Stephany Writes

Categories: Personal Finance

What I Spent in February

Okay, remember last month when I was like “I want a different way to look at my spending!!!” and then did a “good/bad/ugly” style post to detail my January spending?

Well, I’m going back to my roots because as much as I enjoyed that exercise, I find it much more helpful to look at my spending habits this way to get a more detailed picture of where my money is going. So, we’re back! I’ll list out all of my different spending categories and show you how they compare to January. As a quick reminder, this is a spending report so I’m only talking about money I spent after it hit my bank account. Don’t expect to see anything about my 401k, FSA, health insurance, etc.

Here’s the breakdown:

Bills (45.8% | ↑ 29.7% from January): This increase looks scary, but it’s really only because I didn’t have to pay rent in January. This category comprises all of my bills, including rent, utilities, Internet, phone, gym, electric, my school loan, and my car payment.

Food (13.9% | ↓ 4.7% from January): I made some improvements with my food budget from January, hooray! My biggest improvement was spending $100 less in Ubereats orders. My total is still much higher than I would like it to be ($174), but slow and steady progress, right?

Shopping (10.1% | ↑ .5% from January): I actually spent less money shopping in February than I did in January ($480 vs $636), but it shook out differently with the way my budget shifted due to rent. My goal was to get my shopping budget under $500 so I’m happy to see this progress. Let’s see if I can get it even lower in March! Highest-spend categories: home ($199), books ($124), and miscellaneous ($73).

Travel (9.1% | ↑ 9.1% from January): I didn’t spend any money on travel in January, so this is my first travel expense of 2026! I reserved an Airbnb for a few days in April.

Savings (5.7% | ↑ 2.9% from January): I always love when my savings percentage increases! I continue to put $25/week into my emergency savings, set aside money in a Christmas savings fund, and I’ve been adding money to the savings account tied to my bank. I’d like to have around $2,000 in that savings account (separate from emergency savings) since that can be more quickly moved over to my checking account. It would just feel really satisfying to have a buffer like that in my savings!

Pets (4.0% | ↓ 2.4% from January): I spent less on the cats in February, so hooray for that. This came in just under $200. This includes Eloise’s wellness plan, new collars, food, and treats.

Entertainment (3.3% | ↑ 1.7% from January): There were a handful of very fun things in February, and some of them were a little on the pricey side. Still, I kept my entertainment spending under $200, and I’m happy about that!

Gifts/Donations (2.9% | ↑ 1.1% from January): February has Galentine’s Day and my younger nephew’s birthday. I also bought Girl Scout cookies from a friend and donated to the ASPCA.

Subscriptions (1.9% | ↑ 1.1% from January): I think this increase has more to do with the way the percentages shook out than anything else, since I didn’t add any new subscriptions in February. Same old, same old. Things like Patreon, Spotify, Canva, Paramount+, Book of the Month, etc.

Medical (1.2% | ↑ 1.2% from January): Most of my medical expenses are paid for by my FSA card, and I don’t include those in this spending report. But I did spend about $55 on some medical-related expenses like replacing a few of my supplements that had run out.

Household Supplies (.8% | ↓ 2.3% from January): Last month was an expensive one for household supplies, as a lot of things needed to be replenished. This month, not so much! Just random things like aluminum foil and Ziploc bags.

Car (.7% | ↓ 0.3% from January): An easy month for car expenses in February. I only needed to fill up my car with gas once.

Beauty (.6% | ↓ 4.3% from January): An easy month for beauty expenses. I replenished some skincare supplies and bought a foot mask for my rough heels, but that was it!

Overall Thoughts

As a whole, February was a much more realistic picture of my monthly spending patterns than January. Adding in an $1,800 rent bill really skewed some of my percentages—for example, my shopping percentage should have gone down since I spent less money.

What went well?

  • I met my shopping budget! I wanted to spend less than $500 and I did. I’m really glad to see that!
  • I kept my entertainment budget under $200, which is a realistic place for me to be.
  • I booked my Airbnb on my debit card. I realize many of you would book something like that on a credit card to get points, but typically, I would book something like that on my credit card to pay for later (sometimes… much later). I’m really happy the Airbnb is fully paid for right off the bat.

Where can I improve?

