July 15, 2020 Budget With Me

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!

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.

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

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.