Checking In With My Savings Plan: December 2017 Edition

This’ll be the last time I use this Elmo graphic, thank goodness. I’ll pick a new one for 2018.

In December, I received $5,038.75 in freelance payments and $169.19 in book royalties, or $5,207.94 total.

I didn’t put anything into savings in December (I used that money to pay off part of the cost of moving to Cedar Rapids) but I did set aside 30 percent, or $1,562.38, for taxes.

That left me $2,864.37, plus the $1,350 I got back from my Seattle landlord and some assorted Christmas cash, to pay my overhead/discretionary/holiday expenses PLUS the rest of my moving costs AND refill my checking account buffer.

My current checking account balance is $1,092.11. I was hoping it’d be a little higher than that because I was anticipating I’d get one more freelance check deposited into my account on December 31 (which will probably arrive today) but all in all it isn’t that bad!

Neither is the $10,008.18 I currently have in my savings account, or the fact that I increased my net worth by $19,754.24 in 2017.

If I get all the checks I anticipate I’ll receive in January and stick to the budget I set for myself, I should have my $3K checking account buffer very close to full by the end of the month. (Which is good, because February might be a low cashflow month.)

That budget — which I’ll tell you more about tomorrow — also includes my new HSA, my IRA, and a personal investment plan.

I am so excited about all the places I plan to put my money in 2018.

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