Sorry for the lack of posts lately, ladies. I'm going through some stuff personally and school work seems to be really piling up right now so I'm forced to focus my attentions in some other areas at this present time. BUT, I'm still doing what I can to stick to my budget this month!! So far, here's how the numbers have come in:
Food: $72 spent out of $200 monthly budget--this is actually an area that I'm feeling pretty good about. Out of that $72, I bought ALOT of stuff including 8 frozen Digorno pizzas! I recognize that frozen pizzas aren't exactly the pinnacle of healthy eating but when you're caught in an evening rush between leaving work, picking up your kid, rushing home to change and then rushing off to some other evening activity (scouts, sports, doctors appts, etc), then having a stockpile of something quick and easy (and cheap!!) to shove into the food processor (a.k.a. mouth) helps to cut down on the trips through a drive through--thus increasing my Eating out budget to astoronomical levels. So, I'm happy with this! Another perk is that I earned $.70 off of each gallon of gas for my next fuel fill-up by shopping the sales and shopping while a gas promotion was going on at my local grocery store!
Fuel: $25.01 spent out of $250 monthly budget--somehow this seems off because I'm sure I've filled up more than once this month (and trust me, $25 does not fill up my SUV!--this was just a quick "get some gas before you end up on the side of the road" fill up) but I only have one gas receipt. Maybe one got misplaced?
Eating Out: $36.99 spent out of $50 monthly budget--yeah, this one I'm not totally stoked about. Yes, it's still under my monthly budget amount but I'm also only a week into the challenge. I ended up allowing myself to get caught empty handed on an impromptu trip to the park with some friends and we didn't have time to pack any snacks prior to going (we were already out running errands when we got the call asking us if we wanted to go) so we ended up needing to get lunch while we were out. Not at all a horrible experience (it was actually REALLY great for me to be out with some friends on that particular day--I needed it!) but it kind of hurt the wallet. The other half of this expense came from going out to dinner with my team at work during an offsite meeting that we had last week. Someone else chose the place and none of us really realized just how expensive it was. It was one of those artsy fartsy "downtown" places where the atmoshere is super awesome but the prices aren't. Yeah, I got french fries and a beer. . . .and a $20 total bill. It was lovely (sense the dripping sarcasm?).
Aside from that, there are two other areas that I spent money this month.
Pet: $2.10 out of a $60.00 monthly budget. I ended up buying the wrong dog food last month so I had to return that and buy the right stuff. This expense was the difference in price between the old bag and the new bag.
WalMart: $23.81 out of a kind of non-existent budget. I don't usually budget for trips to Walmart--I told you, my budget is stupidly tight. But, I was in Walmart for something else and found some really good sales on kids clothes. I ended up getting Tyler a set of thermals for $5 and a two piece athletic running suit for $7. Pretty good deals since he needs those items for football. So, in total (yes, I bought some beer too for the Super Bowl party I was headed to) I spent a little over $20.
Now for the somewhat awesome news. . . .I had some rather unexpected additions in income this month. The most awesome one is that I randomly received a check from my mortgage company for almost $1600. Yes, I got this letter in the mail (and I have a serious anxiety problem with my mail--even diagnosed as an anxiety disorder by a doctor--I hate opening my mail. Hate it. . .I'm always afraid I'm going to get a bill that I can't pay in the mail so I'm always very anxious when opening my mail.) and was terrified to open it. But, it was a check. A BIG check! Apparently, when I closed on my house TWO YEARS AGO, they overcharged me (REALLY overcharged me!) on some of my closing costs and they caught it during an audit and were refunding me the money. Now, when you look at the situation on a deeper level, it kind of sucks. This is money that I've already paid in the form of taking out a mortgage and I've been paying interest on it for two years. That totally sucks. But, I'm making a decision not to look at it that deeply because the chunk of money was really a lifesaver at that time. You see, I was within less than $100 of being totally maxed out on my credit card. And I only have one credit card. And I use that sucker to pay for EVERYTHING. So, being close to maxed out is never a good thing. With that and the extra $405 that I had accumulated in checks and other repayments for various little things (see, little things really do add up!), I was able to put over $2000 extra dollars into my account this month. I immediately turned around and applied a $2700 payment to my credit card. And I'm hoping that won't be the last one this month!
Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about my performance in week 1. Still not totally as great as I would have liked (I don't like the eating out part) but I'm going to try to celebrate the successes and learn from the hard parts.
How have you done so far in your spending this month?
Showing posts with label monthly challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monthly challenge. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
February Blogger Challenge--Week 1 & Introductions
I'm strangely excited about the challenge that we are taking on this month. I find it very strange that I'm actually excited about going public with my budget and potentially failing miserably in front of all of you. However, I am highly hopeful that since I'll be accountable not only to myself, but also to all of my readers, maybe it will be the incentive that I need to stick to my budget. At the very least, maybe I'll gain some helpful insight from all of you along the way.
So far, there are three bloggers who have signed up for the Blogger Challenge but it's NOT too late to join us! If you're interested in joining, just leave a comment on this post so that I'll know that your jumping into the ring with us and taking on the challenge! However, I'm thrilled that two of my blog buddies are along for the ride. Ashley @ Attempts at Domestication and the.mrs. @ rich.in.love. have both jumped in feet first so make sure that you check out their blogs to get updates on their progress over the month.
Here are the details of the challenge--every Wednesday, starting today, each of us will post updates on our blogs as to our progress in sticking to our budgets for the month. The only two rules to the challenge are that we be honest and that we support each other. Even if you aren't participating in the challenge along side of us, we invite you to give us feedback, encouragement, and kind words of correction along the way. If we go over our budgets in any area, we'll be honest and tell about it. We'll also try to figure out what actions caused us to go over in those areas of our budgets.
So, my February budget numbers are as follows:
Food: $200
Eating Out: $50
Lunch for me (at work): $20
Gas for Car: $250
Target: $100
Walgreens: $50
Also, I'm starting the month with a credit card balance of. . . .*major cringe*. . . .$4241.19. OH-MY-GAWD. I have GOT to get that under control. Like, pronto. NOW!
Those are the areas where I need ya'all to keep me honest. If I go outside of these areas, and spend money on other things, I'll be sure to post about it. I'm REALLY trying to get my credit card paid off so I need all of you to call me out when I spend too much on something.
So far, there are three bloggers who have signed up for the Blogger Challenge but it's NOT too late to join us! If you're interested in joining, just leave a comment on this post so that I'll know that your jumping into the ring with us and taking on the challenge! However, I'm thrilled that two of my blog buddies are along for the ride. Ashley @ Attempts at Domestication and the.mrs. @ rich.in.love. have both jumped in feet first so make sure that you check out their blogs to get updates on their progress over the month.
Here are the details of the challenge--every Wednesday, starting today, each of us will post updates on our blogs as to our progress in sticking to our budgets for the month. The only two rules to the challenge are that we be honest and that we support each other. Even if you aren't participating in the challenge along side of us, we invite you to give us feedback, encouragement, and kind words of correction along the way. If we go over our budgets in any area, we'll be honest and tell about it. We'll also try to figure out what actions caused us to go over in those areas of our budgets.
So, my February budget numbers are as follows:
Food: $200
Eating Out: $50
Lunch for me (at work): $20
Gas for Car: $250
Target: $100
Walgreens: $50
Also, I'm starting the month with a credit card balance of. . . .*major cringe*. . . .$4241.19. OH-MY-GAWD. I have GOT to get that under control. Like, pronto. NOW!
Those are the areas where I need ya'all to keep me honest. If I go outside of these areas, and spend money on other things, I'll be sure to post about it. I'm REALLY trying to get my credit card paid off so I need all of you to call me out when I spend too much on something.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
February Blogger Budget Challenge
After what I thought was a genius suggestion from the.mrs over at rich.in.love (who is absolutely hilarious and fabulous in every way!), and in a completely desperate attempt to try to stick to my budget at least once in my life, we're hosting a Blogger challenge for the month of February centered around budgets. Whether you're an old pro at sticking to your budget, a newbie in the budget ring (welcome to the fight, love!), or simply interested in sitting back and watching the action, I invite you to join in!
