I’ve decided to calculate my net worth as though I have not received a series of pending reimbursements. Hopefully next month I’ll see a sizable increase in my net worth once everything falls into place.
| Assets | Mar-16 | Apr-16 | $ Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash & Savings | $491 | $834 | +$343 |
| Roth IRA | $5,245 | $6,273 | +$1,028 |
| 401K | $5,645 | $6,213 | +$568 |
| FSA | $1,228 | $1,103 | ($125) |
| Liabilities | Mar-16 | Apr-16 | $ Change |
| Credit Cards | $42 | $1,070 | ($1,028) |
| Net Worth | $12,567 | $13,353 | +$786 |
| % Change | +6.3% | ||
Below is an overview of my budgeted vs actual spending for the month of April. I “earned” an extra $250 this month, $150 came from per diem and $100 from cashing out my Amazon gift card balance. In the table below, I have added these reimbursements to the Everything Else category. Eventually, this will result in a $319 underspend for the Everything Else category. I plan to use the $319 for my vacation.
I also received $280 from my health insurance. This will go into my emergency fund.
I only went over my budget in the Fixed Expense category. This is due to a slightly higher than usual cellphone bill. I’m hoping to shave off $3 on next month’s bill since I’m using Project Fi. I technically went over budget for food, but when I am eating to socialize, I classify it as Entertainment.
| Category | Budgeted | Actual | Pending | |
| Rent | $1,650 | $1,650 | ✓ | |
| Fixed Expenses | $70 | $73 | ✗ | |
| Food | $200 | $200 | ✓ | |
| Everything Else | $280 | $847 | -$886 | ? |
So it looks like I’ve comfortably met the spending goals for the month of April, conditional on $886 worth of pending reimbursements going through. These charges are what caused me to go over Everything Else
- -$17 – Flexible Savings Account
- -$659 – Reimbursment #1
- -$35 – Reimbursment #2
- -$175 – Loan repayment
I am also expecting a $270 check.
The Month of May
May will be a different beast with me only being in the city half the month and taking vacation. But still I plan on changing the way I spend for May and June. The next two months I’m going to try to limit my purchases to occur only once a week (the 7th, 14th, 21th, 28th of the month). Come July and August this will decrease to three times a month (10th, 20th, 30th). Maybe I will try twice a month at some point. I’ve already changed my due dates on my credit cards to correspond with the latter. I will also have $10/week in cash for discretionary spending. Usually this includes things like drinks and snacks when I’m out and about. Personal capital sent me a notice about my 9 transactions this week and that’s not okay. Hopefully this has me spending a bit less.
Health Care Costs
I qualified for a program through my insurance to help manage my chronic illnesses. This program waives my copays and may help coordinate my care. The savings from this will be $1,000/year or more!
A Tale of Finances 