Welcome To Our November Personal Budget Report!
It’s time for our November Personal Budget Report. This month actually went pretty well even though we had Thanksgiving and some more unexpected setbacks.
Big changes might be on the horizon for Problems and Projects! But I don’t want to give too much away just yet.
We actually finally reached our goal of saving up enough money to get Mr. P&P living on last month’s income. However, this money will likely be used in other ways in December. As I said, big changes could be ahead!
So, let’s look at last month’s earning, spending, and saving!
Check out these links to see previous Budget Reports!
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Why Create A Monthly Budget Report
The first real budget I set was back in 2014 when I was making A LOT less money than I am today. I had been idling along for years in my retail service job, scraping by from paycheck to paycheck, and making very little headway. Way back then, it wasn’t even debt reduction or budgeting that got me interested in getting my finances under control. An interest in prepping lead me there.Â
In learning about preparedness, I began to realize that if there were ever an emergency, I was going to be out of luck. There was no savings to speak of, cash or otherwise. Stocking up was out of the question. The debt I had accrued was taking up all my expendable income and then some, probably. I thought I was okay with money, but it turned out, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. At best, I was JUST okay. So, I started to research.Â
I probably learned about every system under the sun. Cash envelope systems, spreadsheets, percentages and ratios… There was so much to absorb. I made a lot of mistakes. To be honest, I still do. But I did find a system that worked for me, and it made a difference almost instantly. In finally creating a physical budget, I could see that my money was being wasted all over the place. It was no wonder I couldn’t catch up.Â
If there were only one takeaway I could share, it’s this. You do, in fact, need to set a budget and put it on paper! Yes, technology counts as paper here!
Why Am I Sharing My Spending And Earnings?
Simply put, it helped me when others showed me what they were doing. I can only hope that sharing my own monthly budget report can help others out there who aren’t sure where to start.Â
I also think it’s really important that we talk about money. Like, as a society. The secrecy and shame surrounding spending makes it so much harder to figure out a system that works for you. There should be less fear of judgement and failure around money. If I can contribute to expanding the conversation, I want to!Â
Now that I have a child, I am realizing she learns so much by watching me. The best way for me to set her up for success is by showing her what’s out there and how it could be handled. It might not have taken me until I was almost 30 to realize I didn’t actually know what I was doing if there had been more conversations about healthy spending going on around me.
A Few Details Before We Start
Everyone budgets a little differently. There’s not really a right or wrong way. Just what works. Mr. P&P and I don’t track our budgets exactly the same way. But we’re working on getting there.
For a little consistency on our budget report, I’ll calculate monthly spending based on purchases made during the calendar month.Â
As for income, I work on a zero based budget using last month’s income. Basically, this means that all the money I earn this month is budgeted and spent next month. It’s an absolute life saver, especially if money is tight or inconsistent. Having the ability to borrow from my future self has saved my life a few times! Want to learn more? Check out this post where I break down how and why I budget this way!
Mr. P&P is still budgeting the current month’s income, so we do a little of both. Since most of our income is salary, this really only effects extra earnings and rental income.
We actually finally hit our savings goal and scraped together all the money we needed to navigate getting Mr. P&P a month ahead. But with two staph outbreaks, a hospitalization, our furnace and hot water going out, a water timer control explosion, another rat infestation, and the drywall in our garage falling down, we’ve had it.Â
Big changes are in the works, and they will impact our budget and money goals for the immediate future.Â
Don’t worry. When everything starts coming together, we will definitely keep you updated on what’s changing and how we’re making it work!
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November Budget Income Report- $6,499.07
This is money that was earned during the month of October. It’s way lower than average because we’re still having timing issues with our rental property. I’m proud of the fact that we made everything work despite these issues. Thank goodness for budgeting.
- Teacher Salary – $6,952.63Â This includes both teacher salaries after the automatic withdrawal of taxes and health insurance.Â
- Rental Income Property –Â -$453.56Â Our first home was a townhouse we paid under $100,000 for in good condition, which is unheard of in today’s market. When we bought The Pit, we decided it was better to keep the town home as rental income rather than sell it to put money toward the new house. We stand by this choice even despite the problems with this home! This is the money we receive after paying any management and repair fees. You’re not seeing things. That’s a negative number! Our payment this month was super low. I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re working on a plan to stabilize this income a little more.
- Extra Income Deposited – $0Â Nothing this month
- Extra Income Paid in Cash – -$170Â Nothing brought in this month. We did use some of the cash we earned this summer to help pay for the repairs to our furnace. It went out at the end of October when we had freezing temperatures. Since I don’t budget this cash in, it won’t effect our spending or income on this report.