Here are the details if you want to join in:
On February 1, which is next Wednesday (YIKES!), put up a post on your own blog declaring your participation in the challenge (link back to this post so that your readers can have the background for what we're doing!) and post the areas of your budget that you plan to focus on for the month of February. For example, I might post that I'm planning to reduce my "Eating Out" spend from $200 a month to $100. Or, I might reveal that I plan on actually sticking to my "Target" budget of $200. There can be 1 area, or 100 areas. Whatever the case is for you. Give us the details so that we can help to hold you accountable over the course of the month. Then, each week, on Wednesday, we'll each post an update for how we're doing on those areas of our budgets. Share with us what you've done to stick to your budget, what you did to go over your budget,. . .whatever it is. .. just the experiences that you're having! These updates will be on our own blogs, but I invite you to share any successes that other blogger participants may have experienced too. Let's use this as an opportunity to give the shout outs to each other and support each other! I plan to (with the permission of each of you, of course!) highlight those that are participating here on my own blog and I think it will be a great way to support each other throughout the process.
There are some pretty simple rules:
1. Be honest
2. Be supportive of each other
Really, that's it! So, who is in? Since I'm not all bloggy expert in how to do link ups and all that jazz (I'm learning as I go, peeps!) leave me a comment here on this post so that I can at least get a good feel for who plans to participate and can check out your blogs on Wednesday. Also, when I post my initial Blogger Challenge post on Feb 1, I'll post a list of who else is participating so that we can all bounce around and check out each other's progress. Sound good?
Here are the details if you want to join in:
On February 1, which is next Wednesday (YIKES!), put up a post on your own blog declaring your participation in the challenge (link back to this post so that your readers can have the background for what we're doing!) and post the areas of your budget that you plan to focus on for the month of February. For example, I might post that I'm planning to reduce my "Eating Out" spend from $200 a month to $100. Or, I might reveal that I plan on actually sticking to my "Target" budget of $200. There can be 1 area, or 100 areas. Whatever the case is for you. Give us the details so that we can help to hold you accountable over the course of the month. Then, each week, on Wednesday, we'll each post an update for how we're doing on those areas of our budgets. Share with us what you've done to stick to your budget, what you did to go over your budget,. . .whatever it is. .. just the experiences that you're having! These updates will be on our own blogs, but I invite you to share any successes that other blogger participants may have experienced too. Let's use this as an opportunity to give the shout outs to each other and support each other! I plan to (with the permission of each of you, of course!) highlight those that are participating here on my own blog and I think it will be a great way to support each other throughout the process.
There are some pretty simple rules:
1. Be honest
2. Be supportive of each other
Really, that's it! So, who is in? Since I'm not all bloggy expert in how to do link ups and all that jazz (I'm learning as I go, peeps!) leave me a comment here on this post so that I can at least get a good feel for who plans to participate and can check out your blogs on Wednesday. Also, when I post my initial Blogger Challenge post on Feb 1, I'll post a list of who else is participating so that we can all bounce around and check out each other's progress. Sound good?
Thursday, December 1, 2011
November Budget Recap--Blech!
Consider it another miserable fail. Possibly even worse than October's fail. If that's even possible. Let's just put it this way: I WAYYYY overspent in November. Can't really tell you how it happened, I just know it did. Wow. . . Anyways, below is the recap.
Miserable FAILS:
I am learning some lessons here, folks. I promise! I'm committed to getting this budget to a prettier place so that these recaps won't be so painful. Hopefully, December won't be as bad. Well. . .let's go ahead and push that out to January!
There were some very small (OMG, very small!) successes.
What about you. . .any budget successes or failures this month?
Miserable FAILS:
- Grocery Shopping--budget is $200, I spent $355.61
- Eating out--budget is $50, I spent $235.56
I am learning some lessons here, folks. I promise! I'm committed to getting this budget to a prettier place so that these recaps won't be so painful. Hopefully, December won't be as bad. Well. . .let's go ahead and push that out to January!
There were some very small (OMG, very small!) successes.
- For my lunch budget, I have an amount of $20.00. For the entire month of November, I only spent $20.34. Yes, I went over budget, but when you compare that to my miserable fail in October in the same category (going OVER budget by $41.28), I think I did a pretty good job in November.
- I have $60.00 a month budgeted for any pet related items needed for the dog and cat. I only spent $29.60 in November and I don't anticipate having to spend a whole lot in December in this category since the dog food and cat litter are pretty well stocked. If it weren't for my old grumpy cat having to eat wet catfood, I'd venture to say I'd spend $0 in the pet department for December. But, the cat is old and picky and he must have his wet food that I'm running out of. That's the only expenditure that I expect to have for pets in December.
What about you. . .any budget successes or failures this month?
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Finally, Some Successes!
Okay, Ya'all (yes, we say that in the state where we're not technically the South but we're not technically the North either--we have no distinct identity so we get to choose which way we swing from day to day. Sometimes, it's like herding bi-polar cats. . .imagine it, if you will.) I've finally got some (what I feel is) good news to report. I'm not an utter and total financial failure. Sure, I had some depressing downfalls last month. Getting those budget numbers down on paper (or computer screen?) kind of made me want to scoop my eyeballs out with a spoon (a plastic one. . .too graphic? Sorry.) but I have risen again. Oh yes, I have taken one slight (very slight. Almost non-existent) glimmer of success and I'm shouting it from the top of the Hollywood sign as if it was my new awakening. Cut me some slack, folks. I take whatever shiny moments I can grasp in my strangely shaped jagged nailed hands that I can get.
I am pretty good about setting a budget, I'm just not all that great about following the budget or even filling in the expenditures so that I can see if I've followed the budget or not. However, after last month's debacle, I'm trying to do better. So, I set some budget limits last year when I laid out my annual budget. I guess I should clarify: I have an annual budget to account for things like Birthdays, Christmas gifts, Decorations for Holidays, etc. and then I have a monthly budget which covers all the rest. Any month that I have something from the annual budget that is occuring, I have to try to work the budgeted amount into the monthly budget. Under normal circumstances, it would be nearly impossible. But, I have an automatic payroll deposit which goes into a seperate savings account that I use only for items on the annual budget. That way, the money is always there and if doesn't get used by the end of the year, I allocate it toward debt repayment in January and start all over saving for the next year's annual expenses. Works out GREAT and really helps to alleviate my fear that there will ever be a time that I will get caught in a financial bind and not be able to provide Ty a great Birthday or Christmas experience.
Anyways, on to my successes. Last year, I allocated $200 for Tyler's birthday party, $30 for Halloween costume for next year (I always buy them on clearance after Halloween) and $50 to spend on Halloween decorations. I just totalled up my spending on those three line items and I'm happy to report that I spent only $134.87 for the Birthday party, $11.97 on costumes (and that's for THREE of them. .. choices for next year!), and $15.83 for decorations. Now, the decorations expense could go up slightly as I haven't been out shopping too much after Halloween so I may find a few more things on clearance over the next week. However, I'm feeling pretty good about that! YAY for success. . .even if they are small!!
Tell me about your recent successes. Maybe they will give me some inspiration!
I am pretty good about setting a budget, I'm just not all that great about following the budget or even filling in the expenditures so that I can see if I've followed the budget or not. However, after last month's debacle, I'm trying to do better. So, I set some budget limits last year when I laid out my annual budget. I guess I should clarify: I have an annual budget to account for things like Birthdays, Christmas gifts, Decorations for Holidays, etc. and then I have a monthly budget which covers all the rest. Any month that I have something from the annual budget that is occuring, I have to try to work the budgeted amount into the monthly budget. Under normal circumstances, it would be nearly impossible. But, I have an automatic payroll deposit which goes into a seperate savings account that I use only for items on the annual budget. That way, the money is always there and if doesn't get used by the end of the year, I allocate it toward debt repayment in January and start all over saving for the next year's annual expenses. Works out GREAT and really helps to alleviate my fear that there will ever be a time that I will get caught in a financial bind and not be able to provide Ty a great Birthday or Christmas experience.
