About My January 2009 Budget

Just wanted to point something out about my January 2009 Budget that might not be obvious at first glance.

It appears that my expenses are greater than my income in this month:

Beginning Balance - $850'
+ Income - $7,590
Subtotal - $8,440'
- Expenses - $8,129
Subtotal - $311
Save For Next Month - $311
Ending Balance - $0

But, my "expenses" includes $2,500 that I will transfer into our savings account to save for future months.

January 2009 Budget

Expenses- Jan
AUTO-Excise Tax - $0
AUTO GAS - BR - $250
AUTO-Insurance - $120
AUTO-Maintenance - $50
CASH-Auto Gas JR - $100
CASH-Clothing - $0
CASH-Dining Out - $120
CASH-Gifts - $0
CASH-Grocery - $400
CASH-Kids Allowance - $50
CASH-Parties - $100
CASH-School Lunch - $45
CASH-Spending - $160
DEBT-Equity Loan - $103
DEBT-Visa - $0
HOME-Cable/Phone - $181
HOME-Electric - $160
HOME-Water - $0
HOME-Furnace - $0
HOME-Mortgage - $2,328
HOME-Oil - $300
HOME-Trash - $0
KIDS-Bball - $120
KIDS-Misc. - $0
KIDS-Piano - $264
KIDS-Preschool - $0
MISC. - $300
MISC. - $350
PERSONAL-Cell Phone - $0
PERSONAL-Contacts - $0
PERSONAL-Life Ins. - $0
PERSONAL-Newspap - $8
PERSONAL-Rx - $20
PERSONAL-Braces - $100
PERSONAL-BR Sports - $0
PERSONAL-Vacation - $0
TRANSFER-To Sav - $2,500
TOTAL - $8,129


INCOME - January
1st Paycheck - $2,220
1st Commission - $3,000
15th Paycheck - $2,220
Church Pay - $100
Jewelry Pay - $50
Other - $0
Transfer from Savings - $0
TOTAL - $7,590


CASH FLOW - January
Beginning Balance - $850
'+ Income - $7,590
Subtotal - $8,440
'- Expenses - $8,129
Subtotal - $311
Save For Next Month - $311
Ending Balance - $0

I Think I'm On The Naughty List

Oh - it's so hard to blog when you've been bad!

I want to be gazelle - but the reality is that it's just not happening right now.

Every month I make up the budget. But I have been making a lot of extra money with my jewelry shop - and that extra money hasn't been going where it should. It has been slipping through the cracks. Lots of presents for the kids for Christmas and lots of clothes for me (I'm embarassed to admit).

I had great plans to put all the extra earnings into our new "Snowball Savings Account" (ING Direct). I had hoped that opening this account would inspire me to keep depositing every extra penny so I could watch it grow (and eventually, barring any major financial setbacks, using it to pay down our last debt).

Ugh.

I guess there'll be New Year's Resolutions (yuk!).

And my husband wants us to refinance - and include our last debt (home equity loan) in the refinance. This would technically have us being done with Baby Step 2 - which would be great - but somehow it feels like it would be cheating. I'm just not sure it's the right thing to do.

In any case, if we do refinance, it would be to a 15 year mortgage (we currently have 15 years left on a 20 year mortgage) and it would be at a lower interest rate (obviously) - just not sure about the equity loan. But I think we might have to because I don't think you can refiance if you have an equity loan outstanding - but I'm not really sure.

Anyway - so sorry that I haven't been around for all my blogging friends. I'm still here and I'll be here for the long haul. Hopefully I will be posting more often though.

Off to catch up on all of your blogs and all the Carnivals I have missed.

Hope you're all enjoying the Holiday Season! Hope to have better news in future posts!

6 Things About Me

I was tagged by Won't Go Down Without A Fight to share 6 things about myself, so here goes:



1. My husband was my high school sweetheart! It's almost embarassing to have met your husband in high school, but we did. We dated for six years and got married when we were 23. That was 17 years ago!



2. I love amusement park rides. The scarier the better! I never get tired of the theme parks in Florida. We are going in April and I can't wait!



3. I am a self help book junkie. I am always reading books about how to improve myself. I read fiction too and belong to a book club, but non fiction self help is my favorite.



4. I can speak French and Spanish. I spent my Junior Year of college in Paris and spent two summers in Spain.



5. I am one of those crazy Black Friday shoppers that stands in lines at 4 o'clock in the morning. I go with 2 of my sisters and it has become sort of a tradition. The sales aren't usually even good enough to justify the early hour and crazy lines, but it is realy fun in a weird way. Only 4 days away - I can't wait!



6. I am a Diet Coke addict. (Many of you probably already know that.) And I drink anywhere from 6 to 12 cans a day (I am embarassed to say!).



I tag:

Paid It Down And Moving Forward
Nine Circles of Debt
No More Spending

Update

Things have been busy for me. Mostly with the jewelry business. Had a really good Craft Show this past weekend and earned $300! Whoo-hoo!

On line sales have been picking up as well, so I'm really happy with how that's going.

I've done a lot of Christmas shopping already. I am doing well staying within the budget for everyone except my oldest DD. Most the things she wants are really expensive. I had planned to stay under $200 for each of my 3 daughters, but I have decided to spend a little more on the oldest. Two of the items I want to get for her are a new winter coat and a pair of boots. Both things she needs. Of course, I'm sure I could get her ones cheaper than from Hollister and Uggs, but those are the ones she will like. So, I'm glad I have earned a little extra money to be able to get her a little extra. She's such a good kid (and hasn't even asked for these things though I know she will like them) and she got straight A's on her report card!

I did have a scare with having my cash envelopes this weekend. I have all of my usual cash envelopes funded (grocery, clothing, auto gas, spending $, dining out) but this month I also have my Christmas $ envelope - and it has over $1,000 in it. And while I was at the cast party of DD2's play, I left it unattended on my chair for a while, and then couldn't find it! I was in such a panic! I don't know what we would have done for Christmas if that had been taken. Luckily it was just underneath a bunch of coats. But it did make me realize that I shouldn't have all that cash with me all the time!

Other good news is that I noticed on our mortgage bill that our balance is down to $219,000. That's not terribly low I realize but in all my calculations I had us owing $240,000 - so we are in a little better shape than I thought. And I'm pretty sure that we refinanced to our 20 year mortgage in 2003, so that was almost 6 years ago, so I think we'll only have 14 years left on our mortgage. (I know 14 years is a long time, but it is a lot better than 30 years - and in our last house every time we refinanced we started over on a 30 year mortgage!) Hopefully we will follow Dave Ramsey's plan and get it paid off even earlier. Ideally we will have it paid off before my oldest daughter goes to college in 2015, although that's only 6 years away so it might be pretty tough to accomplish, but you never know.

