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July 24, 2020 · Leave a Comment

July 15, 2020 Budget With Me

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
Click here to read my disclosure policy.

Budget· Debt Free· Our Journey· Our Monthly Budget

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Our July paycheck cames on Wednesday, the 15th, and is the only paycheck we’ll see until August. I know some like watching how I do it on YouTube, and some like to have an actual breakdown of what we’re paying. This is the best of both worlds! Come along as we walk through our July 2020 Budget With Me!

July 2020 Budget With Me

Some background information:

  • Our main source of income is now paid monthly, around the 15th of each month. The only exception is when the 15th falls on a weekend; then we are paid on the Friday prior (so as early as the 13th).
  • I budget by paycheck, so from the 15th of one month to the 14th of the following month. I started this when I was having a hard time using the calendar month to budget our income. This goes back to when we were paid weekly and deeper back to our bi-weekly pay days. Instead, I budget paycheck to paycheck using a budget calendar — this is vastly different than living paycheck to paycheck. My lightbulb moment to start budgeting this way came after reading You Need A Budget*.
  • The workbook I am using is one that I created to help fill in gaps with other workbooks that I have tried over the years. You can find the workbook in my shop, or on Etsy.

July 2020 Budget With Me

June 15th’s budget left us borrowing from our emergency fund, and depleting our checking account buffer. So for the time being, we have a few items we need to accomplish before we start paying down our debt again.

To see how I set up our budget, check out this video:

Income: $5,800

I always underestimate our income. Hubs is salary, and his net pay is roughly $5,800 per month.

Savings: $1,017

We save money towards our sinking funds every paycheck. This month, we are saving towards these categories:

  • Non-Monthly: $267
  • Gifting: $260
  • Medical: $125
  • Vision: $129
  • Dental: $21
  • Truck: $91
  • Back To School: $86
  • Instrument Cleaning: $38
  • Tires: $100

Bills: $3,075

  • D Chase: $925
  • K Chase: $236
  • Electric: $150
  • Insurance: $266
  • A’s Cell: $50
  • Explorer: $340
  • Mortgage: $565
  • O’s Clarinet Maintenance: $8
  • Verizon (internet & landline): $85
  • K Citi: $75
  • D NelNet: $100
  • K NelNet: $275
  • K’s Cell: $48

July 2020 Budget With Me

Debt:

This isn’t something I designate in our Budget With Me simply because I like to calculate our total debt paid by the calendar month, not our budget month (the 15th through the 14th of the following month). But I know some people like to follow a percentage budget, which allocates a specific portion of your budget to debt each month. So here are the bills we’re paying that is actually going towards debt this month.

  • K Citi: $75
  • K Chase: $236
  • Explorer: $340
  • D NelNet: $100
  • K NelNet: $275
  • Mortgage: $565

Cash Envelopes: $1,100

  • You-Pick: $40
  • Food: $600
  • Household: $100
  • Miscellaneous: $100
  • Pet / Chewy: $100
  • Allowance: $40
  • Hair: $20

Debit Expenses: $595

  • Fuel: $250
  • Therapy: $60
  • Marching Band Dues: $10
  • Vehicle Registration (2 years): $0 – comes from a sinking fund
  • Vet Check: $175
  • Clothing (ON): $100
  • School: $0 – comes from a sinking fund
  • Medical: $0 – comes from a sinking fund

Remaining:

When all is said and done this month, we’re expecting to have $13 leftover to leave in the account as a start to refunding our checking account buffer.