Anyways, on to my successes. Last year, I allocated $200 for Tyler's birthday party, $30 for Halloween costume for next year (I always buy them on clearance after Halloween) and $50 to spend on Halloween decorations. I just totalled up my spending on those three line items and I'm happy to report that I spent only $134.87 for the Birthday party, $11.97 on costumes (and that's for THREE of them. .. choices for next year!), and $15.83 for decorations. Now, the decorations expense could go up slightly as I haven't been out shopping too much after Halloween so I may find a few more things on clearance over the next week. However, I'm feeling pretty good about that! YAY for success. . .even if they are small!!
Tell me about your recent successes. Maybe they will give me some inspiration!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
I Am So Disgusted. . .
With myself. Absolutely Disgusted. I cannot believe my lack of self control. It's pitiful.
I suppose now that I've gotten you on the edge of your seats, I should explain a bit about the self depracating behavior. First off, I'm not entirely thrilled that I keep setting monthly goals or challenges for msyelf and I never seem to follow through with them (haven't you noticed that? If not, you will now!) so for the month of October, I kind of kept quiet about my financial challenge sheerly because I couldn't face one more public disappointment. I figured this way, if I totally failed, it would be only me that knew. Yeah, not exactly the best way to be held accountable by your peers. But, you know what, I actually accomplished this goal. What was it, you ask? Well, my goal for the month of October was to simply save up every receipt that I generated over the month and at the end of the month (I knew I wasn't ready for a routine maintenance program here. Baby steps, people!), I'd input them all into my budget (which has been created, just never faithfully used!) so that I could attempt to get a handle on where I'm spending my money each month. The way I see it, I can't really cut expenses or focus my efforts in any one particular area until I'm seeing it in black and white right in front of my face. Let's just say this: I'm seeing in BOLD RED right. in. front. of. my. face. And it's disgusting.
I just got done inputting the numbers and I can't believe how awful I have been this month at sticking to the budget. I mean, it was ridiculous. Here's some of the worst hit areas:
Groceries--I have a budget of $200/month. I spent $363.59--that's $163.59 OVER BUDGET.
Eating Out--I have a monthly budget for Tyler and I of $50. We spent $272.63--that's $222.63 OVER BUDGET.
Lunch or Dinner for me at work--I have a monthly budget of $20 (really, I should be packing every. single. day. The budget is only an emergency type cushion--or not!). I spent $61.28--that's $41.28 OVER BUDGET.
I fully recognize that I need to first find out where I'm at in order to get to where I want to go. And yes, seeing these numbers in black and white (or red) definitely helps me to understand that there is a problem. I just didn't realize how big of a problem there was. I mean, I feel like I need to rename my entire blog to "Wish I could be Living On a Dime or Less" since I don't feel like I'm actually Living On A Dime or Less. Goals. Goals. Goals. Every good accomplishment started with a goal, right? Please just placate me and tell me I'm right.
One positive that I noticed in my budget was that I came in under the budgeted amount of $250 for gas (fuel for the car, not gas for the heat) by $18.98. However, I can't even really see this as much of an accomplishment since I was out of town for work for about half a week this month. So, if I had been home, I probably would have been over in my budget. Oh the heartaches of being an adult. One other slightly positive note is that I was able to make a fairly hefty payment to my credit card in an amount which was almost $3000 (THANK YOU BIRTHDAY MONEY!). No, I do not receive anywhere close to $3000 for my birthday, it's just that my birthday money combined with other payments equalled almost a $3,000 payment. In order to fully understand this, I will need to further explain how I use my credit card. Look for this explanation to come in a post soon!
Anyone else have any major budget blows in October? How about successes? I could certainly use the inspiration!
I suppose now that I've gotten you on the edge of your seats, I should explain a bit about the self depracating behavior. First off, I'm not entirely thrilled that I keep setting monthly goals or challenges for msyelf and I never seem to follow through with them (haven't you noticed that? If not, you will now!) so for the month of October, I kind of kept quiet about my financial challenge sheerly because I couldn't face one more public disappointment. I figured this way, if I totally failed, it would be only me that knew. Yeah, not exactly the best way to be held accountable by your peers. But, you know what, I actually accomplished this goal. What was it, you ask? Well, my goal for the month of October was to simply save up every receipt that I generated over the month and at the end of the month (I knew I wasn't ready for a routine maintenance program here. Baby steps, people!), I'd input them all into my budget (which has been created, just never faithfully used!) so that I could attempt to get a handle on where I'm spending my money each month. The way I see it, I can't really cut expenses or focus my efforts in any one particular area until I'm seeing it in black and white right in front of my face. Let's just say this: I'm seeing in BOLD RED right. in. front. of. my. face. And it's disgusting.
I just got done inputting the numbers and I can't believe how awful I have been this month at sticking to the budget. I mean, it was ridiculous. Here's some of the worst hit areas:
Groceries--I have a budget of $200/month. I spent $363.59--that's $163.59 OVER BUDGET.
Eating Out--I have a monthly budget for Tyler and I of $50. We spent $272.63--that's $222.63 OVER BUDGET.
Lunch or Dinner for me at work--I have a monthly budget of $20 (really, I should be packing every. single. day. The budget is only an emergency type cushion--or not!). I spent $61.28--that's $41.28 OVER BUDGET.
I fully recognize that I need to first find out where I'm at in order to get to where I want to go. And yes, seeing these numbers in black and white (or red) definitely helps me to understand that there is a problem. I just didn't realize how big of a problem there was. I mean, I feel like I need to rename my entire blog to "Wish I could be Living On a Dime or Less" since I don't feel like I'm actually Living On A Dime or Less. Goals. Goals. Goals. Every good accomplishment started with a goal, right? Please just placate me and tell me I'm right.
One positive that I noticed in my budget was that I came in under the budgeted amount of $250 for gas (fuel for the car, not gas for the heat) by $18.98. However, I can't even really see this as much of an accomplishment since I was out of town for work for about half a week this month. So, if I had been home, I probably would have been over in my budget. Oh the heartaches of being an adult. One other slightly positive note is that I was able to make a fairly hefty payment to my credit card in an amount which was almost $3000 (THANK YOU BIRTHDAY MONEY!). No, I do not receive anywhere close to $3000 for my birthday, it's just that my birthday money combined with other payments equalled almost a $3,000 payment. In order to fully understand this, I will need to further explain how I use my credit card. Look for this explanation to come in a post soon!
Anyone else have any major budget blows in October? How about successes? I could certainly use the inspiration!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
August Challenge Update and September Challenge
First things first: August Update. This is painful. I haven't actually posted the last two weeks of August's challenge update because I fell off the wagon in a BIIIIG way. While I was on vacation, I clearly lost sight of what my goal was and just stopped tracking my spending. To make matters worse, I started deviating from the "essentials only" rule and found myself making little frivolous purchases here and there. Unfortunately for me, my budget, and this challenge, a little frivolous purchase here and there added up to a completely blown challenge. I'm embarassed to admit that I fell so deeply into that hole that I'm not sure where the surface is again. So, to try to make up for my abissmal failure of a challenge, I sentenced myself to some serious reflection time (I had plenty of time on my hands since the power was out!) to try to figure out what I could possibly to do get myself back on track. Obviously, taking just a huge leap in one month wasn't the right formula to success. So, that brings me to September's challenge. . . .
