What I Spend a Month in Chicago, IL: November 2020

What does a millennial in Chicago, Illinois spend in a month? In this spending report, Clo Bare lists out and explains every expense she had in November 2020, and includes what worked and what didn’t with her finances.

I’m pretty sure that in every single one of my spending reports or “what I spend posts” I say that it was an expensive month. And usually, I mean it! Maybe that’s because spending money in general feels like… I don’t know, a lot?

But this month– November 2020– I actually spent a crap ton and that’s for a few reasons.

My List of Excuses

I had three pay periods in this budgeting month– so my dates run from 10/24 to 12/2 on this spending report simply because that’s how it worked with my paychecks. I like to budget by paycheck rather than by month, because to me, it makes more sense.
My boyfriend’s birthday was December 4th, so I bought all his birthday stuff in this time period.
Christmas shopping happened in this period as well.
I transferred $700 to Clo Bare LLC bank account as my capital contribution to my LLC.
During the slow down in ‘rona cases, I visited my family (after having quarantined) and treated the fam to some libations and take out.
I spent a crap ton of money on supplements to help with my sleep and anxiety, after trying and quitting an anti-anxiety medication (trazodone) that made me sleep like a baby but increased my anxiety. More on that later.
Last minute, I rented a car to visit my sister who needed some emotional support.
I expanded my entertainment budget for the last three months of 2020 because– why not.

Is that enough excuses?

I’m not mad about the extra expenses. Like I said in the October 2020 spending report, I’m taking an lax approach to budgeting from October 2020 to December 2020 so I can hit the budgeting hard in 2021. Sometimes you need a break, even from strict budgeting rules, so as long as I’m containing the bleed– I’m good with it.

Anyway, let’s start with categories, shall we?

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What I Spend a Month: November 2020 Categories

The Fuck-Ups Explained

Health/Medical

Do you ever deal with a problem for so long that one day you wake up and you say? Fuck this– I’m buying every product on the market to see if it’ll make this shit better. I don’t CARE what it costs.

That was me. In November 2020. For two different issues.

Health Problem #1: Sleep and Anxiety

One major issue that I threw money at in November 2020 is my issues with sleep. The first thing I said fuck-it and did was I saw a psychiatrist about sleep and anxiety. He thought if we could fix the sleep, the anxiety might solve itself.

Sweet- right?

So he prescribed me Trazodone and I slept like a baby for about a week. Unfortunately, my anxiety shot through the roof because the pill left me feeling hungover AF the next day.

So then, I tried another psychiatrist to get a second opinion. He thought it was nuts that the first guy prescribed me Trazodone, and instead he prescribed me another anti-anxiety medication that was supposed to help both with sleep and anxiety.

Great, right?

Well.. I looked up the pill and the first thing that comes up is how everyone who takes the pill gains about 30 lbs. Now, listen. I’m absolutely all about loving your body as is and body positivity and not giving a shit about your weight— but I also am a human who has struggled with lots of different eating disorders in the past.

And a pill that’s almost guaranteed to make me gain weight?

Even the thought of going on it made my anxiety shoot through the roof.

This anxiety about the anti-anxiety medication catapulted me in a new direction. I decided– well hey. I haven’t really exhausted all my options yet. Maybe I can try a bunch of different supplements, double down on my self-care/manual therapies/sleep hygiene efforts, and see if that works instead.

SO.

I then bought $130 worth of supplements to try. Verdict is still out on if any of them work well for me. The good news is the anxiety is pretty much gone.

Health Problem #2: Back Pain/Pinched Nerve

The second problem I’ve been struggling with is my chronic back pain from chronic pinched nerves in my neck and upper back. These things fucking suck, to the point where I can barely move for weeks at a time. They usually only come around every once in a while, but lately I’ve been getting two a month and it’s cramping my style.

So?

I bought a couple of heating pads, strips and pain pills so that next time one comes around I’ll be ready.

Anyway– even though I spent a lot of money on health in November 2020, to me if I find a natural-ish solution for these issues– the money will have been well spent.

Personal

The personal category was a bit high because I decided to buy myself a new pair of boots. Did I NEED the boots? Absolutely not. Do I love them and get a good deal on them? For sure.

I actually got ten dollars off just for reverse image searching them. They were originally for sale on Timberland’s website, and all I had to do was take the photo of the shoes, reverse image search, and then– BAM! Found them on Famous Footwear’s website for ten dollars less. AND Famous Footwear is a Rakuten partner, so I got an additional 1% cash back in addition to my credit card’s 1.5% cash back.

It’s the little things in life.

Side note– if you don’t have Rakuten but you do online shopping, you should add the free extension to your browser. It’s great. Anytime I’m shopping on a webpage that offers cash back– Rakuten will alert me in the browser and all I have to do is accept it and a few months later I’ll get a Paypal deposit with my cash back from Rakuten. If you don’t have it, use this link and we’ll each get $20 after you spend $20.