The bad news is that there are rumors of layoffs at my husband's job. He doesn't think he would be affected - but you never know. The rumors are they will start on Dec. 15th. This had put a bit of a knot in my stomach but I am doing my best not to focus on that. We are doing everything we can to improve our financial situation, so we'll just hope for the best.

Update

November Extra Income

Jewelry Sales: $439.50
Craft Fair: $57.00
Associated Content: $5.00
Blog Ads: $100.00
TOTAL: $601.50

Update

Income:
Craft Fair: $57

Expenses:
Craft Booth Fee: $20

Net Profit:
Craft Fair: $37


Craft Fair this weekend wasn't as good as I had hoped. But earned a little cash.

Also closed 2 credit cards that had zero balances this morning. Hope that was the right thing to do and won't affect our FICO score too much. We now only have one credit card left and it has a zero balance. I don't think I will close that one. I just feel better keeping it around in case of emergencies. After all, our Fully Funded Emergency Fund isn't in place yet. I know Dave Ramsey wouldn't approve, but it makes me feel safer.

I did open an ING Direct account. Got a $25 bonus just for opening the account (with an initial deposit of at least $250). My plan is to use the ING Direct account for our "extra funds" from high commission months, our $1,000 Baby Emergency Fund, and money we are saving to replace the heating system, etc. All this kind of stuff. The balance will go up and down as we move funds in and out of the account.

I will keep our Emigrant Direct savings account to put all the funds that would normally be in our Debt Snowball paying off our last debt ($23,000 Home Equity Loan). Our target "snowball" amount is $1,100 a month. We are temporarily not paying it to the debt but instead putting it into savings "just in case" (i.e. due to the bad economy - no commissions, or God forbid - a layoff, etc.). The reason I decided to put this money in a separate account is that I need the gratification of watching an account go up and up month after month (like watching the debt amount go down and down month after month). And this way, any time I earn a little extra cash I can funnell that extra money into this account. I am hoping this will give me the extra momentum that I need right now. It was driving me crazy watching our 1 savings account go up and down all the time - not giving me any real sense of accomplishment. Now I can focus on growing this account as large as I can. I hope to "get gazelle" about it!

I Like Some Money More Than Others

I have been feeling down because my jewelry sales have been very slow lately. I do have another Craft Show this weekend, so hopefully that will pick things up.

I was thinking about some of the things on my To Do List. I have several items that I need to return. This will put quite a bit of cash in my pocket (or back in the bank), yet I can't seem to get around to doing it. These returns are worth $60+, so I really need to do it.

I was thinking about how much happier I would be with $60 in jewelry sales. I would be psyched. Now, $60 is $60. But it's funny how different it can feel.

Step #4 (Continued)

Forget The Joneses Project
I am participating in the Forget The Jonses Project (started by the MommySavers Forum), which involves 100 steps to get back on track financially, simplify, and add more meaning to your life. (You can read an outline of Steps 1-50 here.)



Step #4 - Create An Approved Spending List

I wrote about creating an approved spending list here. But now, here's a look at the approved spending list I have created: (I will be the first to admit that everything on this list is a want, not a need. I am clearly cheating on the 21 day spending freeze. When I first learned about the Forget the Joneses project about 6 months ago, I actually did complete a very successful 21 day spending freeze. Even though I am not being as strict this time, I still think this is a worthwhile exercize and I want to move on the the other steps, so, here it is:

Special Outings (already planned) - $350
This includes a lot of activities for me this month, including going to a concert with my husand and some friends ($100), going on a day trip to New York City with some friends ($100), buying tickets to see my daughter in a play ($50).

Halloween candy - I bought this a couple of days ago as I had none to give out to Trick-or-Treaters. $8.00

Meeting a friend for lunch - $20. I haven't seen this friend in a while and we made plans to meet for lunch on Thursday. I will need to pay for my 5 year old daughter also.

Side Bar Goals - Update

I thought I should take a look at the Financial Goals I had set in my sidebar and see how I'm doing on each one. Here were the goals I set:

• 1. - Be Aware of Financial Dangers (sisters)
• 2. - Plan Ahead Better (Florida trips)
• 3. - Start Diet & Exercise Routine
• 4. - Become Better at Budgeting
• 5. - Start Next Year's Budget Now
• 6. - Focus on Finances 1xDay
• 7. - Sign Up For FPU
• 8. - Pay Debts At Beginning of Month

1. Be Aware of Financial Dangers (especially hanging out with my sisters) - This one is a little hard to measure, except the part about my sisters. I haven't really gone shopping with my sisters, so in a sense I have avoided that danger. The real test will be to go shopping with them and to be successful (like only buying things on my list). A test of this will be coming up as I always go Christmas shopping with my sisters on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving). I enjoy this tradition but will only be successful if I stick to my list and only buy gifts for others (nothing for myself) and stick to my pre-made Christmas budget. So, we'll see.

2. Plan Ahead Better (Florida trips). Well, we do have another trip planned, but this one is for my sister's wedding. We are going in April for a week. We already paid cash ($1,000) for the plane tickets for my family of 5. I have budgeted $2,000 for spending money for the trip. It's a little early to start packing yet, but I will definitely need to plan my clothing early and hopefully avoid the urge to buy all new clothes for the trip!

3. Start Diet and Exercise Routine - nope. Not at all.

4. Become Better At Budgeting - I think I am on my way here (finally). Realizing that I need to use my calendar (as explained in this post) was a huge step forward.

5. Start Next Year's Budget Now - I have done a complete budget for 2009 (which you can view here). I do still need to remember that if something comes up in this month's budget, I might need to remember to add it to next year's budget.

6. Focus on Finances at Least Once A Day - for the most part I have been doing this. I have been posting about every other day. I have been reading the financial carnivals and other pf blogs. I have been checking my on line accounts often.

7. Sign Up For Financial Peace University - done. I am about half way through this class that meets every Tuesday night. I am enjoying the refresher.

8. Pay Debts At The Beginning Of The Month - Well, we have temporarily stopped paying extra on our debts. We are instead putting all the extra cash into savings. The reason for this is that we are nervous about the unstable economy and how it might affect my husband's job. His commissions could be much lower than we have budgeted for and we want to be prepared for that. (And God forbid if there were layoff's at his company!) I do think I could fine tune this plan, though. I don't like having our "extra money" (the money that would have been paid to debt) mixed in with our other savings. The reason is that we sometimes need to take money out of this account for daily living expenses. We put in extra money on high commission months and take out money on low commission months. I feel we could have more control and feel more of a sense of accomplishment if this "extra money" was in a separate account that grew every month (rather than go up and down). So, I need to give this some thought and maybe open another savings account.