For the month of September, I have come up with a slightly different way to track my spending. Instead of cutting myself off from all things "extra", I'm going to save each of my receipts in an envelope in my purse and each week, I'm going to enter each receipt into an Excel spreadsheet budget that I've already set up and each week, I will update what my weekly expenses were for that week. I'm hoping that just the need to save the receipt, enter it into my budget, and then post it here will be incentive enough to not overspend on needless things. But, actually getting my expenditures on paper (or on a computer screen. . you know what I mean!) will help me to identify what areas I'm overspending in so that I can determine what my next steps should be. For example, if I find that I'm spending too much money on eating out, then I can try to formulate a plan so that I always have lunches/dinners on hand so that I eat out less. That sort of stuff.
What about you? What will you make your challenge this month?
For the month of September, I have come up with a slightly different way to track my spending. Instead of cutting myself off from all things "extra", I'm going to save each of my receipts in an envelope in my purse and each week, I'm going to enter each receipt into an Excel spreadsheet budget that I've already set up and each week, I will update what my weekly expenses were for that week. I'm hoping that just the need to save the receipt, enter it into my budget, and then post it here will be incentive enough to not overspend on needless things. But, actually getting my expenditures on paper (or on a computer screen. . you know what I mean!) will help me to identify what areas I'm overspending in so that I can determine what my next steps should be. For example, if I find that I'm spending too much money on eating out, then I can try to formulate a plan so that I always have lunches/dinners on hand so that I eat out less. That sort of stuff.
What about you? What will you make your challenge this month?
Monday, August 15, 2011
August Challenge--Week 2 Update
So sorry for the delay in getting the Week 2 update up. Between traveling for work last week and traveling down to North Carolina for vacation this week, I've been totally busy. Okay, I've been totally lazy. Take it or leave it!
Overall, Week 2 wasn't too horribly bad. Well, I suppose it's going to be painful to put down on paper but there isn't too much that went on this week that I had a whole heck of alot of control over. Here goes:
Tee Shirt at Target (I already explained this expense in this post): $4
Trinkets for Tyler to bring home after my traveling for work (again, explained in earlier post): $10
Kennel for Pete while I was gone all week for work: $84 (yeah, that's painful. . .ouch!)
Gas to fill up my car which was left at the airport literally with only fumes in the tank: $70.81 (yep, painful too)
I guess when I look at the big picture, it wasn't too terribly bad. There weren't any grocery expenses to deal with since I was out of town on business. Although, that kennel expense for the dog totally killed that one.
Unfortunately, I'm only a few days into Week 3 and that one's already shaping up to be pretty rough. Yikes. I thought vacation was going to be pretty easy on me. Apparently, I was wrong. I'll try to get that update posted at the end of the week.
How about those of you who are challenging yourselves along with me. How are y'all doing so far? Any successes or failures that you care to share?
Overall, Week 2 wasn't too horribly bad. Well, I suppose it's going to be painful to put down on paper but there isn't too much that went on this week that I had a whole heck of alot of control over. Here goes:
Tee Shirt at Target (I already explained this expense in this post): $4
Trinkets for Tyler to bring home after my traveling for work (again, explained in earlier post): $10
Kennel for Pete while I was gone all week for work: $84 (yeah, that's painful. . .ouch!)
Gas to fill up my car which was left at the airport literally with only fumes in the tank: $70.81 (yep, painful too)
I guess when I look at the big picture, it wasn't too terribly bad. There weren't any grocery expenses to deal with since I was out of town on business. Although, that kennel expense for the dog totally killed that one.
Unfortunately, I'm only a few days into Week 3 and that one's already shaping up to be pretty rough. Yikes. I thought vacation was going to be pretty easy on me. Apparently, I was wrong. I'll try to get that update posted at the end of the week.
How about those of you who are challenging yourselves along with me. How are y'all doing so far? Any successes or failures that you care to share?
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Success and Failure. . .
I'm still out of town for work so while I've been spending money like crazy on eating out, it's all been on the corporate card so that doesn't exactly count against me in my monthly challenge. I just love it when I can eat out three meals a day and someone else pays for it! My waistline doesn't necessarily agree. . .but who asked for its opinion anyways?
However, that's not where the success or the failure comes from. I have experienced one of both in the last 24 hours. Since the former feels better, I'll discuss that one first.
I'm traveling with a colleage from work and she and I decided that it would be a fantastic idea to hit up the outlet mall which is located terrifying close to where we're at for work. I tried to convince myself that the only reason I was agreeing to go was because I still have a few items that I need to get Tyler for his school/Fall wardrobe. Yeah. . .right. Good story. Anyways, I have a serious. . .no, that doesn't describe it close enough. . . . SERIOUS weakness for a Banana Republic Factory Outlet store. So, while my co-worker was browing another store, I walked into the BR. As I walked in, I immediately got a rush. A strange "YEAH BABY. . .that is what you've been waiting for" type feeling. Almost as instantly as it came, it went. It was the strangest thing I think I've ever felt. Aside from childbirth. Anyways, I swear I heard a voice in my head that distinctly said "You aren't ready for the amount of money that you'd end up spending in here if you don't turn around and leave immediately". It was a horrifying thought. But, that's what I did. I immediately turned and walked out. Looking back on it, I know it was totally the right thing to do. No amount of new clothes would make up for how much I would have dreaded having to write that post. So, SUCCESS!
Now, this next paragraph is going to be somewhat painful to write but nothing as painful as it would have been had I not left Banana Republic last night when I did! Since I'm on a business trip, I only packed business related clothing except for the one casual outfit that I wore out here on the plane. Normally, I would just wear the same outfit back, but since I wore that outfit on our (what I'm slyly deeming Operation Successful) shopping trip, I am finding myself somewhat short handed for the flight back tomorrow night. So, I made a trip to Target. I gave myself a very stern talking to before walking into the store and reminded myself that I was there for one thing and one thing only. A tee shirt. Yes, I plan on wearing pants on the plane too (I think the FAA requires it. Don't they?) but they're jeans. And jeans can be worn three times without being washed. Because they roll like that! Anyways, I walked in. I grabbed an $8 plain tee shirt and I walked (somewhat briskly) toward the check out line to minimize the risk of having my eye caught by anything else. This only partially worked for me. As I passed the children's section, a sign caught my eye. Kids' size tee shirts. $4. That's when I had what I think could be the best idea that I've had in quite some time. I'm an adult size small. It just so happens that a child size XL is equal (or darn close) to an adult size small. So, I figured that I could essentially buy the same size tee shirt (they were both a plain solid colored shirt anyways) for HALF PRICE! So, that's what I did. That's only a half failure, right?
Unfortunately, it does get a wee bit worse. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at Walgreens with my co-worker because she needed to get something. As I was killing time waiting for her, I saw a bunch of cute little trinkets that were branded with the city that I'm currently in. Since I always bring my son home a little surprise from my travels whenever I'm out of town for longer than two days, I felt compelled to pick up a couple of items for him. My only defense here is that I got him three little trinkets for less than what I would have paid for only one item had I waited until I had gotten to the airport to buy it. So, again. . .I spent money that I didn't want to spend, but I did it in a frugal way. . .right? I mean, how was I going to show my face to my little man and be empty handed? That would make me a bad Mommy.
Overall, I spent $4 for the tee shirt and a little over $9 for the trinkets. I'll admit that it was a fall off the right track but I don't feel completely guilty for it. Should I?
However, that's not where the success or the failure comes from. I have experienced one of both in the last 24 hours. Since the former feels better, I'll discuss that one first.
I'm traveling with a colleage from work and she and I decided that it would be a fantastic idea to hit up the outlet mall which is located terrifying close to where we're at for work. I tried to convince myself that the only reason I was agreeing to go was because I still have a few items that I need to get Tyler for his school/Fall wardrobe. Yeah. . .right. Good story. Anyways, I have a serious. . .no, that doesn't describe it close enough. . . . SERIOUS weakness for a Banana Republic Factory Outlet store. So, while my co-worker was browing another store, I walked into the BR. As I walked in, I immediately got a rush. A strange "YEAH BABY. . .that is what you've been waiting for" type feeling. Almost as instantly as it came, it went. It was the strangest thing I think I've ever felt. Aside from childbirth. Anyways, I swear I heard a voice in my head that distinctly said "You aren't ready for the amount of money that you'd end up spending in here if you don't turn around and leave immediately". It was a horrifying thought. But, that's what I did. I immediately turned and walked out. Looking back on it, I know it was totally the right thing to do. No amount of new clothes would make up for how much I would have dreaded having to write that post. So, SUCCESS!
