Stephany Writes

Categories: Personal Finance

What I Spent | June 2024

Well, here we are again. Another rough month for my finances. I knew it would be with the tail end of one trip and my Chicago weekend included in the budget, but eesh. This is why I decided to challenge myself to a no-spend July. I really needed a reset for my finances! Let’s take a look at how everything broke down in June:

Bills (46.2% | +8.6% from May): Quite the increase from May! Somehow, I got behind on my car payments and had to double-up in June. (I didn’t get a late fee or anything like that. It was a weird situation.) This category also encompasses rent, phone, electric (which was over $200, sigh), Internet, student loans, the gym, and Care Credit.

Travel (16.8% | +9.8% from May): This includes the rest of what I spent on my New Orleans trip with my mom as well as my trip to Chicago in mid-June. I need to figure out how to spend less money when I’m traveling, oof.

Food (11.2% | +.7% from May): Here’s the good news about my food budget: my Ubereats percentage has come down steadily every month since I learned I spent almost $300 in April. I’m getting better!

Shopping (6.4% | -6.8% from May): Oof. While my spending was down in June, I still spent a lot of money and went way above my budget in my shopping category. I bought 9 books, 5 t-shirts, 1 skort, and too many stickers to count.

Savings (5.2% | +1.3% from May): I saved a little bit more money in June! But then I had to use some of that at the beginning of July when I got into some dire straights. Blah.

Car (3% | +1% from May): I got an oil change and tire rotation. I also got gas twice this month.

Cats (2.4% | -1.8% from May): I bought litter, prescription cat food, non-prescription cat food, and some toys.

Supplies (2.3% | +.4% from May): I replenished my supply of body wash (which I use for bubble baths, so I go through a lot) and also bought boring stuff like mouthwash, replacement Brita filters, and aluminum foil.

Beauty (2.1% | -7.8% from May): Thankfully, this month’s expenses didn’t include a ridiculously expensive hair appointment! Instead, I mostly replenished my skincare products. I also accidentally bought the wrong serum from Sephora (thankfully, it was serum from The Ordinary so it was wildly expensive!) and decided to keep it rather than send it back. But then I had to buy the right serum, so it was just a bit of a mess. Ah, well.

Subscriptions (1.7% | -.4% from May): Same ole, same ole. As a reminder, my subscriptions are Patreon, Netflix, Spotify, Paramount+, Canva, Prime, a Substack newsletter I support, and a photo-editing app.

Entertainment (1.2% | -2.4% from May): Book club and dinners with friends.

Gifts (1% | -1.1% from May): I bought a baby shower gift and a toy for Chip.

Charity (.6%): I donated $25 to the ASPCA and $15 to attend the Chicago Pride Festival (which benefited the performers, vendors, and nonprofits).

Overall Thoughts

  • This was another tough month for my budget, as I went over my projected amount in my most troublesome categories (shopping, beauty). Going through my June budget and having a really rough start to July where I had to pull from savings just to pay rent is what prompted me to do a no-spend July. I need to get my credit card and savings in a more reasonable place because I really, really hate feeling like I can’t pay my bills.
  • Travel took up a huge chunk of my budget in May and June, and my next trip isn’t until October. (It’ll be a weekend trip to Orlando with my book club and I don’t anticipate spending a ton of money.) This will allow me to play catch-up and hopefully start a travel savings fund. I would love to go on a European cruise with my mom for her 60th birthday next year, but I need to get super serious about saving money in order to make that happen.
  • The bright spot of June: I came under-budget for food! In June, I tried to stick to one Ubereats order a week (typically, lunch on Fridays) and that really brought my spending down. No-spend July includes not spending money on Ubereats, so that should help bring my percentage down even more. (I know I’ll be spending more on groceries, but I don’t think it will be anywhere near what I was spending on Ubereats orders/fast food.)

What’s the last gift you bought for someone?