So, not a perfect score, but not too bad either.

I think we are at least moving in the right direction. ;)

Side Bar Updates

I have updated some of my Sidebars.


Debt Payoff Progress

Starting Debt: $44,000
Current Debt: $23,144
Total Paid: $20,966

I'm a little disappointed that it's been 20 months and we have only paid off $20,966. I would have thought that we would be more than half way to having these debts paid off by now.

I guess I can be happy that at least we are moving in the right direction.

And I do remember that during this time we have also taken a vacation to Disney World (planned with the children prior to starting our debt free journey)and paid cash (about $4,000), and we bought tickets (with cash) to take my whole family to Florida for my sister's wedding (about $1,000), and we replaced our very old mattress ($1,000), and we replaced our broken dishwasher ($1,000), and we replaced our old and broken water heater ($1,000).

And on top of that we are paying cash monthly for our daughter's braces ($100/month). And we have almost $5,500 in savings.

I guess that's not too bad. Definitely an improvement over how we were living and spending before February 2007!



Savings Progress

• Emergency Fund: $1,000
• Jewelry Biz Earnings: $994
• Other: $3,500
• Total in Savings: $5,494.00

Our monthly savings total varies quite a bit from month to month. Here is my savings projections for the next 14 months. (Keep in mind that we have temporarily stopped paying extra on our last debt, a HELOC for $23,000, to put extra into savings due to the uncertain economic situation in our country.)

Savings Projections
11/08 $5,494
12/08 $4,794
01/09 $7,694
02/09 $8,694
03/09 $7,694
04/09 $7,194
05/09 $7,494
06/09 $7,994
07/09 $19,394
08/09 $18,894
09/09 $17,894
10/09 $19,894
11/09 $18,194
12/09 $17,794


Extra Earnings

Starting in November I am also going to once again begin tracking all extra income that I am able to earn. This will include tracking income and expenses (thus profit) for my jewelry business.

Finding Meals In My Pantry

In conjunction with the Forget The Joneses Project and the 21 Day Spending Freeze, I am going to take a look in my pantry and freezer and see how many meals I can come up with.

I tend to buy in bulk and freeze a lot of things so I can hopefully come up with a lot!

1. Frozen Chicken Pot Pie
2. Pasta, Sauce, Frozen Meatballs
3. Pasta, Sauce, Frozen Meatballs
4. Pasta, Sauce, Frozen Meatballs
5. Kielbasa, Rice, Frozen Vegetables (frzn kielbasa, rice, frozen veggies)
6. Steak, Rice, Frozen Vegetables (frzn steak, rice, frozen veggies)
7. Tacos, Tortilla Chips, Salsa (frzn hamb, seasoning, tortillas, shells, cheese, salsa,*s. cream)
8. Chicken, Broccoli, Ziti (frozen chicken, frozen broccoli, ziti, parmesean cheese, butter,*milk)
9. Chicken, Rice, Vegetables (frozen chicken breasts, rice, frozen veggies)
10. Homemade Macaroni and Cheese (elbow noodles, cheese, *milk)
11. Homemade Macaroni and Cheese (elbow noodles, cheese, *milk)
12. American Chop Suey (elbow noodles, tomato sauce, frozen hamburger)
13. Homemade Pizza (frozen dough, tomato sauce, cheese)
14. Chicken Noodle Soup (frozen chicken, canned broth, egg noodles, frozen veggies)
15. Lasagna (noodles, mozzarella cheese, canned sauce, parm. cheese, *ricotta cheese)
16. Mexican Casserole (flour tortillas, cheese, canned enchilada sauce, green chiles)
17. Chicken Fajitas (frozen chicken, onions, seasoning, cheese, salsa, *s. cream, * flour tortillas)
18. Chili (frozen hamburger, seasoning, beans, cheese)
19. Beef stew (frozen beef, canned beef broth, seasoning, frozen veggies, *potatoes)
20. Chicken Picata, Rice, Frozen Vegetables (frozen chicken, lemon juice, capers, flour, butter)
21. Chicken Picata, Rice, Frozen Vegetables
22. Chicken Marsala, Rice, Frozen Vegetables (frozen chicken, marsala wine, flour, butter)
23. Chicken Marsala, Rice, Frozen Vegetables
24. Ravioli, Tomato Sauce (frozen ravioli, canned sauce)
25. Ravioli, Tomato Sauce

I have a total of 21 frozen chicken breasts in my freezer.
I have a total of 6 lbs of hamburger in my freezer.

* I will need to purchase these items: s. cream, potatoes, ricotta cheese, milk.

So, it appears that I have enough dinner meals to make it through the 21 day spending freeze.

How many meals can you find in your pantry?

A Surprising (But Essential) Budgeting Tool

(This article was included in this week's Carnival of Personal Finance!)

As I realize that I have not done a terrific job of budgeting over the past couple of months, it has become clear to me that I have neglected to use an essential budgeting tool - a calendar.


Use A Calendar!

Up until now, I have thought about each months expenses in an almost abstract way. Wouldn't it be better to actually look at the commitments we have scheduled and go from there?

I think the reason that I haven't done this in the past is because I want to decide in advance how much I will spend on a category - and then force myself to stay within that limit, rather than plan everything I want to do and use the cost of those plans as my budget figure.

I think that true success is probably found somewhere in the middle.


My November Plans

Let's look at my November plans and budget as an example.

Normally, I budget $20 each for my husband and myself for spending money each week. On top of that, I budget $120 for the month for dining out.

Now, I will take a look at the commitments I have already scheduled for November.

11/1 - We have plans to go out to a concert with friends. We are leaving at 5:45pm and will return probably around midnight. I will need to pay a babysitter for about 6 hours at a rate of approximately $10/hour, for a total of $60. The event is byob and food. We have some left over beer and wine from our Halloween party last weekend, so no extra cost for drinks. I will need to bring some food, but that can come out of our regular grocery budget. We will need to pay for the concert tickets which will be $20 each, for a total of $40. So, the total amount I will need to budget for this event will be: $100.

11/8 - I have plans to go on a one day bus trip to New York City with a few girlfriends. The cost of the bus is $45. We leave very early in the morning and will get home very late in the evening, so I will need to purchase breakfast, lunch, and dinner (yes, I can bring coffee from home and a muffin and some snacks), but I should plan maybe $5 for breakfast, $25 for lunch, and $35 for dinner. (These are high figures, but it is NYC so I would rather over estimate than under estimate.) And we will of course be doing some shopping in the city. I don't plan on buying anything for myself, but I will be on the lookout for Christmas gifts. This won't require any extra money as I will just use the money from the Christmas budget. So, the total amount I will need to budget for this event will be: $110.

