This year, I embarked on a Shopping Ban and allowed myself 3 exceptions. To read more about my shopping ban, please refer to this post, and this post. I will write a separate post on my first month of shopping ban, but for now, let’s move on to my spending re-cap.
Income: $3,334.00
Spending: $1,387.83
This month was over my $1,000 budget, and over my March budget! The only reason it looks like I am just over, is because BF and I didn’t actually go on our weekend away ($300), so it’s actually worse than it looks. Definitely, no reward for thrift shopping 😦
Click on any image to enlarge.
Here’s where the money went:
On or under budget
Clothes: Success! Although, I did buy a pot and some storage/organizing boxes (see Misc) below. I am not doing a “No Spending” challenge, but I need to be careful that I don’t start substituting clothes with pots and pans!
Over budget
Eating Out: This is such a weakness for me, but and as I alluded to in my spending recap, this month, I have been spending a lot of time meeting up with friends, and family over yummy food. I’m debating if I should increase my budget to $175 – $200, since that is more reasonable for me.
Electronics: Magic Bullet was a little more than I thought. No biggie.
Gifts: I decided to go out and buy a nice gift for my co-worker going on maternity leave. She is super nice, and I just wanted to show her I appreciated her kind gestures.
Groceries: I did some stocking up this month on sauces and other non perishables.
Medical: I went for 2 massages this month, and I went to see my dermatologist and refilled my prescriptions.
Misc: I bought a dutch over and some clear shoe boxes for organizing my cupboards and closets. I also renewed my allegiance to the office lottery pool.
Toiletries/Grooming: I re-filled my blotting powder, moisturizer and got myself a dry shampoo to try out. Will do a review when I get a chance!
Entertainment and Recreation: I paid for my volleyball league fee’s (again).
Transportation: I spent a little extra getting to Hamilton for a weekend trip. About $25, so that would account for the discrepancy. Must account for these things in my budget, next time!
Here is my net worth:
Spending Recap in Google Calender
When I first posted my spending recap, Investing Newbie commented
I can confidently say that there are no days that I don’t spend. I don’t know. I feel like in NYC, if you breathe, you spend about 10 bux. Maybe if I invested a bit of energy, I could actually not spend anything…
And after seeing my spending tracked on my calender, I agree completely. There were only 5 days that I didn’t spend any money. Usually those days, I’d go to work and come home. Although there were days where I spent $0.80 and still counted that as a “spending day.”
Even though, I think I like looking at the bigger picture, but all these little spending add up!
Summary:
Overall, I am okay with this month’s outcome. I went over budget, and over spent in almost every category (which is a little depressing), but I was able to stick to my shopping ban and I increased my net worth by 2%!
Note to self: budget better!
Will post a April budget and a goal recap, soon.
How was your spending in March? Did you meet your budget and goals?