Categories: Personal Finance

No-Spend July | Recap #1

It’s No-Spend July! This month, I’m committed to doing a reset on my spending and I cannot spend money on anything but necessities. The parameters of my challenge include:

  • I can spend money on groceries, but not Ubereats or fast food. If I’m spending time with friends or family, I can spend money at a restaurant.
  • I can spend money on toiletries and household supplies, but I cannot buy beauty supplies like skincare products (I shouldn’t run out of anything, but if I do, I’m SOL.).
  • I can spend money on my car, such as if I need maintenance or gas. I cannot buy accessories for my car or take it through the car wash.
  • I can only buy litter, treats, and food for the cats. No toys this month! (They’ll survive.)
  • I can buy any gifts necessary for friends and family this month.
  • I can make plans with friends and spend money on experiences. Experiences > things.
  • Subscriptions will go through as normal; no changes.
  • I can spend money on any medical expenses that my FSA card won’t cover.
  • I cannot buy books or clothing or organizational items or new earrings or Etsy prints or anything that is not a necessity.
  • I can load up my Starbucks card when needed, but I can only get Starbucks during my writing dates with Mikaela.

Every week, I’ll take you through what I spent each day (I’m not including anything that gets autodrafted by my bank, like rent, bills, savings, etc.) and how I’m feeling about the challenge. This will be helpful for mostly me because I need this kind of accountability, but hopefully someone will also find some solace in these posts and recognize that finances are a difficult topic and we’re all doing the best we can.

Monday, July 1st

  • No money spent

Today’s the day I decided to go on a spending freeze for July! And that means I have to take out the books I added to my cart on my Book of the Month app (I was so excited to get my hands on a copy of The God of the Woods!) Instead, I sadly push the button to “Skip this month.” Wah.

Tuesday, July 2nd

  • No money spent

Nothing to report – normal day.

Wednesday, July 3rd

  • PetSmart ($15) – cat food

Lila’s being picky about the (less expensive) cat food I bought her, so I picked up the (more expensive) cat food that she likes. (This was a small package to tide her over for the time being.)

Thursday, July 4th

  • No money spent

Today was hard. It was a day off and I am always tempted to put in an Ubereats order because it feels like the weekend and nobody should cook on the weekend, right?! Alas, I had to keep telling myself, “You have food to eat at home,” like I’m a grumpy teenage boy who just wants to grab McDonald’s while he’s out.

Friday, July 5th

  • No money spent

Another hard day! On Friday mornings, I meet my mom at the gym at 6am and we do an hour-long workout. Afterwards, I typically stop by Einstein’s for a bagel and a large iced coffee. I was very sad I had to just go home and have oatmeal for breakfast. But also – this breakfast costs me $10 and if I have it every week, that’s $40 monthly! It’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it can add up.

Saturday, July 6th

  • Starbucks ($25) – reloading my card
  • Publix ($124) – grocery shopping for the week
  • Publix ($8) – birthday card (it was a special one, but dang, birthday cards are so expensive these days!)
  • Target ($33.50) – paper towels, hand soap (2), Zevo refill cartridges, conditioner
  • Amazon ($46) – bulk package of k-cups

This was a spend-y day, but all of it was within the parameters I set for No-Spend July. I was happy that my grocery bill came under $150! I felt like I bought so much stuff (tried to get extra snacky things so I’m not tempted to go out to eat). I picked up some necessary household supplies at Target and also finally decided to stop buying the Keurig packages at Publix (it’s, like, $14 for 12 k-cups!) and instead placed a bulk order at Amazon. It’ll mean spending a lot less money in the long run but oof, $47 is a hit to the pocketbook.

Sunday, July 7th

  • Ice cream ($21)

My mom, my brother, and I had a fun day out to celebrate her birthday (which is today!). While my mom footed the bill for most of the fun, I paid for the three ice cream cones we got at the end of our evening. It was the very least I could do!

What’s the last thing you spent money on?

Categories: Personal Finance

What I Spent | May 2024

Oh, friends. This one is going to be a doozy. May was one of the spendiest months on record and it was not pretty to sit down with these numbers. As a reminder, in these spending reports, I do not include anything that comes out of my paycheck before it lands in my bank account. You won’t see anything related to health insurance, FSA payments, my retirement savings, etc. This is about what I spent from my net income. Here’s what April looked like:

Bills (37.6% | -9.9% from April) – My percentage this month was way lower than previous months because I overpaid on my car loan and didn’t have to make a payment in May. I should have still made a payment but I knew May was going to be a spend-y month so I gave myself the break.

Shopping (13.2% | +7.2% from April) – You guys, I am embarrassed how much money I spent shopping in May. Now, I did spend $300 on new shoes (a new pair of Birkenstocks and two new pairs of Asics), but still. This is mind-boggling.

