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.

My New Financial Goals

I have spent the last few days analyzing the financial mistakes I have made over the last few months and coming up with ways to avoid making these mistakes again.

Here is a summary of:

My New Financial Goals

1.- become more aware of dangerous financial situations (i.e. being with sisters)
2.- plan ahead better (especially for next trip to Florida)
3.- start an exercise and diet routine (feeling better will decrease urge to spend)
4.- become better at budgeting
5.- start next year's budget now (and include this years unexpected expenses)
6.- re-take the Financial Peace University class (already signed up - yeay!)
7.- commit to focusing on finances at least once a day
8.- make debt payments at the beginning of each month


To keep these goals in the forefront of my mind, I am adding this list to the sidebar of my blog!

Make A Plan To Avoid These Mistakes In The Future

Because I have been off track with our finances lately, I have decided to 1.) admit my mistakes, 2.) forgive myself for my mistakes, and 3.) make a plan to avoid these mistakes in the future.

#1 and #2 were discussed in previous posts.

Here is #3, my plans to avoid the mistakes in the future.

Mistake #1 - I USED MY CREDIT CARD

Plan #1 To Avoid This Mistake in the Future (using credit card)

- One of the first things I used my credit card to purchase was clothes for myself for a trip with my sisters to visit my parents.

The first possible solution is just to become more aware; to realize that being with my sisters and mother can be dangerous for me. They are shoppers and spenders and I am likely to lean toward those behaviors when I am with them.

Another possible solution is to plan ahead better for our next trip to Florida. I had entirely too many clothes for this trip. Much more than I needed. Next year, I need to plan out a wardrobe well inadvance of the trip. I can plan (budget for) some new pieces to work with some old pieces and keep the budget down while still feeling good about my clothes. In addition, I will be returning several articles of clothing that I didn't wear and now feel that I don't need. This should come to at least $60.00.

Another possible solution is for me to start a diet and exercise routine. My youngest daughter will be starting kindergarten this year, so I will have 5 mornings a week without any children. This could be a good time for me to plan to lose some weight, which will make me feel better about my appearance. The things to be careful about with this will be to not spend a lot of extra money for the diet/exersize, and not to spend a lot of money on a new wardrobe in a smaller size. At the very least, figure out how much extra money might be needed for these things and budget for them!

Plan #2 To Avoid This Mistake In the Future (using credit card)

- The next thing I used my credit card for was to pay the vet bill for my cat.

The first solution for this mistake is to become better at budgeting. I had known that the cat would need this appointment for 6 months, so this expense should have been thought of and budgeted for.

One way to implement this change is to start next year's budget now. This way, as any unexpected expenses come up this year, I can budget for them for next year. Less surprised means a more successful budget.

- The last thing I used my credit card to purchase was back to school items for my kids.

Like the cat's vet bill, this mistake was caused partly because of poor planning. I did not budget sufficiently for these expenses. As noted about, the solutions will be to become better at budgeting and to start next year's budget now, increasing the amount budgeted for back to school items.

MISTAKE #2 - I DIDN'T PAY ATTENTION TO OUR FINANCES

Plan #1 To Avoid This Mistake In The Future

Clearly I need to pay more attention to our finances. My first plan to achieve this goal is to re-take the Financial Peace University class. I have already signed up. The class starts on September 18th and I am very excited. This will force me to spend at least an hour and a half each week focusing on our finances.

My next plan is to make a commitment to focus on finances at least once a day. Blogging, reading blogs, going on financial forums, checking our account balances - do at least one of these things every day.

MISTAKE #3 - I DIDN'T PAY AS MUCH TO OUR DEBTS AS I HAD PLANNED

Plan #1 To Avoid This Mistake In The Future

To make sure we pay what we plan to our debts I am going to make our debt payments at the beginning of the month. This way we will be sure the debts get their full amount. If we run short near the end of the month it will have to come out of another category.

MISTAKE #4 - I DIDN'T SAVE AS MUCH AS I HAD PLANNED

Plan #1 To Avoid This Mistake In The Future

I think a combination of better budgeting and focusing on our finances will help me avoid this mistake in the future.

***

These are some great plans. Wish me luck in sticking to them!

Forgiving Myself (for my financial mistakes)

In My Plan To Get Back On The Right Financial Track, I have decided to
1. Admit My Mistakes
2. Forgive Myself
3. Learn From My Mistakes

Here is a list of the mistakes I listed previously and why I will forgive myself for each one.

