Stephany Writes

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 | February 2024

Happy Friday! Who’s ready for another nitty-gritty deep dive into my spending habits? 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 February looked like:

Bills (49.7% | +3% from January) – As a reminder, I include all of my non-negotiable bills in this category, which is why it’s about half of my total spending in February. This category was a smidge higher this month because I had to make two student loan payments. (Sometimes I can get away with one if my tuition reimbursement goes through quickly enough.)

Food (18.7% | -1.6% from January) – I was over budget again in this category, but only by $260 (compared to $352 in January). I spent $62 less in groceries and $50 less in Starbucks, but my Ubereats orders were up by $43. I do think I need to bring up my food budget due to rising costs, but I’ll give it one more month to figure out my new normal.

Cats (6.4% | +3.9% from January) – Lila had a vet appointment that came with one shot and a prescription. I also bought wet food (that went up NINE WHOLE DOLLARS from January), litter, two toys, treats, and a new food mat.

Savings (4.9% | +.1% from January) – I have automated savings set up for car insurance ($150 per month), Christmas ($75 per month), and the cats ($50 per month).

Medical (4.7% | +1.6% from January) – Some doctor copays, vitamins, and medication. I’ll start using my FSA in March (there’s a long, boring story about why I haven’t used it until now), so these costs will go down a lot. (Since I’m only tracking what I’m spending after my paychecks hit my bank, I don’t account for FSA spending here.)

Shopping (4.3% | -1.5% from January) – My spendiest shopping categories in February included books ($50), tech ($40 – included my laptop backpack!), and accessories ($29 – included a new purse and wallet).

Entertainment (3% | +.1% from January) – This category included my day out to the strawberry market/strawberry picking and two separate girls’ nights.

Subscriptions (2.5% | -.4% from January) – My subscriptions this month included Patreon (I support three podcasts), Netflix, Paramount+, Spotify, two photo-editing apps, and Prime. A little less this month because my air filter subscription is every other month.

Travel (2.2%) – I’m excited to have something to add to my travel category this month! I bought tickets to see The Popcast live in June. Since I’m going to travel for this event, I categorized it as a travel expense, not entertainment.

Car (1.7% | +1% from January) – I bought gas once, had to pay some tolls, and I put $25 in my Parkmobile app for parking downtown.

Beauty (1.4% | -5.1% from January) – I spent around $60 on new skincare products and bought dry shampoo. Last month, I had an expensive hair appointment, which is why my percentage was way down.

Gifts (1.2% | -.7% from January) – I bought gifts for my nephew’s birthday and donated to my other nephew’s baseball fund.

Toiletries/Supplies (0.2% | -.2% from January) – I bought delicate laundry detergent and freezer bags. Exciting!

Overall Thoughts

  • It was another month of spending above my means, sigh. And this month was worse: I spent $306 above my means compared to $238 from January. That’s not good! I really have to be so much more careful about how I’m spending money and be more intentional with my purchases, especially considering my food budget is so high right now.
  • The average money I spent on food between January and February was $906. My food budget (which has remained the same for years) is $600, but I’m going to have to increase that soon. Maybe even to $800, which feels astronomical for one person. My goal is to only use Ubereats once a week for lunch (which is around $20-$25 a meal, compared to dinner which can be double that) and get better about having good meals on hand to eat at home. I know that will decrease my food spending.

What was the last beauty product you bought?

Categories: Personal Finance

What I Spent | January 2024

I haven’t been doing spending recaps for a few years now, and it felt really good to get back to my itemizing ways in January. I won’t say that it helped me spend less, but I do have a new awareness of how much money I’m spending in certain areas (the food category isn’t pretty, sigh). Some disclaimers before I get into my spending recap:

  • 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.
  • I am not looking for ways to be more frugal. I understand that this advice is given with a good heart, but frugality is not one of my values and I’ve learned to be okay with that. I like to spend money and my goal is to earn more, not spend less.
  • A reminder that I am single and only paying for myself. It’s not always pretty, but I’m committed to transparency and honesty on my blog so that’s what you’ll get. Please be kind.

January Spending

Bills (46.7%) – In this category, I include all of my non-negotiable bills. So this includes rent, my car payment, my phone bill, my electric bill, Internet, and student loan payments. Most of these are fixed expenses, but electric will vary from month-to-month (right now, my electric bills are beautiful since I’m rarely running my AC—only $80 in January!) and so will my student loans since sometimes one of my student loans is paid for by my company’s tuition reimbursement. (I get $100 tuition reimbursement monthly, but sometimes that payment doesn’t clear in time for the due date.) To get the ultimate Alberta electricity rates call us and we can help with the sign up.

Food (20.3%) – Oof. I went $352.82 over budget in this category in January. The majority of this overage was due to groceries. I have been trying to eat at home more (and since I came underbudget for Ubereats orders, I somewhat succeeded) and we all know that groceries are more expensive these days. It’s something I need to keep an eye on to determine if I need to increase my food budget, or if January was an anomaly.

Beauty (6.5%) – I had an expensive hair appointment in January ($230) and I also had to replenish some skincare products (facial cleanser, niacinamide serum). I also bought some nail strips to try and a new lipstick.