Food (10.3% | -7.8% from April) – While I’m happy with where I landed with my food budget, I was traveling for the last few days of the month so I don’t know if those numbers would shake out quite as well if I was at home. I adjusted my food budget to accommodate my vacation time ($525 as opposed to $800 as normal), and went over a bit ($596), but I’m okay with that. My Ubereats budget was down $120 from April, and that makes me very, very happy.

Beauty (9.9% | +9.4% from April) – I expected my beauty category to increase a lot from April to May because I had an expensive hair appointment that included balayage, color + toner, and a haircut and style. It was too much money, honestly. I think it’s time to look at at-home hair coloring options. I also bought some make-up (mascara, lipstick, eyebrow pencil) and replaced some skincare products (cleanser, a serum, etc).

Travel (7.0% | -3.7% from April) – My mom and I always split costs 50/50 when we travel. A lot of my travel expenses cleared in early June, so this number is a bit lower than I expected. It included Lyft rides, excursions, food, and drinks.

Cats (4.2% | +1.5% from April) – The cats were a bit expensive this month! I had to buy food and treats and also spent a lot on fun cat toys from the cat event I went to. Eloise also had a vet appointment + two different sets of bloodwork done, but my out-of-pocket cost was only $75 total since I have been funneling money away into a separate savings account for a time such as this. That savings account is now depleted (wah), but at least it was there when I needed it.

Savings (3.9% | -.6% from April) – I put away the same amount in savings that I normally do; it just shook out differently percentage-wise.

Entertainment (3.6% | -1.1% from April) – Book club, dinners with friends, and Cooking Fever tokens.

Gifts (2.1% | +1.9% from April) – Two friends had birthdays at the end of April/early May and I bought presents for them.

Subscriptions (2.1% | no change from April) – This month, my subscriptions included Patreon, Netflix, Spotify, Paramount+, Canva, Prime, a Substack newsletter I support, my bimonthly air filter subscription, and a photo-editing app.

Car (2.0% | +1.2% from April) – Gladys got a bath, I got gas once, and I paid for parking downtown.

Toiletries/Supplies (1.9% | +1.2% from April) – Lots of little supplies needed in May: mouthwash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toilet paper, trash bags… fun stuff!

Medical (1.2% | +.6% from April) – This category mostly comprises some of the stuff I bought to help with my scalp psoriasis flare. Blegh.

Misc (.9% | -.1% from April) – I have to pay an annual fee (just under $54) at my gym and it comes out every May. So I just put it in a miscellaneous category since it’s not something I’ll need to worry about too often.

Overall Thoughts

  • I have got to get my shopping under control. As of June, I am limiting myself to $100 a month for shopping. I have been averaging vastly higher than that, so this will be quite the mission even though it doesn’t feel like it should be. I’ve gotten into a mode of buying things just because I want to (and there is also some “being a poor kid” mentality where now that I can buy the things I want, I feel like I deserve it). I need to nip that in the bud!
  • I need to start living as if my rent is higher than it currently is. I am pretty certain I am going to move when my lease is up at the beginning of November, which means my rent will be increasing in a few months. I don’t want that to be a shock to my budget, so I’d like to start funneling $400 every month into savings. That’s going to be difficult with the way I’m spending money, but crucially important to help with any anxieties I have surrounding higher rent.
  • I need to build up my emergency savings + pet fund once again, as I had to dip into those savings accounts in May due to Eloise’s extensive bloodwork and the stupid $400 I paid to the locksmith when I came back from vacation.

When’s the last time your car got a bath? Tell me something fun you spent money on recently!

Categories: Personal Finance

What I Spent | April 2024

Hi, friends! It’s time to break down my spending in April. It was a doozy of a month, and I’m not proud of a lot of these numbers. As a reminder, in these spending reports, I do not include anything that comes out of my paycheck before it lands in my bank account. You won’t see anything related to health insurance, FSA payments, my retirement savings, etc. This is about what I spent from my net income. Here’s what April looked like:

Bills (47.5% | -.5% from March) – My overall percentage for my bills category (which comprises rent, phone, electric, Internet, gym, student loans, car payment, and LASIK bill) was lower than March (which was also lower than February) so that’s something!

