Note: 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.
Bills ($2,750 | ↓ $122 from June): This includes rent, phone, electric, Internet, utilities, car payment, and school loan. It was a little less than June because I didn’t have to pay two utilities bills this month. Hooray for that! My electric bill was about $40 more in July than June, though.
Food ($847 | ↑ $290 from June): Womp, womp. After a massively successful June in terms of my food budget, I spent far more in July. Most of this overage was because my Uber Eats orders were out of control ($225 in July compared to $96 in June), and I also spent a lot more on groceries.
Travel ($600 | ↑ $495 from June): We’ve booked all of our accommodations for our New England road trip in October, and my mom put all of the deposits on her credit card. I’m slowly paying her back for my half!
Misc ($514 | ↑ $514 from June): I wasn’t sure how to categorize my hosting bill since it’s one of those expenses that only happens every few years. I’m putting it in miscellaneous.
Car ($340 | ↑ $87 from June): Most of these expenses were the same ole, same ole. However, it was also time to pay my car insurance renewal. Every month, I put $150 into a savings account specifically for this purpose, so once I transferred that money over to my checking account to pay the bill, I was left with a balance of just over $100. This happened last time I had to renew my car insurance, so I should probably increase my monthly car insurance savings to $175, but ugh, I am resistant to that idea!
Savings ($300 | ↑ $100 from June): I didn’t do anything different with my savings this month, so this increase was likely due to putting more money away into my “fun” savings account after reviewing my goal progress for the week, ha
Shopping ($240 | ↓ $169 from June): I continue to reduce my spending on shopping, woohoo! (It was $640 in April, $484 in May, and $409 in June.) This month, my biggest shopping category was beauty because I needed to replace some items, like my tinted moisturizer and facial cleanser. I also bought some new-to-me hair care products, including clarifying shampoo and root-lifting spray. My second-highest category was home, followed by miscellaneous.
Gifts ($212 | ↑ $212 from June): A much busier month, considering last month I didn’t spend any money on gifts. But I celebrated my mom’s birthday, got some gifts for a friend’s birthday, and bought some school supplies for an initiative my apartment was running for a local charity.
Spa ($206 | ↑ $44 from June): A little higher this month because I got a very bougie pedicure since I met my Uber Eats goal last month! I also got an underarm wax and paid for my massage membership.
Entertainment ($189 | ↓ $67 from June): I’d like to keep my entertainment budget under $200, so I’m very happy with this final total! Most of this comprises meals with my mom, family, friends, etc.
Household Supplies ($166 | ↓ $84 from June): The biggest expense for this category was replenishing my backstock of hand soaps. (I’ve decided that I must use Bath & Body Works hand soaps now, so it’s a bit more expensive.) I was also running low on Wallflower scents, so I bought five when they were having a sale. I picked up some other things, too, like flossers, mouthwash, Command Strips, etc.
Subscriptions ($83 | ↑ $13 from June): I’m trying to remember why I paid a little more for my subscriptions in July than June. Maybe I had my BOTM credit taken out this month, and I didn’t last month? I’m at a loss, and this is why I need to take better notes.
Pets ($78 | ↓ $197 from June): Nothing major here, just paid for the girls’ vet plans and bought a new scratcher.
Medical ($10 |↓ $8 from June): I had to pay a medical bill. I could have used my FSA, but it was $10, so whatever.
Spending Goals
Here is a report on the five money goals I’m tracking:
- Spend below my means – I did not achieve this in July. I spent $543 above my means, but that mostly accounts for the hosting fee I had to pay, so I’m choosing to be okay with this number. Spending above my means has become an anomaly more often than not, and I’m still not carrying a balance on my credit card, so let’s hope I can clean things up in August!
- Spend under $600 on groceries and $100 on Uber Eats orders – While I did achieve my grocery goal ($547), I spend far too much money on Uber Eats orders ($225).
- Spend under $500 on shopping – Complete! I spent less than $250 on shopping expenses, wahoo!
- Add $250 to my emergency savings every month – LOL I totally forgot I had made this goal. Awesome.
- Track and report on no-spend days – Only three days in July: July 4, July 7, and July 11.
What was the last beauty product you bought?
Most recent beauty purchase: I bought a refill of my beloved NYX Face Glue and a new eyebrow pencil over the weekend!!
Well, you went over on Ubereats but under on shopping, so let’s call it a win! The last beauty product I bought was definitely something for the wedding, where I bought a bunch of stuff I never buy (and will probably never use again).
Overall I would say you’re spending money on worthwhile things- your October trip is going to be epic!
I would say you had a pretty good month.
I bought some new eyeshadow and mascara a bit ago. I like them, but I didn’t need them. Well, maybe I needed mascara, mine were getting old, but the eyeshadow was a splurge.
I bought mascara today! My fave Maybelline Surreal Falsies. I like to have backups, and that was this.
My last purchase was mascara – I use Maybelline Lash Sensational in brownish/black for every day, and Maybelline Colossal Bubble in brown when I’m bopping out and about.
You and I are, as usual, ~aligned~ (ew corporate word) on the Ubereats overspending lol. It’s just too convenient!! I am prob gonna order it again today lol – no time for grocery store and a busy day. Oh well maybe next month (no really.)
I think my last beauty product purchase was this Eucerin set of creams that is supposed to make the brown spots on my face fade. I should have taken a picture when I started using it. It’s supposed to work in as few as 6 weeks. It has made me very disciplined about washing my face every night and using my retinol rx from the derm. I had thought I would burn or freeze this dark spot off but it’s nice to avoid that and just use some creams. I hope they work!
I ran out of doordash gift cards last week so my weekly poke bowl order has come to an end. Womp womp. It is so expensive to have them delivered so I am hoping to get over to the fast casual place once/month to enjoy it as a treat. I tried ordering an poke bowl at book club dinner last night and it was not nearly as good as the fast casual place one is so that was disappointing!
I almost raised my hand at the end of this post and Shouted- OH I JUST DID THIS! I do not shop for beauty supplies often but we were at a HomeGoods so Curly could buy pillows for her dorm (no room in the car). There was an Ulta next to it. I ran in and bought Its a 10 volumizing hair dryer spray or something and the deva curl shampoo I just ran out of. I don’t really wear makeup, so since Curly was trying to buy a bronzer stick – we asked an associate for help.
Please do not tell my accountant father that I do not track my spending. I operate by usually being frugal and claiming to be too busy to add it all up each month, and I enjoy this method of ‘doing the best I can to pinch pennies.’ Even if I don’t always make the grade.
I can’t even remember my last beauty product…. But I do need new mascara and I will do that on Monday.
The grocery bill is so high for a single person but then I hear groceries are cheap in Germany. I do not think so but okay…. I rather spent my kinda money than your amount.
I think I am going to do a three months financial check because I am spending more than I make and so is the husband and we are burning through our emergency stash. Something needs to be adjusted.