Now, this next paragraph is going to be somewhat painful to write but nothing as painful as it would have been had I not left Banana Republic last night when I did! Since I'm on a business trip, I only packed business related clothing except for the one casual outfit that I wore out here on the plane. Normally, I would just wear the same outfit back, but since I wore that outfit on our (what I'm slyly deeming Operation Successful) shopping trip, I am finding myself somewhat short handed for the flight back tomorrow night. So, I made a trip to Target. I gave myself a very stern talking to before walking into the store and reminded myself that I was there for one thing and one thing only. A tee shirt. Yes, I plan on wearing pants on the plane too (I think the FAA requires it. Don't they?) but they're jeans. And jeans can be worn three times without being washed. Because they roll like that! Anyways, I walked in. I grabbed an $8 plain tee shirt and I walked (somewhat briskly) toward the check out line to minimize the risk of having my eye caught by anything else. This only partially worked for me. As I passed the children's section, a sign caught my eye. Kids' size tee shirts. $4. That's when I had what I think could be the best idea that I've had in quite some time. I'm an adult size small. It just so happens that a child size XL is equal (or darn close) to an adult size small. So, I figured that I could essentially buy the same size tee shirt (they were both a plain solid colored shirt anyways) for HALF PRICE! So, that's what I did. That's only a half failure, right?
Unfortunately, it does get a wee bit worse. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at Walgreens with my co-worker because she needed to get something. As I was killing time waiting for her, I saw a bunch of cute little trinkets that were branded with the city that I'm currently in. Since I always bring my son home a little surprise from my travels whenever I'm out of town for longer than two days, I felt compelled to pick up a couple of items for him. My only defense here is that I got him three little trinkets for less than what I would have paid for only one item had I waited until I had gotten to the airport to buy it. So, again. . .I spent money that I didn't want to spend, but I did it in a frugal way. . .right? I mean, how was I going to show my face to my little man and be empty handed? That would make me a bad Mommy.
Overall, I spent $4 for the tee shirt and a little over $9 for the trinkets. I'll admit that it was a fall off the right track but I don't feel completely guilty for it. Should I?
Friday, August 5, 2011
August Challenge--Week 1 Update
This week's update comes with both some happy and some sad. I haven't been quite as good as I could have been this week when it came to cutting out everything but absolute necessities. However, I committed to sharing both the successes and the failures with you all, so I'll do just that. Plus, this first week's update looks all sorts of out of whack since I had to pay all of my monthly bills. I just got done doing that 20 minutes ago. Money. . .gone. . . :(
As for regular bills, aside from my Mortgage, here is what I paid:
Electricity: $132.00--I'm on the budget plan so this is a fixed amount. However, this month's bill would have actually been $173.47. I'm still on a mission to lower that bill. Guess the AC needs to get turned down another notch or two.
Water Bill: $58.10--this is a bill that I only pay every other month. $58.00 for two months of water and sewer isn't too shabby, I guess.
Gas Bill: $19.36--heat is the only thing that is gas in my house so the thought of paying for any gas during the summer just burns me up (no pun intended!) but I suppose that's for the hot water or something. Going forward: cold showers!
Comcast: $104.31--this is actually double my monthly bill. There was a big screw up at Comast last month (totally their fault, not mine!) and they billed me over $300.00 (yeah, imagine my heart palpitations when I opened that bill!). In the midst of getting it corrected, they actually rejected my monthly payment (again, their fault, not mine) so this month's bill was double the normal bill. Since they never actually took the money out of my account or charged me any late fees for "not" paying last month's bill, I won't harass them too bad. Plus, I'm SOOOO tired of talking to Comcast. Long story. Makes me angry. Brings out the throbbing purple vein in my forehead. Not pretty.
Sprint: $173.99--again, another bill that is MUCH higher than normal. I got a new cell phone in July and rather than making me pay for it upfront, they just billed me for it. So, my August bill looks atrocious.
USAA: $55.94--this is my car insurance. Not too bad, I guess.
CITI: $9.26 -- paid off the last of that nasty credit card. I made a HUGE payment to them in June (Thank You, Uncle Sam for sending me my tax return! Finally.) and this is, I guess, the last little bit of interest or fees or whatever other ridiculous charges that credit card companies always get you for when you try to pay them off. Burn CITI, Burn. I hear it's hot where you belong.
Now. . .on to the less pretty of the weekly spending (yes, apparently it does get even uglier than above!):
Gas: $25.09--I really can't complain about this. Normally, it takes over $60 or $70 to fill up my SUV but this week I didn't really have to fill up. Plus, I'm leaving to go out of town for work on Sunday so I don't have to use any gas (at least, none paid for out of my own pocket) for most of next week either. SCORE!
ATM Withdrawl: $40 -- I hang my head in shame. I went out with some friends on Wednesday night and was coerced (yes, it was their fault. . .that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!) into pulling money out of the ATM. I guess the bright side is that I still have $32 in cash left. So, I guess I only spent $8. I'll probably deposit the $32 back into my account the next time I get a check or something that needs depositing.
Eating Out: $49.55 -- go ahead. Say it. Whatever it is, I deserve it. I fell off the wagon and landed hard on my. . .well, you know what. Part of that amount is the $18.63 that I've already admitted to spending when going out with my girlfriend for dinner that had already been planned prior to taking on the challenge. However, I went out twice, yes twice, this week with friends. Once was for dinner Wednesday night and the other was for a birthday lunch for a work friend of mine. I suppose the only thing I can say in my defense is that I didn't spend anything on groceries this week and don't really anticipate having any grocery bill next week either. Does that do anything to redeem this fall from grace?
What about you? What unexpected bills/expenses did you have pop up this week? Have you ever made a commitment to do something that you quickly realized was going to be very difficult to accomplish?
As for regular bills, aside from my Mortgage, here is what I paid:
Electricity: $132.00--I'm on the budget plan so this is a fixed amount. However, this month's bill would have actually been $173.47. I'm still on a mission to lower that bill. Guess the AC needs to get turned down another notch or two.
Water Bill: $58.10--this is a bill that I only pay every other month. $58.00 for two months of water and sewer isn't too shabby, I guess.
Gas Bill: $19.36--heat is the only thing that is gas in my house so the thought of paying for any gas during the summer just burns me up (no pun intended!) but I suppose that's for the hot water or something. Going forward: cold showers!
Comcast: $104.31--this is actually double my monthly bill. There was a big screw up at Comast last month (totally their fault, not mine!) and they billed me over $300.00 (yeah, imagine my heart palpitations when I opened that bill!). In the midst of getting it corrected, they actually rejected my monthly payment (again, their fault, not mine) so this month's bill was double the normal bill. Since they never actually took the money out of my account or charged me any late fees for "not" paying last month's bill, I won't harass them too bad. Plus, I'm SOOOO tired of talking to Comcast. Long story. Makes me angry. Brings out the throbbing purple vein in my forehead. Not pretty.
Sprint: $173.99--again, another bill that is MUCH higher than normal. I got a new cell phone in July and rather than making me pay for it upfront, they just billed me for it. So, my August bill looks atrocious.
USAA: $55.94--this is my car insurance. Not too bad, I guess.
CITI: $9.26 -- paid off the last of that nasty credit card. I made a HUGE payment to them in June (Thank You, Uncle Sam for sending me my tax return! Finally.) and this is, I guess, the last little bit of interest or fees or whatever other ridiculous charges that credit card companies always get you for when you try to pay them off. Burn CITI, Burn. I hear it's hot where you belong.