11/16 - My book club is planning a trip to the Mayflower and dinner out. I'm not sure how much the tickets for the Mayflower will be, I'll guess $20. And I'll plan $30 for dinner (a high estimate, but sometimes in a group the bill will just be divided equally, so just to be safe). Total: $50.

11/22 & 23 - My daughter is in a play that I will be bringing my family to see. I think the tickets are $10 each. I will probably go to both shows. I guess we'll need to budget $50 for the tickets. There is a cast party that we will probably need to contribute money to. Maybe $20? They will be collecting money for a gift for the organizer, probably another $20 (maybe less). So, another $40. Making the total amount I will need to budget for this event: $90.

11/27 - I will be hosting Thanksgiving for my extended family. I have already budgeted an extra $50 in our "party" category to cover the extra food (in addition to our regular grocery budget). This will hopefully be enough. My extended family will be in town for several days and I'm sure we'll all go out for dinner together at some point, so I should budget another $50 for this event.


Conclusions

So, for the events that I have already committed myself to for the month of November, the total amount needed will be: $400. (Wow!) This is a lot more than the $120 dining out money plus the $80 blow money ($20 each week for me), that I had previously planned for.

So, simply by using my calendar, I have realized that I need to either increase my budget by $200, or change some of my plans for the month.

I'm very excited about the realization of how helpful a calendar can be when planning a budget. Hope it helps you too!

(Note: I am amazed at how many plans I have scheduled for November. Seems like a lot more than usual. This is going to be a challenge given my plan for a 21 day spending freeze in conjunction with the Forget The Joneses Project!)

Step #4

Forget The Joneses Project
I am participating in the Forget The Jonses Project (started by the MommySavers Forum), which involves 100 steps to get back on track financially, simplify, and add more meaning to your life. (You can read an outline of Steps 1-50 here.)


Step #4 - Create An Approved Spending List

Notebook Assignment

MommySavers says, "Write down all the things you think you will need to purchase in the next three weeks. You are only allowed to purchase the bare-bones minimum, things you cannot get by without. This isn’t the time to hit the Target clearance rack (you can do without gift wrap for next Christmas) or to stock up on kids’ clothing for next fall (chances are they’ll have enough anyway). This is a time for you stay out of the stores and to question what is truly a necessity."

"Now get going… write down everything that is on your “approved” spending list between now and the end of the freeze. As things come up within the 21-day period, decide whether or not they belong on the “approved” spending list. You may unexpectedly run out of deodorant. It’s OK to add it to your approved list when the need arises."

****
I'll get to work on my list . . .

Step #3

Forget The Joneses Project
I am participating in the Forget The Jonses Project (started by the MommySavers Forum), which involves 100 steps to get back on track financially, simplify, and add more meaning to your life. (You can read an outline of Steps 1-50 here.)

Step #3 - Question The Difference Between Wants and Needs

MommySavers says, "During your spending freeze, you will need to question the difference between wants and needs. Some things will be more clear than others. Yes, chances are you need gas to get to work. No, you don’t need a new necklace to match the sweater you got for Christmas."

"… But what about the things that aren’t so obvious? Do you really need to birthday card for you brother-in-law, or can you make one? Do you really need to get your hair colored? Those gray areas (pun intended) are where your challenges lie. Try to anticipate the decisions you’ll have to make in the next three weeks. Are you going to be invited out to lunch? If your child needs money for school lunch, will you have him brown-bag it instead? What will you do?"

***
So, the items I purchased today were: crystals for a pendant order (I think that qualifies as a need as someone ordered and paid for a pendant with a crystal and I didn't have any more of them), some glue for my jewelry business (another need to keep my business going), and some modeling clay for my daughter's school project (I guess the modeling clay isn't technically a need, we could have maybe found something else around the house for her to use for her project).

So, Day 1 of my spending freeze and after a little thought it looks like I already made one purchase that was a want not a need.

This is going to be really hard!

Step #2

Forget The Joneses Project
I am participating in the Forget The Jonses Project (started by the MommySavers Forum), which involves 100 steps to get back on track financially, simplify, and add more meaning to your life. (You can read an outline of Steps 1-50 here.)



Step #2 - Go On A 21 Day Spending Freeze

What is a spending freeze? MommySavers says, "To put it simply, no more spending. Zip. Zilch. Nada. You’re not allowed to spend money on anything but necessities. Use up the food you have in your cupboards. Your grocery budget is now limited to what you must buy (milk and toilet paper, for example). Think of it as “Mommysavers Survivor” except the only prize at the end of the game is the money you’ve saved."

"Why 21 days? Research shows it takes approximately 21 days to make something a habit. During these three weeks, the habit of questioning wants vs. needs will be reinforced."

****
So, today was Day #1 of my 21 Day Spending Freeze. I did buy a few supplies that I needed for my jewelry business. I really wanted an Egg Sandwich from Dunkin Donuts, but I stayed strong and came home and cooked up some eggs and homefries instead.

The freeze for me will last from today, October 28th through November 17th.

This is going to be hard!

Step #1

Forget The Joneses Project
I am participating in the Forget The Jonses Project (started by the MommySavers Forum), which involves 100 steps to get back on track financially, simplify, and add more meaning to your life. (You can read an outline of Steps 1-50 here.)

Step #1 - Grab A Notebook








** Done! (That was easy!) :)

Forget The Joneses Project - Steps 1 thru 50

I am participating in the Forget The Jonses Project, which involves 100 steps to get back on track financially, simplify, and add more meaning to your life. (This project originated at the MommySavers Forum. It is a great site. Feel free to join and participate in the project there.)

Below is an outline of Steps 1 through 50. Follow along and watch my progress in future posts.

PHASE ONE: THE SPENDING FREEZE

#1 Grab a Notebook
#2 Go on a 21-Day Spending Freeze
#3 Question the Difference Between Wants and Needs
#4 Create an "Approved Spending" List
#5 Get Support
#6 Track Your Temptations
#7 Celebrate Your Victories
Step #8: Get a Clear Financial Picture/Calculate Your Net Worth
Step #9: Reflect Upon What You've Learned
Step #10: Track Your Spending
Step #11: The Modified Spending Freeze
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHASE TWO: DREAMS AND GOALS

Step #12: Dream a Little
Step #13: Analyze Your Dreams
Step #14: Organizing Your Dreams
Step #15: Turning Your Dreams into Goals
Step #16: Supercharging Success
Step #17: Accept Responsibility, Gain Control

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHASE THREE: BUDGETING

Step #18: Gather Your Records
Step #19: Calculate Your Cost of Living
Step #20: BONUS STEP Create a Vision Board
Step #21: Calculate Your Income
Step #22: Re-Evaluate Expenses
Step #23: Avoid Budgeting Mistakes
Steps #24 & 25: Wrapping Up Your Budget

