November 2020 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 October 2020 budget breakdown you can read that by clicking here. This month my spending was more than normal because my partner and I had to put a security deposit down on a new apartment and pay 1-week of prorated rent plus 1 full month of rent on top of our rent for our old apartment. Due to the current California lockdowns due to COVID-19 we didn’t do any traveling and pretty much have stayed within our town.
Investing $2,000 USD
This month I invested $1,500 into my Vanguard brokerage account which is done automatically at the end of the month. I setup recurring monthly transfers so there wouldn’t be any urge to not invest one month. I want to make my investing is easy as possible to not create any friction. About 90% of it goes towards the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) and about 10% goes into the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND). I just buy shares based on the dollar amount after the amount has been automatically transferred from my savings account. I also invest $500 per month into my Vanguard Roth IRA to meet the $6,000 yearly limit which also goes into VTI & BND.
Next month, I will make a lump sum investment to meet my Roth IRA’s $6,000 limit for 2020. I will start putting money into my 2021 Roth IRA as a lump sum instead of $500 per month with my commission check that I will receive at the end of January. That way my Roth IRA will already be funded and I can focus on investing into my brokerage accounts that I can tap into before the age of 59 1/2.
Saving $200
This month I decided to top up my savings to cover 8 months of my bare necessities. I now have an emergency savings fund of $18,000 which I feel is sufficient and would be enough to cover my rent, utilities, food, and nothing else if I ever lost my income or became injured.
I considered having a 1-year emergency fund but then I decided that I’d rather use that money to go into my brokerage accounts so that that money can grow in the stock market. If an emergency happens where I didn’t get any additional income for more than 8 months, I could always take money out of my brokerage accounts without paying a hefty penalty.
Travel $417.20
This cost is for a round trip ticket for my brother to visit my partner and me for the winter holiday. He has been living in a small town and hasn’t been exposed to COVID-19. I haven’t seen him in quite some time and he will be starting a software development boot camp and entry-level software development job soon so I may not be able to see him again after some time. He will be quarantining with us for 2-weeks after arriving. To be honest, there aren’t many places open or things to do in my town anyway so he was already going to spend the majority of his time at our apartment.
Rent & Utilities $3328.27
Ouch, I know. This is expensive! Let me explain! I live with my husband in the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. November was an out of the ordinary month because we had to pay a full month’s rent at our old apartment as well as application fees, holding deposit, 1-month of prorated rent, and December rent at our new apartment. We were thankful to take advantage of a special that will give us 1 month of free rent in January 2021 (Yesss!). This also includes our gas, electricity, water, and sewage utilities.
Groceries $402
I went just $2 above my grocery budget of $400. But that’s okay! We recently moved and I’ve started shopping at a lower cost grocery store. I’ve noticed significantly lower prices at this newer grocery store with the same quality of food. I’m going to start shopping store brands again and I’m curious to see the price difference next month.
Charitable Giving $36
I always give $36 per month to Save the Children which helps sponsor a smart, adorable girl in Kenya. This money goes towards providing her and her family with clean water, school fees, and school supplies. I plan to write to her and her family again soon to make sure they are staying safe during these tough times.
Subscriptions $85.85
This category includes my Netflix subscription, Amazon prime membership, and a monthly payment to support two YouTubers that I enjoy watching. This year our Costco yearly membership was due. We buy our gasoline at Costco which saves us a good amount considering how high gasoline is in the San Francisco Bay Area.
General Merchandise $148.73
This category included coffee, new bedsheets, some household supplies for our new apartment. I expected to buy some extra items this month for our move.
Restaurants $26
This month we only ordered take out once. This is a big drop from normal because we are trying to make all of our meals at home. We got takeout food from Chilis on a Friday afternoon.
Renter’s Insurance $231
This money went towards our last month of insurance at our old apartment and prepaying an entire year’s worth of renter’s insurance for our new apartment. I saved about $30 in prepaying for a year and I think I will continue to do this from now on.
Gifts $109.25
I bought my husband an early Christmas present. He had been wanting a particular pair of shoes for over two months and I decided to go ahead and get them instead of trying to guess what he wanted for his gift.
Debt Payoff $300
This goes toward my low-interest personal loan. I plan on paying this off in under two years. But for now, I’m paying more than the monthly payments.
Healthcare $30
This was my co-payment for blood work that I needed to get done.
In conclusion…
November was more expensive than the average month, but it was what I had anticipated for this year. I knew that we would be moving to a new apartment and would have to pay a deposit and initial fees.
In total, my investing, saving, and spending this month came to a grand total of….$7314.30 USD.
Do you track your spending? If so, tell me how you do so and I’d be happy to hear from you!
