May 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 April 2021 budget breakdown you can read that by clicking here. Let’s dig in!

Investing $0 USD

I didn’t invest any money this month because I started only investing my commission money from my software sales job. That way, I can have more flexibility and wiggle room each month to help pay for any expenses that might pop up after having my daughter this month. I heard that a baby’s first year can be expensive so I want to make sure that I am fully prepared and don’t have too much money tied up in investments.

Rent & Utilities $1453.57

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. This month came out to be about the same as usual. I’ve started using the air conditioning a bit more to make sure that the house doesn’t get too hot now that I have a baby at home. I’m curious to see how expensive our electricity bill will be next month.

Groceries $129.51

Our grocery bill was very low this month for a few reasons. For one, we were in the hospital for about six days for the delivery of our daughter and had to stay a few extra days which was unexpected. During our stay, the hospital provided us with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Another reason why the bill was so low is that my mother is currently staying with us to help take care of our newborn baby and she has been buying food and cooking delicious food. This is extremely helpful when trying to keep a baby fed, changing diapers, and operating on only a few hours of sleep!

Charitable Giving $36

This month I donated $36 per month through an organization called ‘Save The Children’. The money goes to the sponsorship of a young girl in Kenya to pay for their school fees as well as providing clean water for their village.

Subscriptions $41.95

I am subscribed to Netflix, Amazon Prime and pay membership fees to two YouTube creators that I love to watch.

General Merchandise $347.73

This month I ended up buying much more than usual. After coming home, I realized there were some extra postpartum items that I desperately needed along with household items such as soap, cleaning spray, paper towels, and vitamins. I also learned that newborns go through a brand new box of diapers pretty quickly so bought a big box of diapers, as well as a new hair bonnet for me to sleep in since my old one had seen much better days. I also took advantage of a memorial day sale to buy some burp cloths, socks, and a few extra outfits for my baby.

Restaurants $51.50

This month, we didn’t order any pizza. Instead, this expense comes from getting Greek food for lunch with my mother before the baby was born and paying an extra $4 for food at Chili’s that was bought mostly with a gift card.

Debt Payoff $240

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 Care $45.90

After coming home from the hospital, I realized I was almost out of my body wash. Ahhhh! I immediately ordered more since I have sensitive skin and don’t like to buy my soap from grocery stores. I bought enough to last me at least another one or two months.

Gasoline $102.09

This was to put gas in our two cars again to fill up the tanks. I had been driving a lot to go back and forth to the hospital, go to my Doctor, pick up prescriptions, and take the baby to her first two Pediatrician appointments.

In conclusion…

In the entire month of May, I spent a grand total of….$2455 USD. I’m happy with this number and am curious to see what my grand total will look like next month.

Do you track your spending? If so, tell me how you do so and I’d be happy to hear from you!