*********

Mistake #1 - I Used My Credit Cards

Why I Will Forgive Myself for Mistake #1

- When I look at the things I used my credit card to purchase I realize that the first several charges were for clothes for me for my trip to Florida with my sisters to visit my parents.

I had gone with my sisters to visit my parents last year and had not bought myself new clothes - and this was a problem for me last year. Every day my sisters and mother all got dressed up in trendy stylish clothes and all I had were old boring clothes. I felt frumpy and dumpy. This year I was determined to have new clothes that I felt good in. (To make matters worse, I am the most overweight of my family. Having new clothes that I felt good in helped me feel better about my body.) Given these circumstances, I can understand why I bought the new clothes and I can forgive myself for it.

- The next large purchase that I paid with the credit card was $440 to pay for a vet bill for my cat (for a cardiac workup). When we first got the cat we found out that she had a serious heart problem. We were told to give her some medication twice a day, which we do, and to follow up with another exam and cardiac work up in 4 to 6 months. (The real mistake here was in not budgeting better for this.)

I love my cat and can understand why I did this and can forgive myself for it.

- The other things I purchased with the credit card were mostly back to school items and clothing for my kids. (The real mistake here was in not budgeting properly for this and also just not knowing how much we had in our account and resorting to using the credit card because of this lack of knowledge.)

I can understand why I did this and can forgive myself for it.

****

Mistake #2 - I Didn't Pay Attention To Our Finances

Why I Will Forgive Myself For Mistake #2

Over the past few months I have opened two shops on Etsy and also opened a store on Ebay and also landed a wholesale account at a brick & mortar gift shop.

I also signed up (and paid $145) to have a booth at our local Harvest Festival in October.

These things have taken up a lot of my time. I used to focus 100% on getting out of debt. Now these things fight for my attention.

I definitely have not given our finances the attention that they need lately, and I will do better, but I can understand how it happened and can forgive myself for it.

***

Mistake #3 - I Did Not Pay As Much To Our Debts As I Had Planned

Why I Will Forgive Myself For Mistake #3

I think this one goes hand in hand with the first two. We didn't pay as much to our debts both because some of the money had to be used to pay off new credit card charges and also a general lack of attention to finances meant that we weren't sticking stickly to the budget. At the end of the month we just didn't have as much money available to pay to the debt as we should have.

I can understand how this happened and can forgive myself for it.

****

Mistake #4 - I Did Not Save As Much As I Had Planned

Why I Will Forgive Myself For Mistake #4

The obvious reason that we didn't save as much as we had planned is because we were overspending. When you spend more than you have budgeted, the money needs to come from somewhere, and savings is one place the money came from. Even having money in savings is new for us. We are not used to having several thousands of dollars sitting in an account.

I can understand how having this "extra money" can be tempting and I can forgive myself for dipping into it.

****

The real test will be to learn from these mistakes!

Coming Clean (Admitting My Mistakes) - Part III

(Continued from my last 2 posts. #1-#3 explained earlier.)

1. I Used Our Credit Card

2. I Didn't Pay Attention To Our Finances

3. I Didn't Pay As Much As Planned To Our Debts (Debt Snowball)

4. I Didn't Save As Much As Planned

We are following Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps to Financial Freedom. We are currently in Baby Step 2, Paying off our Debts. While in this step the focus is paying off debt not saving money. But we still have some savings goals. In addition to Dave's recommended $1,000 Baby Emergency Fund, we also have budgeted for saving some money for future expenses to account for my husband's irregular salary (commissions vary greatly from month to month, so we like to save some money from high commission months to cover our regular expenses for the low commission months). We also save to pay for DD1's braces and for major expenses like the new heating system we will need to purchase this summer.

Anyway, that is why we have budgeted for savings while we are focused on paying off debt.

Here is a look at how much we budgeted for each month: (keep in mind that the amounts are the totals we planned to have in the savings account at the end of each month, NOT the amount we would put into savings each month)

TOTAL SAVINGS (Budget/Actual)

Jul - $12,264/$11,264
Jun - $10,642
May - $10,642
Apr - $3,342
Mar - $3,542
Feb - $1,000
Jan - $1,000

What it comes down to is that we have $1,000 less in our savings account than we had planned. :(

Coming Clean (Admitting My Mistakes) - Part II

Continued from my last post. (See explanations of #1 and #2 in last post.)