Now. . .on to the less pretty of the weekly spending (yes, apparently it does get even uglier than above!):
Gas: $25.09--I really can't complain about this. Normally, it takes over $60 or $70 to fill up my SUV but this week I didn't really have to fill up. Plus, I'm leaving to go out of town for work on Sunday so I don't have to use any gas (at least, none paid for out of my own pocket) for most of next week either. SCORE!
ATM Withdrawl: $40 -- I hang my head in shame. I went out with some friends on Wednesday night and was coerced (yes, it was their fault. . .that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!) into pulling money out of the ATM. I guess the bright side is that I still have $32 in cash left. So, I guess I only spent $8. I'll probably deposit the $32 back into my account the next time I get a check or something that needs depositing.
Eating Out: $49.55 -- go ahead. Say it. Whatever it is, I deserve it. I fell off the wagon and landed hard on my. . .well, you know what. Part of that amount is the $18.63 that I've already admitted to spending when going out with my girlfriend for dinner that had already been planned prior to taking on the challenge. However, I went out twice, yes twice, this week with friends. Once was for dinner Wednesday night and the other was for a birthday lunch for a work friend of mine. I suppose the only thing I can say in my defense is that I didn't spend anything on groceries this week and don't really anticipate having any grocery bill next week either. Does that do anything to redeem this fall from grace?
What about you? What unexpected bills/expenses did you have pop up this week? Have you ever made a commitment to do something that you quickly realized was going to be very difficult to accomplish?
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
August Challenge: Day 2--Failure Strikes! :(
So far, so good on the spending front. Well, maybe not entirely. Remember when I mentioned in my challenge reveal post that I had already planned a dinner with a friend where I was going to end up blowing my challenge just this much? Well, that dinner was last night. Nothing like blowing the challenge right out of the gate. However, it goes a tiny step further. Yeah. . .I'll admit it. I screwed up. I thought I had been all smooth by going out and scoring a coupon to the place where we were going to be eating. Until the moment that I drove up to the restaurant. My girlfriend had given me the name of the place. I had plugged the same name into my GPS and it had led me right to the front door. However, there was a different name on the sign/front door. Same type of food, just different name. So, I figured I wasn't going to be able to use my coupon. Looking back on it, I totally should have asked them if they would accept it, but. . .alas, I just sucked it up and paid the bill. Grand total spent: $18.73. Ouchies.
Monday, August 1, 2011
August Challenge: Getting Back to Basics
The long (okay, only a few days) awaited for August Challenge Reveal is upon us. *Drum Roll Please*. . . .
For the entire month of August, I'm committing to myself, my wallet, and all (three?) of you regular readers that I am going to buckle down and get back to basics. What do I mean by this? I share. . .
While I am a self proclaimed thriftster, I also like to shop. Alot. I can't help it, I was born with it in my blood. Blame my mom. So, I found a therapeutic way to handle my shopping addiction by turning to thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, etc to feed the shopping addiction. Don't get the wrong idea, it's not like I'm a candidate for Hoarders or anything (well. . .maybe just in my purse!), I shop for what I need but I do it in the most thrifty way possible. However, after a hard look at the June and July expenditures, I came to a stomach churning realization: I'm spending more than I bring in. Essentially, I'm living beyond my means. I have a very very tight budget right now and I haven't been doing my part in abiding by that budget. I fell victim to the credit card scheme. You see, I have this really low rate credit card (0% for 6 months and even a low rate after that) which has a tremendous rewards program. I got this special gem through work (I work for a bank) and I've been a little too lax in putting things on the credit card here lately since: 1. I'm paying no interest on the purchases (right now) and 2. I'm totally racking up the rewards points which will come in handy at Christmas time for gift cards and what not. However, after looking at what I brought home vs. what I spent over the last few months, I realized that I just simply had to do something. Otherwise, I'm risking the situation spinning too far beyond my control. This self-proclaimed control freak can't have that happen. Oh the horror!
So, here's the challenge: cut out essentially everything beyond the absolute necessities for the entire month of August. No extra shopping (well, read the conditions below), no extra DIY supplies (again, read the conditions below) or renovation projects. Nothing. I have to make a budget and stick to it. I'm hoping that by sharing this challenge with all of you, it will help me to stick to it a little better than simply keeping it to myself. Much easier to cheat if I'm the only one that knows about it! Additionally, I'm committed to sharing if I fall off the wagon at all. If I mess up and step outside of my committed challenge this month, I'll share and you can all flog me publicly (via the comments option below) for it. Help me to stay honest. And on track.
Here are the nitty gritty details:
Mortgage: Try as hard as I might, I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to get out of this one. My mortgage company just doesn't seem to agree with me that I should be able to "get back to basics" and thus eliminate their payment. They want their money. Actually, they seem to have this whole crazy process that happens if you don't pay them their money and I hear it doesn't end well. Control Freaks! So, I'm kinda stuck paying this one and considering it a "basic".
Utilitities: Much like the mortgage, this one seems to need to stay in the "basic" category meaning that it needs to get paid. However, unlike some others that I know, I cut down my utilities to the absolute minimum a few months ago so there really isn't anything left in there that's a "want" vs. a "need". In my utilties category, I have electricity (No amish living here! This girl needs to charge her cell phone and use her hair straightener!), gas (the heat kind), trash pick up (actually, cheaper than taking my garbage to the dump myself. . .and it doesn't make my car stink afterwards!), internet (an absolute must have since I'm in school and I use the internet to find all my grocery and other deals. Plus, I wouldn't be able to update you all on my successes and failures without the internet!), cable (most basic package they have. $17.50/month. I guess this one could be considered a "want" rather than a "need" but I shudder to think how much I would spend to entertain myself if I didn't have cable on at home. *Shudder*), cell phone (no home phone. . .that's a "want". Cell phone is a "need"), and water bill (apparently showers and baths are highly recommended. Who knew?!)
Car & Gas: I have to continue making my car payment. Since I don't live within walking distance to my job, grocery store, son's school, or really anything, my car is a "need" vs. a "want". As for gasoline, I am currently budgeting $250/month for it. That pretty much cuts me down to doing very very little extra driving other than to work/school/home. I do what I can already to combine trips and use as little gas as possible. However, this month I'm going to try to really stick to it. I do have a vacation scheduled for the middle of the month where I'm driving about 5 hours each way so that will obviously increase my gas usage for the month. BUT, I also have a work trip scheduled where I will be out of town for a week and not using any gas that week. I'm hoping the two will kind of balance out. However, I will really have to watch where I go when I am home to try to keep the budget under the $250 amount this month.
Food: Luckily, due to my stockpiling and couponing (I promise, I'll get some more info surrounding this up here soon!), I do have a fairly decent stockpile already existing. This is going to really come in handy this month because I'm trying to scale back on everything that is negotiable at all. Since food isn't a fixed expense, it's somewhat negotiable. Don't worry, Mom. . .I will keep feeding my kid! My plan is to limit my weekly budget to $50/week. This may mean that stockpiling comes to a halt for the month of August and that I can only buy the essentials, but that's fine with me. I can start building up my stockpile again in September or October. I've been stockpiling for about four years now and know full well that stockpiles rise and fall over time so I'm accustomed to handling my stockpile running a little short since I know there will be months where it seems like my stockpile will grow faster than I can keep up with it.
One way I plan on sticking to the $50/week food budget is by menu planning. This will not only force me to figure out what I already have on hand in the house, but it will force me to have a plan. If I have a plan (i.e. something already cooking in the crock pot or thawed out in the fridge just waiting to be cooked up), I will be less inclined to sneak through the drive thru at McDonalds and slyly add a Happy Meal to the dinner plan for that evening. I'm totally guilty of that. The kid loves Happy Meals and I love a night off from cooking. However, since I'm out of town for work for one week this month and we're out of town for a week, I am hoping that I'll get my fill of not having to cook on those nights and this won't be such a huge deal. I do know of one night this month that I will be going out to dinner with a friend but it was planned weeks ago and this is a friend who I very rarely get to see due to scheduling conflicts on both our parts. Rather than cancel our dinner out, I have instead taken it upon myself to find a coupon to the restaurant that we will be meeting at. See, compromise! Other than that, my goal is to ensure that at no point during August will I need to pay for my meal out anywhere. I will pack my lunch each day and cook dinner each night.
