Quarter 1 (January, February and March) is always the test drive of any Spending Plan. Frequently, in Q2 or Q3, things will change, spending categories will be added, and allocations will be shifted to accommodate the latest information. For the first three months, though, my aim is to stick as closely to my plan as is reasonably possible in an effort to prove that the numbers I chose were in fact based on last year’s spending and educated projections for the future rather than arbitrary excel spreadsheet tomfoolery.

Alas, reviewing Q1’s expenditures vs spending plan was not as affirming of my crystal-ball spending prediction skills or my self-control as I expected it to be. And by that I mean, basically, um, I didn’t stick to my spending plan. Eating out too frequently, purchasing too much alcohol, and convincing myself that, yes, I absolutely NEED that soft-as-a-fluffy-baby-bunny flannel shirt were a few of my stumbles this quarter. Also, an incompetent bank greatly impeded (and by that I mean they actually completely prevented) my ability to make large additional principal payments to my refinanced student loans.

The biggest takeaway from Q1? There is always room in other parts of your spending plan to absorb overspending blunders that may or may not be flannel shirt related. And Q1 is a great time to learn from your mistakes to make sure your spending plan works for you for the rest of the year.

Spending Plan Review

(January, February, March 2017)

The first number shown is the yearly allocation for the category, and the Q1 – $ amount shows how much was spent in Quarter 1 – January through March. In parentheses, the percentage spent of the yearly allocation is shown.

(Read this post for an introduction to spending plans)

Student Loans

Low-Interest Minimum Payment – $790: Q1 – $315 (40%)

Refi Minimum Payment – $7,025: Q1 – $1,756 (25%)

Refi Extra Payment – $24,000: Q1 – $0 (0%)

It would take AGES to explain why my student loan payments shook out the way they did, but let’s suffice it to say the bank I refinanced my high-interest loans with sucks and doesn’t understand how to: 1. Apply automatic payments to the right loan, on time (even though I have the money available (+3 months of buffer money) 2. Apply additional principal payments to the loan (they keep paying interest with it UGH!) and 3. Do the mental gymnastics as well as the basic math required to fix the multiple mistakes they keep making in my account. Long story short, I am saving my money this quarter to make a large bulk payment to principal once the bank figures out all the shit they messed up within my account. This explains why I made $0 extra payments towards principal for my refinanced loans this quarter.

That aside, I made all minimum payments to my low interest loans (the minimum payment decreased significantly in February because my re-calculated Income Based Repayment kicked in for 2017) and refinanced loans.

Total Student Loan Payments – $31,815: Q1 – $2,070 (7%)

 

Savings Goals

Savings Goals: Q1 – $0

Currently, my savings goals are on hold (i.e. saving for my tiny house and emergency funds), due to the fact that I am aggressively paying down some high interest student loans that are currently held a non-ideal loan servicer. All money previously saved was diverted to the student loans, and currently savings are frozen for the first approximately three-quarters of the year. I have a $500 emergency fund and up to $4k in the bank each month. Saving is scheduled to resume in September 2017, with a $10k emergency fund goal by the end of the year.

Total Savings – $0: Q1 – $0

 

Expenses

Enjoying Life – $2325: Q1 – $820 (35%)

Overspent on experiential category in January and February for skiing, a pro-hockey game (4 free tickets, but man is beer and parking expensive), airsoft, and an inexpensive trip to Atlantic City (only $3 were gambled!). I expect to have high experiential expenditures in certain months, and then little to no expenditures in other months (i.e. March had $0 spent in this category). High spending in the sports category was expected, since my boxing classes are indoors for the first three months of the year, and then I leave the gym during the temperate months to work out for free outside. Additionally, frisbee fees are paid in the beginning of the year for the summer league. I don’t expect high expenditures in this category in the next two quarters. I also laid out the $315 for my motorcycle safety course that will happen in April, and this is a one-time cost. I did not spend at all for experiential dates, a joint category.

Food (& Alcohol) – $2,220: Q1 – $895 (40%)

Highly overspent on dining – I need to be more conscious about spending money while out. I have also spent more than I wanted on alcohol. However, I came in closer than I thought to my very small allocation for groceries ($472.84 out of $1,440 – 33%) since I felt like I significantly overspent every single month. I set my groceries cost extremely low as a challenge to myself to eat healthfully on a very limited amount of money. This is a category to watch for sure. Junk food is doing OK, coming in just over $11 for the quarter.  This is a category to be more conscious about in the future.

