Monthly Budget Breakdown - July 2020
- T. Shepherd
- Aug 6, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 10, 2020
I feel like I've lost the grip on my budget in recent times and I've seen other bloggers make monthly posts breaking down their monthly spending and thought, "what a better way to get the reins back on my wild budget" Let's go!
It's been a while since I have been meticulous about properly categorizing my spending so I thought that since July is still fresh in my mind and my spending has started to go back to "normal" after the spending drought of COVID quarantine it's the best time to start a clean slate and get these monthly breakdowns going. Since this is the first month there is nothing to compare for increases or decreases so I'll try to call them out where I see them in the meantime.
This breakdown only includes variable expenses and excludes any fixed monthly costs (Mortgage & Rent, Utilities, Phone Bill, Auto Insurance, and Goals), unless there was a change outside the standard amount for any reason.
Groceries - $446
I'm lucky to leave the organic grocery story these days with anything under $150 less in my bank account. This is higher than normal because I've moved from making sandwiches for lunch everyday (~$5 per meal) to buying multiple pounds of salmon and salad fixings (~$9 per meal). It healthier and gives me more energy but also hit the ole wallet a little too hard. I also went to the store a bit hungry a couple of times so some extra items found their way in my cart. Since I eat the same thing for almost every other meal, I should really get a Costco membership and save a boat load of money by buying all these items in bulk, but living in a house with 4 people and a single fridge and one pantry shelve per person makes it hard to store anything past a weeks supply of food.
Eating Out - $215
I really thought this category would be running ramped in July now that im in the early stage of a new relationship where every date normally involved multiple zeros on the check, but I've lucked out and found a girl that enjoys a good meal and is more than willing to sneak in a Venmo payment after we have departed, no matter how many times I say that it's on me. This also includes a few fast food runs going back and forth to the mountains. This is still under my budget so a nice meal out once a week is a great way to cure the COVID blues and I'm all for it.
Amusement - $3,072
You must be thinking that I only enjoy buying bottles of bubbly at the swankiest Las Vegas night clubs but the truth is a little less glamorous and a whole hell of a lot more amusing, to me. So, living in Colorado comes with a hefty price tag when you account for the cost of entry into new outdoor adventurous hobbies. When I first moved here 2 years ago I dropped $2k on new snowboarding gear and a season pass. Last year I was able to get out fairly unscathed by getting into hiking (one of the cheaper hobbies). This year was no exception to the "new year, new hobby" tagline with an increased price tag for the adrenaline inducing sport of Mountain Biking. The breakdown for entering this hobby is as follows:
Used Full Suspension 29er Mountain bike - $2,700
Bike rack to transport said mountain bike - $259 (an extra $42 over the $217 ticket price to get the locking version)
New Pedals - $46
This bucket also included an AirBNB and my contribution to the grub for a Steamboat Springs 4th of July weekend getaway with old and new friends.
Clothing - $472
Remember that mountain bike I just got? Well, you can't have a new bike without getting all the new gear to go along with it (shoes, shorts, sunglasses, and a new 2.5L hydration-pack for those long bike rides). These purchase blew up my clothing budget for the month. The three Target shirts that I bought for the free Boulder couples photo shoot (long story) at $6 a pop made me feel better about spending way too much on the other clothes. I also joined the FitBit club and finally switched over from my I-have-to-charge-it-every-six-hours iWatch to its longer lasting, and more appealing, competitor. I really splurged on myself in this department but the lack of spending in the beginning of the year balances it all out since I've wore the same clothes during the entire 4-month quarantine. That's my story and I'm sticking with it!
Auto Insurance - $36
This is a fixed cost at $88/month but I've added it here because I got the nice surprise in the form of a one-time "Good Neighbor" credit this month. Didn't even know that was a thing but I'll take it!
Gas & Fuel - $70
It was nice having the back-to-back $0 gas budget with the same tank for the entire COVID quarantine but now that the world is opening back up I've started taking Jenny 3.0 out of her ole parking spot cage to run wild on the concrete pastures once again. Also, the new romance lives in Boulder (40 minute freeway drive from my place in Denver) so I've been putting some more miles in that way. Between that commute and making the drive out to the mountains for mountain biking, I've definitely seen my gas increase, but surprisingly not over pre-quarantine days and still under budget.
Alcohol & Bars - $37
The only booze that makes it into this category these days is some occasional bottles of wine and sixers every once in a while for a dinner with friends or date nights. The new love interest is not much of a drinker so my wallet has been spared in that department. This is still way cheaper than the hundreds I used to spend going out and buying $9 shots for the group at 1 a.m., when I should have already been in bed fast asleep. My wallet has surely thanked me for the settling into my 30's and leaving my roaring 20's behind.
Honorable Mentions - $0
I was able to not spend a penny on the following categories in the month of July! Budgeted amount in parentheses.
Shit Happens ($150)
Hair ($80)
Rental Car & Taxi ($80)
Service & Parts ($20)
Total Savings: $330
The main take-aways from my July 2020 spending review are as follows:
Plan for getting into certain hobbies and save each month for next years interests.
Work on getting the grocery budget down by finding ways to buy frequently purchased foods at discount with bulk prices.
Pump the breaks (no pun intended) on clothing spending for a while.
Enjoy meals out with friends, because there is room in the budget and they are well worth the price, in moderation.
Overall, I think I did really well prioritizing my spending towards items that bring me joy and fulfillment, even if I did blow the budget wide open with mountain biking.
JULY 2020 Spending (excluding miscellaneous)
I got in a little too deep on the individual stock investing in July and pulled money from my extra saving funds to buy some (very poor choice) stocks so it's hard to get a real feel for my monthly saving rate. I am switching over to index funds in a brokerage account so I'll have a better picture of actual income going into savings in August.
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