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April 30, 2016 · Leave a Comment

April 2016 Budget

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Budget· Our Monthly Budget

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I was looking forward to our April 2016 budget after having a budget in March that, while we didn’t go negative, it did not go as we had planned for it in the beginning of the month.  This month was a nice breather month, and allowed us to get back to our typical budgeting.  I did spend quite a bit on food and fuel this month compared to previous months.  While reviewing how May went last year, I’m going to expect the same for next month simply because it’s the end of the school year and there’s a lot of things going on while things wrap up.  On top of that, May also means Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and a birthday.

april 2016 budget

Income

Salary: $3,757.43
March Debt Savings {& Accrued Interest}: $0
Total:   $3,757.43

Expenses

Mortgage:  $500

Cell Phone:   $44.73
When I was driving my sister home for a funeral last month, my phone had deactivated for some odd reason.  I still haven’t completely figured out why, but I’ve assumed it was because I rarely use it and the company will deactivate inactive accounts.  When I got home, I logged into my account to reactivate my number and they gave me a discount for a few months for being a returning customer.

Home Phone / Internet:  $74.08
I’m really starting to dislike this bill, and yet we’re stuck.  It’s variability each month is based solely on our Internet price, and I have no clue why.  Our landline is only $20 of this bill, and sine we have no cell service where we live, I need to keep our landline.  At the same time, I can’t understand why our Internet is varying in price {between $33 and $40} each month.  To add to the frustration, they are the only company that services our area, and their customer service, for lack of a better term, sucks.

Credit Card 1:   $452.75
The total payment on this card was $781.22.  After breaking down the purchases, $60 came from our gifting fund, $268.47 came from our savings designated for additional raised beds in our garden, and the remaining balance, shown above, is our reoccurring charges {Netflix, newspaper subscription, etc.} and also for items related to repairs for our chimney fire last month.

Credit Card 2:   $210
As with the first credit card, the total payment on this bill was $360.  The extra
$150 came from our debt payment for the month and went to paying all the travel expenses for when I had to travel home for a family emergency.

Student Loans:  $160

Car Payment:   $528.21
After paying nearly $800 on our car last month, we don’t have a payment due until the end of June since they’ve advanced the due date.

Electric:  $100.27

Insurance:   $246.77

Piano Lessons:  $0
Bookworm’s piano lessons are a generous gift from my mother-in-law.

Fun Money:    $80

Annual Savings Account:  $240
Every week I put aside money for non-monthly expenses that come up throughout the year.  You can read more about what I include in this savings and how I calculate how much to save up in my post about our Annual Savings Account.

Gifting Savings:   $200

Debt Savings:   $39.05
$8.06 of this savings this month was from rounding up the change from our purchases throughout the month.

Groceries:  $591.30

Household:  $14.25

Gas:  $74.87
Fuel expenses are a little more this month for three reasons.  Fuel prices have risen again in our area, I drove to town every day for two weeks straight, and we’re buying some more fuel for the lawn mower.

Miscellaneous:   $51.15
This month’s miscellaneous expenses consisted of rabbit food, charcoal for our grill, and sun hats for Lady Bug and I since I sunburn very easily and sunscreen doesn’t play well with my skin.