July 2020 Budget With Me

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makingcentsmatter

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 district is carefully monitoring our local infection rates, and we are currently in a hybrid form. That means they divided the district into two groups; half are in school on Monday and Tuesday, the other half on Thursday and Friday. They are offering an all remote option, but Verizon for some reason supplies our house with speeds so slow that it would shock a tortoise. Remote was a no-go.
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This set-up has taken some trial and error to get to where we currently are. Because no matter how prepared you are and how much you've planned, once you're in the weeds, actually doing it, there is no telling how your best-laid plans will work.
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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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Each kid gets their own color bin for their school work. This includes school-issued Chromebooks and other standard items they need to get work done - headphones, pencils, and so on. When we are done for the day, we clean up everything, place them neatly in these bins, and place them in cubbies (on my current left) at night while the Chromebooks charge.
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I do NOT bother to clean up at lunchtime. It would take us more time to clean up and reset everything than it takes us to eat lunch. So we only pack it all up for the day and call it done.
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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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That said, inJuly we paid off $2,694.43.
In August we paid off $1,673.40.
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The difference here is that our priorities shifted between the two months.
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During August, we were doing more prep for whatever school would look like this year, and we had some savings goals make their way to the top of the list as well.
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Of those goals, in August we made progress!
EF Reimbursement: $146 / $1,200
Checking Buffer Reimbursement: $227 / $500
Vet Sinking Fund: $40 / $200
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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!
While I wait for the canner to finish the last rou While I wait for the canner to finish the last round... I rearranged our recipe binder. It's only taken me 8 or so years. 🤣😶😭
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I miss the days when zucchini was my problem. Now it's tomatoes. I can only find so many ways to use up spaghetti sauce! So the next 50lbs or so will be chili base and unseasoned sauce.
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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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This too shall pass.
If you didn't start finding interesting ways to ge If you didn't start finding interesting ways to get rid of the squash, can you say you even planted any?
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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?
In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumber In total we have 15lbs green beans, 10lbs cucumbers, 5lbs blueberries, and countless zucchini and squash with more on the way! My weekend is spoken for... and this isn't all of it. 😳
Rather than looking back through all our non-month Rather than looking back through all our non-monthly bills for the year and try to remember what I paid and when I paid it, I make a note of how much it was on our bill pay tracker. That way I can easily tally it up at the end of the year, set our sinking funds next year accordingly, and not spend more time than is necessary on this... because kids and all.⁣
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Anyone else do this? Do you have a different method of tracking these expenses?⁣
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This particular printable is in my Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MakingCentsMatter⁣
It's also part of my budgeting workbook, also in my Etsy shop.⁣
Good news though... there's a very similar free version in my resource library as well. Links are in my profile.⁣
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#budget #budgeting #sinkingfund #savingmoney #savings  #cashbudget #cash #cashisking #frugalblogger #frugalmom #frugalliving #financialgoals #budgetprintable #personalfinancetips  #personalfinance #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogress #bs1 #bs2 #bs3  #makingcentsmatter #financialfreedom #debtfree
Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these tw Probably an unpopular opinion here... but these two things are NOT the same to me.⁣
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𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you're using all of your money for expenses with none left over for savings. This usually happens when you're not aware of where you are spending your money, and how much you are spending. For us, this happened in the form of those tiny expenses that can add up to even larger expenses, and then an unexpected bill comes and you have nothing left to cover it.⁣
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𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 paycheck to paycheck means that you are giving every single cent you earn a job to do that aligns with your priorities - like in sinking funds, savings, expenses, debt payments, etc - until the next paycheck. You have the money on hand to cover some unexpected expenses, and you are mindful of your spending so that you're not leaking money through small purchases.⁣
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This doesn't mean that there still aren't bad months. Murphy's Law does happen. But you are aware of the spending, aware of the priorities, and where your money needs to be allocated.⁣
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So... just because you're budgeting paycheck to paycheck doesn't mean you're living paycheck to paycheck.⁣
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June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forw June's paycheck was a doozy! I haven't looked forward to a paycheck since we first made the switch to monthly pays. It was so bad we've got a new order to things.⁣
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Good news is that if our state keeps closing things down, we should hammer this out in no time!⁣
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To see the full breakdown of how bad June's paycheck was, check out the June 15th Budget Review on our YouTube channel here https://youtu.be/gXoEo33hIYQ. Link is also in the bio.⁣
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