My First Stab at My 2021 Budget

 So nothing on TV is holding my attention at the moment. Yesterday, I updated my accounts. Those looked really great! I have nothing else to do but Praise the Lord! 

I did some online holiday shopping. And my next small big-win is I think I might qualify for a Target RedCard (debit) that will get me $40 off $40. I've been eyeing a $16 bacon pan since I moved in April. That'll be my silly gift to myself.

I also had an online fight with Joann Fabrics. They had some good deals for some arts and crafts stuff. After painstakingly clicking around all my new found rebates sites, I finally clicked through to check-out. Within 30 minutes my order was cancelled because everything was out of stock.  All's well since I was already in the online shopping mindset and I have loads of free time. I tried again but this time went for Curbside Pick-Up. The paints I had previously chosen were not available so got a smaller size which is a bit worrisome but am deciding to roll with it - this is a creative project after all. 

So I got paint, bought 2 Paint Nite classes, loaded my shopping cart with bedding items for tomorrow when I can use my $15 Kohl's cash, and... wait is that it? For some reason that took most of the morning yesterday.  Oh, this morning I think I decided to buy the personalized Coke bottles for my manager and her family. It seemed silly to buy 5 bottles of Coke with her name on it but someone gave me the idea of buying something for her kids. So I think I'll have each of the Coke bottles personalized with their names as well.  That seems to make more sense.  It is a completely impractical gift - which was the reason for my initial hesitation - but sometimes it's going to have to just be the thought that counts. 

So yes, friends, this year I got into the spirit of gift-giving. Mind you, most of the "gifts" I've bought are for myself. Oh! I also made my manager a little comic strip on Pixton yesterday. This was when I'd decided trying to come up with a gift for her was going nowhere. 

Anyway, so today, there wasn't much else to do. So I started looking at my budget for next year and this is what I came up with. I feel more nervous sharing my numbers than I ever had in the past, but here it goes. 

Not sure why it's posting as a picture this time around, but there you have it. 

My Spending Target is pretty much the same as it was last year at $26k but will likely be closer to $30k. That is why I left the $6k cushion. 

My Savings Goal increased by about $4k from $45.5k last year to $49.5k this year. Not sure why with a $20k salary increase, I was only able to squeeze out another $4k in savings. I would expect $15k  at a 25% tax rate but my net pay only went up $8k according to my 2020 Working Budget, so there you have it. 

The biggest logistical change is how post-tax funds will be invested. For the last 2 years, I maxed out my 40lK and the remainder of my paycheck was deposited into my bank account. From there I set up auto-withdrawals with my broker for my Roth IRA and just a regular broker account. 

In 2021, I'm still keeping my monthly auto-withdrawals to the Roth IRA account. However for the remaining $24k, I am setting that up as an after-tax 401k payroll deduction. So that money never even reaches my bank account. It goes directly from payroll to the broker. Yowzer!

So my actual take-home pay for 2021 will be the most miserly it's ever been since I started this financial independence journey. I am thankful. I am also a bit frightened.  Luckily, I have about 3 years of data to show that while I have yet to reach $26k/yr in spending,  I haven't typically needed more than $30k barring anything catastrophic.  And I mean, I can stop the auto-contributions with a couple clicks, so there's that. Admittedly, it's still scary. I will be very cash-low moving forward.  So as the saying goes, I'm putting my money where my data is.