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!

This was a fun spending report to put together! Even though I did not spend within my means (sigh), part of that was due to taking care of some very annoying medical bills (that I will slowly be able to submit to my HSA for reimbursement). I was around $219 over my means, which is not great but I’m chalking it up to getting those medical bills off my plate. If I didn’t have to deal with those, I would be in a much better spot!

Let’s review my goals for April:

• Reduce my shopping budget by half – Complete! I mean, almost. I needed to spend $316 or less to meet this goal and I spent $333. Close enough?!
• Meet my online ordering goal – Not complete. But I got closer to that goal in April than I was in February or March, so I feel good about that.
• Cancel Amazon Prime – Not complete. Ugh! I just keep forgetting to do this!

And 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.

Categories That Increased

MEDICAL ($549 | ↑ $422)

Ughhhh. The worst way to spend money! I needed to take care of a large bill for my CPAP equipment ($303) and pay a large bill to my therapist ($210) since my insurance company had been under-billing me for a few months. I also paid for some medication. The good news is that I’ve met my deductible for 2025 so now my therapy appointments are $0! Sweet relief.

CAR ($263 | ↑ 48)

A small increase, mostly needing to get gas twice this month, paying some tolls, and getting a car wash.

TRAVEL ($662 | ↑ $42) 

I bought a round-trip flight to London and I also categorized anything I spent for my staycation at the VRBO with the cats (food, litter, and the disposable litter box I ordered).

SUBSCRIPTIONS ($129  | ↑ $21)

I did not cancel Amazon Prime (ugh) but I did buy a year’s subscription to Emily in Your Phone’s Substack, which accounts for the increase.

FOOD ($780 | ↑ $11) 

My food budget increased just a tiny bit from April, so I’m really happy that things stayed relatively stable. I’m still not meeting my Ubereats goal (>$100 per month), but this month, I was only over by $32 (as opposed to $73 in March and $105 in February), so I’m doing much better than I was. I’m getting there! (I’m trying to give myself a rule that I can only order Ubereats when I’m on my period since that’s when my energy is the lowest. It’s a little silly, but it’s working!) My grocery budget was nearly identical to March, too.

Categories That Decreased

BILLS ($2,352 | ↓ $3,520)

This number is a little misleading because I accounted for paying off my LASIK bill ($3,049) in March. Everything else was pretty normal and even my electric bill was a smidge lower in April than March, so hooray for that! We’re definitely entering the season where my AC is going to be working overtime so I expect some large electric bills soon.

SHOPPING ($333 | ↓ $349)

I am really happy with this number! I’d like to reduce my shopping budget further, but we’re making progress. Here were my highest categories:

• Books: $95.21
• Accessories (reading stand and a belt bag): $57.40
• Clothing (a t-shirt from Etsy and a new pair of sandals): $51.52
• Beauty: $35

MISC ($52 | ↓ $205)

Nothing too crazy for my miscellaneous category in April, just a few blog-related expenses like renewing my spam protection. Last month, I had to pay too much money for my taxes (not really, but felt like it to me!) so that’s why the decrease is so drastic.

SUPPLIES ($32  | ↓ $164)

This was a startlingly low number for my household supplies/toiletries. But I spent a lot of money replenishing my supplies in March so it makes sense that I’d have a lower-than-average month. I needed a few CPAP supplies (distilled water and gentle dish soap for cleaning the parts) as well as the usual suspects: mouthwash, conditioner, paper towels, etc.

GIFTS ($0  | ↓ $143)

I’m so surprised that I didn’t spend any money on gifts in April! Don’t worry, though, May is already turning out to be a spendy month for gifts.

ENTERTAINMENT ($168  | ↓ $115)

There weren’t a ton of things happening in April, it seems! Most of this total comprises dinners with friends/my mom ($116) and the rest covers book club and some miscellaneous items.

SPA ($128 | ↓ $104)

No hair appointment this month, but I did spend $84 to get my underarms waxed and then my brows waxed and dyed, which feels crazy. I don’t think I’ll be doing the dye again—it doesn’t last very long so it really feels like I’m just throwing money away. And my brows don’t really need to be waxed that frequently. I also got a pedicure, which felt so nice.

CATS ($88 | ↓ $97)

A pretty low-key month for the girls! I bought food, Litter Genie refills, and a new scratching pad.

Categories That Held Steady

SAVINGS ($125)

I am actually upset about this one because I really need to put more money in savings than I do. UGH.

Overall Thoughts

This was a good month with a lot of decreased categories. And while I’m proud of nearly halving my shopping spending, I still have some work to do there. I have gotten into the habit of just buying things whenever I think about them, rather than waiting and making sure I really want to buy said thing. Maybe instead, I could make a note of it in my phone, and at the end of every month, I could review this list and decide if any of these items are things I still want. And if they are, and it fits into my budget, then I can buy the thing. I feel a lot more “free” with my money right now because I have a lot of disposable income, but that extra money should really be going to things like a travel fund or a savings account for my upcoming move. Plus, starting in November, my rent will be increasing drastically (by at least $500) if I find a reasonably priced two-bedroom apartment, so I need to start living like I have a lot less money now so it doesn’t feel like such a dramatic change at the end of the year.

It’s also going to be imperative to spend below my means. And that comes with being a lot more mindful of how much money I’m spending on a weekly basis. I’ve gotten better about tracking my spending every Sunday, but I think I also need to make a stronger budget that I actually stick to. That’s hard for me because there’s a scarcity mindset that comes with budgeting (at least for me, because of my upbringing), but I know it will be a beneficial practice for me in the long run. Something for me to think about!

