February - The Month of Pitfalls

People, last month wasn't pretty. As I shared, there was a unexpected things come up and some that we took on ourselves. All that added up to a negative savings rate.

February Savings:

-1%

Beyond pathetic for someone that is suppose to be so focused on savings. Here's what drove us over. 

CAR: As it's bound to happen, the 10 year old car started to smoke (or steam) and we needed new hoses. However, I did save us $50 by finding an online coupon. 

VET: Something that was planned but expensive. Warding off rabies ain't cheap!

CREDIT CARD PAYOFF: This one was good to get rid of so I don't regret this one. We are now both 100% debit free.

MISC: After those large expenses we had a few more things we could of avoided. A few things from Amazon, some new clothes. Flowers for my mom (don't regret that). $100 more in gas than the month before.

The things we did well: 

HAIRCUT: Instead of getting my standard $35 haircut, I bought a Groupon to get it cut for $9. Haven't taken advantage of that yet. Since I only need a trim and not a new style, the $26 savings was a good way to cut costs. (pun not intended)

SPLITTING GIFT: Instead of buying those flowers for my mom all by myself, I asked my siblings if they wanted to chip in for a total split of $15 each. Although I have not been fully reimbursed yet.

DINING OUT/GROCERIES: We did surprising well on not spending on eating out. Even with a birthday thrown in there. 4.7% of our February versus January at 7%. Groceries were $260. Normally average $100 to $150 more.

FREE FOOD: These opportunities don't come up everyday, but I took advantage last month. I was craving some Runza but didn't really feel like forking out the cash for it at the end of the month (having a negative savings rate and all). But I signed up for Runza newsletters and received a free combo for doing so. My hubby also received a free pizza from Old Chicago for his birthday. I picked it up and take home so no additional cost of dining in.

TAX REFUND: My state refund was absorbed into our month but the much larger federal refund went straight to savings. I just count that into our budget. Counting the federal refund would of taken us to our 30% monthly saving goal but I wanted that to automatically go to savings and not count it as income for the month. 

Overall it was a disappointing month. I think it goes to prove how hard it can be to save. Normally we can save money with one arm behind our backs because of our low monthly fixed expenses. When it comes to saving intentionally…so much harder. I also feel like our savings goals are a bit vague right now. Saving for a house is such a big goal. Perhaps we need to make some smaller goals. Still based around saving for a house but more tangible. More on that in another post.