Personal Savings Rate Question

[Jenna Cheramie]

Hey y'all! My name is Jenna. I'm new to the BP forums, but am an avid listener of the BP Money podcast and listen every day on my way to work.

I want to start tracking my savings rate every month but I have a question - I get mileage and toll reimbursements from my employer every month for any travel that I accrue. I don't always have to travel often but the past few months I have been on the road a lot.

The reimbursements aren't insignificant - last month I got over $2k reimbursed from mileage alone.

My main question is, should this extra money be counted towards net income for the month when calculating a savings rate? Or would it just be considered supplemental and be excluded?

I know it's probably not a super big deal, but I'm trying to get as granular as I possibly can.

The reimbursements are waaayyyy more than my mileage / gas actually costs but the flip side is that it's supposed to cover wear and tear / maintenance of the car.

Obviously including it lowers my savings rate by a lot by adding an extra $2k to my "income" but not including it might artificially inflate it since that extra money is being put towards savings/investments?

Probably over-thinking this but would love some advice! Thanks!

[Greg Malanga]

Hey Jenna, welcome to BP! 

You’re not overthinking this, methodology matters.

Short answer is exclude reimbursements from income entirely, and also exclude your driving costs from expenses. Treat the whole thing as a pass-through that lives outside your savings rate. Reimbursements aren’t income — they’re cost recovery. The IRS doesn’t tax them for a reason.

Yes, you’re probably netting positive since the per-mile rate covers depreciation, maintenance, etc. beyond just gas. But your savings rate should reflect your actual earning and spending behavior, not pass-through money from your employer.

If you really want to get granular, track your actual vehicle costs separately and compare them to reimbursements over time. The net difference is your real “profit” and that small number is the only part you’d reasonably fold in.

Keep being this intentional about tracking. That mindset puts you way ahead.