Budget Update: February 2020

Our monthly budget update does not change much. 

It is primarily fixed expenses, like rent, phone bills and car insurance, which remain the same month after month.  Even the amount budgeted to our miscellaneous line (more on that here) stays the same most months. 

So instead of giving a line-by-line breakdown for our monthly budget update, I do something a little different.  Each month, I share five highlights from our budget, along with three goals for the month to come.

Here is the update for February 2020.

Monthly Budget Update: February 2020

In February, we…

• Paid $700 toward the student loan

As always, I’m starting this monthly budget update with the latest on our student loan. This total includes a $436 minimum payment, with all the rest going toward the principal. It’s a lower amount that usual, but that’s because we are working on other goals as well this year.

Outstanding balance: $28,627.67

• Put $454 toward our emergency fund

One of those other goals is getting our emergency fund back up to $5K. This has taken way longer than I wanted it to, so I’m glad we made progress this month. Fund is currently sitting at $3,194.54.

Wondering why we have a $5K fund instead of $1K? Read more here.

• Wrapped up our annual vet appointments

Lyla, our tortie girl, went to the vet in January. February was Nala’s turn. In addition to her wellness exam, she also got her shots updated. Appointment cost $135.70. So glad to be done with this for the year!

• Paid for bloodwork?

Here’s the weirdest one: I paid $17 for bloodwork. Why is this weird? I live in Canada. This was part of the effort to figure out why I was having abdominal pain. Usually when I need bloodwork, I just go to the hospital, but the walk-in doctor referred me to a private clinic. It was…strange. No complains about the actual clinic, I’m just not sure why I had to go to there instead of the hospital?

Along with bloodwork, I also paid $3 for a small prescription (which I did not end up needing) and shelled out some cash in cabs. It was not a fun month for health!

• Celebrated nine years together!

Nine years ago on February 15, Jeff and I officially started dating.

We celebrated by going out for dinner at Boston Pizza (~$71 total with tax and tip) and then caught a university women’s hockey game ($16). We also picked up some movie popcorn as a snack (~$9) because why not?

It was a good night.

March 2020 Goals

Looking ahead, in March, I will…

• File our taxes!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, friends! Tax season is here and I am excited to file! I already have a few things plugged into Simple Tax and I’m looking forward to getting this finished and off!

• Make more progress on repaying our emergency fund

If all goes according to plan, we should be just about finished by the end of the month. Finally!

• Work on my Q2 creative plan

In December 2019, I took a really awesome course that changed the way I think about goal setting. I had a decent first quarter using this system, even though getting sick really did throw me off a bit. I’m going to use the same system for Q2, which means I’ll be spending time in March reflecting on Q1 and figuring out what I want to do in Q2. I’m excited!

Your turn! How did February turn out for you? What are your goals for March?

Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst