Everything I Spent in July
This year I’m sharing what we spend in our household each month and why.
Reasons for sharing this with you all are two-fold.
1) It holds me accountable. Accountability is a very important pillar of healthy money habits.
2) It fosters a community of openness and transparency here on my site, which is my goal. If we talk about money, we all grow more comfortable with it. So I’m putting my money where my mouth is... 😏
We are 40 year old dual income family with 3 kids ages 14, 11, and 9.
Some expenses will be shown as percentages while others in U.S. dollars.
Pivot Expenses & Surprises (the unexpected…)
Not just one but BOTH cars’ air conditioning went out last month, so we spent several hundred dollars from our repair fund to fix them. Now the air blows cool again, and we’re much less sweaty.
We also changed auto insurance policies and moved our plan from monthly payments to bi-annual. It cost us a bit more than usual this month but we’ll only pay it twice a year and will save a bunch!
Planned Expenses
Home: Mortgage + Utilities = 18% of take-home pay
Home: Repairs & Services = 2%
We had some extra repairs this month, as described above, but most came from our repair fund. Our AAA policy renewed this month, so we made that annual payment from this fund.
Home: Supplies = 1%
Home: Subscriptions = 1%
Insurance = 4%
This includes our (new) annual auto policy and our monthly term life insurance policies.
Food = 14%
We went pretty far over budget this month on groceries and dining out. With two trips out of town, the dining out especially was over the top.
Auto: Gas = 4%
We were slightly over budget for fuel this month with a few extra trips.
Family: Kids = 8%
Congrats to us! We now have 2/3 kids in braces and the youngest with a spacer. So if you’re looking for where all our money went, it’s at the orthodontist’s office. 😜
We also did all our back to school shopping in July. We’d budgeted $300 and came in right on budget!
Family: Health = 3%
More healthcare expenses have trickled in for imaging from last month’s ultrasounds, but not nearly as much spent as June. We’re thankful for our HSA.
Giving = 5%
We give a portion of our income to organizations we believe in each month. This month we gave to a local organization who provides health services to the homeless population in our community. We have a close doctor friend who works for them, and we’re proud to support the organization.
Fun Money = 15% of spending
My husband and I each have our own guilt-free budgets for stuff we want. Each one (his & mine) is tight enough that we do have to keep an eye on them but also loose enough that we’re not stressing over every single dollar or discussing every expense. It’s a good balance for us.
My Fun Spend - Specifics:
We each spent a bit from our fun money funds on a river trip with our family. It was a ton of fun! So many delightful memories made!
We also spent a bit booking our lodging for our upcoming anniversary trip!&
Savings & Investments
Short term Savings:
$415 for Vacation Fund
$200 for Repair Fund
$170 for Christmas 2024
We set aside a bit each month for the most expensive time of the year. This fund has saved us loads of holiday headaches through the years.
All these funds are all kept in HYSAs, so that saved money earns interest!
Long Term Investments = 21%
$1,166 for 2024 ROTH IRAs (mine + my husband’s).
{For those who qualify, the 2024 max ROTH IRA contribution is $7,000, which is $583 each month. My husband and I each have a ROTH account, so $1,166 per month is our plan.}
Our 401k (traditional IRA) and HSA investments are taken out of our paychecks before tax.
The rest of those investment dollars went toward our kids’ 529 investments for post-high school education.
That’s it. July is in the books!
Please remember — It has taken us a decade of ups and downs to get on the same page with our budget, and while we’re nowhere near perfect (as you’ve likely observed, we have to pivot somewhere every single month), we are making steady progress.
Budgeting is a marathon not a sprint, so take it easy on yourself if your numbers didn’t add up the way you’d expected. Allow for grace. Reflect, learn, and adjust.
How did your July spending go? Let’s all learn from the surprises and celebrate the wins!