The Finance Journey » Budget http://www.thefinancejourney.com The financial journey of a 20 something computer analyst living in upstate New York. Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:55:40 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc January 2009 Budget Numbers (-$345.40) http://www.thefinancejourney.com/budget/january-2009-budget-numbers-34540/ http://www.thefinancejourney.com/budget/january-2009-budget-numbers-34540/#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:31:56 +0000 Chuck http://www.thefinancejourney.com/?p=608 Summary

After deciding to keep closer track of my budget this year, I setup some budget tracking in my primary financial software – Yodlee. Since this is my first month I wasn’t really sure how realistic some of these numbers were so might need to do some tweaking.

We were $345.40 over budget this month. The majority of that came from 4 categories.

  • Restaurants/Dining ($277.34) – We went WAY overboard with eating out this month. Something I think we really need to work on in the coming months. It certainly adds up quickly.
  • Loans ($109.58) – We had a quarterly student loan payment due this month. That number should average out throughout the year.
  • Gasoline/Fuel ($87.77) – This number may need to be readjusted depending on how the next few months go. Not much we can do here… still need to drive to work
  • Personal Spending ($86.54) – Slightly overspent here. This is another area that will require some discipline to keep in check.

Other than the restaurant spending I’m pretty pleased with the first months budget. I think as we continue to watch and stick to it we will be closer to our goal. The complete numbers are below:

 

  Category Goal $ Amount Actual $ Amount $ Variance  
  Automotive Expenses $50.00 $12.84 $37.16  
  Cable/Satellite Services $70.25 $70.24 $0.01  
  Entertainment $50.00 $0.00 $50.00  
  Gasoline/Fuel $150.00 $237.77 ($87.77)  
  Personal Spending $500.00 $586.54 ($86.54)  
  Groceries $550.00 $524.89 $25.11  
  Healthcare/Medical $60.00 $39.98 $20.02  
  - Gym Memberships $40.00 $39.98 $0.02  
  Other Healthcare/Medical $20.00 $0.00 $20.00  
  Home Improvement $100.00 $103.61 ($3.61)  
  Loans $650.00 $759.58 ($109.58)  
  - Student Loans $340.00 $466.30 ($126.30)  
  - Auto Loans $293.28 $293.28 $0.00  
  - Other Loans $16.72 $0.00 $16.72  
  Mortgages $1,961.60 $1,961.60 $0.00  
  Pets/Pet Care $30.00 $0.00 $30.00  
  Restaurants/Dining $300.00 $577.34 ($277.34)  
  Travel $416.00 $325.74 $90.26  
  Utilities $275.00 $308.12 ($33.12)  
  TOTAL $5,162.85 $5,508.25 ($345.40)  
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