To close out this post, here are my goals for May: spend below my means by $250, cancel Amazon Prime, and meet my online ordering goal (less than $100 spent on Ubereats orders).

What’s the last travel purchase you spent money on?

My February spending report isn’t going to be quite as nice as January, but there were some bright spots. I’ve broken this post down into five sections:

• Spending Breakdown: Categories That Increased
• Spending Breakdown: Categories That Decreased
• What Went Well
• What Didn’t Go Well
• Goals for Next Month

Let’s get into it!

Spending Breakdown

Categories That Increased

MEDICAL ($445 | ↑ $411)

This was an unavoidable increase, as I had to deal with a CPAP bill from my insurance company. I had hoped I would be able to use the last of my 2024 FSA funds to cover the bill (that was over $400!) but apparently, I spent more than I thought with my FSA so I could only use it for a portion of the bill. The rest had to come out of my own pocket. Annoying!

FOOD ($945 | ↑ $253)

There are two reasons this category increased so much from January to February. The first is that I revamped my categories a bit and added a “Food with Friends” line. I would normally put this in my Entertainment category, but I’m moving it into this area to better understand how much I spend on food, even when I’m out with friends or my mom. I may move this back to entertainment at some point, but we’ll see. The second reason this category increased is those damnable Ubereats orders. UGH. I spent over $200 this month and it’s mostly because I didn’t meal plan very well and some nights I just didn’t have anything at home for dinner. Instead of going through the arduous task of driving to the grocery store, I ordered takeout. After doing that too many times, I decided I needed to have some extra meals on hand for those kinds of nights so I loaded up on freezer meals and ready-made dinners at Trader Joe’s! Let’s hope March is a much better month in this department.

CATS ($249 | ↑ $162)

The majority of this overage is due to Lila’s vet appointment. She needed an updated vaccine so it was around $154 for that appointment. I also spent nearly $30 on restocking treats, if I’m wondering why Lila gains a pound a year.

GIFTS ($87 | ↑ $54)

I had to purchase a few more gifts in February than January – Galentine’s, a gift for a colleague, and a gift for my nephew.

CAR ($251 | ↑ $17)

This month, I had to fill up my car with gas twice (shocked face) so that’s the reason for the increase.

ENTERTAINMENT ($201 | ↑ $12)

It’s impressive that I still managed to increase my entertainment category, even though I took out a major part of this category (food). But there were some important purchases here, such as a ticket to see Ben Schwartz & Friends when he’s here in July and my Galentine’s date with Bri.

Categories That Decreased

BILLS ($2,047 | ↓ $385)

The only reason this category decreased is because I was a few days late with my car payment (I thought I had set up automatic withdrawals, but apparently not!). So this category will increase in March for sure.

CREDIT CARD ($741 | ↓ $509)

I paid off my credit card in February, which was such a good feeling! This amount equals the payoff.

SHOPPING ($382 | ↓ $132)

Hooray! My goal in February was to reduce my shopping spending and I did that. I was hoping to spend under $350, which didn’t happen, but I feel good about this total. I bought a lot of books in February (11), bought some yoga accessories, and replaced my purse.

SUBSCRIPTIONS ($101 | ↓ $14)

I cancelled Netflix in February – woop! Next up is cancelling Amazon Prime.

SUPPLIES ($48 | ↓ $36)

Not much to see here – I just didn’t need to replenish as many supplies in February. Boring stuff: mouthwash, toothpaste, a new toothbrush, Q-tips, conditioner, aluminum foil. Blah.

No change categories

Savings ($125) and my miscellaneous category ($78 – this was my nose piercing).

What Went Well

• Paying off my credit card – It felt so good to pay off my credit card at the beginning of February! I had been chasing after that accomplishment for all of 2024 and just couldn’t get my act together. But now I feel inspired to keep paying it off so I’m never in that situation again.
• A reduced shopping category – Honestly, while I’m proud that I spent less money shopping than I did in January, I didn’t actively track my shopping spending throughout the month and felt like I spent more money than I should have, so it wasn’t a conscious effort. I hope to make this effort a lot more conscious in March.
• Cancelling Netflix – I was very tired of paying so much money for Netflix and they just kept raising the prices. After their latest price hike, I called it quits and that felt really good.

What Didn’t Go Well

• Medical bills – These large medical bills are killing me. I haven’t built up any sort of savings in my HSA yet (since I haven’t had an HSA for a few years), so all of this is coming out of pocket. I’m hoping the HSA will be worth it in the end, but right now, I’m just annoyed by healthcare expenses.
• Not checking on my budget regularly – This was a problem in January and it remained a problem in February. I need to figure out how to make this a part of my daily habits, whether that means combining it with another routine I have, setting an alarm on my phone, or something.
• Spending too much on Ubereats – My goal is to to spend less than $100 a month on online takeout orders and in February, I spent more than $200. Not good! I hope that my new plan of having more freezer/ready-made meals on hand will ensure I don’t reach for that Ubereats app as much as I did last month.

March Goals

• A full boycott of Amazon and Target – It’s time. I use Target for toiletries, beauty products, and household supplies but I’m hoping I can make the switch to Aldi for some of that. For the rest, I’m still deciding. Amazon will be harder but I’ll figure it out!
• Switch from Publix to Aldi – I was supposed to do this last month but I chickened out. I am just so entrenched in my Publix grocery routine, but that’s no excuse for giving a Republican-supported company my money.
• Reduce my shopping budget further – My shopping budget reduced by $132 in February and I’d like to keep that trend going. If I can get it under $300, that would be amazing! I think boycotting Amazon and Target will definitely help with this goal.

When was the last time you ordered food from an app like Ubereats or Door Dash?