Let’s see the budget – August

I talk about budgeting quite a lot and some people think Ryan and I live a miserable life because we let a budget rule our life. However, it is thanks to budgeting that we are able to take risky investing decisions without worrying whether or not we’ll be able to meet our obligations. 

Of the two, I am more into the budgeting than Ryan, but he can always count of me to keep us in check. 

Below is a screenshot of our August budget. Nothing really complicated. We’ve been using a google sheets for about a year now and we just tweak it each month. We use this in conjunction with Wave Apps.

As you can see, our budget is by no means, the eat ramen all day, type of budget. It is somewhat lean, but not extreme. It still allows for entertainment, eating out, traveling, etc. 

I am sacrificing some stuff, but that’s because I am prioritizing things that matter most to us, like a smart bed. 

A couple of things to note: 

Affirm/Mattress

Even though we had the cash at hand, we made a conscious decision to finance our new mattress. It was 0% interest and we would rather use the money to fund the renovations of Big Horn. 

Car Payment

I paid off my car in 2017, but Ryan’s car still has a payment. He has $5,000 left, but he has 0% interest, so we are not rushing to pay it off just yet.  I will be making a post on why we refrain from paying off certain debt next week.

Student Loans

As you can see, there is no budget line in August for student loans. These are deferred with 0% interest and we made a conscious decision to defer payment until the Big Horn refinance. At which time, I will make a lump sum payment.

Emergency Fund

We are currently allocating $300 a month to building our emergency fund. We had $4,000 at the beginning of August, but had to use to payoff a business line of credit. Once Big Horn is refinanced, we will replenish this. Our goal is to build a $25,000 emergency fund. 

Sinking/Prepaid Funds

We like to save ahead for future trips, gifts  and other bi-annual or quarterly expenses. I send the money to our Ally account where these are allocated into their corresponding buckets. 

When the trip is booked or the insurance is paid, I transfer the money from our savings into our checking account and offset the expense. This way, my budget remains consistent throughout the year. 

Note that in August, I was over budget for gifts/vacation. Generally, I would have transferred the money over from savings to offset this expense, but decided not to because we had extra money from prior month. 

Food and Household 

This is where I always go over budget. For August, we decided to tighten up a bit and surprisingly came under budget. 🥳

Previously, I would buy without looking at the price tag. I was buying in bulk at BJs not realizing I was not really saving that much money. 

I switched it up a bit and shopped from Aldi and BJ to get the best out of my money.

I have to admit, I HATE cooking, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make. Ryan and I are not that sophisticated when it comes to food, so we don’t need much to make a pretty decent plate for less than $2 per serving.

So far, I am enjoying the challenge to cook a good meal at the lowest cost possible. I’ve even learned a trick or two! Most days, I prefer to eat home cooked meals anyways. 

Of course, I occasionally burn the food 🤷🏻‍♀️, but it’s gotten better! 

The way I see it, spending less on food means I can spend more on things that I care about more like travelling or buying investment properties.

Credit Card Payments

We have one credit card in the amount of $5k that we have not paid off because it has 0% interest until December and we rather put the money to work until then. Once we refinance Big Horn, this one is going bye bye.

The Remaining Income

The rest of the money that we are not using to pay personal expenses is going towards Moonstone Realty to cover businesses obligations and buy more investment properties.

Anyways, that’s our budget! I think I touched on the main budget items. 

Until next month!