March 2021 Budget Breakdown
Hello everyone! If you’re new to my blog, at the beginning of each month I take a look at the previous month to see what I saved, invested, and spent. I’m in the beginning stages of my journey to reach early retirement and reach financial independence. A great way to do this is by tracking your expenses, which I do with a great platform called Personal Capital which is completely free to use. I have all of my checking accounts, credit cards, Roth IRA, and brokerage account linked to it which makes it easy to get a birds-eye view of my spending and saving habits.
If you missed my February 2021 budget breakdown you can read that by clicking here. This month, I will only be going over the money that I spent instead of including the money that I also saved or invested. Let’s dig in!
Investing $0 USD
I know…it’s shocking to me as well. But let me explain! I have stopped investing for a few reasons. I work in software sales which means I have a base salary and a variable commission that I get quarterly. I’ve decided for the rest of this year to only invest my sales commissions to see how that goes. If I know that they will go straight into my Roth IRA and my brokerage account (a mix of stocks and bonds) then I won’t worry about what to do with the extra cash.
The other reason I’ve stopped investing from my monthly paychecks is because my husband and I are anticipating some extra expenses this year from adding a new member to our family, anticipating a hospital bill, and wanting to have a buffer until I receive my first disability check while I am currently at home on parental leave waiting to give birth to our first child. Yes, we are expecting a child and want to have extra money stacked up to take care of any unexpected costs that may pop up.
Rent & Utilities $1404.39
My husband and I split the rent of a 2-bedroom apartment in the San Francisco East Bay Area as well as the sewage, water, and electricity bills. I’ve recently switched our PG & E electricity plan which saved us over $50 in comparison to last month’s bill. The weather has recently warmed up and we have not been using the heat and just open the windows of our house to enjoy the fresh air. I’m excited to see how low our electricity bill will be next month!
Groceries $256.32
Our grocery bill hasn’t been under $300 in a long time! I looked back and tried to see how we spent less money. I think it’s because we have been buying more meat and vegetables and batch cooking meals that we can easily reheat throughout the week. I also am having at least two to three portions of fruits and vegetables every day (along with my favorite snacks). I’ve recently started ordering most of my produce and some snacks with a great company called Imperfect Foods. They deliver sustainable, affordable foods straight to your house that may not be “pretty” enough to sell in a grocery store or happen to be a surplus. I’m loving the service so far, and would definitely recommend giving them a try to see how you like it. You can use my referral link to get $20 off your first order with them.
Charitable Giving $36
This month I donated $36 per month through an organization called ‘Save The Children’. That money goes to the sponsorship of a young girl in Kenya. It helps to pay for her school fees as well as providing clean water for her village.
Subscriptions $41.95
I am subscribed to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and I contribute to two of my favorite YouTube content creators. I’m definitely getting my money’s worth right now with me being home on parental leave.
General Merchandise $872.56
The bulk of this comes from the purchase of a second-hand SNOO baby bassinet and a baby swing that we found for sale on Facebook marketplace. The rest of this comes from buying toilet paper, plastic containers for our flour and sugar, as well as some beard oil for my hubby.
Restaurants $20.75
Once again, we ordered pizza. We seem to love getting two pizzas at least one weekend per month. They usually last us two days and is a nice break from the foods that we eat all throughout the week.
Debt Payoff $300
This goes toward my low-interest personal loan. I plan on paying this off in the next two years. But for now, I’m paying slightly more than the monthly payments.
Personal Shopping $125.19
In preparation for having a baby, I needed some more post partum/breast feeding friendly clothes. I bought multiple nursing bras, breast feeding items, a nursing shawl, and two comfy dresses from Bamboobies.
In conclusion…
In the entire month of March, I spent a grand total of….$3057.16 USD. I’m happy with this number. Next month should be a bit lower since we have already purchased all of the items that we need to welcome our baby, and we are very lucky and appreciate of family, friends, and co-workers buying items from our baby registry.
Do you track your spending? If so, tell me how you do so and I’d be happy to hear from you!