1. I Used Our Credit Card

2. I Didn't Pay Attention To Our Finances

3. I Didn't Pay As Much As Planned To Our Debts (Debt Snowball)

When I examined this category further I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn't done as badly as I first thought.

At first glance, I looked at how much we had paid to our HEL (Home Equity Line of Credit) and I saw that we had not paid more than $200 for most months. This had put me in a big panic because I knew that our target snowball payment for debts has always been at least $1,100 for every month. I was shocked to think we had been underpaying by about $900 every month. I thought to myself "how can I even admit this?". Then I remembered that we only recently paid off our last credit card. Before that we were supposed to only pay $200 to the HEL and the other $900+ was to the credit card. This made me feel MUCH better.

Then I actually added up all the figures (see below). What I found out (to my happy surprise) is that we actually paid more than we had planned to debt for every month except June. And even with the June shortfall (that I tried to make up for in July) - when you add all the debt payments for the year, we ended up paying $975 more than we had budgeted for.

Now, as outlined in #1, we did make some unplanned charges, but overall I am happy that at least in this category we didn't do too badly.

ACTUAL DEBT PAYMENTS
Aug - $1,272 CC + $120 HEL = $1,392
July - $4,000 HEL + $120 HEL = $4,120
June - $26 CC = $26
May - $362 CC + $200 HEL + $10 CC + $6 CC + $79 CC + $10 CC = $667
Apr - $1,889 CC + $200 HEL + $109 CC = $2,198
Mar - $22 CC + $159 CC + $38 CC + $53 CC + $900 CC + $200 HEL = $1,372
Feb - $402 CC + $500 CC + $160 CC + $200 HEL = $1,262
Jan - $200 HEL + $907 CC + $72 CC + $200 CC + $190 CC = $1,569

BUDGET/ACTUAL COMPARISON (Debt Payments)
July - $2,850/$4,120 = + $1,270
June - $1,800/$26 = - $1,774
May - $200/$667 = + $467
Apr - $2,089/$2,198 = + $109
Mar - $1,100/$1,372 = + $272
Feb - $1,100/$1,262 = + $162
Jan - $1,100/$1,569 = + $469
Overall = + $975

Coming Clean (Admitting My Mistakes) - Part I

Okay. Step Number 1 in getting back on track financially is to come clean and admit my mistakes. So, here goes:


1. I Used Our Credit Card
A couple of months ago we had finally paid off all of our credit cards, leaving only our (rather large) Home Equity Line of Credit (HELLoc) as our last debt, with a balance of $22,000. Then I somehow wandered off the financial path.

Here's how much I charged to our credit card over the past month or so (after it was at a zero balance). Drum roll please . . .

$1,481.00

Okay. I said it. That wasn't too hard. (Well, actually, it was!)

What wasn't too hard was charging that much once I got started.

Here's a breakdown of what I bought:

FL Clothes 07/27 WAL-MART 93.34
FL Clothes 07/27 CATHERINES 14.99
FL Clothes 07/27 FASHION BUG 193.34
FL Clothes 07/28 TARGET 60.49
FL Clothes 07/30 SAVAS' HALLMARK 50.40
Cat Doctor 08/07 MSPCA 440.28
School Sup 08/10 STAPLES 37.79
Jewel Biz 08/10 AC MOORE 28.74
Misc. 08/11 TARGET 144.89
Dining Out 08/12 BUGABOO CREEK 22.29
Schl Cloth 08/12 VARIED 150.00
Groceries 08/14 Mkt Bskt 200.00
Subtotal of Activity $1,481.00


2. I Didn't Pay Attention To Our Finances
The first day I used my credit card it was to purchase new clothes for myself for a trip I was taking. At that time I didn't know how much money we had in our checking account. Because of not knowing how much money I had available, I found it necessary to resort to using a credit card for the purchases. I had fallen into a pattern of NOT paying attention to our finances.

The same can be said of most of the above purchases. Either I didn't know how much money we had in our account so used the credit card to avoid having our account become overdrawn, or I knew we didn't have enough money in the account. All of the above expenses, were, after all, NOT budgeted for.

