Budgeting in the era of COVID-19… Some things have changed, some things are very much the same.

Okay, let’s get to the numbers…

Below is my reconciled March budget with the “budgeted” column being my expected income and expenses and the “actual” column being my actual income and expenses. I guess perhaps I should change the “budgeted” column to “expected” for conceptual symmetry…

In my original March 2020 Budget Forecast post, I broke down my budget so below I will only review the changes…

Income – I receive my state income tax refund of $197.00. This amount accounts for the “Emergency Fund Deposit” that appears in the last row. While any extra income is usually shuffled towards debt, I withdrew $500.00 in November to cover my insurance deductible and I’m just getting around to back-filling it (I know…I know, I should have done this sooner).

Food, dining, gas, and miscellaneous (FDGM) – There was an overspend here which accounts for the $107.71 overspend you see in red at the bottom. In the comments of my March 2020 Budget Forecast folks mentioned that they thought my budget was pretty bare bones and left little room for flexibility. That is…correct. However, the overspend here was not on essential items and really just happened because I turned cooking into “entertainment” during COVID-19, got my father’s watches fixed (he earns far more than I do and could afford to get them fixed himself but it would take him forever to get it done), and because the spring pollen and construction around my building had my car looking really raggedy.

Onto April!

Income – I believe my income increased because the university stopped billing me for my university gym membership as the facilities are no longer accessible.

Unplanned Spending from March 2020 – Obviously, the unplanned spending from March had to be paid. Ultimately, I had to decrease my student loan payment by $100.00. (The other $7.71 was covered by the increased income).

Food, dining, gas, and miscellaneous – I know! I know! I really did listen to your thoughts and comments and I know this budget seems awfully slender. However, I think I will actually make it this month because 1) I am working like home like millions of other fortunate Americans so I don’t have transportation costs except the occasional trip to the grocery story. However, gas is currently ridiculous cheap and I still have a little over a half a tank left from March. 2) Now that I know I am working from home, I took time to do some meal planning. I have also done some self-care work to address my overeating. 3) Because of social distancing, the need for miscellaneous spending as a result of spending time with friends or out and about drops significantly. 4) I am using this time to force myself to use up some of my stashed goods and de-clutter. Like the million bottles of lotions, soaps, toothpastes, and half rolls of toilet paper I have saved because I might be able to use them “some day.”

Because I know there are folks who are concerned I’m not eating enough (I am so appreciative of your concern), I am planning to do an update post later today to show you an example of my super cheap and healthy dinners.

Okay, I know some folks aren’t going to be happy with this budget and I LOVE and appreciate that. If you think I should make changes, let me know exactly what you think I should do. Should I be pulling away money from debt repayment? Beefing up my emergency fund beyond $1000.00?