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 . . .