When we first started on our Journey to Financial Peace in February 2007 I checked our checking account balance every day. I also tracked all money that came into and out of our house. I had a detailed budget. I funded our cash envelopes every month. I read the Carnival of Personal Finance. I ready many PF blogs.

Basically, over the past several weeks, I have failed to pay enough attention to our finances.


3. I Didn't Pay As Much As Planned To Our Debts (Debt Snowball)

This one is a doozie. I just started digging into it and I am shocked and depressed. I'll give all the details in my next post. :(

How I Plan To Get Back On Track Financially

The last few months have not been the best for my family in terms of sticking to a budget, using cash envelopes, throwing extra money to our debt snowball, and not using credit cards.

If you've been reading my blog you know that we started our "Journey To Financial Peace" in February 2007 when we discovered Dave Ramsey and discovered that we were $44,000 in debt, not including our home mortgage. Since then we have paid off more than $22,000. At one point we thought we might be able to be debt free by the end of this year - but due to some bad financial planning and decision making during the past few months, this now seems unlikely.

Here's how I plan to get back on track:

- Come Clean (Admit My Mistakes)
The first thing I am going to do is to figure out just how badly I screwed up. This means making a list of all the mistakes I've made. This means figuring out exactly how much we charged to our credit card, how much less we actually saved compared to how much we planned to save, and how much less we paid to our debts (snowballed) than we had planned. It won't be fun and it won't be pretty, but it is the first step to getting back on track.

- Forgive Myself
Life happens and things don't always go as planned. Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to admit them, learn from them, and move pasts them.

- Examine Each Mistake & Make A Plan To Avoid It In The Future
Next I am going to go down the list and examine each financial mistake that I've made. I'm going to think about why it happened. And I'm going to come up with a plan to keep it from happening again in the future.

I think the effort invested in following these steps will be like money in the bank. Wish me luck!

Here is an update of the money I have spent so far in August. I added these amounts to the amounts I previously posted last week, so the totals are up to date as of today.

Below each category I gave some explanations of the spending.


AUTO GAS 08/12/08 HESS -$30.33
AUTO GAS 08/07/08 HESS -$38.04
AUTO GAS 08/11/08 EASTON AUTO SE -$57.05
subtotal: $125.42 + previous: $49.50 = $174.92
total budget amount: $350
(*Doing fine in this category.)

CASH CLOTHING 08/11/08 DOLLAR TREE -$7.30
CASH CLOTHING 08/11/08 DOLLAR TREE -$16.80
CASH CLOTHING 08/11/08 WAL-MART -$63.59
CASH CLOTHING 08/09/08 CVS -$17.64
(note: school supplies)
subtotal: $105.33 + previous: $0 = $105.33
total budget amount: $100
(*Have already gone over budget by $5.33. This category was underfunded for some reason. I'm not sure how I thought I could do the back to school clothing and supplies shopping for 3 kids for $100. I will need to adjust this budget amount for next year's budget.)

CASH GROCERY 08/11/08 ROCHE BROS -$40.03
CASH GROCERY 08/11/08 WALGREEN -$7.35
CASH GROCERY 08/09/08 PRICERITE -$78.57
subtotal: $125.90 + previous: $101.13 = $227.03
budget: $400
(*I am a little over half of my budget in this category with a little more than half the month left. I'm a little worried because my parents will be coming in a few days to stay with us for a month and that could mean trouble for the grocery budget if I'm not very careful.)

CASH SPENDING 08/11/08 REDBOX DVD 012 -$6.30
CASH SPENDING 08/11/08 PURCHASE ON JE -$5.00
CASH SPENDING 08/11/08 ATM Withdrawal-$40.00
CASH SPENDING 08/08/08 PURCHASE ON JE -$5.00
CASH SPENDING 08/08/08 PURCHASE ON JE -$5.00
subtotal: $61.30 + previous: $100 = $161.30
budget: $200
(*Under in this category so far, but I'm still worried. Didn't take out the cash I was supposed to at the beginning of the month, so we have been using the debit. Need to study budget and take out the cash for what we have left to spend for the month.)

DINING OUT 08/11/08 CHATEAU NORTON -$67.55
DINING OUT 08/08/08 BURGER KING -$11.20
subtotal: $78.75 + previous: $122.17 = $200.92
budget: $120
(*This has been a difficult category for us lately. We need to cut back as we are already over budget by more than $80 and the month is only almost half over!)