Clothing: This won't be such a difficult category for me, but with my son starting school the first week of September, trying to avoid buying any clothes during the month of August will be a stretch. Since I typically buy clothing a season ahead and stash them away until needed, I proactively pulled out those clothes, took stock of what I had (actually, wrote it all down piece by piece) and then made a list of what I needed to get for him in order to have a complete fall wardrobe to start school with. Once I made that list, I went back through the list and refined it even more. I took a hard look at how many days during the week that he was with me and how many days that he was with his dad. I tried to figure out how many outfits I was able to make with what I already had and what I was going to need to really go out and buy in order to make it through the fall. I actually have a pretty short list! I went a step further and made a list of what items that we have that we absolutely CANNOT have any more of. Somewhere along the way I lost count of how many pairs of underwear, socks, and pajamas he had. The kid could literally wear a new pair of underwear (and by "new", I mean taken straight out of the package. . he always wears clean underwear!) every day for a month and a half! There's no reason why anyone needs 45 pairs of underwear. . .unless, of course, they don't own a working washing machine. Then they might need a lot of underwear! Anyways, it's good to have the "Never Buy" list because it keeps me from geeking out over that package of Superman undies (for TYLER. . .Not me! I prefer Wonder Woman!) that I find on clearance for $1/pack. $1 for a 3 pair pack of undies is a tremendous deal. . .not so much when you already own 45 pairs! So, in order to reasonably round out the fall wardrobe for the little man, I'm allotting $50 to purchase whatever I need during the month of August. I think that should take care of it. If I stay out of the retail stores and stick to yard sales and consignment sales ONLY for clothing, $50 to get what I need for him shouldn't be a problem.
DIY Materials: I hope this isn't cheating, but I don't have to entirely cut out my DIY for the month of August. I just have to make sure that I don't spend any money on it, right? If I can't complete a project using the materials that I already have and I can't wait until later (like September?) to finish the project/buy the materials, then I do have $100 in gift cards to Home Depot that I could use. However, once that's gone. It's gone. So, I will use it sparingly. For instance, I do already have it on the schedule for my new kitchen countertops to be installed in August. They have already been paid for, but I'm not sure if I will need to get any additional materials in order to demo the old countertops which will happen later this month. I'm reserving that $100 in gift cards for situations like that. Not the "ooh, I like that project, I'll just use my HD gift cards" situations. No, those will have to wait.
Vacation Concession: We are going down to my family's beach house in North Carolina in the middle of the month. Since I'll be with family, I doubt I'll have a need to spend much extra money. Luckily, my Moneybags Mom typically takes pretty good care of us kids when we're around and we don't go broke eating out or buying food. I'll probably throw in my weekly grocery budget to try to help her out with the grocery tab that week, but I'm guessing that we won't be eating out a whole lot that week. Plus, my Nifty Nana will be there too and no one wants to eat out when Nana is cooking! Because we'll probably take a trip down to the board walk or some of the cute little shops in town, I've already tucked away a $20 bill in my wallet for Tyler to enjoy an ice cream cone or something small like that while we're on vacation. I can't totally deprive the kid of those kinds of memories!
Other Rules/Concessions to the Challenge:
* I am able to use gift cards that I already have in my posession for items that I need to buy. For example, I have a couple hundred dollars in Target gift cards (my dad always buys them for me for my birthday and Christmas--LOVE IT!) that I can use if the need arises. This is probably how I will pay for Tyler's school supplies.
* Any medical attention or medications needed by me or Tyler are completely exempt from the challenge. I'm hoping that this won't be a problem, but I refuse to forgo or prolong medical treatment or necessary medications for myself or my son just to stay within this challenge.
In order to stay true and so that you can follow my progress, I will post what my necessary expenditures are beyond my mortgage, utilities, and car. For instance, I will post what my gas, food, etc, costs me for the week. I'll post when a need to "buy" something comes up and how I either handled it by being resourceful and using what I already had or whether I ended up caving. At the end of the month, I'll try to post what kind of savings I estimated to have realized simply by cutting out all of the "extras" for an entire month.
Now, this kind of challenge is not necessarily something that can be sustained every single month. Month after month. I just happened to be lucky enough to find a month where there isn't a major expenditure coming up, a gift giving holiday, or any other looming financial burden that was already known about. My goal from doing this challenge is to realize that I can/cannot live without. Like I mentioned earlier, I was getting a little too lax about what I was buying and how often we *really* needed to be eating out. Unfortunately, the "need" vs. "want" area was starting to become gray and now it's time to put it all back into perspective.
So, can you/will you join the challenge with me? What suggestions to you have for me to make it through the month? What questions do you have that maybe I can try to answer for you? Let's get through this together!
For the entire month of August, I'm committing to myself, my wallet, and all (three?) of you regular readers that I am going to buckle down and get back to basics. What do I mean by this? I share. . .
While I am a self proclaimed thriftster, I also like to shop. Alot. I can't help it, I was born with it in my blood. Blame my mom. So, I found a therapeutic way to handle my shopping addiction by turning to thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, etc to feed the shopping addiction. Don't get the wrong idea, it's not like I'm a candidate for Hoarders or anything (well. . .maybe just in my purse!), I shop for what I need but I do it in the most thrifty way possible. However, after a hard look at the June and July expenditures, I came to a stomach churning realization: I'm spending more than I bring in. Essentially, I'm living beyond my means. I have a very very tight budget right now and I haven't been doing my part in abiding by that budget. I fell victim to the credit card scheme. You see, I have this really low rate credit card (0% for 6 months and even a low rate after that) which has a tremendous rewards program. I got this special gem through work (I work for a bank) and I've been a little too lax in putting things on the credit card here lately since: 1. I'm paying no interest on the purchases (right now) and 2. I'm totally racking up the rewards points which will come in handy at Christmas time for gift cards and what not. However, after looking at what I brought home vs. what I spent over the last few months, I realized that I just simply had to do something. Otherwise, I'm risking the situation spinning too far beyond my control. This self-proclaimed control freak can't have that happen. Oh the horror!
So, here's the challenge: cut out essentially everything beyond the absolute necessities for the entire month of August. No extra shopping (well, read the conditions below), no extra DIY supplies (again, read the conditions below) or renovation projects. Nothing. I have to make a budget and stick to it. I'm hoping that by sharing this challenge with all of you, it will help me to stick to it a little better than simply keeping it to myself. Much easier to cheat if I'm the only one that knows about it! Additionally, I'm committed to sharing if I fall off the wagon at all. If I mess up and step outside of my committed challenge this month, I'll share and you can all flog me publicly (via the comments option below) for it. Help me to stay honest. And on track.
Here are the nitty gritty details:
Mortgage: Try as hard as I might, I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to get out of this one. My mortgage company just doesn't seem to agree with me that I should be able to "get back to basics" and thus eliminate their payment. They want their money. Actually, they seem to have this whole crazy process that happens if you don't pay them their money and I hear it doesn't end well. Control Freaks! So, I'm kinda stuck paying this one and considering it a "basic".
