Just for fun - August Percentages.

DannyB

IMHO, using percentages to organize and plan a budget makes sense IF the budgeter has income resources that are sufficient to cover COMFORTABLY all normal and anticipated expenses with a margin that allows for savings for desired goals. In my case my monthly/annual income is equal to our annual expenses with a small margin to cover small fluctuations that always occur (these fluctuations can also be covered by our Surprise (Emergency) savings.

Here are my Target vs Actual percentages for August:

• Housing
  • Target 13%
  • Actual 13%
• Charitable Giving
  • Target 7.5%
  • Actual 7.4%
• Food & Household
  • Target 13%
  • Actual 18%
• Auto & Transport
  • Target 13%
  • Actual 5.4%
• Quality of Life
  • Target 11.5%
  • Actual 3.4%
• Miscellaneous
  • Target 15%
  • Actual 13.3%
• Health
  • Target 13.6%
  • Actual 13.6%
• Travel
  • Target 6.8%
  • Actual 6.8%

Notes:

• Several categories are italicized. These categories are set amounts set aside each month for the intended use but are not spent in each month.
  • In the case of "Housing" and "Health" any surplus of the allotted budget amount that is not used for recurring fixed expenses (utilities, contribution to property tax SG, insurance premiums,) is contributed to Savings Goals that cover variable non-monthly upkeep and repair expenses (Housing) and prescriptions and health care providers (Health).
  • "Travel" is a set amount contributed to a Travel SG.

Our Food & Household was 5% over our budgeted percentage for August. This overage was covered by "Available" funds and shifting funds from underspent categories to the Food and Household category.

We had no "Other spending" in August and our final "left at end of month" was a whopping 1.3%.

An astute observer may point out that the above percentages don't add up to 100%. In fact, the above adds up to 82.2%. The remaining 17.8% are funds that are contributed to several investment and savings accounts that are excluded from my Spending Plan and thus don't show up in this report.