Here's an overview of how much I had planned on spending on EVERYTHING this month and how it actually worked out. Our retirement and medical premium is taken out already.
Savings Account: planned/actual: $400
Household Expenses: (mortgage, utilities, garbage, Internet...)
planned: $1388 actual: $1336.36
Credit/Loan Payments: (includes gym membership, credit card, student loan, personal loan)
planned: $585.52 actual: $585.52
Cars: (including car payment, insurance, gas, maintenance)
planned: $421.5 actual: $423.93
Groceries/Drug Store: planned $300 actual: $334.37
Entertainment: planned: $300 actual: $231.21
Spending Money: planned: $300 actual: $300
Other: including vet bill, charity, home improvement tools: $142.87
Total Expenses: $3754.26
Total Income: $3889.89
Excess: $135.63
I am very pleased we have a bit of money left over this month. Adding to the 200 from last month, we've got a good start on an unexpected trip. I just found out my sister is getting married in 2 months 12 hours north of us. This brought on lots of anxiety for me about money. I started stressing about money for Christmas, travelling, and all the extra things I'll have to throw at the wedding to make it special like hair, tanning, nails, champagne, wedding present. Although it'll be a small wedding, I want my sister to feel special!
I sat down and jotted down all the extra things I'd need money for and adjusted our Nov/Dec budgets for it. Now I feel like I have control and we can do what we need to do. I will have to skip the savings account in December to make it happen, which I"m not thrilled about, but it's doable.
Showing posts with label budget overview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budget overview. Show all posts
Monday, November 1, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Budgeting
I've always felt like I was very aware of where our money went. There was always money for the bills, and slowly but surely our debt has been going down...but a lot of money slipped through our finger tips and there never seemed to be enough left over to do all the "fun stuff" we wanted.
So I started planning a strict budget this summer, when we were struggling to get by without dipping into our savings. But I didn't start following it until September, when our income was "restored".
Last night, when I couldn't sleep, it suddenly occurred to me that since the first few days of following the budget, we didn't go into overdraft once! Now for us, going into overdraft is no big deal and it happened mostly because I had a bunch of checks in my purse and never made it to the bank. We didn't spend money we didn't have, but we did often have that transferring of money from one account to the other, and then have to replace it a day later.
But by having a budget, that has been eliminated! How cool is that? We're ahead, not just skimming the line. I think we've especially stopped the money flying out the window in the grocery (me) and bar (him) departments. Now, after we've spent the allotted money, we just stop.
For those of you who are curious, after bills are paid/retirement accounts funded/insurance paid, this is how we spend the rest of our money.
$400 into savings (My husband is dying to get his hands on this money, but I have so-far won this battle.)
$400 for groceries/drug store items
$300 for spending money, split between the two of us (This goes for clothes, hair cuts, take out, bar tabs, what ever we like.)
$300 for entertainment that we do together (Mostly going to the bar and eating out.)
So my best advice to someone who would like to get their finances in order is to TRACK YOUR SPENDING and the limit overspending in any category that you see fit.
So I started planning a strict budget this summer, when we were struggling to get by without dipping into our savings. But I didn't start following it until September, when our income was "restored".
Last night, when I couldn't sleep, it suddenly occurred to me that since the first few days of following the budget, we didn't go into overdraft once! Now for us, going into overdraft is no big deal and it happened mostly because I had a bunch of checks in my purse and never made it to the bank. We didn't spend money we didn't have, but we did often have that transferring of money from one account to the other, and then have to replace it a day later.
But by having a budget, that has been eliminated! How cool is that? We're ahead, not just skimming the line. I think we've especially stopped the money flying out the window in the grocery (me) and bar (him) departments. Now, after we've spent the allotted money, we just stop.
For those of you who are curious, after bills are paid/retirement accounts funded/insurance paid, this is how we spend the rest of our money.
$400 into savings (My husband is dying to get his hands on this money, but I have so-far won this battle.)
$400 for groceries/drug store items
$300 for spending money, split between the two of us (This goes for clothes, hair cuts, take out, bar tabs, what ever we like.)
$300 for entertainment that we do together (Mostly going to the bar and eating out.)
So my best advice to someone who would like to get their finances in order is to TRACK YOUR SPENDING and the limit overspending in any category that you see fit.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
September Budget Review
Here's an overview of how much I had planned on spending on EVERYTHING this month and how it actually worked out. Our retirement and medical premium is taken out already.
Savings Account: planned/actual: $400
Household Expenses: (mortgage, utilities, garbage, Internet...)
planned: $1488 actual: $1346.91
Credit/Loan Payments: (includes gym membership, credit card, student loan, personal loan)
planned: $585 actual: $645.52
Cars: (including car payment, insurance, gas, maintenance)
planned: $481 actual: $392.96
Groceries/Drug Store: planned $400 actual: $308.92
Entertainment: planned: $300 actual: $264.50
Spending Money: planned: $300 actual: $240
Other: including unexpected vet bill, magazine renewal, dog equipment and plants for outside: $203
Total Expenses: $3801.81
Total Income: $3996.08
Excess: $194.27
I am incredibly thrilled to have $200 left AFTER we already put 10% in our savings account. We have multiple small repairs that need to be done on the house, so I'll be starting a house fund with this money. And if the car goes down, then we'll have it set aside for that, too.
Savings Account: planned/actual: $400
Household Expenses: (mortgage, utilities, garbage, Internet...)
planned: $1488 actual: $1346.91
Credit/Loan Payments: (includes gym membership, credit card, student loan, personal loan)
planned: $585 actual: $645.52
Cars: (including car payment, insurance, gas, maintenance)
planned: $481 actual: $392.96
Groceries/Drug Store: planned $400 actual: $308.92
Entertainment: planned: $300 actual: $264.50
Spending Money: planned: $300 actual: $240
Other: including unexpected vet bill, magazine renewal, dog equipment and plants for outside: $203
Total Expenses: $3801.81
Total Income: $3996.08
Excess: $194.27
I am incredibly thrilled to have $200 left AFTER we already put 10% in our savings account. We have multiple small repairs that need to be done on the house, so I'll be starting a house fund with this money. And if the car goes down, then we'll have it set aside for that, too.
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