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHASE FOUR: PAYING IT DOWN

Step #26: Know Your FICO Score
Step #27: Analyze Your FICO Score
Step #28: Get a Handle on Your Debt
Step #29: Prioritize Paydowns
Step #30: Accelerate Paydowns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHASE FIVE: PURGE

Step #31: Create a Vision
Step #32: Plan Your Piles
Step #33: Create Room for What You Want in Life
Step #34: Think About Why You Hang Onto Things
Step #35: Get it Done!
Step #36: Organize
Step #37: Freshen Up!
Step #38: Maintain

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHASE SIX: MINDFUL SHOPPING

Step #39: Identify Shopping Mistakes, Weaknesses and Triggers
Step #40: Come up with Coping Mechanisms
Step #41: Put Your Money Where Your Priorities Are
Step #42: Be Wary of Spaving
Step #43: Spending with a Purpose
Step #44: Be Wary of Rationalizing Purchases
Step #45: Fun Money

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHASE SEVEN: KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE

Step #46: First Things First
Step #47: Delay of Gratification
Step #48: Determine Underlying Wants
Step #49: It's About the Feeling
Steps #50 & #51: Energize Your Goals

Forget The Joneses Project - Overview

I have decided to revisit the "Forget The Joneses Project" that is happening over at the MommySavers Forum.

The Forget The Jonses Project is a series of 100 Steps for you to follow to get back on track financially, simplify, and add more meaning to your life! Sounds like a good plan to me!

If you would like to participate in the Project over at MommySavers, you will need to sign up as a registered user (it is a very nice site), or you can just follow along with me.

I have outlined Steps 1-50 in my next post.

I will go into each step in more detail as I go along and share my progress with you.

Wish me luck!

Thinking Through A Large Purchase

A few weeks ago our dishwasher broke. It is very old and was beyond repair.

The most frugal thing to do would be to not replace the dishwasher and to wash all the dishes by hand. A very good friend of mine voluntarily lives without a dishwasher. She built a new home about 5 years ago and actually chose not to put a dishwasher in her new home! She says she has always hated emptying the dishwasher and finds it easier to just wash the dishes by hand. So, I guess it can be done . . . just not by me. Although a dishwasher isn't an actual necessity, I personally feel that it is very close to being a need (rather than a want).

So, we had decided we would purchase a new dishwasher.

We just had to decide how much we were going to spend.

If you haven't shopped for a dishwasher in a while, they vary greatly in price and generally range in price from about $250 all the way up to $1,500 and more.

The way I saw it, we first had to think about our kitchen and decide if we would ever do a major kitchen renovation before we could decide which dishwasher to purchase.

Although we have no immediate plan to renovate our kitchen (as much as I would like to), I do dream of a new kitchen. In my dreams, we would enlarge the kitchen (extending into our large back yard) to include a large area for a table (making it an eat in kitchen) and get all new cabinets and appliances. Given our current financial situation and the fact that I would like to pay for my 3 daughters to go to college, this kind of a kitchen renovation is probably unlikely.

More likely, we would update our current kitchen keeping the existing floor plan. We would update all the appliances, the counter tops, and maybe new cabinets (or reface the existing cabinets), and get a new floor.

Deciding on if and when we would ever renovate our kitchen as well as to what extent we would renovate became crucial as we contemplated the new dishwasher.

Basically, we had 3 options to consider.

Option 1 - Real Cheap Dishwasher
My mom was for this option. She felt that we should get a real cheap dishwasher. Then, when we renovate out kitchen (someday) she advised we could just get rid of the cheap dishwasher and put in a nice one.

I thought about this but decided that ideally I would like to do some upgrading to our kitchen within the next 5 years and it would not make any sense to throw out a dishwasher that was less than 5 years old.

Option 2 - High End Dishwasher
My best friend felt we should purchase a dishwasher that would be able to be "integrated" in our kitchen once it is renovated. This would mean that it would be like a regular dishwasher now but when we get new cabinets, the front of the dishwasher would be able to be covered with the same cabinetry as our cabinets (making it integrated). Though I love the look of this, when I really thought about it I came to realize that I don't think this kind of a very high end kitchen is really realistically in my future (given the other financial goals that I would like to achieve). So, I decided against spending over $1,200 on a dishwasher for this reason.

Option 3 - Mid Priced Dishwasher
Ultimately, I decided to get a mid priced dishwasher ($550 after $150 rebate) in stainless steel. I think I will eventually upgrade all my appliances to stainless steel, so getting a dishwasher now that we can keep even in our renovated kitchen seemed to make the most sense to me.

It's funny how much a simple dishwasher made me think about our future financial goals and plans. A renovated kitchen of varying magnitudes has always been a far off dream. Even though the high end dream kitchen was fun to fantasize about, I actually feel more excited about a modest kitchen renovation that could actually happen within a decade.

Contemplating Christmas

I would like to keep the Christmas budget low this year. Actually, I'd like to keep our total Gifts Budget a bit lower than it has been - but I'm finding it difficult.

The problem I am facing is that our friends and family spend too much on gifts. This puts pressure on me to spend too much in kind.

This past weekend I had a joint birthday party for 2 of my daughters that have birthdays close together. The average gift for each daughter was $25, including actual gift cards and cash in that amount.

This puts pressure on me to give birthday gifts and Christmas gifts back to these people in the amount of $25. (Actually, some of my friends have argued that I should be giving more in some cases. They believe that if my cousin, who has 1 child, gives each of my 3 children a $25 gift for their birthday, that I should give that cousin's child a $75 gift on her birthday! This is completely outside of my budget, so I don't even get in to considering this. I would prefer that my cousin got my kids an $8 gift - but how do I do that?)

On the surface, everything seems fine. They give my kids $25 gifts. I give their kids $25 gifts. And everything is equal. The problem is that I can't really afford to spend this much money on gifts. It's not like I take the cash from my kids (even when the gift is cash). The truth is that all the kids have too much money tied up in lots of toys and stuff that they don't need (including my kids). All these $25 gifts add up to a lot of money. Money that I would rather spend paying off debts, putting into savings, paying for my daughters to go to college, investing, etc.

I have tried, especially with my 3 sisters, to get them to give less expensive gifts, but it hasn't had much of an effect.

I know I should just give what I feel is appropriate and that I can afford, and not worry about how much they spend on my family - but that is easier said than done.

C'mon - Win This!

I am doing another pendant give away! And I would LOVE to give it to one of my blogger friends! Won't you guys leave a comment on this post for a chance to win? It would make a cute holiday gift for someone on your list. C'mon! :)

After Holiday Sales - How To Make Them Work

This post was featured in the Festival of Frugality #149 as an Editor's Pick this week!

