September 2021 Monthly Recap
Every month I do a recap of my goals, budget, and savings. This recap helps me to see how I am progressing in those areas of my finances and determine how well I’m doing. Then, if needed, I can make adjustments for the next month. Now, without further ado, here is my September 2021 monthly recap.
Budget
A budget is a plan of how income is spent. As the saying goes, “A failure to plan is a plan to fail.” I use a zero-based budget, meaning my budget equals my income. So, even if income goes up or down, all my income is planned. Thus, I budget based on what I have and not what I wish I had. I review my budget every week to track spending and make adjustments quickly. At the end of each month, I review my budget to identify problems and improvements, track progress of goals, and plan for the next month.
For September, I planned for $5970.67 and brought in $6036.45 of income. Of my 13 budget categories, 4 had overspending, 5 had savings, and 4 met spending. Despite having 4 budget categories with overspending, the amount assigned equaled my income. This is one of the powers of the zero-based budget and adjusting the plan to where you need the money.
I overspent by $95 on credit because of getting a new travel credit card with an annual fee. Due to set up fees for utilities, I overspent by $31.44 on housing. Eating out is always the biggest weakness in my budget and led to overspending by $446.96. For debt, I saved $411.58 because of student loans in deferment.
Saving & Investing
To me, the fundamental purpose of a budget is to save and invest money. Saving is setting money aside for one of the three types of savings: emergency, goal, and irregular expense. Investing is using a resource (time, money, energy) with the expectation of achieving a future benefit or gain. I like to separate my savings and investing rates to see how much of my money is going towards short-term goals and long-term goals.
For my take home income for September, my savings rate was 7% and my investing rate was 2%. I contributed $100 to my emergency fund, $200 to vacation savings, $50 to gifts savings, $50 to Christmas gifts savings, and $130 to Roth IRA. My Gross Income savings rate was 16%.
Recap
By reviewing my finances monthly, I determine if I am improving or not and adjust my plan as needed. Month to month, my finances, goals, or priorities can change and that’s okay. I make sure my plans align with any changes. Well, that’s a wrap on my monthly recap.
Tip:
Do a monthly recap to to see how you are doing with your finances.