  • Say it with me, you guys: Ubereats! While I’m happy I spent $100 less than I did in January, my total in January was embarrassingly high. The incentive I’m giving myself to lower this number is this: If I can keep my Ubereats budget under $100 in any month, then I can treat myself to a bougie pedicure.
  • I spent beyond my means in February by almost $300. However, since I have built a nice little buffer in my checking account, it just meant that buffer reduced a bit. This was the first month I had to pay rent, so hopefully, I can adjust my spending a bit to keep it in line with my income.

What’s something fun you’ve bought recently?

Categories: Personal Finance

What I Spent in January

It’s a new year, and it’s time for a new way to track and analyze my spending. I downloaded a budgeting spreadsheet in mid-January and spent the time meticulously filling it out and making sure I had all of my budget categories just so. Things were going well, until I had an epiphany: I don’t want to budget. I don’t want to sit down every month and set specific parameters for my spending. What I want to do is track where my money is going once bills are paid, but not in a “I can only spend $100 in this category” kind of way.

The truth is, I find it really hard to project into the future and think about how much I should budget for the cats or the car or my entertainment budget. What I would rather do is figure out how much money I have left over for myself once I have paid all my bills and set aside a portion for food and other necessities like household supplies. Once everything necessary is accounted for, what do I have left over? That can be used for myself in myriad ways – sometimes it’s for things like cat litter or car washes, and sometimes it’s for things like books and beauty appointments. The key is that it’s all in one big bucket that I keep track of and pull from throughout the month.

With that in mind, I wanted a different way to look at my month of spending. Rather than listing out all of my different categories, let’s do this the good, the bad, and the ugly style! But first, here’s the total breakdown:

The Good (aka, three categories that went well this month)

  • Entertainment (1.6% of total budget)

My entertainment category was fairly low this month, which sometimes means I’m being too much of a hermit, but that was not true in January. It’s just that a lot of my entertainment was either cheap or free, which is nice!

  • Credit card (33% of total budget)

This was my biggest category by far, but this is a big win because I finally paid off my credit card balance that had been looking a little scary since October (international trip + a move + holidays = a mess). I’m glad I was able to get it down to $0 and start fresh in the new year!

  • Bills (16.1% of total budget)

January was my final month of not having to pay rent, so my bills category looked amazing. (I got two months free when I moved in.) I need every apartment to run a special like this because it helped so much to recoup my moving costs and get settled into my new place.

The Bad (aka, three categories that were a bit higher than I wanted)

  • Groceries ($860 total)

Some of this grocery total falls under the snack category because I spent a lot of money upfront to fill up my pantry with good snacks for myself. I also did grocery delivery once when my PsA symptoms were at an all-time high. That’s always a much higher grocery bill than normal!

  • Cats ($400)

The girls were expensive in January! A good chunk of this total is an annual fee I paid to the PetLibro app so I could track the girls’ eating habits. It was $129 for the entire year, which feels excessive, but whatever. I also got them food, litter, a new litter box, and some treats. Oh, and a portion of this went to Eloise’s vet plan.

  • Shopping ($636)

Whoops. This is what happens when I don’t have to pay rent. I have all this money that’s burning a hole in my pocket! Here’s how it broke down:

  • Home ($274) – I bought a nightstand, a small end table, two rugs, and some scents at Bath & Body Works
  • Books ($210) – I bought 11 books in January, oopsy! I bought three from Barnes & Noble (I had a gift card), one e-book that I couldn’t get from my library, two Book of the Month add-ons, and then five books during my bookish shopping spree with Jenny.
  • Misc ($92) – All those little things surely add up! This category comprises things like a large pill organizer, a new wall calendar for 2026, a to-do list pad, some gold star stickers, and my “books read” sign from Etsy

My goal is to spend under $500 monthly in my shopping category, so let’s see how I do in February!

The Ugly (my worst category)

  • Online ordering ($265)

Who is surprised by this being my worst category? Oh, Ubereats. How I love thee! But I do not need to spend almost $300 in a single month on these online orders. Some of this was due to PsA pain and just not having the physical/mental capacity to cook for myself, and some of this was just sheer laziness. I hope that once my symptoms are better controlled, I will rely less on Ubereats.

In February, my goal is to spend less than $150 on online orders and to limit orders to only Friday and Saturday. 

