Welcome to my monthly budget. Here’s what I spent in January living in Athens, Georgia:
- $750 for housing. I live in my friends’ basement apartment which I lovingly call the Lair. This covers rent, utilities and internet.
- $408 for healthcare. This is anything connected to my doctor, dentist, therapist, or medications.
- $89 for transportation – just gas and parking this month. Nothing for car insurance because I pay that bill every six months.
- $406 on my cats. This month, I had to say goodbye to my amazing, perfect cat, Matilda. I’m extremely thankful for my vet who went above and beyond in her care, and cut me a break on some of the costs. It just fucking sucks to lose someone you love.
- $124 on groceries. It reads kinda gross but here’s how my supermarket trips broke down:
- $17.41 at Aldi: almond butter pretzels, bag of apples, imitation crab, pasta, juice, cottage cheese, frozen mixed vegetables
- $15.07 at Kroger: almond milk, lemons, 10 packs of Starkist Smart Bowls
- $65.77 at Aldi: spinach, English cucumber, loaf of sourdough bread, chicken sausage, chicken bone broth, 2 packs of Chomps, cheese sticks, celery, kombucha, mango, Greek yogurt, granola bars, juice shot, coffee, crackers, toasted ravioli, toilet paper
- $1.03 at Golden Pantry: pack of peanut butter crackers
- $32.20 at Walmart: guacamole, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, sour cream, refried beans, salsa, taco seasoning (I made a 7-layer dip for a wedding potluck), herbal tea, honey, floss
- $99 for eating/drinking out. This category does not include food I got while traveling — that’s in the travel category. I went out to lunch with a couple friends and went out to a friend’s 50th birthday!
- $63 for cloud storage and Adobe software.
- $90 on shopping. If nothing else, the thrifting gods really smiled down on me last month — lotsa exciting second hand finds. This $90 also includes mailing my mom a book and paying my library fines. 🤓
- $76 on travel. Kicked off the new year with a hike to Hemlock Falls, and I got to visit Huntsville, Alabama twice. I’d never been before — what a cool city. We stopped at the Unclaimed Baggage store both times.
- $0 for my phone this month because I pay that bill once a year.
- I currently do not have any paid subscriptions and I no longer have student loans.
This brings my total expenses to -$2,105 and I made +$2,747. So, with $642 leftover after my expenses, I put:
- $100 into my Roth IRA
- $50 into my high yield savings account
- $492 to pay down my main credit card
Just a quick note on making and spending money: Last year, I cobbled together three part-time jobs and a few miscellaneous gigs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for those opportunities, but I’m immensely relieved that one of those jobs turned into a full time job this year. Gaining solid footing with work immediately made my life less chaotic. Anyway, that’s everything for for January 2025. Hope everyone’s hanging in there.