This month I wanted to make sure I had a timely article to reflect the income & expense summary, as December’s wasn’t posted until almost the end of January!  Another month has passed, another month where I ask myself… Did I hit the 60% savings goal with my income and expense tracker?  Did I hit the big mark that I set for myself back in August 2014 when I was discussing why I am aiming to save 60% of my income?  Let’s dive into the income and expense analysis.

Last month I was able to save a swift 52.5%, even with the Holiday barrier in my way, but not breaking the 60% barrier – though I was able to buy gifts for family and friends, go to a WWE event with the siblings and attend my little brother’s graduation, again – experienced that I would never trade for a thing.  However, I want to get back into the saddle and I have stated in my last post, similar to how Bert discloses his income/savings and how other FI bloggers disclose their income & savings – I will be including dividend income as part of my income and since I DRIP my dividends received, I count that as savings as well.  It is actually easy to include, especially since I have already post my best January month I’ve had over this past weekend in dividend income.

Lets dive into the fun month of January’s Income and Expense breakdown:

Income Summary

Salary – 86% (decline of 1% from last month, due to dividends and higher “other” categories)

Other – 7% (down from last month, gas reimbursement for work)

Dividends/Gifts – 8%

Expense and Outflow Summary

Household 25% (Mortgage + escrow, Utilities were up due to cold weather and a higher gas bill, see how you can save this winter!)

Transportation 10% (Down 7%, Auto Loan, Insurance, Gas, down from last months – car troubles part deux)

Food 2% (down 1% due to travel for work, Groceries + Coffee)

Health 2% (health insurance, gym; down 1% due to higher household costs)

Charity 1%

Haircut 0.2%

Entertainment 0.2% (Netflix, NCAA squares…)

= SAVINGS ~59.6% = This includes automatic savings from my pay to my online account, extra savings transfers to my account from this months income to my online savings accounts + automatic 401K contributions

Income and Expense Conclusion/Results

Dammit!  Why can’t I just round that up to 60%?!  I won’t do it, I can’t look at myself on a 4 basis point adjustment upward, that has to be a single $1.00 I am sure of it, maybe I can lift up a couch cushion and find 4 quarters?  I’m going to be fair and to be honest with myself, bottomline – I just didn’t do it.  This goes to show every $1 counts, right?  The savings this month allowed me to make purchases into Rockwell/DOW Chem/Tupperware and also Citizens & Northern (Community bank in PA).  I was happy with where I ended up, though, I was expecting to cross over the 60% hurdle.  The gas bill has also crept up high as we hit the bottom of the winter temperatures (0 degrees or below), therefore, the heat was cranking non-stop in the house of Lanny.  However, I traveled approximately 10 nights, which reduced the amount that I spent on food and I was reimbursed for gas costs that I underwent this month.  For the mileage/gas reimbursement – if we place our mileage from January 1 – 15th, we get reimbursed back on the 25th, therefore – the mileage I drove for clients from the 16th to the 31st, won’t be reimbursed back until February 10th, therefore, I’ll have some other income to report next month from the second half of driving.

Conclusion

I need to go the extra mile and save the $1 to get to 60% on the income and expense tracker.  Just to see over 60% would feel that much more incredible to me.  To do the impossible, one must do what they have not done before.  I know I have two options – increase income or decrease expense.  I’ll have to plan my month accordingly to have a mix of both if possible.  With that being said – what are your thoughts above on the month?  Would you have rounded up the % to 60?  Did you save or spend more this month?  Let us know!

-Lanny