JEWELRY BIZ 08/13/08 - USPS-$29.74
JEWELRY BIZ 08/07/08 ETSY.COM-$19.38
JEWLERY BIZ 08/07/08 ETSY.COM -$1.56
subtotal: $50.68 + previous: $0 = $50.68
budget: $0
(* I don't even have a budget category for this. I usually try to make all of my purchases for my jewelry businesses through my paypal account, which is where my profits from these businesses also collect. Sometimes I can't use paypal though, so I need to give a little thought as to how to handle this.)

PERSONAL/BRACES 08/08/08 Check # -$200.00
subtotal: $200.00 + previous: $0 = $200
budget: $100
(* Over budget by $100 this month but that is because we missed our appointment last month so had to pay for both. The end price is the same, so not really a big deal.)


Overall, things aren't looking too badly. The secret reason behind this, though, is that I have used a credit card for a few purchases. This was fueled by a vet appointment for our cat. The bill ended up being $440!! (The cat has a heart problem, and they did a full cardiac work up.) I hadn't planned on this expense, though in hind sight - I really should have been able to predict this.) At the time I was afraid we didn't have that much cash in our checking account so I used a credit card (that had a zero balance) to pay for this to be sure we didn't overdraw our checking account.

Then I got a little lazy. Our checking account has gotten low and I think I'll need to transfer over some money from savings. But I haven't done this yet. And I took DD2 shopping for school clothes last night and put all the charges on the credit card.

I will transfer the money from savings, get the total credit card balance, and pay the balance in full on line. But, I'm all too aware of what a slippery slope this can be . . .

Paying For Convenience

I just got back from a long weekend trip with my 3 sisters (to visit my parents). I had a great time. I also witnessed some of the interesting financial decisions of one of my sisters.

Sister #2 had more travel sized items than most local drug stores! Seriously. It was unbelievable. She had Mini Tide To Go Pen, Mini Downy Wrinkle Release, Mini Hairspray, Mini Shaving Cream, and lots more (that I can't think of right now). Just imagining how much these mini name brand items probably cost made me dizzy.

The same sister also had every kind of medicine imaginable. She had several options for an upset stomach, headache, bug bite, etc.

She also had the fancy aerosol spray sun block that I refuse to buy because of the outrageous price.

None of these things surprised me. She is a name brand shopper of pretty much everything. She likes the nicest (most expensive) toilet paper and paper towels. She uses the expensive name brand liquid laundry detergent. She buys name brand pain relievers and medicines. (She probably gets most of this from my mother, who is also very (name) brand loyal.) She buys individually wrapped snacks for her kids. She laughed at me when I said that baby wipes were a luxury not a necessity (once my kids were out of diapers).

She also bought several snacks at the airport to bring on the plane, including a bottle of water that cost $3.99. (I told her that I would have to be on the verge of dehydration in the desert to pay that much for water!) I'm sure the snacks were pricey too - flavored hummus and crackers (very yummy) and a few kinds of candies. I waited for my complimentary beverage and snack on board. (Okay, I tried a little of her crackers and dip.)

I know my sister well, so none of these things were surprising to me. What was a little surprising was how much value she placed on convenience. We were discussing vegetables and she was saying how she really liked these vegetables that come in a pouch that you can steam in your microwave in 20 seconds (carrots, I think). I say "oh". And told her that she knows I won't pay extra when I can buy a giant bag of regular ones for much less. Then she played the "convenience card" - saying that because she works (teacher), she doesn't have a lot of time for meal prep, and that it was worth a lot to her to be able to have those carrots ready in 20 seconds. I said "oh" (again), and just had to add that it really doesn't take very long to boil frozen vegetables. She said "yes it does". And I said "no it doesn't". (Yes, we were acting somewhat like 2 year olds!) Anyway, she either had a hard time believing that you can really boil frozen carrots in 4 minutes, or felt that saving 3 minutes and 40 seconds of time was worth a lot of money.

Anyway, it is clear that Sister #2 and I will probably never agree on finances. (And no, she is not financially well off, and does complain about a lack of money.)

I have a lot of room for improvement, but overpaying for convenience has not been one of my problems. :)

August 2008 Spending (so far)

Here's my attempt to get back on track - and start tracking my spending again. Clearly this month is not off to a great start, but just the act of writing down and tracking our spending should help a lot.