Utilitities: Much like the mortgage, this one seems to need to stay in the "basic" category meaning that it needs to get paid. However, unlike some others that I know, I cut down my utilities to the absolute minimum a few months ago so there really isn't anything left in there that's a "want" vs. a "need". In my utilties category, I have electricity (No amish living here! This girl needs to charge her cell phone and use her hair straightener!), gas (the heat kind), trash pick up (actually, cheaper than taking my garbage to the dump myself. . .and it doesn't make my car stink afterwards!), internet (an absolute must have since I'm in school and I use the internet to find all my grocery and other deals. Plus, I wouldn't be able to update you all on my successes and failures without the internet!), cable (most basic package they have. $17.50/month. I guess this one could be considered a "want" rather than a "need" but I shudder to think how much I would spend to entertain myself if I didn't have cable on at home. *Shudder*), cell phone (no home phone. . .that's a "want". Cell phone is a "need"), and water bill (apparently showers and baths are highly recommended. Who knew?!)
Car & Gas: I have to continue making my car payment. Since I don't live within walking distance to my job, grocery store, son's school, or really anything, my car is a "need" vs. a "want". As for gasoline, I am currently budgeting $250/month for it. That pretty much cuts me down to doing very very little extra driving other than to work/school/home. I do what I can already to combine trips and use as little gas as possible. However, this month I'm going to try to really stick to it. I do have a vacation scheduled for the middle of the month where I'm driving about 5 hours each way so that will obviously increase my gas usage for the month. BUT, I also have a work trip scheduled where I will be out of town for a week and not using any gas that week. I'm hoping the two will kind of balance out. However, I will really have to watch where I go when I am home to try to keep the budget under the $250 amount this month.
Food: Luckily, due to my stockpiling and couponing (I promise, I'll get some more info surrounding this up here soon!), I do have a fairly decent stockpile already existing. This is going to really come in handy this month because I'm trying to scale back on everything that is negotiable at all. Since food isn't a fixed expense, it's somewhat negotiable. Don't worry, Mom. . .I will keep feeding my kid! My plan is to limit my weekly budget to $50/week. This may mean that stockpiling comes to a halt for the month of August and that I can only buy the essentials, but that's fine with me. I can start building up my stockpile again in September or October. I've been stockpiling for about four years now and know full well that stockpiles rise and fall over time so I'm accustomed to handling my stockpile running a little short since I know there will be months where it seems like my stockpile will grow faster than I can keep up with it.
One way I plan on sticking to the $50/week food budget is by menu planning. This will not only force me to figure out what I already have on hand in the house, but it will force me to have a plan. If I have a plan (i.e. something already cooking in the crock pot or thawed out in the fridge just waiting to be cooked up), I will be less inclined to sneak through the drive thru at McDonalds and slyly add a Happy Meal to the dinner plan for that evening. I'm totally guilty of that. The kid loves Happy Meals and I love a night off from cooking. However, since I'm out of town for work for one week this month and we're out of town for a week, I am hoping that I'll get my fill of not having to cook on those nights and this won't be such a huge deal. I do know of one night this month that I will be going out to dinner with a friend but it was planned weeks ago and this is a friend who I very rarely get to see due to scheduling conflicts on both our parts. Rather than cancel our dinner out, I have instead taken it upon myself to find a coupon to the restaurant that we will be meeting at. See, compromise! Other than that, my goal is to ensure that at no point during August will I need to pay for my meal out anywhere. I will pack my lunch each day and cook dinner each night.
Clothing: This won't be such a difficult category for me, but with my son starting school the first week of September, trying to avoid buying any clothes during the month of August will be a stretch. Since I typically buy clothing a season ahead and stash them away until needed, I proactively pulled out those clothes, took stock of what I had (actually, wrote it all down piece by piece) and then made a list of what I needed to get for him in order to have a complete fall wardrobe to start school with. Once I made that list, I went back through the list and refined it even more. I took a hard look at how many days during the week that he was with me and how many days that he was with his dad. I tried to figure out how many outfits I was able to make with what I already had and what I was going to need to really go out and buy in order to make it through the fall. I actually have a pretty short list! I went a step further and made a list of what items that we have that we absolutely CANNOT have any more of. Somewhere along the way I lost count of how many pairs of underwear, socks, and pajamas he had. The kid could literally wear a new pair of underwear (and by "new", I mean taken straight out of the package. . he always wears clean underwear!) every day for a month and a half! There's no reason why anyone needs 45 pairs of underwear. . .unless, of course, they don't own a working washing machine. Then they might need a lot of underwear! Anyways, it's good to have the "Never Buy" list because it keeps me from geeking out over that package of Superman undies (for TYLER. . .Not me! I prefer Wonder Woman!) that I find on clearance for $1/pack. $1 for a 3 pair pack of undies is a tremendous deal. . .not so much when you already own 45 pairs! So, in order to reasonably round out the fall wardrobe for the little man, I'm allotting $50 to purchase whatever I need during the month of August. I think that should take care of it. If I stay out of the retail stores and stick to yard sales and consignment sales ONLY for clothing, $50 to get what I need for him shouldn't be a problem.
DIY Materials: I hope this isn't cheating, but I don't have to entirely cut out my DIY for the month of August. I just have to make sure that I don't spend any money on it, right? If I can't complete a project using the materials that I already have and I can't wait until later (like September?) to finish the project/buy the materials, then I do have $100 in gift cards to Home Depot that I could use. However, once that's gone. It's gone. So, I will use it sparingly. For instance, I do already have it on the schedule for my new kitchen countertops to be installed in August. They have already been paid for, but I'm not sure if I will need to get any additional materials in order to demo the old countertops which will happen later this month. I'm reserving that $100 in gift cards for situations like that. Not the "ooh, I like that project, I'll just use my HD gift cards" situations. No, those will have to wait.
Vacation Concession: We are going down to my family's beach house in North Carolina in the middle of the month. Since I'll be with family, I doubt I'll have a need to spend much extra money. Luckily, my Moneybags Mom typically takes pretty good care of us kids when we're around and we don't go broke eating out or buying food. I'll probably throw in my weekly grocery budget to try to help her out with the grocery tab that week, but I'm guessing that we won't be eating out a whole lot that week. Plus, my Nifty Nana will be there too and no one wants to eat out when Nana is cooking! Because we'll probably take a trip down to the board walk or some of the cute little shops in town, I've already tucked away a $20 bill in my wallet for Tyler to enjoy an ice cream cone or something small like that while we're on vacation. I can't totally deprive the kid of those kinds of memories!
Other Rules/Concessions to the Challenge:
* I am able to use gift cards that I already have in my posession for items that I need to buy. For example, I have a couple hundred dollars in Target gift cards (my dad always buys them for me for my birthday and Christmas--LOVE IT!) that I can use if the need arises. This is probably how I will pay for Tyler's school supplies.
* Any medical attention or medications needed by me or Tyler are completely exempt from the challenge. I'm hoping that this won't be a problem, but I refuse to forgo or prolong medical treatment or necessary medications for myself or my son just to stay within this challenge.
In order to stay true and so that you can follow my progress, I will post what my necessary expenditures are beyond my mortgage, utilities, and car. For instance, I will post what my gas, food, etc, costs me for the week. I'll post when a need to "buy" something comes up and how I either handled it by being resourceful and using what I already had or whether I ended up caving. At the end of the month, I'll try to post what kind of savings I estimated to have realized simply by cutting out all of the "extras" for an entire month.
Now, this kind of challenge is not necessarily something that can be sustained every single month. Month after month. I just happened to be lucky enough to find a month where there isn't a major expenditure coming up, a gift giving holiday, or any other looming financial burden that was already known about. My goal from doing this challenge is to realize that I can/cannot live without. Like I mentioned earlier, I was getting a little too lax about what I was buying and how often we *really* needed to be eating out. Unfortunately, the "need" vs. "want" area was starting to become gray and now it's time to put it all back into perspective.
So, can you/will you join the challenge with me? What suggestions to you have for me to make it through the month? What questions do you have that maybe I can try to answer for you? Let's get through this together!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
August Challenge. . .STAY TUNED!!
I've got some news that I'm going to reveal on August 1st. More of a challenge, so to speak and I'd love to challenge some of you to join in on the fun with me. Still working out all of the details. . .so, I'm not entirely ready to do the big reveal just yet. Stay tuned!
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