This will be a fairly short update on my budget, saving, and loan payment for December as my year end review will be coming shortly.

December was uneventful for the most part. I worked overtime almost every day this whole month which is lame because I’m salaried, meaning I’m not getting any overtime pay. I hope (more like, I better!) get a good bonus/raise in 2022 for my extra work.

Student Debt

Student debt paid this month: $880.77

Student debt remaining: $36,618.59

There it is, $36,618.59. The final amount of student debt remaining at the end of 2021.

I haven’t made much progress in paying down my student loans as I’m expecting my mortgage interest rate to be higher than my student loans so I’m not in any rush to pay it off. I’m just continuing my minimum payment of $880.77.

I’m also continuing to take advantage of the COVID-19 forbearance on my federal loans so I have not made any payments there since March of 2020. 

With the forbearance once again extended, I will be scratching my plan of making a lump sum amount in January to finish off the remaining ~$4,400 of my federal loans.

Currently, the forbearance is set to end in May, but we’ll see closer to the date whether another extension will pop up. My goal is still to pay this off prior to the end of forbearance to finally get rid of my Nelnet loan once and for all!

I house every month’s debt progress from the very beginning here if you want to check out the progress so far. 

December Budget

Fixed Spending

As noted since February, my parents and I agreed that I would postpone any monthly payments to them while I am in the midst of the home-buying process. I will instead continue to save up and resume payments once the home-buying process is complete.

Other than that, my cell phone bill and Netflix make up the rest of my fixed spending.

Variable Spending

Gas – Over-budget. I went out of town a couple times this month.

Entertainment/dining out – Surprisingly under-budget for the holiday season. Like I said, it was a fairly uneventful month. I mostly stayed at home this month to recuperate from last month’s full social calendar.

Groceries – A bit over-budget which was expected as I cooked more at home this month. I can definitely live with this $43 grocery over-spending if it means stopping my constant $100-200+ over-budget in dining out spending.

Shopping – Nothing for myself this month. I placed Christmas gifts under a different category in my miscellaneous section.

Miscellaneous

Optometrist – $188 was the total cost of my eye exam and 1-year supply of contact lenses. I am so annoyed with Acuvue for making things harder to get a measly $25 rebate. I had already submitted my online receipt but now also have to mail in the exact same copy of what I had already submitted online.

Of course, that’s an issue for me as I don’t even have a printer to print a hardcopy. I also need to find an envelope and get stamps to mail it in. In this modern day, what kind of company still requires you to mail things in? And what was the point of having to submit the info online when I’ll have to submit a physical copy anyways? Okay, rant over.

Gift – A very minimal Christmas gift spending this month. My immediate family and I decided not to exchange gifts this year. I wanted to get my mom a new phone but she’s waiting for next Galaxy release so I’ll hold off on that gift.

Car Insurance – I continue to love Geico. My 6-month rate initially went up to over $550 because I had submitted my annual mileage review with 10k annual mileage. I initially thought that since the letter mentioned that under 12k is considered for the discount, I was safe with putting any numbers under 12k. I chose 10k even knowing that I usually drive much less than that.

Well, obviously that was wrong. But at least Geico allowed me to correct that number and refunded me the amounts I overpaid when they lowered my rate.

Savings

I ended December with a maxed out 401k, Roth IRA, and HSA. Woohoo! I also added $2,000 to my brokerage account this month.

Goals for Next Month

I have nothing to add in this section. My 2021 review is coming up which will include my goals for 2022.