Budget Update
April was a big spending month and it affected my budget. I was able to finally purchase a new bicycle, this is a replacement of the one that was stolen last year. To pay for this big purchase I used a sinking fund. This sinking fund contained the insurance payouts because the bike was stolen and it included the extra I needed to make the purchase.
This is the benefit of a sinking fund, you pay into it on a regular basis until you reach your goal. Once reached, you can decide whether or not to make the purchase.
Income
Last month I really saw the benefit of investing, as I speak about in this post. My dividend payout for April was smaller, this is due to most dividend paying companies only paying out on a quarterly basis. March just happened to be a big month for it. However, I still earned enough to pay my phone bill.
I did not really have a lot of other income coming in from reselling, or other forms of payments. So, I mainly had to rely on my main form of income.
Expenses
Housing
My rent stayed the same but I paid a little more on electricity, it was a cold month. So I turned on my portable heater. This month my total expenses for housing was 4,527 SEK (~536 USD).
Transportation
Since I purchased my bike my transportation costs have been going down, I used the metro a couple of times but each ride is 25 SEK (~2.5 SEK). This mean I used the metro about 11 times this month, a total of 278 SEK (~33 USD).
Food
I managed to lower my food bill this month, so I am proud of that. Although, I am going to still try to order less takeout.
Total: 2,748 SEK (~330 USD)
Shopping
The most expensive month to date. So, I bought my new bike. This was paid for my a sinking fund which amount to 10,149 SEK, this also included a new lock since that part was also stolen. Anyway, aside from that my shopping this month was minimal, just like last month.
Total: 11,069 SEK (~1329 USD). Taking the cost of the bike out of the equation, I only spent 929 SEK on shopping. A bit more than last month but I did buy a new summer dress.
Subscriptions
Same old, same old. I still have my Disney +, Hulu, and Spotify accounts.
Total: 332 SEK(~36 USD)
Savings
Saving this month was interesting, because I pulled out of my sinking fund to make a purchase but I still used 51% of my income to save and invest.
I saved 51% but only a small portion actually went to savings accounts, most of it went to investing. I have this goal to invest $10K this year. It is a tough goal for me because it is a third of my yearly income but I am trying to anyway.
Assets and Debts
Debts
Really that should be singular, as I only have one debt. My student loan. I never have any credit card debt as I pay it off every month.
Considering my student loan, I have not been paying it down due to the moratorium. Instead I have been depositing the money I would have been using to pay it down into a sinking fund. Once the moratorium ends and if they are not forgiven I will apply the whole amount to the loans, bringing the amount owed down significantly. This would also cut down on the daily interest accrual which has been the bane of my existence.
Assets
I love seeing these numbers and watching them change on a monthly basis. The one that is most surprising is the crypto.
I use Coinbase to buy all of my crypto, mainly BTC and ETH. I have inserted an affiliate link, we will both earn $10 in BTC once you buy or sell $100 worth of crypto.
As I mentioned before I began buying in 2017 and allotted less than 10% of my assets to it. It has increased significantly this year. It is still over 20% but I am not selling any.
Investing is always risky but crypto is volatile, despite it steadying the last couple of months. It is still early to invest, which is what some experts say. Only time will tell.
I use M1 finance as my brokerage, so far it has proved a reliable brokerage account. The main benefit is that once you create your portfolio it is relatively hands-off.
Final Thoughts
This month was overall a good month for spending. I stayed within my budget goals. I also updated my excel budget to include a ‘Wealth -building Dashboard.’ I am able to see all of my charts in one place and track my goals in the same space.
AMAZING!