Final Thoughts

There were definitely some bright spots in January, especially being able to pay off my high credit card balance, so I didn’t have that hanging over my head anymore. And there were some common spending patterns that have been an issue for a while. I’m nothing if not consistent! But I’m also giving myself some grace here because it was a hard month for me as I waited for my first rheumatology appointment, and I did what needed to be done to take care of myself and meet my needs.

What was your last home purchase?

Categories: Personal Finance

Monthly Spending Report | August 2025

August was a pretty interesting month on the spending front. I don’t feel as though I spent a lot of money, but I did put a significant amount toward our London vacation. My mom put the bulk of our purchases (flight, hotel, excursions, travel insurance, etc.) on her credit card and let me pay my portion (we always split the cost 50/50 on vacations) over time. Thankfully, in August, I was able to fully pay off my portion, so I am back in the green! This month, I also had to pay my yearly fee for my renters’ insurance, so it was just a lot of these bigger expenses that easily added up.

Here were my goals for August:

  • Pay off London – Complete!
  • Spend below my means – Not complete. Womp, womp. I was actually very surprised to learn that I was $1,000 over budget this month. I have no idea how that happened because I don’t feel as if I used my credit card all that much (although I did run up my balance more than expected, and I was able to pay it off at the beginning of September).
  • Try to stay under $150 in Ubereats orders – I spent $157 this month, so I’m going to consider this a win. I almost broke even with my goal.

Here’s how things shook out this month. As a reminder, this is a spending report, which means I am only talking about the money I spent after it hits my bank account. You will not see anything related to my 401k, health insurance premiums, HSA contributions, etc.

Spending Breakdown

Categories That Increased

TRAVEL ($1,447 | ↑ $702)

Hoo boy! This was quite the total. I have fully paid off my mom for all of our London expenses and also paid for TSA Pre-Check, my UK travel visa, and British pounds that we bought at a currency exchange kiosk. We’re under 30 days away from our trip!

BILLS ($2,488 | ↑ $470)

Slight increase this month since I didn’t have my car payment included in July’s spending report. But my electric bill was slightly lower than July, so that’s exciting! It’s been steadily increasing every month.

MISCELLANEOUS ($313 | ↑ $313)

I had to pay my yearly fee for renters’ insurance. I bumped up some of my coverages this time around (personal property and loss of use) because last hurricane season was a scary one. Let’s hope I don’t have to worry about submitting any claims this year.

SPA ($271 | ↑ $162)

Lots of fun things in August! I got my hair cut and colored, got a facial, and got my underarms and brows waxed. I’ve been using my wellness reimbursement (we get $300 every year) to pay for my massage/facial treatments, so now that I’ve blown through that stipend, I’ll probably cancel my massage membership. It’s pricey at $80 a month, and that’s money I can put to use elsewhere.

FOOD ($913 | ↑ $80)

While my Ubereats spending came down by $110, my grocery spending went up by $168. And I spent a little more on meals out that weren’t online orders, accounting for the overage. I have a new plan for getting my online orders to a reasonable number (more below!), so we’ll see if that helps lower my food spending at all.

MEDICAL ($32 | ↑ $13)

I bought a big bottle of vitamin D supplements. Exciting stuff!

CAR ($231 | ↑ $4)

A very small increase for the car this month because I had to pay a toll invoice. Otherwise, everything was pretty similar to July!

CATEGORIES THAT DECREASED

SHOPPING ($161 | ↓ $285)

I wrote last month that “hopefully this category decreases a lot in August,” and it did! Hooray! I was paying so much money for travel expenses that I had to limit my shopping budget. Here’s what I bought last month:

  • Clothing: $60 (a new pair of shoes)
  • Home: $33 (a fall-scented candle and six hand sanitizers from Bath & Body Works)
  • Miscellaneous: $19 (toothbrush cover, a set of two small jars, and my desktop vacuum)
  • Beauty: $18 (tweezers (!!!) and nail polish top coat)
  • Books: $16
  • Hobbies: $15 (a box of markers)

GIFTS ($153 | ↓ $215)

July was a super expensive month for gift-giving, and things calmed down a bit in August. I bought toys for my fur-neice and -nephew for their birthdays, had my monthly ASPCA donation, and paid for afternoon tea for Mom and me.

