June Update

Finally sorted out all my expenses/income for June.

I've updated my sidebars, although I left a credit card statement at work, so I estimated, it is slightly less than I'm showing now. In good news: UNDER $20,000! Still a horrible amount of debt, but I'm slowly getting there.

My income for June was: $3,734.15

Expenses, not including credit card interest, (will update once I get my other credit card statement back from work), were: $2,450.28.

Emergency fund is slowly going up. Savings have taken a hit due to me buying a laptop, so have to start working on those again. It's a new financial year, I've had a horrible start due to being sick, (and still am sick), but need to get much more organised in terms of budgeting/goals etc.

May Expense Update

An approximation of my May expenses are below. So much for saving money this month. May was very expensive! Although just over 33% of that was to purchase my laptop.

I was also terrible at keeping track at my expenses this month. So I don't know how close the below is. Some things are certain (e.g. rent), and I went through all my bank statements/credits cards to catch anything I paid via debit/credit. Cash I basically looked at what I had at the start of the month, what I withdrew from my bank account, and what I had at the end of the month - and figured it was all spent on food and/or entertainment (as basically everything else is paid for via debit or credit).

The important thing though is that I am back on track for June. In the past if I had stopped keeping track during a month I would have just given up all together.

Income for May was $3,465.86
Expenses were: $3,818.71

So I spent more than I earned, but as I mentioned the laptop was a huge expense, and I had saved up money for that.

Credit card update May/June

It's going down!!!

On 1 May, I owed $22,016.77

On 1 June, I owed $20,690.52

I have completely paid off Card 1, which is the first card I've gotten rid of without any balance transfers. It was my smallest card, but it also had the highest interest rate.

Next challenge is to Tackle Card 2, it actually has the lowest rate but only until about September (it was a six-month balance transfer off), I need to check the exact date it will expire. I would love to be able to pay it off just through my salary, but if worst comes to worst I should hae a tax refund by then (in Australia our financial year runs from July-June each year).

Quick May round-up

How can it already be June??? The year has flown by.

My goals/plans for May were to study, lose weight, and save money.

STUDY
I completed my 7 assignments and 2 exams. Haven't gotten the marks back for a lot of them yet but I think most of them went well.

LOSE WEIGHT
That didn't really happen. As the weather has gotten colder I've been eating badly, and with the amount of study I had I didn't get to the gym much. Surprisingly though, I went back to Queensland for the weekend and everyone said I looked like I had lost a ton of weight. I know I had lost quite a bit since moving down in January, but everyone saw me just before Easter, and I really didn't think I had lost much (if any) between then and now.

SAVE MONEY
Update to follow. I can say that one more credit card is paid off in full. But I was absolutely terrible at keeping track of my money for May. During this week I'm going to try to reconcile it. I know how much money I had on 1st May, and how much I have now, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Pretty much anything I spend cash on is junk food or entertainment. But my expenses are going to be pretty high for the month - after all, I bought a laptop, but that came from savings so not too concerned.

April Summary

My credit card debt as at 1 May is $22,016.77, meaning I paid off $540.29 in April.

My bank accounts/savings as at 1 May are $5,790.02, an increase of $274.53.

My income for the month was: $4,341.57 (primarily salary, and also the $900 bonus).

My expenses for the month were $2,954.41, consisting of:

Belated March Summary

Two weeks late, but here is my March summary and details of my March expenses.

Summary:
Income: $4,713.72 (salary (net of tax) + a small amount of interest).
Expenses: $3.398.06
Credit card debt: $22,557.06
Cash/savings: $5,514.89

Amazing... my income was more than my expenses for once! BUT: Due to my pay dates, I was paid 3 times this month rather than 2. So my monthly income won't usually be that high.

Details of my March expenses:

March update - credit cards + savings

This will be a very brief update, I still need to finalise my March expenses.

But in terms of my credit card debt vs. cash/bank accounts etc.

My credit card debt as at 1 April 2009 is $22,557.06, meaning I paid off $1,251.04 in March.
My cash/bank accounts as at 1 April 2009 is $5,514.49, an increase of $800.68 from March.

Just an explanation of my bank accounts etc:
My transaction accounts are what I use for day to day banking. As at 1 April they had over $2,600. This was due to getting paid just before the end of the month, I don't usually keep this much money in them.
My short-term savings is saving up for things like a new computer (which I desperately need), but basically any large purchases which I am going to make.
My long-term savings are just that - saving for longer term goals.
My emergency fund is only to be touched if someone is dying or I lose my job.

My main priority at the moment is to pay off my debt, but I'm trying to put a bit of money into each of my savings accounts & emergency fund each pay-day.

I'm very disheartened at the moment over my credit card debt. It's going down, but it still just seems like so much money. I posted a while ago that the Australian government was going to give most taxpayers a bonus. This was challenged in the High Court as to whether it was constitutionally valid. It's been determined it is, so I should get a $900 bonus this month, which will go straight to my credit cards.

February Summary

As at 1 March 2009:

Credit card debt: $23,808.10
Cash/bank accounts: $4,714.81
Net deficiency: 19,093.29

February Income: $2,638.99
February Expenses: $3,461.72
(Note that income is after tax)

Another terrible month. I still spent more than I earned (in part because my income was 1 pay check + some Ebay sales, and I had some unexpected expenses like car repairs). I paid off some of my credit cards but this was from savings.

What am I doing? Since starting this blog my financial situation has worsened. I knew January and February would be tough, January with no pay and February with not much, but I'm stil spending far too much money.

Another month gone

February seemed to zoom by. I know it was a short month, but I also started my new job which I think helped.

Finance wise, I didn't have a good month - I added up all my expenses yesterday and it was terrible! Some were unexpected (like car repairs), some were standard like rent, but I definitely need to cut back on things. Now I'm actually getting paid again I have to make sure I actually stick to a budget.

I think part of the problem is that while I've been keeping track of what I spend, I only add it all up each month. From now on I am going to do it weekly.

Will post updates later today in regards to my expenses/credit cards. I left a credit card bill at work which I need to pick up.

In other news, I have started another blog: Another Diet Blog, which will chronicle my attempts to lose some weight. I have lost some weight this year, but I am still considered overweight by my BMI, and definitely still feel too heavy and too unfit. Hopefully being on a diet will also help me cut back on money I spend on snacks!

January Summary

As at 1 February:

Credit card debt: $25,773.85
Cash/bank accounts: $8,543.86
Net deficiency: $17,229.99

January Income: $636.88
January Expenses: $4,174.00

So overall January wasn't a good month.

My credit card debt actually increased in January. This is the interest that has been charged. I made my January payments at the end of December, and am yet to make the February payments.

My cash has gone down because I've been living on my savings as I have been without pay. I've also had expenses of furniture (I used to live in a fully furnished place).

I will be making my February payments soon and as I'm starting my job tomorrow I'll start to get paid soon!