I am a big fan of shopping for clearance items after a holiday.

Every year I host a huge Halloween party to celebrate the birthdays of two of my daughters that have birthdays near Halloween. We do an elaborate Haunted House, so I am always on the lookout for cool new Halloween novelties. After Halloween, I can usually find a bunch for 90% off!

This is terrific. But there is another step that I seem to forget every year - and that is to check out what you bought last year before you purchase anything new this year!

This bit me twice so far this year.

First, I let my five year old get a costume that she fell in love with at CVS last week. It was on sale for 25% off, and I had $7 in extra bucks, so I went ahead and purchased the costume (for $11 before using the xtra bucks). What I had not remembered was that I had purchased her a costume (actually 2 costumes!) on clearance after Halloween last year! Of course I could return the unused costume to CVS but my daughter is already really in love with it. (She does like the other costumes, but prefers this one.) So - I'm going to let her keep it. I'm sure all of these costumes will fit her again next year (and hopefully I'll remember before purchasing another one next year!).

Second, I purchased a Halloween pinata on sale at Target and later found one that I had also purchased on clearance after Halloween last year. I returned the new pinata to Target, but lesson learned.

I hope to remember this lesson at Christmas time - and check to see what I have (probably bought on clearance last year) before purchasing anything new!

Where's My Gazelle?

Not sure what I have to update really.

The Financial Peace University class has been going well. I do wish that the discussions were a bit more personal though. No one discusses their actual amount of their debts, or their budgets, envelopes, etc. I understand that not everyone wants to share this kind of "personal" information, but I think everyone would get more out of the discussions if they talked about specifics.

It has been good for me to focus on finances for a solid 2 hours every week. In the past I easily spent 2 hours a day focusing on finances, but I find that I'm doing it less so now. So the FPU class is good for that.

Since we aren't doing the Debt Snowball right now (and rather putting that money into Savings in anticipation of "storm clouds") I am finding that I don't get that same sense of satisfaction of paying large chunks towards a goal. Our savings balance goes up and down due to saving money from large commission months and using the money for low commission months - so it's not like the savings account is steadily growing. The ups and downs just aren't as gratifying, and I fear that we have not been sticking to the budget as closely as we should.

I think that maybe I should separate our savings. One account for money that goes in and out of our checking account as needed, and another that is for the more long term savings and rainy day/snowball. Most people would probably keep the in and out money right in their checking account - but I have found that that doesn't work well for us. If the money is in our checking account we tend to spend it. I find it works much better for us to only keep exactly what we will need for the month in their (zero based budget).

The benefit of having another savings account that would just continue to grow would be that we would get a much better sense of accomplishment I think, by seeing a balance go up and up (in the same way that it was so gratifying to see our debt balance go down and down).

I don't know. I just know that I'd like to get some of that gazelle intensity back.

Bare Necessity Expenses

I decided that I should figure out what our actual "bare necessity expenses" are for one month. These are the expenses we couldn't get rid of, even with a job loss, or something like that.

The total of our necessary monthly expenses comes to $3,965.

It is somewhat interesting to me because my husband's salary (without commission) is $4,400. I actually had thought that his base salary would NOT cover our basic expenses, but I guess it does. Well, pretty close anyway. In this list I have lowered our auto gas figure considerably if my husband wasn't commuting to work.

So, if my husband lost his job, we would have to earn a minimum of $4,000 a month Expenses
AUTO-Excise Tax
AUTO GAS - BR	150
AUTO-Insurance	120
AUTO-Maintenance
CASH-Auto Gas JR
CASH-Clothing
CASH-Dining Out
CASH-Gifts
CASH-Grocery	200
CASH-Kids Allowance
CASH-Parties
CASH-School Lunch
CASH-Spending
DEBT-Equity Loan	103
DEBT-Visa
HOME-Cable/Phone	181
HOME-Electric	190
HOME-Furnace	0
HOME-Mortgage	2328
HOME-Oil	550
HOME-Trash	20
KIDS-Bball
KIDS-Misc.
KIDS-Piano
KIDS-Preschool
MISC.
MISC.
PERSONAL-Cell Phone
PERSONAL-Contacts
PERSONAL-Life Ins.	23
PERSONAL-Newspap
PERSONAL-Rx
PERSONAL-Braces	100
PERSONAL-BR Sports
PERSONAL-Vacation
TRANSFER-To Sav 2
TOTAL
	3965

So, if my husband lost his job, we would need to come up with $4,000 a month to survive (at least in our current house). For one person working 40 hours a week, that would mean an hourly wage better than $25 an hour. That might be hard to come by in a bad economy.

Right now we have $8,000 in our savings account. That would get us through 2 months. By the end of the year we will have $20,000 in our account. That would get us through 5 months.

I'm not sure if I feel better or worse, but I think it is good information to know.

Do you know what your "Bare Necessity Expenses" are?

Win This Breast Cancer Awareness Pendant

Hello my blog friends. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month I wanted to give you all the chance to visit this blog post at Sarah's Surprises for a chance to win this Pink Ribbon Breast Cancer Awareness Pendant.

Just leave a comment on that post. A winner will be selected on the morning of October 13th. :)

Saving On The Electric Bill

I saw an episode on Oprah this week where a woman said she lowered her electric bill from $264 a month to $60 a month. She said the main thing she did was to unplug everything when not in use because these "phantom charges" really add up.

Then I read about using most of your appliances mostly during off peak hours as there is a big price difference between peak time and off peak time. So, I looked up the prices for my electric company and here is what I found:

Peak Hours:

January 1—March 8: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
March 9—April 5: 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.*
April 6—October 25: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
October 26—November 1: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.*
November 2—December 31: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.


Distribution Charge
Peak Hours
Off-Peak Hours
6.525¢/kWh
0.419¢/kWh
Transmission Charge 1.256¢/kWh
Transition Charge
Peak Hours
Off-Peak Hours
0.703¢/kWh
0.059¢/kWh
Demand Side Management Charge 0.250¢/kWh
Renewables Charge 0.050¢/kWh

So, seems like it could make a real impact if I did laundry and such either early in the morning or late at night.

Going to give it a try.

Surviving An Economic Depression

Yes, I'm in a little bit of a panic.

I spent the past several hours reading about preparing for an Economic Depression. I know this may be a little premature, but let me tell you, do a google search for "preparing for economic depression" and you will get pages and pages. Many people think this is going to happen.

So, here is what I am thinking about doing to prepare:

1. Stop extra debt payments (as mentioned in my last post). Although many articles I read suggest paying off debts as quickly as possible, I am afraid of being cash strapped. (Of course, if the dollar loses all value, cash won't be worth anything anyway.)

