Tallying Up My New Savings Plan: September Edition

By Nicole Dieker October 2, 2015

Previously, on Nicole’s Budget: After discovering that I needed to save a lot more for freelance taxes than I had been previously saving, I set up a series of sub-savings accounts. Every Friday, I tally up all of the freelance payments I’ve received that week and put 20 percent towards taxes, 20 percent towards debt, and 10 percent into regular savings.

In September, I received $6,137.81 in freelance income. Here’s what I put in my sub-savings accounts:

Taxes got 20 percent, or $1,227.56

Debt also got 20 percent, or $1,227.56

Savings got 10 percent, or $613.78

It looks like I got my percentages pretty well perfect this month. Good on me.

This left $3,068.91 in my checking account. I put $1,980 towards first and last month rent on my apartment and $500 towards the holding/security deposit, so that would have left me $588.91 in monthly spending money… except I also borrowed $1,500 from my savings account and $300 from my debt account to make sure I could get through the month and pay all of these expenses.

I have already put $500 back into my savings account (above and beyond the 10 percent I stuffed in there), and I want to put another $500 back into my savings account (above and beyond the 10 percent) before October is over. I’m not going to put $300 back into the debt account; I’m doing fine on my debt payments.

Right now my savings account balance is $1,783.92, and it should be somewhere around $2,800 by the end of October if I put in 10 percent of my income plus $500. I want savings so badly. I want enough savings so that I can start thinking about investing again.

I also paid $3,025.81 in freelance estimated taxes this month, which means that the taxes sub-savings account is doing its job.

How about you? What are you saving for right now, and how are your accounts doing?

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