Financial Outlook - Summary of Spending and 401k Allocation (Jan & Feb ‘05)
A lot of personal finance blogs reveal their author’s entire financial picture; so that you can follow them on their quest and help them achieve their goals. I’m not going to give that much information but I think that in order to help me improve my budgeting system, I have to reveal it to the world and have the world poke holes. We’ll track it back to the start of the year. I’ll also give you a look into my 401k as well, percentages of course. In future posts in this category, Financial Outlook, it won’t be quite as verbose as this one.
| Expenses | Jan. | Feb. | Target % |
| Rent | 18.66% | 18.66% | 20% |
| Utilities | 3.87% | 5.12% | 5% |
| Meals | 4.10% | 10.25% | 7% |
| Groceries | 2.50% | 7.54% | 7% |
| Clothes | 0.35% | 1.47% | 0.5% |
| Cleaning | 0.42% | 0.00% | 0.5% |
| Automotive | 30.01% | 0.00% | 2% |
| Transportation/Gas | 5.90% | 7.23% | 7% |
| Recreation | 4.79% | 13.44% | 10% |
| Other | 12.84% | 0.00% | 3% |
| Savings | 16.56% | 36.28% | 25% |
| Budget Reserve** | - | - | 13% |
* These percentages are calculated against my post-tax income, which already has 20% contributed to my employer’s 401k plan.
** Budget Reserve is simply my safety blanket in the budget for overruns. 13% seems like quite a bit but any excess falls into Savings!
Budget Notes:
Automotive (Jan): Last December, I was in an unfortunate car accident that totaled my car (2000 Acura Integra) at no fault of my own. So I had to purchase a new (used) car, which was a 2003 Toyota Celica, from a private owner in Florida with the insurance company’s funds. But, that also meant I needed to purchase four new all-season tires (since Florida cars don’t know of seasons) which set me back in the Automotive category. Usually that category is very small, consisting of oil changes. I also had to get the tint removed to pass inspection, a $100 ding.
Other (Jan): Usually the Other category is also pretty small too, I try to put anything I spend in a category other than Other. I made a donation to the American Cancer Society and I couldn’t really justify putting it anywhere so it went into Other.
Meals (Feb): 10% is far too much to be spending on Meals. I usually try to keep this somewhere under 7% (achieved in January) and I’ll have to bring lunch to work more often.
Recreation (Feb): I took a nearly weeklong trip for Mardis Gras and a weekend trip to Seven Springs ski resort. I’m allowed to take vacations! 
I don’t really restrict my spending to a dollar amount but I do try to keep things in range of percentages I feel comfortable with. I want to save at least 20% of my income, 30% if possible, and I trim where I find it easiest to trim. Sometimes aberrations (like Automotive in January) are unavoidable, that’s when the Budget Reserve comes into play. Hopefully overruns don’t exceed 13% and starts to dip into the real reserve, my emergency fund.
Onto the 401k…