2. Stock my pantry. When I began paying attention to my finances I started with stockpiling groceries. It is a great way to save on food and be prepared for the unexpected. As I have gotten busier I have not stockpiled as much. I plan to start now and fill my pantry with as many non perishables purchased at the lowest price possible. I am thinking: rice, flour, sugar, salt, oatmeal, pasta, tomato sauce, soap, shampoo, toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent.

3. Stock up on water. My husband will think I'm crazy but I'd feel better with 25 gallons of spring water in the garage. I'd also like to look into getting water purification tablets. Can't hurt.

4. Keep some cash in the house. I'm not talking about taking all my money out of the bank, but I think I would feel better if I had $1,000 to $2,000 in cash in the house.

I think those will be my first steps.

Do you think I'm crazy?

I Am Letting My Snowball Melt

So, it's been decided. I am no longer trying to pay off my debts (well, debt - only one left). No more debt snowball.

I know. It's radical.

No - I have not given up. I just see "storm clouds" on the horizon and I want to be prepared.

With the economy the way it is (in bad shape), there is a very real chance that my husband's commission could go down - waaay down. Now, they might not - but I want to be prepared. So, to be prepared, instead of making extra payments (snowball) to our debt, I will be putting that money in our savings account. If things get bad, we will have those funds to rely on. If they don't, we can take all the money we saved up and make a big payment to our debt.

We still owe $22,000. I wish we owed nothing but it is what it is. We will eventually get to "debt free" but right now we need to be prepared for the worst.

Fearing Tough Economic Times

I really have to stop watching the news. (Hard to do right now as my parents are still staying with us and have it on every morning.)

I have so much anxiety over the US Financial Crisis. The fact that the bailout didn't pass Congress yesterday has my stomach in knots.

I'm not even sure exactly what the effects of all this will be, but it all has me soooo nervous!

I so wish that we had all our debts paid off and had our 6 month Fully Funded Emergency Fund.

Oh well . . . coulda, woulda, shouda . . . - doesn't really help now.

I know that my family is in a much better financial position than we were a year and a half ago. But we still have a long way to go. We still owe $22,000 - and that is a lot of money.

We do have a lot in savings right now - $8,000 - but it is all earmarked for things. New heating system or windows ($5,000), DD's braces ($1,200), Sister's wedding ($4,000), plus low commission months. The way I have the yearly budget worked out right now, we will end the year (Dec. 2009) with $2,700 in savings. This would be for $1,000 emergency fund, and $1,700 (I prefer to always have $2,000) to cover for future low commission months.

So, on paper, this all works out.

What has me in a panic is the financial crisis. It could have a very real affect on my husband's commissions. They could possibly be 30-50% less than what we have budgeted. What will we do then?

I think that for my own peace of mind I need to do up a PLAN B BUDGET to plot out the worst case senario. I do have us snowballing a lot of money most months (though several months I had to go lower than the $1,100 that I would like to snowball, just to get the budget to "work").

Here is what I have planned to snowball each month:

Sep -$700
Oct - $1,100
Nov - $500
Dec - $500
Jan - $100
Feb - $100
Mar - $100
Apr - $1,100
May -$1,100
Jun - $500
Jul - $4,100
Aug - $1,100
Sep - $1,100
Oct - $1,100
Nov - $1,100
Dec - $1,100
TOTAL = $15,400

Now that I am looking at it, it's actually making me feel a little bit better. Originally I was very upset because we still owe $22,000 on our Home Equity Loan, and even with this payment schedule, we still won't have it paid off at the end of next year.

Now I am thinking that there may be some Storm Clouds coming - and maybe we need to stop our giant Debt Snowball temporarily, to see what happens with the economy and my husbands commissions (pay).

Our minimum payment on our HELOC is only about $100 a month. So, if we only paid that, we could put the rest into savings. That would be close to $14,000. That would make me feel A LOT better.

I hate to stop the debt payments, but I need to be able to sleep at night. If the storm clouds don't come, we can just take the large sum from savings and pay it directly to the HELOC. And if they come, at least we'll have an umbrella.

And there is also my jewelry business to consider. It has really been going quite well. I have been making close to $500 a month, getting busier each month. I have only budgeted $50 a month from my jewelry towards our family budget, but the fact is that I may be able to contribute more on that front.

Now that I think about it, maybe I can just use any "extra" jewelry money for the debt snowball. So, I would just pay the minimum payment, plus any extra jewelry money I can towards the debt. That way at least we would be paying something extra to the debts.

Well, I feel a little bit better now. :)

I'm Still Here

Wow. It's been over a week. The busy excuse just doesn't cut it.

A lot has been going on. Our current major decision is about heating our home this winter. We did set aside money to replace our heating system. We ear marked $5,000 for this and it was supposed to get done over the summer. We did some research and couldn't decide if we should replace with a new Oil system (forced hot water) like we have now - or with the outrageous price of oil, if we should do a Propane or Electric (new type) system to try to save on heating costs.

Then my husband started thinking that maybe we should replace our very old windows this year, and replace the heating system next year.

I just don't know.

With the economy the way it is, I am feeling very unsettled and am reluctant to spend the money we have set aside. I feel like we may need that money for food and the mortgage.

The financial institutions crisis may have a very real effect on my husband's commission. About 50% of his account base is made up of financial institutions (including AIG and Meryl Lynch). This could mean a very real drop in our income this year. My security gland is nervous!

Then there is my sisters wedding to consider. The plan is for her to have her wedding in Florida in April. This will require my family of 5 to fly down to Florida. This will be expensive. I am thinking around $4,000.

The way I have everything laid out in the budget, it might all work, assuming my husband's commission at a certain level.

So, we have a lot of decisions to make right now and it is causing some stress and arguing in my marriage. It doesn't help that my parents have been staying with us for over a month and my husband is tired of having company here.

So, even though I haven't been posting - finances have definitely been on my mind.

Hello!

Hi Everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been very busy with the jewelry business!

Check out my guest post on Craft Tutorials for a chance to win a free pendant!

(I start my Financial Peace University class tonight, so I'll keep you posted!)

Progress Report

Today:
Checking Account Balance: $2,808
Savings Account Balance: $8,294
Cash Envelopes (what's left for the Month):
- Grocery: $350
- Spending $: $178
- Parties: $50
- Dining Out: $20
- Auto Gas: $51
- Kid's Allowance: $40
- School Lunch: $40

So, one week into the month this is how things are looking. The balances in the cash envelopes seem pretty good. $350 left for groceries should work. Dining Out is the only category that is really low, but we need to cut back in this area. If we want to eat out we will need to use our weekly spending money.

