As a new blogger, I feel it’s important to show a very real-life report of everything I spent last month. I am hoping to make this a series on my blog in order to show pay transparency plus an example of how I budget my money as a Registered Nurse! I currently live alone and own a home. I work a full-time job and have three pets. I hope this post interests you! I love looking at other income and expense reports, so I thought I’d share my own.
The month of January 2024 went as follows:
Income
| Nursing Paycheck | 4,476.89 |
| Cash Back From Bank | 8.00 |
Expenses
| Mortgage | 1,079.11 |
| Car | 419.92 |
| Gas | 48.76 |
| Electricity/Natural Gas | 162.32 |
| Internet | 74.99 |
| Groceries | 280.43 |
| Restaurants/Eating Out | 95.82 |
| Memberships | 108.02 |
| Pets | 155.14 |
| Medical | 120.89 |
| Travel | 207.00 |
| Personal | 475.49 |
| Home | 183.92 |
| Other | 62.37 |
Income – Expenses = 1,010.71
Income Breakdown
I work full-time as a Registered Nurse. I am paid hourly and my paychecks deposit to my account every two weeks. My income for the month of January was higher than usual. This was due to some mandatory overtime shifts that I worked right at the end of December. The cash back from my account is deposited by my bank. It is never more than a few dollars but it’s still considered income so I include it. The reason I didn’t include any income from my blog is because I started my blog right at the end of January and haven’t made any money with it yet!
Expense Breakdown
Mortgage: What I spent this month paying my mortgage. For the month of January I paid the minimum payment on my loan.
Car: My car payment and auto insurance combined.
Gas: What I spent this month putting gas in my car. I live very close to where I work so this amount is usually low. I also had a gas gift card from Christmas that I used in January.
Electricity/Natural Gas: What I spent on electricity and heating for my house.
Internet: What I spent for my house to have internet.
Groceries: What I spent on food for my home. This also includes basic pet supplies that I am able to pick up while at grocery stores like basic cat food and cat litter.
Restaurants/Eating Out: Everything I spent getting fast food and eating at restaurants. This includes any quick coffees I may have picked up during the month!
Memberships: This includes all of my memberships/subscriptions. I have a subscription for car washes, Netflix, Hulu, Cricut Access, and Ring doorbell.
Pets: This includes any money spent on my pets that isn’t included in what I buy for them with my grocery trips. During January I had to take one of my cats to the vet for some routine vaccines, and the total from the vet bill is included in my pet expenses. This number does fluctuate because I buy large bags of dog food that last me a while, and one of my cats does take a medication daily that I do have to purchase from time to time.
Medical: This was a payment made on my balance for a visit I had to a clinic which included a procedure and labs. I will likely be paying on this for a few months.
Travel: During the month of January I took a trip to Alaska! My plane ticket was purchased in December so that amount was not included in my travel expense.Obviously I don’t travel every month, but I do typically take a few trips a year.
Personal: This expense includes basically anything I buy just for myself, hobbies included! The cost to start this blog was included in this total because I did purchase through bluehost and bought a template for my WordPress blog. I also got my hair done which cost me $180. I did overspend this month on shoes and clothing due to my trip. I certainly didn’t need to buy as many new clothes as I did, but it happened! I’m here to remind you that it’s okay for your budget to fluctuate.
Home: This category includes everything spent on improving my home! I purchased a few new decorations. I have been working on slowly improving my home, so I also purchased a few items for my current home renovation.
Other: This expense for the month of January was what it cost for me to renew my nursing license.
Final Thoughts
Overall the month was great! I was able to take a trip to Alaska and still have some money left over at the end of the month. The money I had left over at the end of the month was deposited into my savings account. I’m not sure yet what I’m saving for. Possibly a kitchen or bathroom remodel! I certainly could have spent less in the ‘Personal’ category to put even more money into my savings or pay more toward my car or house. My grocery budget will likely fluctuate into next month because this month there was an entire week where I didn’t need to buy groceries.
