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April 8, 2016 · Leave a Comment

March 2016 Budget

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Budget· Our Monthly Budget

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March 2016 Budget

The last few months I have been posting our budget estimate at the beginning of the month, and then an updated version at the end of the month.  Beginning this month, I’m sticking to one posting at the end of the month for a few reasons.

First, this month was far busier than anticipated at the beginning of the month, and we’ve had a lot of different, unexpected expenses come up.  Reconciling and categorizing them at the end of the month is the easiest for me in this instance.

We’re coming into spring and summer, and it’s going to get super busy here until about the end of October.  Plus, it’ll free up time to get other posts done, and I can reflect what we budgeted and what was spent a lot better in one post rather than over two separate posts.

So how did our our budget go for March?

Income

Salary: $4,685.00
February Debt Savings {& Accrued Interest}: $95.05
Total:   $4,780.05

Expenses

Mortgage:  $500

Cell Phone:   $50.11

Home Phone / Internet:  $68.46
Last month our 2-year promotional rate ended, and our bill increased by $5 per month.

Credit Card 1:   $288.07
We are done paying off debt with this card and currently use the card for reoccurring monthly bills such as Netflix, weekend Newspaper subscription, and so on.  We had a card breach last month, we had to wait for the new card and then switch the accounts around.  As a result there were some prorated charges this month, making this payment higher than normal.

asparagus rhubarb roots

Credit Card 2:   $210
The actual payment on this is $79.12 higher than what you see above.  We’ve planned to buy some asparagus roots for nearly 5 years now.  Asparagus is a vegetable you’re in the long haul with since they take a few years to develop before we can harvest them.  Earlier this month we got an awesome deal on 30 roots, as well as a rhubarb root, two elderberry bushes and a small lilac.  The amount for our roots and shrubs came from our annual savings account while the remaining $210 went towards paying down the balance.

ACS paid full

Student Loans:  $316.27
This month I paid off the remaining $156.27 on my private student loan.  For the remainder of the year, our student loan payments will be lower while we focus on our car loan and our final credit card.

Car Payment:   $790.14
This is our current snowball debt.

Electric:  $97.44
I budget $145 each month, and this month was much lower.  The difference went to our debt savings as extra money towards next month’s debt payment.

Insurance:  $249.71
Our monthly payment includes home owners insurance, 5 life insurance policies, and our car insurance.  This month rates on our car went up slightly due to policy updates.

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

Fun Money:    $80

Annual Savings Account:  $1,120
This month had an extra paycheck, so we were able put a huge chunk into savings for the year.  

Gifting Savings:   $200

Debt Savings:  $0
I had aimed to put aside $100 in debt savings for the month.  This was before we had some unforseen expenses come up throughout the month.  Truth be told, before I had reconsiled our month’s budget, I had just under $180 put aside for next month’s debt payment, $5.13 of which was from my Save the Change Challenge.  But by the end of the month, I dipped into this to even out some areas where we went over {fuel and miscellaneous purchases}.  While I could have easily made up the difference from our savings, or even our emergency fund, to cover these overages, I simply didn’t.  Our savings account is for medical expenses, taxes, and non-monthly bills, while our emergency fund is for true emergencies, such as a house insurance deductible or a very time sensitive car repair.

 

What was remaining:

This month I tried something new and further divided our “lump” category of Groceries and Household into separate categories, mainly because I’m interested in exactly how much we spend on food throughout the month.  This month was a bit high though as my kids went through two weeks where they were eating everything in sight!  They did grow what seems like 2 inches each by the end of the month.

Groceries:  $506.57

Household:  $29.33

Personal Care:  $10.35

OTC Medication:  $12.59

Gas:  $93.61
This is far beyond what we spend in gas in a month, and it’s because I travelled to my home town twice in one week.  I had to fill my tank three times in one week, the first of which was pulled from our budget.

seed storage

Miscellaneous:   $157.40
The beginning of the month we bought some seeds.  By the end of the month, I couldn’t even tell you where some of these purchases came from.  Yes, we made them.  But the last two weeks of the month were such a haze.  To zero out this portion of our budget, I made up the overage from our monthly debt savings.

 

Notes:

We had a lot going on this month, and while we didn’t let it break our budget, we do have to do some house keeping next month.  Our debt payment will be reduced while we make up for our chimney and travel expenses that was put on our credit cards {chimney replacement parts, expenses related to funeral travels}.  While these amounts won’t take up our entire debt snowball payment, I don’t want these expenses accruing interest either.

 

How did your monthly budget for March go?  Did you have any setbacks?  Any personal wins?

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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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March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠ .⁠ House: $51 March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠
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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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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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Then they get grumpy when it's their turn and it's not the proper input cable. #itwasmychargerfirst #dontlikeitgofindyourown⁠
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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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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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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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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
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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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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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