Where I spent my first month of travel nursing paycheck!

I just finished my first month of travel nursing locally and wanted to share where all my money went! I have been budgeting now for 5 years and know my spending habits which is a definite help when building my budget! My big goal is to buy a house in the next year, so I am trying to have a generous savings rate!

Your savings rate is just the percentage of your take home pay that you are saving.

So here is a breakdown of my first local travel nursing job!

First, let’s look at my taxes and such –

Before taxes- $13,600
Federal- $4224
Social security- $2544
Medicare- $840
State- $640

My take home ends up being $2300/ week or $9200 for the month!

Next, we will look at my four walls! (Your four calls are your most basic needs – housing, food, utilities, and transportation)

Car – I have included gas, car loan, insurance, and maintenance $800
Food – includes groceries and eating out $500

Rent & utilities - includes rent, dog fees, renters insurance, internet, and utilities $1700

Now, we will look at all other expenses

Guilt free spending - this is basically my free money spent on clothes, events with friends, and experiences $800

Medical- includes appointments $200

Pups- includes their food, preventatives, and daycare $450

Self-care – includes eyebrows, nails, and workout program $250

(As important as it is to not compare your finances to those around you, I really want to emphasize that when it comes to looking at self-care spending! Self-care is different for everyone, for some its hair and nails, for others it could be reading and bath bombs. Do not look at my self-care spending and thing you are doing too much or too little, just do what it right for you!)