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February 20, 2017 · Leave a Comment

January 2017 Budget & Debt Update

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Click here to read my disclosure policy.

Budget· Debt Free· Our Journey· Our Monthly Budget

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It’s been a while since I’ve gotten on here and updated you all, and for that I’m sorry.  January came and went, and we had gotten back to our normalcy.  I was even able to get in here and get a bunch of drafts started to post throughout February.  Then someone, no idea who, brought home some more germs with Hubs and I being down for the count, and the return of strep to this household.

January 2017 Budget Debt Update

I’m glad to say we’re up and at ’em again.  Kind of.  Their school bus schedule is even back to it’s normal 6:50 time now with the opening of temporary bridges after the flooding we had in October.  While our shortest route to town is still the long way around, they’re at least back to a somewhat normal schedule again.  You would not believe how much a 30 minute delay in pick-up time can throw off a schedule!

Anyways… January 2017 brought lots of changes to our budget.  The biggest change was our take home income decreasing.  But the great news is that after making an extra payment on our second credit card last month, we weren’t limited to forecasting how much I can pay on the card by the due date, and then end up being wrong at the end of the month.

Since I was not dependent on a due date, I waited until all of our income for the month was in, our bills were paid and our weekly savings and spending was done.  I then went through and reconciled the account and saw what we had left over for the month that hadn’t been allocated.  That’s the amount that I used as our snowball payment for the month.  And honestly, I enjoyed it.  There was a lot less anxiety involved in the end.  {And since this is a new way we’re budgeting, one of the posts I’m currently working on is a step by step explanation of how we’re now budgeting.}

So that got me thinking.  When our smaller remaining student loan is on the chopping block, I think I’ll use the same method.  The due date on this loan is currently advanced 3 months out, but I keep paying on it each month.  I keep paying because the entire payment is going to interest, and sadly, it’s not combating all the interest that is accumulating.  It’s close, but not even.  The very dark side of student loans.  And debt in general.  It’s like a legitimate, in repayment kind of forbearance.  And I refuse to make that same mistake again.

So if I leave this due date as advanced, I can make the snowball payment at the end of the month after reconciling the month’s budget.  I won’t be limited to a payment due date at all.  Using this method may eliminate the need to have a 1 month income saved up for the time being.  Now while we will still be saving up a 1 month income, it may be possible to not need it right away.  That would be awesome.

All that being said… how did we do for the month?  We ended up paying off $1,884.41 in debt this month.  Not bad with our reduced income, and it’s really close to my $1,900 debt paid per month goal!

Credit Card 2:   $1,219.41
Student Loans:  $165
Mortgage:  $500

So to break it down even further, here’s how our January budget went.

Income

Salary: $3,689.69
This is our take home income for this month.

Monthly Expenses

Mortgage**:  $500

Cell Phone:   $47.42

Home Phone / Internet:  $75.30

Credit Card 1:   $79.69
The payments on this are reoccurring bills whose payments are made online that we don’t feel safe enough leaving our bank information in their account records.

Credit Card 2**:   $1,219.41
This month we were able to pay a lot more on this credit card than we had been throughout the summer and it felt really good!

Student Loans**:  $165

Electric:  $99.37
Cooler weather has arrived, and it’s showing in our electric bill!  It’s on the decline, and it’ll continue to do so as we fire up the wood stove for the winter.

Insurance:   $241.52
Our insurance payment includes our car, house, and life insurance policies.

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

Newspaper Subscription:  $13.45
Our monthly, weekend only subscription.

 

Savings

Each month I put an allotted amount of money into our savings accounts to pay for expenses that vary throughout the year.  This is a breakdown of what we put away in the account throughout the month, as well as any expenses through the month that came from that account.

Annual Savings Account:  $360
Every week I put money aside into this account, and on months with an extra paycheck, I put even more into this account.  Some months we don’t use anything that I put aside, other months we use a lot.  To read more on how much we try to put aside and what we use it for, you can check out this post.

Clothing: $29.98

Gifting Savings:   $240
I also add money to our gifting account each week.  It helps us to stay on budget each month and still have funds available for when birthdays and holidays come up.

Birthday: $71.63
Our family has two January birthdays.  This month we also had a birthday party with family.

Additional Expenses

Groceries:  $475.66
You can see what was on our meal plan for the month here.

Fuel:  $69.48
With holidays and sports over, our fuel bill is back to a reasonable amount for the month.

Eat Out: $28.70
This is split between two instances: $15.90 dinner out with Hubs earlier in the month; $12.80 with LadyBug at the end of the month.

Household: $30.81
This was spent on contact solution, ziploc bags, and trash bags.

Pre-K: $8.98
Lady Bug and I stopped at Michael’s for some supplies for a preschool craft.

Band: $9.49
Bookworm needed the second trumpet book for band this month.

Home Repair: $27.41
After replacing the light in our bedroom, we installed a second light switch and patched the wall.

 

January 2017 Budget Debt Update

Overall, I think we did really well for January considering we started the month with a few unknowns on how our income would be changing.  I’m hoping that with the new changes in our budgeting technique as well, we can continue to smash our debt one account at a time.

