January Results

For January here is the result of my budget:




Fast Food: $210
Groceries: $139
Restaurants: $106
Vacations: $100
Gifts: $50
Electronics and Software: $100
Rent: $350
Movies: $17
Internet: $15
TV: $10
Cell Phone: $100
Gas: $85
Utilities: $50
Furnishings: $20
Home Improvement: $10
Clothing: $10
Books: $10
Home Supplies: $10
Sporting Goods: $50
ATM Fees: $7
Other: $15
Total: $1,464
Income: $1,890

My total investment contribution: $426
Prosper: $70
Brokerage: $300
Liquid Cash: $56

Investment value last month: $5850.00
Current value of Investments: $6358.95
Gain: 508.95
Gain attributable to my deposit: $426
Gain attributable to investment growth: $82.95

I can't really count on this sort of return.  Sometimes my portfolio will outperform or underperform my expectation, very rarely will I actually hit my expectation of a 2/3% return per month on my investments. The largest expense was food at about $455 this month, I'm hoping to lower that to about $200-$250, which should save me about $200 to $250 a month.  I should add that several of the categories, for example the vacation or electronics and software budget, are amortized so they won't vary.