Entertainment

Entertainment was a lot, but again, I’m not worrying about it so much. I spent $377 on entertainment over the course of 6 weeks. That’s not HORRIBLE. Part of it was because I treated my family to dinner, another part is because I drank some wine, took my sister out to dinner, drank some more wine, spent money on groceries for Thanksgiving, and made Bloody Marys. A lot of boozing. Tis the season, amirite?

Special Occasions

Gifts on gifts on gifts! This year I went all out for Christmas. I don’t usually spend this much because I don’t usually have a significant other but this year I got a boo thang and I also wanted to treat my parents to a couple of nice things. Plus– I spent very little money on travel in 2020, so why not spend a little more on the relationships that helped me survive 2020?

It’s a lengthy fuck-ups section, but shall we move on to the spending report?

We shall.

What I Spend in a Month: November 2020 Spending Report

10/24/2020

$130– Mom’s Birthday, Special Occasions
$105– One World for Family, split between Special Occasions and Entertainment

10/25/2020

$69– Oak Park Parking, Parking
$75– Instacart, Groceries

10/27/2020

$7– Face Shaver, Personal
$672– Student Loans, Debt

10/29/2020

$43– Rogaine, Personal

10/30/2020

$25– Jewel, Groceries
$25– Poke, Dating

10/31/2020

$50– Aldi, Groceries
$17– Halloween Candy, Dating
$36– Poke, Dating

11/1/2020

$12– G Suite, Clo Bare
$1,419– Rent, Home

11/2/2020

$24– Nicor, Utilities
$10– Biden Campaign, Donation
$15– Tea, Groceries
$12– Wine, Entertainment

11/6/2020

$1,700– Transfer to Emergency Fund, Emergency Fund
$116– Boots, Personal

11/7/2020

$27– Wine and Starbucks, Entertainment
$50– Groceries, Groceries
$25– Wine and snacks, Entertainment

11/8/2020

$63– Aldi, Groceries

11/11/2020

$700– Capital Contribution, Clo Bare
$101– Sprint, Cell Phone
$12.59– Prescription, Health

11/12/2020

$50– Asian Market, Dating
$7– Aldi, Groceries
$145– TV Stand, Special Occasions

11/14/2020

$8– Renter’s Insurance
$280– Christmas Gifts, Special Occasions
$45– Groceries, Groceries
$8– Snacks, Entertainment

11/16/2020

$150– Christmas Gifts, Special Occasions
$25– Wrapping Paper, Special Occasions
$74– ComEd, Utilities

11/17/2020

$220– Car Rental, Transportation
$50– Dinner with Sister, Entertainment
$25– Plants, Home
$57– Panera for Mom and ingredients for dinner with the family, Special Occasions

11/19/2020

$30– Beer and Prosecco, Special Occasions
$25– ComEd, Utilities

11/20/2020

$300– Transfer to Emergency Fund, Emergency Fund
$22– Gas, Transportation
$75– Ingredients for Friendsgiving, Entertainment
$30– Crafting Supplies, Dating
$40– Beach Body and Program, Health
$14– Book for book club, Entertainment

11/23/2020

$86– Heating pad and strips, Health
$80– Christmas Gifts, Special Occasions
$175– Christmas Gifts, Special Occasions
$97– Sleep supplements, Health

11/24/2020

$100– Thanksgiving, Groceries
$15– Thanksgiving, Entertainment
$29– Binny’s, Entertainment
$23– More Crafts, Dating

11/28/2020

$7– Socks, Personal
$7– Smoothie, Entertainment
$51– Jewel, Groceries

11/30/2020

$672– Student Loans, Debt
$119– Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime
$50– Brain Supplement, Personal
$16– Frother, Home

12/1/2020

$11– G Suite, Clo Bare
$24– Nicor, Utilities
$1,419– Rent, Home

Total Spent in November 2020: $10,179

Total Spent (Minus Debt and Emergency Fund): $6,832
% of After-Tax Income Saved: 20%
% of After-Tax Income Spent on Debt: 13%

November 2020 Savings and Debt By the Numbers:

Cash: $11k
Real Estate Investment: $43.9k
$401(k): $69.3k
Total Savings: $124,200
Debt: $29,875
Total Net Worth: $94,325 (SO CLOSE TO A SIX-FIGURE NET WORTH!!!!)

AGH! I’m so close to a six-figure net worth I can almost taste it and it tastes so sweet.

Now, I’m going to skip the goals since clearly I am posting this in 2021 and December 2020 has already passed. For now, as I’m writing this in December 2020 (hello, from the past!) I’m really just trying to chill until January and enjoy the rewards of being good with my money for the last two years.

How are you planning your money in 2021?

Share in the comments below! And if you liked this post, do your girl a solid and share.

Ready to build wealth the lazy way? 👉