November Budget Spending Report - $6,572.31
We actually did pretty well with our spending, considering all the issues we had this month. This makes me feel better about our ability to keep spending reigned in, especially because I think money’s about to get tight around here!Â
We also received the bill for Mr. P&P’s hospital visit at the end of October. It’s not great, and we can’t pay it right now. Sadly, it will need to be added to our debt totals until we can chip away at it.
We were able to deal with the furnace issues without too much damage. Mr. P&P was also able to fix a problem with the hot water heater, so no payment there. Â
Monthly Living Expenses - $3,516.91
This budget report category includes typical monthly expenses that come out of our budget basically every month. These are our “basic living” expenses that we need to pay in order to get through the month.
- Mortgage – $1,642.30Â This includes our payment, interest, taxes, and insurance on The Pit. We have stopped contributing extra principal toward our mortgage as we navigate upcoming changes.
- Utilities – $466.43Â This covers the electricity, gas, water, sewer, and pest control services. The Pit has regular problems with spiders, mosquitoes, and rats, making pest control an essential service! We did cancel the mosquito service for now. It’s cold enough outside that the mosquitoes are more manageable.
- Daycare – $600.00 Paid during the school year only. We are fortunate to know an incredible lady who provides services for teacher’s kids at a very affordable rate. Baby Girl loves going!
- Car Payment – $234.35 On top of the home issues this summer, Mr. P&P’s 14 year old car died right in the midst of everything. The car seat doesn’t fit in mine, and we were basically living in a hotel, so we were stranded. We purchased a used car through Hertz Rentals because we knew it would be maintained, and their process is very straightforward. But we didn’t have the cash saved up after foundation repair, so we had to finance. I am still driving my paid off sub-compact. Â
- Gas, Toll, and Other Transportation Expenses – $88.75Â This covers gas for both cars. My toll tag also renewed this month.
- Car Insurance –Â $111.00 We decided to start setting aside money each month to cover insurance renewal. It will actually need to be paid in December, so setting some aside will help cover some of that expense. After this month, we will contribute to this category every month as a sinking fund. This way, the money is available next summer when we need to pay our premiums again.
- Groceries – $374.08 I am super proud of this! We were actually a little under budget. Spending stayed nice and low even though we bought a turkey and ingredients for two dishes at Thanksgiving. Our family does holiday meals potluck style and everyone contributes some food to the meal.
Debt Expenses - $1,347.13
This is money we spend in order to pay down previously existing debts and any expenses or debt we have as a result of those debts. Just look at how much money we’re giving away every month!
- Student Loans – $747.13Â Ouch. No accidental extra payments this month, though!
- Debt Repayment – $598.00Â We still just paid off the minimums while we saved up this month. Fortunately, we’re not accruing any interest right now thanks to balance transfers. We need to start picking up the pace, though. Those offers start to expire this summer, and we haven’t made much progress!Â
- Fees and Charges – $2 I haven’t been very organized lately, so I might have made a payment on my card a day late…Â
Other Recurring Monthly Expenses - $293.32
These budget report expenses happen every month, but they are not absolutely vital spending categories! This is the stuff we could get rid of and survive if we needed to.
- Phones – $77.30Â The cost of both cell phones. We don’t have a land line. Last month’s payment was really high. This is more like it.
- Digital Media, Streaming, and Internet – $95.24 This covers our internet, Netflix, and Hulu accounts. We’ve never paid for cable, and with so many options, we don’t plan to!
- Rock Climbing Gym – $75.78Â Â We love rock climbing together! This pays for our family membership plan. Since we haven’t gone in a while, we’ll be looking into (hopefully) temporarily freezing our membership to save some cash.
- Monthly Renewals – $45.00Â We each have some subscription boxes for various hobby interests throughout the year.Â
Variable Spending - $1,141.95
These are expenses we may or may not have every month. They are somewhat unpredictable and variable.Â
- Health Care – $86.98  This covers the cost of prescriptions for Mr. P&P’s infection, some vitamins, and OTC care for Baby Girl, who caught a bad cold this month and might be teething again.
- Home Improvement – $130.00Â We actually paid for our furnace repairs with cash on hand, which I don’t pull from our budget. However, it took a couple of people to actually find the issue, so this was the cost of having the furnace and gas lines looked at. We didn’t have the cash on hand to cover this part.
- Home Expenses – $21.28Â We needed laundry detergent and some other basics. We also bought rat traps and poison, but they were covered by a gift card.
- Dining Out – $81.41Â Still higher than we’d like to see on average, but better than we were doing before! We had a couple of meals out after some doctor visits. I also stress ate a hot fudge sundae after a couple of particularly tough school days.Â
- Blog Expenses – $0Â I didn’t make any blog purchases this month.
