This month’s spending habits breakdown is brought to you by my re-vamped Mint account. I’ve added my student loan account, my 401(k), and my new credit card to my account so I could get a sense of my net worth (still in the negatives in case anyone is wondering how my student loans are doing). By adding these accounts, my spending chart is a bit different so standby for further analysis!
The Breakdown
The Normal (Needs) Spending: Rent (Home), Student Loans (Education), Utilities (Bills & Utilities), Credit Card interest fees (Fees & Charges), and my monthly subway pass (Auto & Transport).
Also, I noticed that this spending calculator doesn’t account for “transfers” from one account to another, as in, it doesn’t calculate my monthly contribution to savings, or my credit card payment, or any money that goes into my Acorns account. Rest assured, these transactions are happening!
Unusual (Wants) Spending:
Shopping: I made 6 Target purchases over the course of the month! Most of these were home essentials or part of my regular Target subscriptions for my skincare routine. The remaining transactions were for beauty products because I found a Tony Moly store and I have no impulse control.
Food: This month I realized that my budget for food was too low. I had not been accounting for grocery runs for two people, or any additional spending if I went out with friends. So most of these transactions are just grocery purchases, but I did go twice to Smorgasburg by my work.
Travel: We bought flights to visit my brother this summer!
Health: I had a follow up appointment with my doctor, but I forgot my HSA card to pay the office fee so I had to pay with my debit card (this was extremely inconvenient, but I did get the reimbursement from my HSA provider in a timely manner). Another health fee was a check for an old Urgent Care visit. (Super cool that my health insurance doesn’t actually pay for much!! UGH) I was also reimbursed for this charge. But the principle of it!
Entertainment: In comparison to all my other categories, I spent a small amount on entertainment items. This month, I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and paid the entrance fee. The remaining transactions are recurring monthly purchases to Spotify (April’s Spotify charge ended up on this month’s, too) and Apple cloud.
Every month I pledge to not spend so much on Shopping related purchases and this month I will also try to hold myself to that accountability, but I do know that I’ll be making purchases for my fiancé’s birthday. I guess as long as its not for myself I can justify it!
Spending Habits [last month]
Heather Allen 
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