SUPPLIES ($78 | ↓ $46)

This month, I didn’t bulk-buy a bunch of body wash to use in my bubble baths! That helped bring down the price, although I did have to replenish some household supplies that I only need to buy a few times a year, like laundry detergent, dishwasher pods, etc. (I always wait until Target is doing their “buy $50 of laundry detergent and get a $15 gift card!” deal, so I stock up.)

CATS ($181 | ↓ $29)

A pretty easy month for the cats. I bought them a boatload of different wet cat food (they’re like their mama – they like variety!), a new Halloween scratching pad, and treats. I also paid for Eloise’s vet wellness plan.

ENTERTAINMENT ($198 | ↓ $20)

The majority of this category comprises restaurant dates with friends and my mom. I also paid $15 for extra tokens for one of my iPhone games.

SUBSCRIPTIONS ($75 | ↓ $9)

A slight decrease. I didn’t use a Book of the Month credit (the past two months of book selections haven’t been great, wah), but I did join a new Patreon community so that was an extra $10.

CATEGORIES THAT STAYED THE SAME

SAVINGS ($175) 

I’m still putting $75 a month away in a Christmas fund and $25 a week away in emergency savings. Things are going well in this department, although I could probably bump up the amount I’m putting into my emergency savings on a weekly basis.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my August spending. There weren’t a lot of frivolous purchases (for me, at least, lol, since I’m not the most frugal person!) and a majority of my money went toward travel and food, which is normal for me. One thing I have been thinking a lot about is how to lower my Ubereats budget. Originally, my goal was to spend less than $100 per month, but as the past few months have shown, that’s very hard for me to hit! I wish it weren’t, but that’s just the reality of my life right now. Instead, I think I’m going to challenge myself to only order Ubereats twice a week. I can order it once for dinner and once for lunch. And I’m going to gamify it (because gamifying things really works for me!). If I can go a week without either a dinner or lunch Ubereats order, then I can put $10 into a special savings fund. I don’t know how I’ll use this fund yet, but I want to use it for a fun, frivolous purchase. If I don’t have Ubereats at all one week, that’s $20 to my savings fund. We’ll see if that gets me excited to spend less money on online orders.

Anyway, here are my goals for September: get Eloise registered as an emotional support animal (which means I can waive any pet fees/pet rent on my future apartment; these fees can sometimes be $400-$500!), Ubereats twice a week, and spend below my means.

What was your last frivolous purchase?

Categories: Personal Finance

Monthly Spending Report | July 2025

Oh, July. What a month! There were some unexpected delights this month (see my third bullet point below), but it was also a very spend-y month. Between a few birthdays, a few weekends away, and a depressive episode that had me reaching for comfort wherever I could, it was quite the month. There are way more categories that increased than decreased this month, but that’s life. Let’s hope August is a little better on the spending front.

Let’s first review my goals for July:

  • Send at least $1,000 to my mom for London expenses – Half-complete. I gave her $500 but I am planning on clearing out my “debt” to her this week, which means London will be fully paid for!
  • Meet my online order goal – LOL no. Depression made this goal fly completely out the window.
  • Continue to spend below my means ($250 or higher) – Complete! Get this: I came over $1,000 under-budget in July! This is mainly due to getting an unexpected check in the mail from Bank of America. Apparently, they didn’t pay me enough when insurance totaled my beloved Gladys (my 2022 Kia Soul, which was flooded during Hurricane Helene in September), and sent me a $1,755 check! That was pretty exciting!

Here’s how things shook out this month. As a reminder, this is a spending report, which means I am only talking about the money I spent after it hits my bank account. You will not see anything related to my 401k, health insurance premiums, HSA contributions, etc.

Spending Breakdown

Categories That Increased

TRAVEL ($745 | ↑ $645)

Hoo boy, good thing I value travel and experiences because I spent a lot of money on travel in July! First, there was my mom’s birthday vacation (we split the cost of the hotel + cabanas) and various expenses associated with that. And then I bought travel insurance and paid my mom for a portion of our London trip.

GIFTS ($368 | ↑ $343)

A very expensive month for gift-giving, but all for good reasons. I celebrated my mom’s 60th birthday with an aquarium visit and a fancy steakhouse dinner, and then I purchased tickets to a book event with a friend who had a July birthday.

