At the beginning of the month when I set up our budget I had two goals in mind: 1} setting money aside to pay off Bookworm’s trumpet, and 2} continue attacking my smaller student loan with what’s remaining so it’s paid off soon. I don’t know where my mind was at the beginning of the month when we set up our budget, but those have to be the only two things that went as planned. I’m going to blame too much holiday happenings. Our budget didn’t flop for the month, but it was certainly different than what I had outlined earlier in the month. So how far off were we? Here’s how it went…
Income
Hubs: $3,660.70
December Debt Savings: $172.59
December ATM Rebate: $0
Total: $3,833.29
Expenses
Mortgage: $500 $500
Cell Phone: $52 $50.11
Home Phone / Internet: $64 $62.95
Credit Card 1: $128.65 $271.24
We are done paying off debt with this card. We currently use the card for some reoccurring monthly bills such as Netflix, weekend Newspaper subscription, and so on. The higher amount is based on Christmas gifts Hubs used his card for online purchases with after his due date and before Christmas came.
Credit Card 2: $206 $206
Kohl’s: $0.00 $78.38
I have no idea how I forgot about the clothing Bookworm needed for his concert. Well, I do. I used my Kohl’s card in order to get the $5 Yes Rewards and the 20% off, and forgot to bring a check to pay it off immediately. And then forgot about it with the holidays. Yes, I’m human and forget things. Anyways, done and paid.
Student Loans: $328.51 $210
Car Payment: $264.80 $264.80
Electric: $145 $111.12
Insurance: $244.26 $243.84
Band Instrument Rental: $39.22 $39.22
Savings For Instrument Pay-off: $600 $600
I’ll talk more about why we decided to do this and how much it cost us in a future post.
Piano Lessons: $0
Bookworm’s piano lessons are a generous gift from my mother-in-law.
Fun Money: $80 $80
Annual Savings Account: $240 $240
Cash Flow Savings: $160 $160
Debt Snowball Savings: $80 $117.24
Remainder
After all our savings and expenses for the month, I was left with roughly $598 for groceries, gas, and other expenses for the month. While working through a no-spend month in terms of our miscellaneous purchases helped {aside from home canned goods, and single ingredients such as flour, rice, beans and popcorn} I don’t have much of a stockpile for food. I would, however, like to try a no spend month again for groceries this summer.
Groceries: $486.91
Gas: $91.71
This is more gas than I usually use within a month. I filled my tank up at the beginning of the month, and twice towards the end. When winter storm Jonas hit the east coast {on the weekend after Hubs’ birthday}, we were just above the fine line of no snow to buried deep. Since Hubs’ parents like to treat the family to a dinner out, we drove northwards into NYS for dinner, rather than into deep snow.
So I had put aside more in December for our January debt payment than I had thought because Hubs had a 5th paycheck in December. I was able to get Bookworm’s trumpet paid off, but I didn’t hack away further at the smaller student loan. I entirely forgot about the remaining items for Bookworm’s concert and recital on my Kohl’s card. I’m blaming holiday hangover. We rolled with it this month without stress, and are prepared for next month.
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