My March budget is full of red! So much for sticking to the budget I worked so hard to create in January…
I was way over budget due to this kind of large purchase….
It was a sad day when my old car died last week. I knew the day from coming, but was hoping that it would occur closer to December. My father was generous and gave me money for the down-payment, but I now have a $13,104.20 car loan with a monthly payment of $232 starting in April. However, before I even took the car off the lot and to finalize the car loan through my credit union I had to buy car insurance. My 6-month payment was $588. And, of course, it will probably cost me another $500 in April to register it and pay the excise tax. Woof! I’ll be using the save I have saved thus far as a car down-payment to pay for the registration and taxes.
I also went way over my normal food budget as well because of my birthday. I went out for lunch and drinks with some friends, which I normally don’t do very often. I also spent $44 on the night I test drove my car to bribe my father to come to the dealership with me to negotiate the price of the car. Although he really do anything. I spent way more at coffee shops too. Bad, bad!
I went over my student loan payments, which I consider to be a good thing because I’ve paid off more debt. During the month of March I paid off a $368 grad school loan that was just annoying me plus my normal monthly payments.
Let’s see. I had a lot of extra predicted spending in March, like my dog’s $200 vet bill for her annual exam. I picked up a couple of new shirts at Old Navy on my birthday. They were on sale! Yay! Plus, I had some small business fees as well.
I think the highlight of my March personal finances was rolling over my old 401k account to a new Roth IRA account with Vanguard and making some $$! I’ve finally been making money with my 403b account with Nationwide as well. I love watching my retirement accounts make money! Let’s hope that pattern continues for the next 40+ years. 🙂
Total Debt as of 4/3/14: $50,121.13 (thank you car loan!) <- includes this month’s credit card bill as well (I pay everything using my CC to earn airline miles)
Total Student Loan Debt as of 4/1/14: $32,842.63 (Goal: Bring total loan debt under $30,000 by end of 2014)
Emergency Fund as of 4/3/14: $850.68 (Goal: $1500 by end of 2014)
Total Savings + Investments as of 4/3/14: $12,866.13
Net Worth as of 4/3/14: –$21,255.00 (does not include the value of my new car)
Diaries of a Wandering Lobster 