SHOPPING ($446 | ↑ $258)

Oof. It was a busy shopping month, but this is mostly because of Stitch Fix + an Old Navy order. Hopefully, this category decreases a lot in August! Here’s what I bought:

  • Clothing: $267
  • Books: $120
  • Miscelleneous (a new phone case + a doorknob): $59

CATS ($210 | ↑ $210)

Well, it was inevitable that my cats would cost me money in July since I didn’t spend any money on them in June (wild!). In July, I spent a lot of money on food (finally found a wet food that they go crazy for!) and treats. I also paid for Eloise’s vet plan this month (Lila will be on the same plan soon, but waiting until she needs to see the vet to add her on it.)

SUPPLIES ($124 | ↑ $67)

The majority of this increase is due to replenishing my supply of body wash for my bubble baths. I take a lot of bubble baths and use a lot of body wash, so it’s a necessary self-care expense.

CAR ($227 | ↑ $40)

I needed to fill up my gas tank three times in July – a new record! This is mainly due to driving to Orlando and home. Otherwise, everything stayed pretty much the same from June.

SAVINGS ($175 | ↑ $25)

This is a good increase! I put $100 away in my emergency savings and $75 away in my Christmas fund. Right now, putting away $25 a week in my emergency savings doesn’t feel too difficult.

SUBSCRIPTIONS ($84 | ↑ $19)

All of my subscriptions remained the same, except in July, I paid for Book of the Month (I didn’t use any credits in May, so I didn’t have to pay for my subscription in June).

CATEGORIES THAT DECREASED

BILLS ($2,018 | ↓ $816)

I really need to get my car payment on autopay. The only reason this category decreased is because a) in June, I paid two car payments since the May payment was a little late (but within the grace period), and b) my July payment was a little late (also within the grace period, but will be on August’s spending report). Why am I so bad at adulting sometimes?!

FOOD ($833 | ↓ $145)

I am quite surprised that my food budget decreased in July because I felt like I spent so much money on food! My Ubereats orders were astronomical, and that’s mostly because I went through a very tough depressive episode toward the end of July, and I had no desire or energy to cook. So I relied on UberEats, and I am not going to berate myself for that. It’s what I needed and I’m glad it was there for me.

SPA ($109 | ↓ $106)

I got a very bougie pedicure and also got my underarms waxed.

MEDICAL ($19 | ↓ $35)

I paid $15 for a fluoride treatment at the dentist and also bought Band-Aids.

ENTERTAINMENT ($218 | ↓ $17)

I’m a little surprised that my entertainment budget only decreased incrementally in July because I don’t feel as if I did all that much with my friends! But there were two movie dates, an alpaca painting event while I was in Orlando on a girls’ weekend, and ice cream before an improv show. I guess I did more than I thought!

OVERALL THOUGHTS

It was an up-and-down month. There were high highs and very low lows, but I expected July to be a spend-y month. There was just a lot going on. August/September should be a lot calmer. But it’s also time to get cracking on apartment hunting and figuring out where I’m going to live once my lease is up on November 1st. I am so ready to be out of this apartment and excited about the process of moving (I love packing and unpacking, sue me). October will be a busy month between a week-long trip to London and a big move! Whew.

My goals for August are to pay off London, spend below my means, and try to stay under $150 in Ubereats orders (maybe that $100 threshold was a bit too aggressive for me right now…).

What was the last “fun” thing you bought for yourself?

Categories: Personal Finance

Monthly Spending Report | June 2025

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I put this spending report together because I have been really bad about checking in on my spending. In fact, before I put this report together, I hadn’t even opened my bank account in nearly three weeks. Oops. So what a surprise it was to learn that I did a pretty good job with my spending this month! There are definitely some problem areas (*cough*food*cough*), but so many categories came down by a large margin and I’m really proud of myself for that. I think a lot of this had to do with how busy I was with medical appointments and work on top of that. Is the secret to spending less money being physically ill?! Hmm…

Let’s review my goals for June:

  • Cancel Amazon Prime – Complete! I think I was responding to a comment on my last spending report when I was like, “Girl, just cancel the damn thing.” So I did.
  • Spend below my means by at least $100 – Complete! Not only did I meet this goal, but I surpassed it big time. I spent $600 below my means in June! Holy shit!
  • Meet my online ordering goal – Not complete. SIGH.

