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?