Business – $225: No spending in this category in Q1

Automotive – $2,935: Q1 – $1760 (60%)

Extremely happy with this category! Thanks to reimbursements for work-related travel, my fuel cost for the quarter will come out to $0! Maintenance landed just around $85 as well. Tolls and parking were a significant expense this quarter at $275, though I expect the majority of that expense to be reimbursed next quarter. My annual car insurance payment (~$1400) was made at the end of the quarter, contributing the vast majority of this category. I am very happy with the performance in this category this quarter, and hope to replicate it next quarter.

Rent – $1,200: Q1 – $15 (1%)

Home improvement investment and labor is the rent my partner and I are paying for staying where we are at the moment. We did a decent amount of work this quarter (i.e. tiling the backsplash and designing a backyard overhaul), and because the labor was highly valued the items were largely paid for by the homeowners. I expect these costs to raise significantly the next two quarters as we embark upon the backyard project.

Objects – $1,010: Q1 – $210 (21%)

Somehow, it turned out that both my personal care and household consumable costs were positive this quarter (aka I made money rather than spending it, through returns from products bought in December). I was below target  (good!) with less than 25% of allocation spent on household non-consumables. The biggest issue this month was the massive overspending on clothing… I have completely spent – and then some – my $150 clothing allocation ($210 spent). However, this overspending was balanced by zero spending on gadgets and gear. My plan for the rest of the year is to not purchase any more new clothing, and reduce the allocation for gadgets and gear by the $60 I overspent on clothes.

Misc – TIAIC: Q1 – $1,360

This was a tough quarter for healthcare costs. I spent $1,299 on various hospital and doctor bills that are still coming in from my 2016 hospital stay. I was right on target for my gift expenditures with $60 (24%) this quarter, mostly used for end of season winter items on hella clearance that I picked up and am stockpiling for Christmas 2017. This means that by March, I was completely done with my Christmas shopping for the entire year!

Losses – TIAIC: Q1 – $85

Slush (aka money that idk wtf I spent it on) loss of $85 –  I chalk that up as not bad at all. My cash spending (without receipts or notes to self) tends to lead to this “loss” of money – rather, money I just don’t know what it went towards. Frankly, I’ve had worse months than this, so I consider this quarter a win.

Total Expenses – $10,165: Q1 – $5,145 (51%)

Total Expenses + Student Loans – $41,980: Q1 – $7,215 (17%)

 

Extra Income

Tax Refund: $2,260 – This was far too high of a tax return amount, which indicated that my taxes were not properly anticipated and therefore too much money was withheld throughout the course of 2016. When I discovered this, I changed my W4 and state tax form to reflect more accurate withholdings so I will have a smaller tax return next year. The more money I get out of my paychecks up front, the faster I can pay off my student loans (and I’ll pay less interest too).

Additional Full-Time Income: $360 – I got a raise in March and it will be applied to my pay in April, though I am not counting this as additional income. The additional income I received is net income from working overtime.

Credit Card and Bank Rewards: $225 – Including credit card cashback bonuses and opening a bank account for $200 bonus.

Selling Items:  $150 – Sold my college TV, since I don’t watch TV and it had been sitting in a box in my parent’s basement for the past 2 years.

Interest:  $10 – I am getting decent interest returns now that I have set up my student loan minimum payments to auto-debit from a high-interest savings account.

Part-Time Income: $0 – I was furloughed for this portion of the year, since my job was outside and the weather was not conducive to performing it.

Total Extra Income = $3,005

 

Investments

401k: Continued contributing to my employer 401k enough to get the employer match. When I make additional income at my full-time job, my 401k contribution (which is a percentage) increases and so does the employer match!

 

Final Thoughts

This quarter, I hope, wasn’t my best this year. I struggled with spending too much on food, alcohol and clothes, though I spent less in some other categories than I had planned. Additionally, I wasn’t able to make the extra payments to my student loans I had planned, due to significant issues with the bank. This led to my expenses being 50% of my spending plan goals this year, even though it is only the first quarter, and my spending on savings and loans being only 7% of what I had planned. Here’s to a better Quarter 2!

 

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