Here’s how things shook out this month. As a reminder, this is a spending report, which means I am only talking about the money I spent after it hits my bank account. You will not see anything related to my 401k, health insurance premiums, HSA contributions, etc.

Spending Breakdown

Categories That Increased

BILLS ($2,897 | ↑ $840)

Oof. This one hurts! But I expected it. I had two car payments go through in June (one was delayed from May). That accounts for the majority of the overage. My electric bill was also higher in June (by $52), and it’s going to be even higher in July, sigh.

SPA ($215 | ↑ $149)

I got an underarm wax as well as a hair color and trim. I also bought a dry shampoo powder that my stylist sold me on. I don’t know if I love it, but it’s better than a lot of the aerosol dry shampoo I’ve used.

ENTERTAINMENT ($235 | ↑ $78)

A lot of my entertainment expenses were fun outings with friends! There was book club, a night out at the Melting Pot (definitely the most expensive night on this list!), Clueless and dinner afterward, and lunch with friends. All good experiences that I wouldn’t trade!

FOOD ($978 | ↑ $63)

Another high month of food spending (reminder: this is for one person!) The overage mainly comes from groceries. Are groceries becoming more expensive or am I just bad at grocery shopping effectively? Hrmph. I need to do more analysis on my grocery spending, but that doesn’t feel like a very fun project. My online ordering was also out of control, but I spent around the same as I did in May. I just did not come anywhere close to my goal of spending $100 or less on online orders.

MEDICAL ($54 | ↑ $21)

A slight increase from May. Mostly bought some period supplies and more wipes for my CPAP. I could have used my HSA card for these, but I paid for them out of pocket.

Categories That Decreased

CATS ($0 | ↓ $574)

Somehow, I didn’t spend any money on my cats in June? WILD.

TRAVEL ($100 | ↓ $351)

A quiet month for travel, although this category is definitely going to start getting a workout as I start to pay my mom back for all of the London expenses she’s paid for. I bought some travel supplies and tickets to the Orlando aquarium (this falls under travel and not entertainment since my mom and I are going to the aquarium during our Orlando vacation next week).

GIFTS ($25 | ↓ $241)

The only expense in this category is my monthly donation to the ASPCA.

SHOPPING ($188 | ↓ $113)

I continue to decrease my shopping category. I think the main reason this category decreased so much in June is because I didn’t buy any books! (From March-May, I spent nearly $400 total on books and bookish items, so it was time for a break.) My highest totals in June were:

  • Home (throw pillows, couch cover, mug): $72
  • Clothes (summer dress, bathing suit): $57
  • Beauty (eyebrow pencil, cleanser): $23

CAR ($187 | ↓ $57)

I put money away for car insurance and got gas once. A very easy month for car expenses!

SAVINGS ($150 | ↓ $37)

While my savings decreased a bit from May, this is actually not as bad as it looks! I stopped my monthly contribution to my “cats” fund since I’m now paying $60 a month for Eloise’s vet care plan. And I added a $25/week contribution to my emergency savings. I funneled $75 to that savings account in June, which is the first time I’ve put money in that account in… far too long.

SUBSCRIPTIONS ($65 | ↓ $34)

Two big things: I canceled my Amazon Prime membership and I rolled over my Book of the Month credit, so I didn’t have that expense in June.

SUPPLIES ($57 | ↑ $34)

The typical supplies: mouthwash, deodorant, a new toothbrush, toothpaste, hand soap, conditioner, and batteries.

Overall Thoughts

This was a great spending month for me, and I hope the trend continues. I do need to start sending money to my mom to pay for my portion of our London expenses (she was gracious enough to put it all on her credit card and allow me to pay her back in increments) and I’d like to be fully caught up by the end of August at the latest. What this month gives me is hope that I can make the move to a two-bedroom apartment and handle my expenses without feeling like I’m living paycheck to paycheck. Money won’t be as free-flowing as it is now (which is why I keep staying in this one-bedroom apartment… it’s nice to have a lot of disposable income!), but I can make it work. And it’s worth it to me to make it happen.

My goals for July are to send at least $1,000 to my mom for London expenses, meet my online ordering goal (LOL), and continue to spend below my means ($250 or higher!).

What’s one of your “must-have” subscriptions? For me, it’s my Patreon subscriptions! I couldn’t live without them!