Oh man, I know February is the shortest month, but it flew by!
Since this is my first month sharing budget categories, I am going to share my goals for March and go over some things we struggled with in February. At the end of March, I will post our spending in every category and highlight places we can work on.
What happened in February?
One of the reasons I’m hesitant to outlay all of our spending in February is because it was a very unusual month in terms of budgeting for us. In December, I had an ileostomy for Crohn’s Disease, and in February, I had the ileostomy reversed. What does this mean for our budget? I spent a lot of time in hospitals, we spent a lot of gas driving to hospitals (why is the best doctor always far away?), and I spent a lot of money treating myself because I was in pain. Lastly, my amazing mom came out to help with the recovery, and we spent a pretty penny (or 28,000 of them) taking her out to a wonderful dinner in our appreciation.
In terms of numbers:
- We contributed $1324.61 to retirement accounts, less than usual, but there was an error in my pay and I was not paid for a week of February, which will be corrected this month.
- Our worst category was restaurant spending, with total spending nearing $560. The monthly goal for this category is $200, which I’m realizing may be unrealistic for us.
- Our victory this month was our grocery category! We budget $400 every month, and this month came in at $288.48! This is incredible! Maybe it’s because I spent so much at restaurants instead… but it was amazing. I am hoping to plan an efficient meal plan through March and see if I can keep some awesome momentum while reducing restaurant spending.
March Goals
- Find a way to share my budget more effectively. I have nearly 60 categories in YNAB, and I’m sure you don’t care about all of them, but some of them are important (they’re all important to me).
- Reduce restaurant spending to under $300. I think this aligns with our actual spending more honestly, and we can take baby steps toward getting it where I want it to be at $200 per month.
- Meet our retirement savings contributions of $1600/month. We can totally do this, since I’m going back to work. We are also planning to contribute $600 as a 2016 contribution to a Traditional IRA in order to receive the Saver’s Credit, so we might hit closer to $2100 in contributions, especially since I will receive 3 paychecks this month.
As a sidenote, I count TSP contributions toward our savings for the month they are deposited, not the month they represent. February’s contribution is from January’s pay, but was deposited into the TSP on February 2nd. I have increased March’s TSP contribution to 30% of pay (from 27%), but the it won’t go in the account until April.
Lastly, if you haven’t filed your taxes yet, check into the Saver’s Credit. Depending on your income levels, it’s a great reward for saving for retirement.
Here’s to an awesome month, financially and otherwise, for all of us!
