Monthly Expense Report Highlighting Key Areas With The Goal Of Lowering Costs
Since I started out on this journey, I’ve been tracking every dollar in an attempt to make it work. Every dime gets put into a spreadsheet and then categorized to keep myself aware. It may seem excessive, but it’s the same way any other business that exists operates. And since I’m working for myself, it’s essential information to be successful.
In turn, I began tracking my expenses and blogging about it back in December. I started off with simple grocery expense reports but soon realized that cutting grocery expenses can only be taken so far, and can be very time consuming. Not to mention the fact health is important. And food is not something that I’m willing to sacrifice on. Food is important. Last month I started doing more of an all inclusive expense report rather than just the grocery expenses. It’s meant for highlighting key areas and seeing if I can lower overall costs. Let’s get into the report.
[bctt tweet=”Expense Report: March 2016″]Overview
Total Expenses: Down $121.39
My total expenses for the month ended up being $121.39 cheaper than February’s, which is progress and I can be happy with that. But there’s also some areas I still could have saved more on. For example, I went over my 5GB data plan on my iPhone when I work from home (my own fault). That cost me more than $40 extra and there’s many any other things I can still improve to conserve money. I also spent too much on dining out and had a few too many visits to my local dollar store (junk food).
I’m so frugal, you wouldn’t believe it. – Serena Williams
Groceries
Total Cost: $237.11
Goal was: Less than $240
Pass by: $2.89
Grocery Savings: $55.37
Although $55.37 is a nice savings, it’s down nearly to half of what I saved last month. It’s mainly because I realized most of the stuff on sale is on sale for a reason, it’s garbage. And I’m trying to eat healthier, not just cheaper. The other reason is that I’m getting a fed up with the local grocery store. It’s super sucking little shit box of a grocery store! Sorry for the language, but they need to improve. Luckily there’s a new grocery store opening up soon, and it’s even closer. Hopefully they know how to change up their selection from time to time. But the fact that they’re both just different tiers of grocery stores, run by the same company makes that unlikely. The grocery costs probably won’t change too much from where it currently resides, but I still enjoy counting the savings up. My total grocery savings is now up to $225.14 this year alone.
When you concentrate on agriculture and industry and are frugal in expenditures, Heaven cannot impoverish your state. – Xun Zi
To Lower Costs
As for the Pie Graph below, this is representation of my total expenses. The 23% was unnecessary spending items and is down by 1% from last months report. This number will never be non-existent because life is meant to be lived. But if cutting the 23% a bit helps me escape the cold weather, then count me in. Going forward I plan to focus on the following to continue lowering costs:
- Stay conscious of where money is going
- Set bills to automatic and in my Calendar to avoid forgetting
- Buy groceries on sale
- Reduce the 23% category more
- Lower cost of dining out
Final Thoughts
The $121.39 in savings over February is nice, especially considering that March is longer. But I need to reduce even further. Over the next few months there’s potential for some major changes to be made to make this successful. Nothing is for certain as of yet but some big updates could be coming…
Question: What are some ways you save money?
Trading Notes For March 10th
