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Welcome To Our February Personal Budget Report!

It’s time for our February Personal Budget Report.

I managed to get this report up in a reasonable amount of time! Way to go, me!

In February, we had a lot of things fall conveniently into place. That alone made February one of the best months we’ve had in a while. As a result, our numbers look really, really good. Our progress this month is a little bit artificially inflated, but we still had to do the work, focus on our spending, and make wise choices with the money we had.

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 made A LOT less money than I do 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.

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.

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.

If I could share only one takeaway, 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.

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!

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.

Budget Report 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.

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.

February Income Budget Report- $12,265.45

Teacher Salary – $6,749.12 This includes both teacher salaries after the automatic withdrawal of taxes and health insurance. We took a small hit this month. I think we might both be short on summer training hours due to the chaos of living in a hotel for a month last summer.
Rental Income Property – -$0 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 today! This is the money we receive after paying any management and repair fees. Since we don’t have mortgage payments in February, and our income was disbursed in a weird way, we decided to put all the money we were paid into next month’s income report.
Extra Income Deposited – $5449.00 Our Tax Refund. I know I normally hold money for next month’s budget, but we’re using this right now to pay down debt!
Extra Income Paid in Cash – $0
Rebates – $67.33 I’m adding a category this month for rebates. Since I’ve been amping up some of my extra income sources, I’ll start tracking this here. This month, I cashed out credit card rewards I’d been holding for a while to help pay off the Elite Blogging Academy that I bought in December.

February Spending Budget Report - $22,852.01

We still don’t know what our new normal will be since we haven’t yet experienced a month of full expenses.

Monthly Living Expenses - $1,833.84

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 – $0 This month, we don’t have any mortgage payments. Our first official payment on the new house is in March. The refinance on the rental means we also don’t have a payment due till March.
Utilities – $218.79 This covers the electricity, gas, water, sewer, and pest control services. Our first official utility bills are due in March, so this is just a remaining payment from The Pit. We also paid a service fee to have pest control services transferred. Even though we moved, we are contracted with our pest control service until summer.
Daycare – $600.00 Paid during the school year. 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 last 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 13 year old, paid off sub-compact.
Gas, Toll, and Other Transportation Expenses – $166.93 This covers gas and tollway fees for both cars. My expenses have gone up by a lot with the move. I’m pretty sure, though, that it’s still lower than the average cost.
Car Insurance – $91.00 We decided to start setting aside money each month to cover insurance premiums. It will actually need to be renewed in June, so we will put money aside each month to cover this expense in a sinking fund. This way, the cash is available when we need to pay our premiums again.
Groceries – $522.77 We’re over budget this month. I’m starting to think this might be our new normal with Baby Girl eating more food. I know we can bring it down with regular cooking and meal planning. I have high hopes of getting organized and clutter free in March.

Debt Expenses - $19,631.69

This is money we spend in order to pay down previously existing debts and any expenses we have as a result of those debts. Just look at how much money we’re giving away every month!

Student Loans – $802.87 Ouch. Now that I’ve paid off one of my six loans, I’ve officially started to avalanche that payment to the next high interest loan! Mr. P&P has started paying extra on his, too. They were barely decreasing every month. Something seems off there, but until we can figure out what it is, we’re paying a little bit more.
Debt Repayment – $18,711.57 Holy crap. It feels amazing to type that number. Now, I know that a lot of this is artificially inflated. We used a large remaining chunk of our cash out refinance in January to pay off a credit card. This is really just debt shifting because that debt is now attached to a home loan. There’s something about it not being a credit card, though, that feels so much more freeing. This month, we also took advantage of not having two mortgage payments and funneled extra money toward our debt.
Fees and Charges – $27.25 I put a purchase on my card in December that I couldn’t cover. Yes, I know this was bad. It was a membership to the Elite Blogging Academy. This expense is now officially paid off!
Medical Debt – $55.00 Our payments include some small installment payments on Mr. P&P’s hospital bills from October.

Other Recurring Monthly Expenses - $316.57

These budget report expenses happen every month, but they are not absolutely vital spending categories! It’s the stuff we could get rid of and survive if we needed to.

Phones – $88.23 This is both cell phone plans.
Digital Media, Streaming, and Internet – $183.34 This covers our internet and Hulu accounts. We’re taking a hiatus from Netflix to save a few bucks this year. With so many other options, we have never paid for cable! We also had to pay to transfer our internet service over to the new place.
Rock Climbing Gym – $0 We love rock climbing together! But when we learned that Baby Girl was coming, we stopped attending and haven’t picked back up. Our family plan account is currently frozen through March to help save money.
Monthly Renewals – $45.00 We each have some subscription boxes for various hobby interests throughout the year.

Variable Spending - $1,069.91

These are expenses we may or may not have every month. They are somewhat unpredictable and variable.

Health Care – $228.87 This covers a couple of doctor visits and prescriptions. Everyone is still sick, all the time, forever. I’m starting to worry that The Pit did permanent damage, and we’ll always be sick.
Home Improvement – $435.63 We needed drywall anchors, a pantry solution, shower organizers, rented a steam cleaner to clean rat mess, and got some of these odor eliminating bags. This house once had dogs, and we’re trying to get rid of that smell.
Home Expenses – $127.92 We needed a different kind of baby gate, new kitchen floor mats, and some other small house wares.
Dining Out – $62.77 This is closer to our budget goal.
Blog Expenses – $53.00 My PO Box fees renewed.
Baby Expenses – $55.46 We bought car shades, new brushes for Baby Girl (old ones got lost in the chaos of living in a hotel last summer), and started a subscription service for Water Wipes. We used to use Honest brand, but they changed their wipe formula, and they irritate her skin now. We finally ran out of our wipe stockpile.
Classroom Spending – $13.77 Just a couple of small resource purchases for my classroom and plans.
Digital Streaming/Media $0 Nothing this month.
Gifts – $22.74 Valentine’s Day.
Hobbies and Entertainment – $24.77 I bought some small shelves to organize the new craft room.
Other Spending – $44.98 Shampoo, conditioner, and Dollar Shave Club renewal (Mr. P&P likes the shave butters). Yes, I am aware that this is very high. I have psoriasis and a sensitive respiratory system, so I use or make clean personal care products. The stuff I buy does cost quite a bit more than conventional products. This is a sacrifice I make without question. Psoriasis flare ups and bronchitis suck.
Savings – $0 We decided to take advantage of no mortgage payments and lower spending by paying down big chunks of debt. Unless our circumstances change, savings will be on hold for a while as we tackle our debt. Since I am living on last month’s income and Mr. P&P is about half a month ahead, we feel good about this.

Budget Report Goals Progress

I knew that February would look pretty good on paper. With no mortgage payments, a good tax refund, and an “extra” ten grand on hand, things were bound to look positive.

We felt excited to eliminate a whole credit card this month. Yes, I realize that we didn’t really pay it off. Since we used the remainder of our cash out refinance to pay off a large card, we really just debt shifted. I know the debt is still there. We did free up a bunch of month to month income. Fortunately, this will help us regain some control in our lives.

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. 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 nice 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.

The percentage bar shows the percentage paid off.

The numbers beneath show the total remaining / original loan.

Credit Card Payoff Goal

Debt Paid 53.5%

$18,378.94 / $39,558.61

We are shooting for a goal of payoff in 2 years! Just 1 year, 6 months to go.

Considering the huge chunk of debt we paid off this month, our goal is looking more and more likely! I know that 10 grand of this isn’t truly paid off, but we did still make a true payment of $8,554.15, and that’s something to celebrate.

Medical Debt Payoff Goal

Debt Paid 16.3%

$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. It’s 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.

Medical Debt Payoff Goal #2

Debt Paid 2.8%

$5,372.53 / $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.

Car Payment Payoff Goal

Debt Paid 11.8%

$12,444.64 / $14,111.92

We’re not putting extra here yet.

Student Loan Payoff Goal

Debt Paid 23.3%

$61,750.06 / $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.

Last month, I officially paid off one of those loans! Slow progress is still progress.

Mortgages Payoff Goal

Debt Paid -39.4%

$407,870.00 / $292,407.00

No payments this month, so no changes either.

I left our previous mortgage total because I thought it would be interesting. Mostly, it’s painful. This move increased our debt total in this category significantly. There’s no guilt here, though.

We had to make the best choice for our family’s health and finances. The best choice for us was to get out and start again somewhere else . Between the purchase of the new home and the refinance on the rental property, we took on a lot more mortgage debt. It’s weird, though. For the first time in a while, we feel like we can breathe. Not literally, of course. We’re still fighting off all the immunity problems likely caused by rats. But we see a light at the end of the tunnel and an opportunity to actually make some progress.

We are definitely gambling a little bit. Not much can go wrong, and the budget will be tight for at least a year.

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?

What goals are you working on, and what kind of progress have you made? Let us know.

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