If you’re tired of hearing about my budget, that makes two of us!
Last time we talked about my budget, I tried out a mini-budget to get back on track with my savings. I haven’t been able to save quite as much as I wanted, but I’m still trying to stick with the percentage budget I have in place to save around 20% of my monthly income.
I recently renewed the lease on my apartment, and my rent increased by $100 to $1,300—as if my landlord thinks all the pictures I take of the sunset every night can pay my bills! It wouldn’t have been so bad if I had received it during the day, but when I came home at 10:00 p.m. on a Saturday night, my building manager was in the lobby waiting, lease in hand. If I hadn’t immediately texted the friend I had just been out with and my mom about it, I wouldn’t have believed it myself 😂!
Thankfully, this higher rent doesn’t apply until September, so I have some more time to be anxious about it! With my rent at $1,300 and my air conditioning hiking up the price of my utilities, my total fixed expenses slid in at 49.7%, just under 50% of my monthly income. I had a feeling it would be tight, but I have the peace of mind that after this lease is up, I’ll be moving out to find something better for my money (with a dishwasher, which should no longer be considered a luxury in this economy!).
Before I updated my budget with these increases, I thought I might have to decrease the amount I could save going forward. Thankfully, there’s still room in my budget to allocate 20% to savings. In my latest blog post, I moved money from my SmartyPig high-yield savings account into my brokerage account. I’m feeling comfortable with the amount I have invested for now, so I can shift my focus to building up my savings in SmartyPig and LendingClub to continue taking advantage of the high interest rates.
Since every month is different, with various occasions to buy things for and necessities to replenish, I should probably be updating my budget more regularly—possibly every month. At this point, I’m not sure if it will help or hurt the process in place; if it will make me feel like I have more or less freedom to live my life. Ultimately, my sense of wealth depends on how much time I spend doing the things I love, and that means spending money. It might help to have some foresight when expensive months are on the horizon so that it’s not a surprise when I can’t save enough—I can just pretend it was all part of the plan 😉.
Do you think this view should cost $1,300? Comment below!