Food (18.1% | +1.9% from March) – My food spending went up almost 2% in April and that’s because I went overboard with my Ubereats orders. I’m embarrassed at this amount, but these posts are about transparency, right? I spent $288 in April on Ubereats orders. That’s insane! How did I do that? OOF.

Travel (10.7% | +5.8% from March) – I bought my flight to Chicago for The Popcast Live in June, and wow, flight prices have increased dramatically. It was $500 for this flight! I don’t remember paying such a steep price in 2021 when I went to Chicago for the first time. I also bought travel insurance.

Shopping (6% | +.7% from March) – Ughhh… another spendy month on shopping. My spendiest categories were books ($83), kitchen ($50), and home essentials ($46).

Savings (4.5% | +.2% from March) – Same ole, same ole. I’m so glad I have these automated savings set up (for my car insurance, Christmas fund, and a sinking fund for the cats) because I don’t have to think about them!

Entertainment (4.5% | +2% from March) – I had a lot going on in April, and it led to going way overbudget in my entertainment category. All good things, though! There was a fun book club outing, some dinners with friends, a beach day with Bri… I can’t complain! I just need to remember to pull back in other areas when I have a busy month of social plans.

Cats (2.7% | +1.5% from March) – The girls were a little spendier in April. I had to re-stock their wet food and treats, and I got them lots of fun toys for their birthdays.

Subscriptions (2.1% | -.6% from March) – This month, my subscriptions included Patreon, Netflix, Spotify, Paramount+, Canva, Prime, a Substack newsletter I support, and Befunky.

Misc (1%) – I had to pay for my domain registration and my Akismet spam protection plan.

Car (0.8% | -1.7% from March) – I got gas once!

Toiletries/Supplies (0.7% | -2.3% from March) – I bought lightbulbs, a fly trap, and hand soap.

Medical (.6% | -2.6% from March) – I bought a two-pack of magnesium glycinate gummies that my psychiatrist recommended. They aren’t covered under FSA, so this was my only medical out-of-pocket purchase.

Beauty (.5% | -3.3% from March) – Pretty low-key month for beauty purchases, just an eyebrow tinting kit.

Gifts (.2% | -.9% from March) – I bought one item for a friend’s birthday gift.

Overall Thoughts

I was over-budget in seven categories this month: groceries, Ubereats, medical, cats, entertainment, shopping, and travel. The categories that I have the most control over and need to tighten up are Ubereats orders and shopping. I have some solutions to improve these categories:

  • I can only order Ubereats once per week, and only for lunch. Lunch orders are generally cheaper ($20-$25 versus $35+) and are typically more satisfying than dinner. The crazy thing about Ubereats is that I’m usually disappointed in my meal. Why do I keep ordering these expensive meals when they aren’t enjoyable or satisfying? Well, that brings me to my next point.
  • I need to stock up on easy meals so I always have something on hand. Many times, I’m ordering Ubereats because I don’t have time to cook or the meat didn’t defrost in time or I don’t feel like cooking. But if I have easy meals – like chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, breakfast for dinner – available, I am less likely to choose Ubereats.
  • I must get better about my shopping budget. Right now, I have my shopping budget set at $200 per month, and that number can increase or decrease based on what other things are going on during the month. (For example, if I have a hair appointment that month, the shopping budget will have to decrease.) What I’d like to do is use Amazon as my prize at the end of the month. If it’s the end of the month and I haven’t depleted my shopping budget, I can buy whatever I want off my Amazon wishlist. We’ll see if that’s enough of an incentive for me!

This was my worst month of spending above my means: I went over by $350. Life is expensive right now, but I am also not spending my money wisely. I know I will get to a place where I am spending below my means (and I must get there if I want to move to a bigger apartment at the end of the year)—I just have to keep trying to get there and being upfront about the challenges I’m facing right now.

What’s a monthly subscription you have that you love?

Categories: Personal Finance

What I Spent | March 2024

Hello, friends! It’s time for my March spending report, which wraps up my Q1 spending. I sat down and figured out the averages for Q1 for a whole bunch of categories, which was very eye-opening and will help me create a budget that works better for my needs. That’s the goal, of course! But first, let’s dive into the numbers:

Bills (48% | -1.7% from February) – I added two new bills to this category in March: Care Credit (for my laser eye surgery, which I am paying off) and my new gym. But somehow this category took up less of my overall total than February, which is odd.