The checking account balance looks okay. The savings account balance is the one I am worried about because of several large upcoming expenses on the horizon. I spent some time fiddling with the yearly budget - I actually finished a draft of our 2009 yearly budget. We are definitely going to have some tight months unless some commissions come in much higher than my husband anticipates. It looks like I will even have to lower our Debt Snowball payment on some of the months just to avoid dipping into our Baby Emergency Fund (I refuse to let that go below $1,000 - and really don't feel comfortable when it is below $3,000 - as I like a $2,000 cushion for low commission months). Anyway, our regular Debt Snowball payment is $1,100 per month. I really hate to pay less than that amount, but we may have to.

Of course, I could always bring in some extra money, which I certainly hope to, to augment the Debt Snowball. But I did actually put a $50 a month income from my jewelry sales into the budget just to make it work. I would rather it be "extra" for the Debt Snowball, but I'll have to make anything above $s50 be the "extra".

It is hard to figure out how much to take from my jewelry earnings account because I always need to have enough in there to run the business - purchase supplies, advertising, etc. So, I'll have to see how this goes.

I am really hoping that I make a lot of money at the Craft Fair I am going to on October 5th. I have been working really hard to prepare for it and I paid a lot for the booth ($145), and for the tent ($200) - so right off the bat, the first $345 will only begin to cover my expenses. So, I certainly hope I make at least that much! I am optimistic though.

Daily Progress Report

Today:

Checking Account Balance = $558
Savings Account Balance = $11,294

On Line Savings Account:
July 2008 Interest: $29.15
2008 YTD Interest: $141.65 (not bad!)
2007 Total Interest: $177.44

Well, it's nice to see that we are earning a little bit of interest. That makes me happy.

Our checking account balance is a bit low right now. This is a low (actually NO) commission month. I have transferred $3,000 from savings to checking (which is not yet reflected in the above numbers because it hasn't gone through yet) just to cover our regular monthly expenses. Yikes. At least we have finally learned to save from the high commission months so we have something for the low commission months.

I am getting a little worried though because we need to replace our heating system asap. Some of the quotes have been over $6,000. That will make our savings account dangerously low (around $2,000). With a $1,000 BEF that only leaves another $1,000 for upcoming low commission months and my daughter's braces.

More news is that my sister just got engaged! While I'm very excited for her, it looks like the wedding will be in Florida in March 2009. That will be expensive for the 5 of us to fly down and stay, and that's not a lot of time to save up.

I'm so happy that I've signed up for Financial Peace University again. It starts on 9/13. It will be great to have to spend 2 hours each week focusing on finances!

September 2008 Budget

Current Savings Total: $11,264
Current Checking Balance: $206

August Unpaid Expenses:
- Auto Gas: $50
- School Clothes: $200
- Kids Allowance: $36
- Visa: ?
- Cable: $181
- Oil: ?
- Piano:?
- Total: $467+

So, here it is the end of August. We only have $206 in our checking account right now and still have $467+ in unpaid expenses for August. Not the best way to start September. I need to find out about Visa, Oil, and Piano. Then I'll need to figure out where this money will come from.


September 2008 Budget

Expenses	September
AUTO-Excise Tax	$0
AUTO-Gas	$350
AUTO-Insurance	$138
AUTO-Maintenance	$25
CASH-Clothing	$100
CASH-Dining Out	$120
CASH-Gifts	$0
CASH-Grocery	$400
CASH-Kids Allowance	$50
CASH-Parties	$50
CASH-School Lunch	$36
CASH-Spending	$200
DEBT-Equity Loan	$2,500
DEBT-Visa	$0
HOME-Cable/Phone	$181
HOME-Electric	$190
HOME-Furnace	0
HOME-Mortgage	$2,328
HOME-Oil	$350
HOME-Trash	$65
KIDS-Bball	$335
KIDS-Misc.	$125
KIDS-Piano	$0
KIDS-Preschool	$0
MISC.	$0
PERSONAL-Cell Ph	$50
PERSONAL-Contacts	$0
PERSONAL-Life Ins.	$0
PERSONAL-Newspap	$8
PERSONAL-Rx	$0
PERSONAL-Braces	$100
PERSONAL-BR Sport	$0
PERSONAL-Vacation	$0
TRANSFER-To Sav 2	$0
TOTAL	$7,701
INCOME	September
1st Paycheck	$2,588
1st Commission	$500
15th Paycheck	$2,588
Church Pay	$100
Babysitting Pay	$0
Other	$0
Transfer from Savings	$2,000
TOTAL	$7,776
CASH FLOW	September
Beginning Balance	$0
'+ Income	$7,776
Subtotal	$7,776
'- Expenses	$7,701
Subtotal	$75
Save For Next Month	$75
Ending Balance	$0
SAVINGS FLOW	September
Beginning Balance	$11,264
'+ Transfer to Savings	$0
Subtotal	$11,264
'- Transfer from Savings	$2,000
Subtotal	$9,264
Ending Balance	$9,264

On Tuesday 9/2 I'll need to go to the bank and take out $1,056 to fund our cash envelopes. I really want to do September right!

Daily Progress Report

GENERAL

Currently the balance in our checking account is: $253.

I'm glad I checked. I thought it was more. This money will need to last us until my husband gets paid on 8/31/08 - so, 5 days. That might be tough. I am planning to take DD3 out back to school clothes shopping tonight. Looks like we'll need to find some good bargains.

I plan to spend today going through the clothes she already has to see what fits, and to go through the hand me down clothes that I saved from her sisters to see what might work. This should definitely supplement what we'll need to buy new.

DD3 really wants a new back pack like her sister got (which cost me $36). I'm a little torn because she has a perfectly good brand new Hello Kitty backpack that I think she got for Christmas (or maybe last Christmas) - but never used - because they didn't need them for preschool. But she says that now she doesn't like Hello Kitty. Hmmm.

Maybe I can let her pick out a new back pack and sell the Hello Kitty one on ebay. Should add a goal of selling one item a week on ebay.

JEWELRY BUSINESS

I have a ton of stuff to do to get ready for the Craft Festival I will be doing at the beginning of October.

I bought a (cheap) tent for the festival (required to have), but am now having second thoughts about it. Wondering if I should invest in a better quality tent that has side wall (removable). Currently I'll be in a lot of trouble if it rains and I have no sides. Also might be very hot and sunny without sides. Also, since the tents are all lined up side by side, your display looks a lot nicer if you have sides to separate you from your neighbors.

I find it very stressful trying to decide how much money to invest in my jewelry businesses. It's hard to know what will be a good investment and what won't.

I do have over $500 in my jewelry account. All my jewelry revenues go into this account and I try to make most of my supplies purchases from this account. (Not that I have a good bookkeeping system - I definitely don't!)

So, lot's to do and think about today.