Tomorrow I plan to go to the bank to withdraw the cash to fund our cash envelopes for the rest of the month.

And, I read most of this week's Carnival of Personal Finance. That was certainly inspiring!

So, looks like things are starting to get back on track!


AUGUST 2008 SPENDING (as of 8/6/08)

AUTO GAS 08/05/08 SHELL Service-$20.02
AUTO GAS 08/01/08 EXXONMOBIL -$29.50
BUDGET TOTAL: $350
ACTUAL SUBTOTAL $49.50

CASH GROCERY 08/05/08 PRICERITE -$52.70
CASH GROCERY 08/02/08 CVS -$12.40
CASH GROCERY 08/01/08 CVS -$5.00
CASH GROCERY 08/01/08 HANNAFORD #0382 25 R -$31.03
BUDGET TOTAL: $400.00
ACTUAL SUBTOTAL $101.13

CASH SPEND MONEY 08/01/20 ATM Withdrawal -$100.00
BUDGET TOTAL: $200.00
ACTUAL SUBTOTAL $100.00

DINING OUT 08/06/08 Plant Depot-$20.40
DINING OUT 08/04/08 QDOBA 365 -$21.68
DINING OUT 08/04/08 MCDONALD'S F14536 71 -$15.81
DINING OUT 08/01/08 VISA DEBIT STARBUCKS USA -$4.73
BUDGET TOTAL: $120.00
ACTUAL SUBTOTAL $122.17

HOME MORTGAGE 08/04/2008 CitiMortgage. Ba -$2,328.77
BUDGET TOTAL: $2,328.00
ACTUAL SUBTOTAL $2,328.77

MISC 08/04/2008 NATIONAL EQUIP -$20.00
MISC 08/04/08 SIDELI - $79.95
BUDGET TOTAL: $0
ACTUAL SUBTOTAL $99.95

VACATION 08/05/08 Check #3754 -$122.00
VACATION 08/04/08 ALL THAT GLITZ -$59.36
VACATION 08/04/08 BROCKTONROXPRO -$26.00
VACATION 08/04/08 TARGET FT MYER -$29.66
BUDGET TOTAL: $0
ACTUAL SUBTOTAL $237.02

August 2008 Budget

August 2008 Expenses

AUTO-Excise Tax	$0
AUTO-Gas	$350
AUTO-Insurance	$138
AUTO-Maintenance	$0
CASH-Clothing	$100
CASH-Dining Out	$120
CASH-Gifts	$20
CASH-Grocery	$400
CASH-Kids Allowance	$50
CASH-Parties	$100
CASH-School Lunch	$0
CASH-Spending	$160
DEBT-Equity Loan	$2,850
DEBT-Visa	$0
HOME-Cable/Phone	$181
HOME-Electric	$220
HOME-Furnace	$5,000
HOME-Mortgage	$2,328
HOME-Oil	$0
HOME-Trash	$0
KIDS-Bball	$0
KIDS-Misc.	$0
KIDS-Piano	$264
KIDS-Preschool	$0
MISC.	$0
PERSONAL-Cell Ph	$0
PERSONAL-Contacts	$99
PERSONAL-Life Ins.	$0
PERSONAL-Newspap	$8
PERSONAL-Rx	$10
PERSONAL-Braces	$100
PERSONAL-BR Sport	$0
PERSONAL-Vacation	$0
TRANSFER-To Sav 2	$0
TOTAL	$12,498
INCOME	August
1st Paycheck	$2,588
1st Commission	$0
15th Paycheck	$2,588
Church Pay	$100
Babysitting Pay	$0
Other	$0
Transfer frm Savings	$7,500
TOTAL	$12,776
CASH FLOW	August
Beginning Balance	$0
'+ Income	$12,776
Subtotal	$12,776
'- Expenses	$12,498
Subtotal	$278
Save For Next Month	$278
Ending Balance	$0
SAVINGS FLOW	August
Beginning Balance	$17,742
'+ Transfer to Savings	$0
Subtotal	$17,742
'- Transfer fr Savings	$7,500
Subtotal	$10,242
Ending Balance	$10,242

August Budget?

It is August 4th - and we haven't completed our August budget yet! (yikes)

I'm back from vacation (had a GREAT time!) - and have a lot to do to get back on track.

I'll keep you posted! (And plan to catch up on all my PF blog reading!) :)