Tuesday 26 March 2013

February 2013 Expenditure Tracker

As outlined yesterday in my January 2013 expenditure tracker post, I am updating all my regular series (net worth and expenditure tracker) after getting back on deck after a brief hiatus from posting.

In February 2013 I significantly underperformed my personal expenditure target and although it looks like I underperformed on my share investment target and outperformed on my home loan savings account target, this was more due to a transfer of funds between the two accounts which I will outline below.

ItemFeb 2013TargetOver/(Under)
Share Investments-$8,147+$2,000-$10,147
Offset Acct.+$11,217+$3,500+$7,717
Personal expenditure+$3,551+$2,200+$1,351

The major causes for the movements in the 3 accounts are outlined below:

  • Share investments
    • The significant decrease in my share investments was due to the sale of my employee investment plan shares.  As these shares carry a guaranteed return it makes sense to sell them almost straight away which is what I did this period
    • Offsetting this was my regular investment in the employee share plan for the next period 
    • The strong run in the share market has meant that I am finding it harder and harder to find shares which offer me the kind of returns that I had seen in the weak share market.  In February I did not find any opportunities and so I kept more funds than I would like in cash
  • Home Loan Offset Account
    • The strong performance in the offset account was due to the sale of the employee share plan shares outlined above
    • I also saved a fair amount this month which all went into the offset account rather than shares for the reasons listed above
  • Personal expenditure
    • As in January 2013, my credit card bill for February exceeded my total expenditure target for a few reasons.  
    • Whilst last month this had to do with my trip overseas, this month it was related to a high level of expenditure trying to save a relationship.  I will do a post on this in due course but it was really amazing how much money I was willing to spend in the last few weeks of my previous relationship
    • I also unfortunately had my first ever driving infringement notice which cost several hundred dollars and which really is a complete waste of money

On a cumulative basis my performance can be seen below:

ItemJan 13 - Feb 13TargetOver/(Under)
Share Investments-$7,115+$4,000-$11,115
Offset Acct.+$12,499+$7,000+$5,499
Personal expenditure+$7,565+$4,400+$3,165

As you can see above I am significantly behind already in my share investment performance as well as my personal expenditure.  As we are already a significant way through March I know that this is not going to be any better.  Around this time last year I reassessed my goals to see whether they were reasonable.  I do not want to give up these goals so quickly as I think they are reasonable but I have been less disciplined than I should be.

Anyone who has read my expenditure tracker posts over time would have seen that I almost invariably blow my personal expenditure budget whatever it is.  To that end I'm building a detailed spreadsheet to keep track of exactly what I spend my money on.  If much of it is essentials then maybe I need to reassess my goals however I suspect that much of it is entertainment.  Once I have a bit of data I will do a post on this

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