $8 donation was needed to gain (or maintain) some respect at work.
Total expenses for the trailing twelve months: $9,399.00.
Dividend to expense coverage ratio = 1.36, down from all-time high due to low dividend income this month.
Savings
My after tax saving rate was 92.69% for the month of November. Other than a minor dip in April, my savings rate has been consistently above 90%. I expect to exceed my 90% savings goal this year.
