Hey Everyone, it’s been since last May that I posted one of these recaps. My goal is to get one posted all 12 months of 2020. So here’s my January budget totals!
We started this year with some big goals. Goals that feel so huge it actually makes me nervous to throw them out into the world. Like, maybe if I don’t say these things I don’t have to feel bad when they don’t happen. I felt the same way last year and then we crushed every goal we set, we even finished them early.
If you haven’t read about our 2020 goals you can catch them in this post here. Now, finally and without any further dramatics, here is our January progress:
2020 Budget Breakdown
In December I made some rough projections of what I thought the year 2020 would cost us. I took all our monthly bills and our potential monthly spending and multiplied them by 12. I planned out our sinking funds and added that to the total for the year as well. It gave us a nice round number for projected annual spending going into 2020.
I used the calculation for our projected spending to tweak our current budgeting method. It’s not a super complicated change to our budget process and I have shared all the details in this post here.
January and the last paycheck in December was my first time using this method and it is working! The numbers don’t lie and they’re right where they need to be.
Debt Paid Off in January
Here’s our final numbers laid out for the month! We paid off $5,552 in debt during the month of January!
Wooooooooo!!!!
I had made a goal for at least paying off $5,000 a month but I was nervous we wouldn’t get there. No particular reason we shouldn’t have been able to do it but I was nervous anyway. This was kind of the first month for me to call our shot and make the determination that we were gonna get it.
As huge as this milestone feels it’s also not even our hardest push goal. At the end of each month if we spent within our budget, which is plenty comfortable by the way, we should have an extra $5,000. Imagine what we could do if we got uncomfortable.
Right now our budget has some flex built in. It allows us to eat out a little, it covers a date night if we want it to, there’s room to buy small supplies for a home DIY project. We are not on beans and rice. We are not in complete depravation and misery.
I have learned that misery does not lead to success for me. Not in a budget and not in a diet. Misery actually breeds uncontrolled spending and TONS of food cravings. So if I’m going to see these goals and hit them I need to do it from a place of NOT DYING FROM MISERY AND DEPRIVATION.
I see people who are giving up every small joy in life to hit their debt freedom goals. When I say every small joy I mean ever.damn.one. even the second ply on the two ply toilet paper. I applaud them. I’m in awe of them. I’m also content to work this system at my pace for now and only rise to their level when it suits my mood and my determination level. It’s not a level I can sustain for a long length of time.
So let me wrap things up here. I will see you in February friends! I hope your next month’s budget treats you nice and you hit some big goals too. If you know someone who would love this post please share it their way. Pin it, tweet it, send it to a friend on Facebook! Thank you for reading!
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