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makingcentsmatter

makingcentsmatter
Only you can determine what your financial goals a Only you can determine what your financial goals are. If that means you're adding money to your savings account, or contributing to your retirement, while you are paying off debt, then so be it!⁠
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Do what looks right for you and your personal finances.⁠
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The trick to meal planning is to make it predictab The trick to meal planning is to make it predictable. But predictable doesn't mean the same thing week to week. You could have a chicken meal, a soup meal, a pasta meal, a leftovers meal, a family favorite meal, and so on.⁠
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We always try to go with themed days, but some weeks are so hectic the theme is literally "fast". Thankfully that hasn't been the case lately.⁠
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I can only hear about my extended warranty I never I can only hear about my extended warranty I never purchased so many times. 😣⁠
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#makingcentsmatter #budgets #monthlyincome #debtfreecommunity #realbudget #savingmoney #payingoffdebt #savings #frugalliving #frugalblogging #budgeting #monthlyincome #zerobasedbudget #financialgoals #personalfinance #personalfinancetips #financialfreedom
March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠ .⁠ House: $51 March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠
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House: $511.13⁠
Citi: $0 – this has a residual $3 in interest charges since payoff, due in April⁠
D NelNet: $100⁠
K NelNet: $100⁠
K Chase: $600⁠
Explorer: $336.27⁠
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Total Paid in 2021: $8,258.84⁠
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Extra Payment: There isn’t one this month since we were $25 away from zeroing out the budget for our February 15th monthly paycheck. That $25, and monies left from our January 15th paycheck, covered our OOP costs for Hubs’ filling. We also have some savings goals coming up that need to be met, making our debt payments a little lower for the time begin.⁠
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#makingcentsmatter #debt #debtfreejourney #debtfreeprogress #debtfreecommunity #realbudget #savingmoney #payingoffdebt #savings #frugalliving #frugalblogging #budgeting #monthlyincome #zerobasedbudget #financialgoals #personalfinance #personalfinancetips #financialfreedom⁠
The battle for who can charge what tonight is abou The battle for who can charge what tonight is about to begin. 😬⁠
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My kids run off with my charger, plug it into one outlet 5 feet from where they found it like that particular outlet is the only one in this house, and then proceed to fight over who can charge their device first at night.⁠
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Then they get grumpy when it's their turn and it's not the proper input cable. #itwasmychargerfirst #dontlikeitgofindyourown⁠
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#parentingteens #parentingtweens #momlife #realife #budget #budgeting #savingmoney #cash #frugalblogger #frugalmom #financialgoals #personalfinancetips #personalfinance #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogress #makingcentsmatter
A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a bit in our February Budget Check-In about how much of this I think we'll owe, and you can check that out on my YouTube channel if you're interested, but I wanted to say here...⁠
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To the mother with little kids struggling to get your finances in order, it will get better. I wish I could have heard those words years ago.⁠
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Nearly 10 years ago we were facing a $1,400 out-of-pocket portion for A's Phase 1 orthodontic work (I looked it up after I uploaded the video... we had a $1,400 portion).⁠
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It was a lot of money for us at the time. Our kids were 6, 2, and 3 months old. I don't think we even had $500 in savings, and I just left a part-time teaching job because it wasn't paying the part-time daycare bill, so paying our portion in full was just a dream I didn't think was achievable.⁠
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I was even stressing about the monthly $100 payments. We were so strapped. It was our breaking moment to start cutting costs and budgeting more effectively. We've learned a lot in that time period.⁠
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What we've learned is that it does no good to stress about it all the time. Life happens. All you can do is try to plan ahead, and if it's something that's unplanned, readjust. It won't always be easy, especially at first, but it will be worth it.⁠
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Nearly 10 years later, we are still paying off our debts. Student loans suck. But I see this bill as a reminder of how far we have come. Seeing a bill like this doesn't stress me out like it used to, and I know we can easily create a plan that can get it done and out of the way.⁠
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Will it delay our debt-free date more? Yes. But it's not worth stressing over. Life happens, readjust, and continue on down the path. It's called a journey for a reason.⁠
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#wisdomteeth #personalfiannce #personalfinancetips #financialgoals #budgeting #budgets #savingsgoals #savings #cashbudget #zerobasedbudget #debtfreejourney #debtfreeprogress #adulting #lifehappens #realife #realbudget #makingcentsmatter
It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budget It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budgeting categories are working out for the pay month.⁠
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Food is looking good this far into our paycheck, probably because miscellaneous - which includes eating out - took a hit with unexpected purchases. Pet is low for this time of the month, and Household is spot on.⁠
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Fuel looks like it'll be lower than last month (yay for weeks of snow days & delayed school starts), and Therapy had one more appointment than initially planned.⁠
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Garden, Dental, Medical & Propane are not included in these estimates so far because those expenses are coming from sinking funds. Once we're done with the month and review the budget, I'll move over the total amount spent from those sinking funds.⁠
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How's your paycheck budget coming along?⁠
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#realbudget #monthlyincome #monthlybudget #budget #budgetupdate #budgeting #savingmoney #variablecategories #savingmoney #savings #debtfreecommunity #debtfreejourney #cash #financialgoals #personalfinancetips #personalfinance #frugalliving #frugalblogger #budgetblogger #makingcentsmatter
Automating your finances makes saving money and bu Automating your finances makes saving money and budgeting more convenient, and therefore easier on you. Out of sight, out of mind, right?⁠
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What's one thing you can automate this week to make your finances easier?⁠
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Me? I'm going to set up our sinking fund transfers to automate every payday (the 15th of every month). Our bank set up a feature on their app where we can schedule savings transfers now, and I'm going to take advantage of it!⁠
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#personalfinance #personalfinancetips #budgeting #budgettips #personalfinancemadeeasy #savingmoney #savings #sinkingfunds #cash #frugalblogger #frugalmom #frugalliving #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogess #financialfreedom #makingcentsmatter
Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone a smidgen overboard this month!⁠
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I foresee a goal for March's paycheck to at out less than twice. That's where this category went awry. $99.16 of it went to eating out. 😑 Some of it was avoidable, but not all of it. Having to drive to multiple appointments in one day during snow squalls and rearranging our whole day was one of those unavoidable instances.⁠
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Tracking our expenses - much like a budget review - is vital to sticking to your budget!⁠
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#makingcentsmatter #debt #debtfreejourney #debtfreeprogress #debtfreecommunity #realbudget #budgetcategories #monthlyincome #savingmoney #savings #frugalliving #frugalblogging #budgeting #zerobasedbudget #financialgoals #personalfinance #personalfinancetips #financialfreedom #expensetracking #budgetfail
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