- Baby Expenses – $7 I bought Baby Girl a book at the Book Fair at my school.
- Classroom Spending – $4.32 My students earned a PJ and Movie Day during our school fundraiser. This was the cost to rent the movie on Hulu.Â
- Digital Streaming/Media $0 Nothing this month.
- Gifts – $0Â Nothing this month.
- Hobbies and Entertainment – $0 Between medical issues and a naturally busy time of year, we didn’t have much energy for going out!
- Other Spending – $81.23 I simultaneously ran out of shampoo, conditioner, and moisturizer. Mr. P&P needed pants. Then, I finally found a good price on barefoot minimalist shoes through Xero Shoes during Black Friday. Minimalist shoes are the only ones that don’t kill my knees after having Baby Girl, and I’ve been looking since our No Spend Month in September.
- Savings – $1,002.73Â This isn’t really savings, but we’re putting it here. One big goal this month was to get Mr. P&P living on last month’s income. I feel pretty good about this considering the holiday and the $400 income loss this month. With this additional savings, we hit our goal with a little to spare! Of course, now that life might be changing, most of this money will probably be marked for another purpose. Then, we’ll have to start saving up again.Â
Budget Goals Progress
This month was considerably better than last month in terms of stress. Things still didn’t go according to plan. They never do in The Pit. I’m happy about or progress, though. It took us a total of three month’s to save up the total Mr. P&P would need to get started living on last month’s income.Â
We’ll have to add to our medical debt totals. The plan will probably change a whole lot in the coming months. But that’s life, isn’t it? We make a plan, make some progress, and then things change. That’s cool. I can change with them. New plans are in the works, and I’m excited to see what comes next!
What Does The Future Hold?
Facing your financial burdens head on does not feel good, but it is important if you want to grow. You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know it exists. My situation is probably fairly common. Our income is pretty good. We have a lot of debt, but not as much as we could. Many of you might be in a similar situation. Some might be better off, and some might have a longer road ahead. No matter where you are, figure out what you’re starting with so you can decide where you’re going.
If you need help getting started, well, that’s what I’m here for. Check out this recent post that will give you a step by step guide to help you make a plan and get out of debt.
We longingly dream of the day we can say we are entirely debt free! I don’t know if that day will come, but why not dream big? Today, our goal is to make progress. But someday, we want to have as much control as possible over how we use our money. So, I’m giving you a breakdown below of our major debt goals and monthly progress. Who doesn’t love a good bar graph?
All totals except the credit cards go back to the original loan amounts, and the credit card total comes from our calculations in September 2019. This month, I am also adding a category for Mr. P&P’s October medical debt.
The percentage bar shows the percentage paid off.Â
The numbers beneath show the total remaining / original loan.
$37,984.93 / $39,558.61
We are shooting for a goal of payoff in 2 years! Just 1 year, 9 months to go.
It’s not going to happen unless we seriously pick up the pace. Time to get busy.
$11,885.63 / $14,169.05
This includes only the debt I took on with the birth of Baby Girl. The cost of her conception through treatments and prenatal care were paid in cash, as was the hospital down payment. This is just the debt accrued after delivery complications and emergency services that I couldn’t deal with due to a mostly unpaid maternity leave. A lot of this is currently in collections because I just don’t have enough money to settle yet, but I’m chipping away.
$5,526.63 / $5,526.63
This is the debt we took on as a result of Mr. P&P getting an infection that went septic and needing hospitalization in October.
$12,822.58 / $14,111.92
We’re not putting extra here yet.
$63,317.35 / $80,567.17
Someday, we might qualify for debt forgiveness due to becoming public school teachers. We’re not really putting a ton of eggs in that basket though. If I can get them paid off earlier, I will. A lot of the progress I made here happened in the years where my income was fairly low, so I’m pretty proud of that.Â
$268,410.85 / $292,407.00
The mortgages are last on our list of payoff priorities. They’re pretty huge amounts for us, but we really would like to pay them off early and save some interest!
Now, It's Your Turn
If you haven’t sat down yet and faced your debt head-on, I really encourage you to do it! Figure out what you owe. Write it down. Stare those numbers in the eye and acknowledge them! Here’s a step by step guide to help you get started.
You can’t fix a problem you don’t know about!
What was your spending month like?
This month, we paid down $1,961.12 worth of debt.
What goals are you working on, and what kind of progress have you made? Let us know down below.
While you’re at it, don’t forget to share this post on your favorite social media, follow us, and subscribe to our newsletter.
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