January 2017 Budget Debt Update

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makingcentsmatter

makingcentsmatter
Payday is today! Actually, payday was Friday the 1 Payday is today! Actually, payday was Friday the 12th because we completely forgot today is a bank holiday in the US. The feeling of being paid and not needing it is a nice one.⁠
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Here's what our paycheck needs to get us through for bills until March 14th. For a full look at our budget over the next month, head over to my budget with me on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rb8uyi1-rNc⁠
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#monthlyincome #monthlybudget #monthlybudget #zerobasedbudget #payday #budgetwithme #budgeting #budgettips #budgetcalendar #frugalliving #savingmoney #paycheck #makingcentsmatter #debtfreejourney #debtfreeprogress
This weekend was focused on a pantry shop and meal This weekend was focused on a pantry shop and meal plan creation! This meal plan to get us to our February payday. We also picked fast meals, because it's a busy two weeks between doctor's appointments,. Academic Decathalon, dance, and drama. I'm unsure we'll be able to shop on payday, hence the extras.⁠
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Total spent: $112.39 for items to get us through this and lunches.⁠
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Keep in mind, just over $112 for 12 meals isn't sustainable for our family, just in times when we need to stretch the last bits of our monthly income. I really wish $112 was enough to feed two teenaged boys in our household.⁠
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The point being... do what works for you, and your situation based on your location. Don't try to fit yourself into someone else's situation!⁠
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#mealplan #mealplanning #frugalliving #frugalmom #makingcentsmatter #savingmoney #monthlyincome #budgeting #budgetmom #groceryshop
January's real numbers:⁠ .⁠ House: $511.13⁠ January's real numbers:⁠
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House: $511.13⁠
Citi: $720⁠
D NelNet: $100⁠
K NelNet: $100⁠
K Chase: $150⁠
Explorer: $343⁠
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Extra Payment to Citi: $500⁠
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Noteworthy... our car payment had a late fee assessed because the mail was SLOWED down over Christmas. Three headaches later, and we potentially have online banking finally set up with them. It is still a headache. And we are never taking another car loan out with this bank!⁠
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How was January?⁠
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#makingcentsmatter #debt #debtfreejouney #debtfreeprogress #debtfreecommunity #realbudget #savingmoney #savings #frugalliving #frugalblogging #budgeting #monthlyincome #zerobasedbudget #financialgoals #personalfinance #personalfinancetips #financialfreedom
Sometimes in order to see progress, you need to ta Sometimes in order to see progress, you need to take a step back.
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I'll be honest, I didn't think that we got this far in 2020. With everything going on - and more importantly, everything NOT going on - we didn't keep up with this every month. We just threw what we could at our goal. I'm simply amazed at how far we came.
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Things are still hectic, and I'm simply mentally exhausted between remote learning, extended remote learning, offset quarantining children... it goes on and on.
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But I also cannot wait to see what strides we will make in 2021.
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#makingcentsmatter #debtfreejouney #debtfreeprogress #savingmoney #savings #frugalliving #frugalblogging #budgeting #monthlyincome #zerobasedbudget #financialgoals #personalfinance
This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid This is what school looks like when it's a hybrid model, and your house does not have unlimited space. I was standing in our kitchen when I took this picture, the kids behind me making lunch.
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Our home is a 1800sqft one-story, open living area, 4 bedroom, 1 bathroom, ranch-style house in a very rural area. It has no home offices. No guest bedrooms. Yes, that is a desk in the corner of our dining room. 🤣
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During the day, I sit between my younger two and field any questions they may have, troubleshoot technical issues we all have, and be the overall bouncer when things get off-topic. My high schooler will occasionally emerge from his bedroom, which opens to the kitchen. So he is close by when he has questions.
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Please remember that with all things in life, you need to work with what's available to you. And there is no shame in that. Don't ever feel like you're not doing good enough because it's not picture perfect. Work with what you have available to you, and you'll do amazing things.
School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I School is in session, the garden is slowing, and I’ve finally realized I haven’t shared our payoff numbers for July or August. Yeah……
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Please keep in mind, we are paid monthly on the 15th, but we don’t go by a “monthly” budget. So I have to go back and look at these numbers based off their due dates in the calendar. Because our pay falls in the middle of the month, I can’t tell you what portion of our income went to debt. It’s going to vary paycheck to paycheck anyways because our priorities vary with each check. Nothing is ever the same month to month, and pay to pay.
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In August we paid off $1,673.40.
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Remember this is a journey, not a race. There is no point wearing yourself ragged and still making no progress. Make progress where you can, and celebrate it. Even if it’s $5.
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It’s progress, and that’s what matters!
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On top of this school is starting with a hybrid in building & online system. And I'm seriously slacking on some things I need to do. I'm not good at juggling multiple things and the balls are falling. But I keep reminding myself... be patient. This too shall pass. This is only a phase. So I pick and choose what's the most important, focus on that and go from there.
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So if you feel overwhelmed with your current phase, remember, this too shall pass. It's okay to rearrange priorities. It's okay to take a breather.
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Good news, I'm almost caught up! Bad news, the garden has more.
Super busy here... but I wanted to share that wins Super busy here... but I wanted to share that wins can come in super small packages. I thought I'd spend $380 to clean the band instruments in this house. I ended up spending $234. So the remaining $146 can go to reimbursing what I pulled from our EF.
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No matter the win, celebrate it!
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What are some wins you have had lately?
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