Food (16% | -1.7% from February) – I was over budget again in this category, but I keep reducing how much I am over budget, so that’s a bit of progress. This month, it was by $230, which is $30 less than in February and $122 less than in January.

Shopping (5.3% | +1% from February) – It was a spendy month for me, yikes. My spendiest shopping categories in February included books ($97), home essentials ($42 – I went a little crazy at Bath & Body Works), and tech ($39).

Travel (4.9% | +2.7% from February) – I bought tickets for my mom and me to see Nate Bargatze in New Orleans. Since we are traveling to see him, I’m categorizing this as a travel-related expense.

Beauty (4.8% | +3.4% from February) – I had a hair appointment, got some skincare products, and also had a brow waxing/tinting appointment, so things were a bit more expensive on the beauty front.

Savings (4.3% | -.6% from February) – I have automated savings set up for car insurance ($150 per month), Christmas ($75 per month), and the cats ($50 per month).

Medical (3.2% | -1.5% from February) – Medication, a doctor copay, a heavy-duty ice pack for my sciatica, and a massage are all wrapped up in this category. (Listing the massage as a medical expense as I scheduled it for a medical reason.)

Toiletries/Supplies (3% | +2.8% from February) – I have been way under budget in this category in January and February, but in March, I placed a bulk order of body wash (I use body wash for my bubble baths so I go through it like crazy!) and also needed more mouthwash, dishwasher pods, mopping pads, and mopping solution. I still came in $117 under-budget for the quarter in this category so that’s nice!

Subscriptions (2.7% | +.2% from February) – My subscriptions this month included Patreon (I support three podcasts), Netflix, Paramount+, Spotify, two photo-editing apps, and Prime. This month also included my yearly premium subscription to Overcast (my preferred podcasting app) and my bimonthly air filter subscription.

Entertainment (2.5% | -.5% from February) – This category includes two book club events, Cooking Fever tokens, and tickets to an event in June.

Car (2.5% | +.8% from February) – I treated my car to a fancy car wash (she desperately needed it!), got gas twice, and paid for parking a few times.

Charity (1.4%) – I donated to Amnesty International (anyone who listened to my podcast this week will know why…) as well as the Pediatric Cancer Foundation for Olive.

Gifts (1.1% | -.1% from February) – I bought gifts for Chip and Lucy for their birthdays!

Cats (0.2% | -6.2% from February) – I was shocked to learn that I only bought the cats a toy in March and there were no other expenses!

Overall Thoughts

  • I finally had a month where I did not spend above my means, but that’s only because I got my end-of-year bonus this month so if I hadn’t gotten that bonus, I would have been above my means again. But only by $43 this month, which is closer than I have ever been to breaking even! We’re making progress, friends. And with April comes my pay increase from my promotion so I hope I’ll be able to not only break even but actually spend less than what I make? How crazy would that be?!
  • Averaging out my food spending, I spent $880 per month in Q1. This is way above my previous goal of spending no more than $600 a month on food, so I think it’s time to make some changes to this goal since inflation is real and food costs are just way up. My new goal is going to be $800, which is still below my average, but that feels way more doable than $600 right now. I’ll re-evaluate this number at the end of Q2.
  • Some other averages for Q1 that can help me as I build a Q2 budget that works better for my needs:
    • Gifts – $66
    • Cats – $81 (this does not include Lila’s vet visit)
    • Toiletries/Supplies – $61
    • Entertainment: $121
    • Beauty: $200 (includes hair appointments, which can be pricey)
    • Shopping: $249

Obviously, I have some work to do on my spending habits! But that’s what these posts are designed to do. I’m writing these posts to 1) help people who also might be struggling with their spending habits feel less alone and 2) help me better understand where my money is going so I can set up a budget that works for my spending habits, not what I think they should be. I do hope to put some budget restrictions in place for things like shopping and beauty, but for some of these other areas (like cats, gifts, entertainment, etc.), I need to know how much I’m spending not to spend less, but to help me reevaluate my budget so I’m not spending above my means. For example, I can see I probably need to raise my gifts budget a bit, which means I need to bring down my beauty and/or shopping budget to accommodate.

Again, the goal for me is not frugality. I like spending money. I like online shopping and fun travel experiences and going out to eat with my girlfriends. But I do want to spend within my means, and that’s the big goal for Q2.

When was the last time you went to the hair salon?