DH and I never carry cash which is handy because every month between our bank statement and credit card bill I have a record of everything we spent money on. Since May I've been tracking our spending in a spreadsheet and noticing the trends in where we spend our money and where we can improve.
Sadly DH and I were in the red again last month but on closer inspection we are actually doing better than ever- Our income was less $1700 in Sept than in August (August included DH's uniform allowance and my vacation day payout), we spent $700 on fencing materials, and we were only $100 in the red. And truth be told I had put aside money for the fence but when I saw there was room in this month's budget I squeezed it in and left the money in our savings. I think we did quite well this month.
Here are September's highlights:
Expenses:
- Unexpected federal moving tax from 2005- $32.18 You never know when the government is going to hunt you down for more money.
- $770 in home improvement. One day my fence will be finished!
- Aflac- $96.90. Since it no longer comes out of my paycheck I get a bill every 3 months.
- Groceries down $100 from last month.
- Restaurant expenses down to $50 in comparison to May's $300.
- $100 saved in dog food by switching to slightly cheaper brand.
- Personal care expenses (hobbies, entertainment, clothes, hair cuts, etc) down $400 since May.
- Overall expenses down $1000 since May!
4 comments:
you're doing GREAT! congratulations for inspecting previous spending. keep trimming and fine tuning your budget.
for instance, your AFLAC needs to be in a budget. you can put 32.30 in it every month and will be prepared to pay it every three months.
consider what else you might be able to cut until you can get out of debt. can you cut your husband's hair instead of going to the barber? can you skimp on nice haircare or beauty products until you're out of the red?
high five on finding a way to reduce the dog food bill!
you're on a good road. keep looking at how you can trim things. you might ask yourself, "do i really need this?"
another thing: using your card might help you know where money is going, but using only cash for a month might help you see spending behaviors more. all you have to do is put each budget item in a different folder. put the total amount that's in the folder ON the folder. every time you take money from the folder, substract the amount so you know how much you have left. you can even jott down next to the amount--what you spent it on.
sounds like a lot of work, but if you only plan to do it for a month or two, it may be a good exercise in showing you behavior patterns. what you like. what you don't like. and so forth.
keep up the good work!
Good job!!
I'm jealous of your success!
Keep it up and keep on reporting to us - it keeps me motivated and inspired too!
bobbinoggin-
Thanks for the suggestions! There is definetly room for more cut backs in the budget!
Several times I've thought about doing a cash only month to see if it would help my spending habits but have decided against it for 3 reasons.
1. I work for a credit cards company. You know the whole believe in what you do stuff.
2. I tend to blow cash for the sake of getting rid of it. I'm so use to not having cash that when I do I spend it on frivolous stuff just to get it out of the wallet.
3. I'm pretty good at checking my statements online throughout the month to make sure I'm on target with my spending.
sealions383- I'm honored to be an inspiration and I'm lucky to have readers like you to keep me motivated. Thanks for reading!
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