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January 2016 Expenses and Blog Income

February 14, 2016 by Jennifer 9 Comments

Every November and December I freak out about how much money seems to be, just… vanishing. Though we don’t do New Year’s resolutions in our house, January is definitely the month I start to take a serious look at our budget and how we can reign it back in from the Holidays.

By the way this post contains affiliate links.

Our biggest “controllable” expenses are groceries, and shopping. And while this is not necessarily a bad thing (I take it as a compliment since he chose me), my husband has expensive taste. I, on the other hand, am a complete sucker for a bargain. Not that I like “cheap” things, but I would scrounge my Zulily app daily to make sure I wasn’t missing out on any amazing deals. All in all, neither approach is great for the pocket-book.

While I’m still very well acquainted with Zulily, one thing I did a few months ago was delete the app. I find this forces me to only go there if I NEED something. I’m not tempted to buy stuff just because it’s “New Today”, and I’m getting what I actually want/need, instead of being lured in by the daily deals.  It sounds like something small but look below to see what a difference it has made:

ZULILY PURCHASES

JUNE 2015 – $209

JULY 2015 – $158

AUGUST 2015 – $207

SEPTEMBER 2015 – $46

OCTOBER 2015 – $35 (This is the month I deleted the app)

NOVEMBER 2015 – $48 (Hey, it was almost Christmas… I couldn’t just go cold turkey.)

DECEMBER 2015 – $0

JANUARY 2016 – $0

That is just one step I’ve made in getting our budget under control. Here are 5 things I actually SPENT money on in order to save a few bucks each month:

5thingstobuythatwillsaveyoumoney

And now the moment of truth. Here are our largest “controllable” expenses for January 2016:

GROCERY EXPENSES

TRADER JOE’S – $714

OTHER GROCERY – $256

GROCERY TOTAL = $970 (Bear in mind the USDA gives a family my size $890.60/month for a moderate food cost plan.)

SHOPPING EXPENSES

TARGET – $283

AMAZON – $100

OTHER SHOPPING – $269

Shopping Total – $652 (I had a big work event in January that required some new duds for both my husband and I. I know… excuses, excuses.)

There you have it folks, $1,622. I can’t wait to see if all this accountability makes February’s numbers any better!

Now for the Blog Income portion. You may be wondering why I’m adding this in as well… It is my goal to eventually be able to earn enough money from this blog to earn a full time income from it. So in the interest of budgeting, full disclosure, and full accountability, I invite you to follow along on my progress. (By the way if you are also interested in starting your own website, Bluehost is a great place to begin, and if you use this link it’s only $3.95/month.)

BLOG INCOME

GOOGLE ADSENSE – $0.65

Yep, that was an easy one. Gotta start somewhere right? I’m working on signing up for more affiliate programs, and working on some other projects, so hopefully we will see that number grow soon. I have had a couple friends tell me about a budgeting tool they use, I’m going to do a little investigating and perhaps in the coming months I’ll incorporate that into these reports.

Anyone else have any suggestions or amazing discoveries?

Related

Filed Under: Blog Expense & Income Reports Tagged With: budget, expenses, income report, january

Previous Post: « 5 Things to Buy That Will Save You Money
Next Post: Tzatziki Sauce Recipe »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jana says

    February 15, 2016 at 7:25 am

    Since I am a coupon, clearance, and sale junkie, I keep track of every penny I save throughout the month and transfer that amount of money into our savings at the beginning of the next month (after payday). It's amazing how it all can add up!
    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      February 15, 2016 at 12:48 pm

      That's a great idea. You guys are so good at that!
      Reply
  2. Bilna Sandeep says

    February 20, 2016 at 12:53 am

    Hey..good luck to you on proceeding further up in the blogging game!! Adsense takes time to matter..mostly is proportional to the number of views..in the beginning it was tough for me too.. but then I began to earn enough an year to maintain the blog including domain hosting and Plugins. . But it's definitely growing and a good passive income. For the time being I have disabled Adsense till I get to make it really big in terms of page views. . At present concentrating on mastering affiliates and I have put up a detailed post on my blog. If you can start pitching clients for sponsored posts and projects that will totally change the game. At present I earn good enough through that. Both social media marketing and blog promotion for clients can really up the game!!
    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      February 20, 2016 at 7:45 am

      Thanks so much for the encouragement. Working a full time job, I know it may take a while to get where I want to be.
      Reply
  3. Amber says

    February 20, 2016 at 4:21 am

    Wooooo that's quite a grocery bill! I don't know where you live, though, so that may make a difference. Do you have an Aldi in your area? Just like Trader Joe's but at a third of the cost. :-) I don't want to drop a link and leave, but I can help you develop a budget if you'd like. No sales pitches, no products to buy, just a genuine offer to help from one blogger to another. Feel free to email me!
    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      March 5, 2016 at 9:33 am

      Hi Amber (sorry, your comment was in the "Spam" folder), I hear so much about Aldi but unfortunately we don't have one here yet. I'm hoping someday we'll get one!
      Reply
  4. Regina says

    February 20, 2016 at 12:39 pm

    Lol. I love it! I'm new to blogging too and have yet to make anything from my blog. So I am here celebrating with you! Yippie! ? And I had to stay away from Trader Joes because I found myself spending money on foods I wanted to try instead of foods on my list = a hefty bill! The best of luck to you on your blog! Love the layout and theme! Is it a Genesis theme?
    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      February 21, 2016 at 8:37 am

      Thanks Regina. It's crazy how much there is to learn! I had that same problem with TJ's when I first started shopping there. But now I find it holds me back because there aren't as many options as a regular grocery store. It's Gardenia,a Fruit Theme. My mom is actually the brains behind it.
      Reply

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