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 May 2020.
Monthly Budget Update: May 2020
In May, we…
- Saved $1,045 to go toward the student loan
The first item in our May 2020 budget update is a standard one: our student loan.
As I have mentioned, we are currently not making actual payments on our loan due to the interest-free payment suspension.
We are still putting aside the money for the payments each month, with a goal of making a large lump sum payment to the principal in the fall.
Currently, this account sits at $2,480.
- Added $1,327 to our future house fund
Now that our emergency fund is finally refilled, we are turning attention to one of our other goals for 2020: the future homeownership goal. The idea here is to save $8K in 2020, and we are well on our way.
This account sits at $2,829.
- Spent $120.93 on the car
Another month, another month of shelling out some money on the car. Thankfully, this time it was for really routine things: an oil change and to finally get our winter tires removed. We paid for this using our car maintenance sinking fund. Hooray for sinking funds!
- Spend more than usual at Costco
Our first trip to Costco since the pandemic began was a doozy, as we ran out of several items we buy in bulk.
We spent $150.30 at Costco. This included some normal Costco buys, like cat litter, granola bars and cheese strings, but also toilet paper, paper towel, garbage bags and laundry detergent.
I guess on the bright side is that we will be set for some items for a while, right?
- Moved our emergency fund to a high-interest savings account
FINALLY.
I feel like this has been on my to-do list for ages but I finally moved our emergency fund from the TFSA savings deposit where it has been sitting earning 0.05 per cent interest (I KNOW) to a high-interest account where it will earn a much more appealing two per cent interest.
In fairness to me, I did have to do a little bit of work to make this happen — mostly moving money to and from some other accounts — but it’s ridiculous that it took me so long to do this. I’m much happier having this in an account where it can actually do some work for us.
June 2020 Goals
Looking ahead, in June, we will…
- Work on Q3 budgets
Even though I set up spreadsheets for our budget for the entire year in January, I have started a new habit this year of adjusting them quarterly.
This works well in that it helps me make tweaks based on how things are actually going, as opposed to simply how I hoped they would at the start of the year. I find it has helped in terms of keeping us on track with our spending, debt repayment and savings goals.
In June, I’ll start looking at the sheets for July, August and September!
- Solidify how to use my vacation days
Obviously given the whole state of the world, I won’t be doing some of the things I would normally do in terms of vacation this year. While that is a bummer, I’m OK with doing what needs to be done now if it means we’ll be able to do things we used to do in the future.
That said, the lack of trips in my future means I’m trying to figure out what to do with my vacation time. I’m thinking I might end up creating some additional long weekends this summer, save some time for Christmas and then carry a week over into 2021 but I’m not totally sure yet. I’m going to solidify this in June.
- Start thinking about Christmas shopping
Yes. I am that person who starts thinking about Christmas in the summer.
What can I say? I like to have time to really think about what I want to do for the people in my life. Planning ahead has helped me get some really great deals so I’ll likely put pen to paper and think about a few things for 2020 toward the end of June. Anyone else do this?
Your turn! How did May turn out for you? What are your goals for June?
Photo by Shopify Partners from Burst
It’s tough for anyone to plan vacation time right now. I feel your pain! I have two weeks off this fall, but I’m trying to figure out how I’ll be able to use it. It might just be another staycation. If it is, I might give back a day or two of my two weeks and save that time for a future date. Who knows?
Great job with the house, emergency, and student loan savings! Keep it up!
P.S. Trips to Costco are usually pricey. I’m at the point where I carefully consider every purchase there with how badly I need it and whether or not I can get it cheaper elsewhere – many times I can. So I weigh it carefully. It’s actually saved me money, which seems counterproductive to Costco, doesn’t it?
I ended up deciding to create a few long weekends over the summer…I think it ends up looking like every two-three weeks, I get three days off, or something like that? I get 15 days total every year and had about three days of OT from March. I ended up saving five days for Christmas time, used my OT and five days over the next few months and I’ve still got five days to allocate or carry. I figure if I end up feeling like I need to use the time, I’ll take it; otherwise, I’ll just carry it into next year. We’re allowed to do that for a year, so if that’s the case…so be it? It’s a weird time to plan. What are you thinking you’ll get up to for staycation?
Costco — see, the main reason we have a Costco account to begin with is for cat litter. Our Costco sells a 50 pound box for less than $10. Considering the other brands at like Walmart cost about the same for 15 pounds…it’s a steal. There are a couple other items that tend to be much cheaper at Costco for us (mixed greens/spinach is one, granola bars is another) but the cat litter…that’s what hooked us haha.