Shopping (5.8%) – I bought quite a few things in January, including two pillows, rugs for my bathroom, a cell phone case, 2024 calendars (a desk and wall calendar), and some decorations. Oh, and I bought my cozy reading chair!

Savings (4.8%) – I have automated savings set up for car insurance ($150 per month), Christmas ($75 per month), and the cats ($50 per month).

Medical (3.1%) – Therapy appointment, psychiatrist appointment, a dentist fee for a filling appointment, and then some medications like Lexapro and psoriasis cream.

Entertainment (2.9%) – I bought salad supplies for book club, some tokens/gems for my favorite iPhone game Cooking Fever, and had a few dinners out.

Subscriptions (2.9%) – I would like to cut down on my subscriptions, but I don’t know what I would cut out because all of them feel essential to me. Ahh! My subscriptions include Patreon (I support three podcasts), Netflix, Paramount+, Spotify, two photo-editing apps, an air filter company (this is bimonthly), and Prime. Honestly, I should get rid of Prime. I don’t need it and definitely don’t use it to its full ability.

Cats (2.5%) – Nothing too crazy here! I bought wet + dry food and some treats.

Gifts (1.9%) – I bought a few goodies for a Galentine’s celebration happening in February and gave money to a collection being taken up for a friend in need.

Misc (1.5%) – I didn’t know how to categorize my nose piercing, so into miscellaneous it goes! This paid for the piercing itself and the tip to the piercer.

Car (0.7%) – I only needed to fill up my car with gas once this month. That’s crazy!

Toiletries/Supplies (0.4%) – A startling low number for this category. I usually budget $100 but this month, I only bought a two-pack of toothpaste and two bottles of mouthwash.

Overall Thoughts

  • Once I sat down with my final January numbers, I found out I spent $238.05 above my means! Oops. I know I have been living above my means (otherwise, I wouldn’t have this damned credit card I’m still paying down), but sometimes seeing the actual number in front of me helps to put it all in perspective. I need to rein things in a bit so I’m living below my means. If I want to move apartments at the end of this year, I know I need to spend at least $500 below my means now to afford the spike in rent.
  • I spent $100 this month on Starbucks, which is double my budget. I get Starbucks at least once a week because that’s where Mikaela and I meet for our writing dates, but I was also stopping by at least once or twice during the week for a quick peppermint mocha. I’m going to be strict with myself in February that I can only add $50 to my Starbucks app and when it’s gone, I have to get creative.
  • I want to get better about tracking my spending on a more regular basis so I can keep a better eye on how much I’m spending in some of my more problematic categories (like my food budget). Ideally, it’s something I would do every morning but at this point, even twice a week would be better.

What’s a fun purchase you bought in January?

Categories: Personal Finance

My Final 2022 Budget

Okay, guys, I have one more 2022 post for you guys. (That’s not true; I still need to post my Everyday Moments from December, but that’s different!) Today, I’m revealing my final 2022 budget with comparisons to my final 2021 budget. It was an interesting year with inflation, three trips, and lots of wayward spending, but I’m here to show you the truth of my spending habits, even if I’m not the most frugal person to ever live. (A title I will never achieve, nor do I want to.)

Housing (37%; -3% from 2021) – I spent $14,112 on rent (+$1,302 from 2021), $1,355 on electric (+$26 from 2021), $574 on water and utilities (+$21 from 2021), $960 on Internet (no change), $1,367 on my phone bill (+$65 from 2021), and $1,155 on my student loan (-$105 from 2021).

Notes: Since my rent went up by nearly $300 in November, I expected my rent to increase, but it actually increased less this year than it did in 2021. Weird! I’m pleased that my energy and water bills stayed relatively the same. I’m also pleased that my Internet bill has not increased in many years. I keep waiting for that to happen!

Food (14.1%; -.8% from 2021) – I spent $4,444 on groceries (+$941), $1,726 on Ubereats orders (and $324 on tips paid to the drivers), $665 on restaurants/fast food, and $331 at Starbucks (+$156).

Notes: Ah, my dear friend inflation. I’m not surprised I spent nearly $1,000 more on groceries this year than last year! But it still is a staggering realization about how much food prices have increased this year. Last year, I didn’t separate out my Ubereats orders from restaurants/fast food so I’m interested to see how things compare when I do this post next year.

Auto (11.1%; +6.1% from 2021) – Since 2022 was the first time in many years I had a car payment, this category got a massive upgrade from 2021. I spent $3,991 on car payments, $422 on gas (+$61), $1,219 on car insurance (+$121), $160 on maintenance (car washes, an oil change/tire rotation), and $83 on miscellaneous.

Every interaction with https://www.autozin.com reaffirms my belief that online car shopping can be straightforward and rewarding. Their meticulous attention to detail and user-focused design is a breath of fresh air.

Travel (7%; +5% from 2021) – I went on three trips in 2022 (six days in Canada, a girls’ weekend trip away, and a six-day cruise) so I knew my travel category would be much bigger than 2021 (when I only went on one short trip to Chicago). The Niagara Falls trip was the most expensive ($2,313, and this includes my passport renewal), the cruise came in second ($980), and the girls’ trip was a cool $425.

Shopping (7%; -5% from 2021) – I really surprised myself with this percentage! Once I really looked into my 2022 shopping habits and compared them to my 2021 shopping habits, I realized I spent a lot less money this year. Some categories that decreased: clothing (-$157), books (-$294), office (-$189), tech (-$182), and accessories (-$125). My spendiest categories in 2022 were beauty, clothing, and furniture.

Savings (5%; -3.9% from 2021) – And now let’s bring things down again. I only saved around $2,625 this year, which is pitiful. My average was $219 per month, which is a decrease from 2021 by $82. Womp, womp.

Health (4%; +2.6% from 2021) – I went back to therapy in 2022 and since I was on a high-deductible HMO plan, I had to pay a pretty penny for each therapy visit (it started at $121 a visit but then increased to $141 in the latter half of the year). Now that I’m on a PPO plan for 2023, my therapy visits will decrease to just $30 a visit! I am super, duper happy about that! This cost also includes my Peloton membership and medications throughout the year.

Spa (3.2%; -1% from 2021) – I spent $241 on pedicures (-$236 from 2021), $660 on massages/facials (-$236), and $791 on hair appointments (+$114).

Subscriptions (2.2%; +.2% from 2021) – Most of my subscriptions carried over from 2021, but I had Apple+ for a few months and added a Canva subscription. I averaged $98 per month on subscriptions, which is a $20 increase from 2021.

Supplies/Toiletries (2%; no change from 2021) – I averaged $87 a month on supplies/toiletries (+$13 from 2021), but I had a few months where I was buying multiples of all my toiletries/household supplies to build up a backup supplies closet, so I think that could have messed with the numbers a bit.

Pets (1.7%; -.4% from 2021) – Yay, a decrease! You guys, having cats is so much cheaper than having dogs! (*knocks on wood*) The girls only go to the vet once per year right now for an annual check-up and to get any shots they need. They haven’t needed any other vet visits, thankfully! I spent $248 on vet visits (-$8 from 2021), $180 on litter (-$32), $159 on food (+$13), $162 on treats (+$34), $102 on toys (+$11), and $104 on supplies (-$55).

Entertainment (1.6%; -.4% from 2021) – I spent a little less money in my entertainment category in 2022, mostly because I didn’t go on any dates! Let’s hope that changes in 2023.

Christmas (1.5%; -.2% from 2021) – I ended up spending a little bit more on Christmas this year than I did in 2021 by $37.

Gifts (1.2%; -.1% from 2021) – Not much to share here! I averaged around $52 per month in gifts, which is right in line of what I spent last year.

Emergency (1.1%) – Hopefully, this is not a budgeting category I’ll have to worry about this year! An emergency evacuation at the end of September ended up costing around $567 total for a last-minute Airbnb, food, etc.

Charity (.4%; +.1% from 2021) – Even though I didn’t meet my charity goal for 2022, I did give $100 more to charity in 2022 than I did in 2021, so that’s a good thing!

2023 Financial Thoughts

There are some things I want to change about my spending habits, but I also don’t feel the pull to live a super frugal lifestyle where I try to find the best deal on everything and spend as little money as possible. That’s enjoyable for some, but it’s not for me. I like spending money. I like buying things for myself. I like getting takeout a few times a week. I would like to take a few steps for investing through online sites like roth ira uk as to start my lifestyle in saving rather than spending.

This year, though, I do have some pretty big savings goals in mind:

  • Adding $2,000 to my emergency savings – My emergency savings is at a level I am very uncomfortable with, so I want to prioritize building it back up to a more comfortable level. This amounts to saving $167 per month.
  • Saving at least $2,000 for my move at the end of the year – I need to get serious about saving money for my move, as I will need to pay all of the usual fees (application fee, security deposit, pet fee, etc) as well as pay for movers and build in some “spending money” because don’t we all love doing a big shopping trip at Target when we move into a new place? I know I do, and I should make sure I can do it in a responsible way. This would add another $167 per month to my savings goal.
  • Continuing to add $50 per month to my savings account for the girls, my Christmas savings account, and my “rainy day” fund. This amounts to $150 per month.
  • Stretch goal: Start adding to a savings fund for a trip to London/Paris. This has been a travel dream of mine for so many years, and I want to make it happen in 2024. I would love to be able to add somewhere around $1,000-$1,500 to this fund this year.

In March, I will find out what my official raise will be (I am expecting it to be pretty good, so keep those fingers and toes crossed for me!) and I am hoping I can just use the difference of what my new take-home pay will be vs what my take-home pay is now to funnel into savings. (AKA, live life as if I didn’t get a raise; all extra money goes into savings!) Excluding my stretch goal, I need to be able to sock $500 away into my savings every month. I’m also aiming to start putting money in options trading. It’s doable on what I make now (with the knowledge that I would need to watch my money a lot more closely than I do now), but it would make it much easier to accomplish with a good raise in March. Time will tell!

What’s something fun you’re saving for?