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April 5, 2017 · Leave a Comment

March 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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Our March budget, while it didn’t go as I hoped, had hung in there for the rocky month we had.  I had goals for saving back up our budget overage from February’s budget, as well as paying down a bit on debt.  While our income is still lower for the time being, the kids were still sick, so most of our budget went to food to keep them somewhat fed, fuel to various appointments, and more in OTC medicine than I can remember spending in a year.  I mean, honestly, when did cough syrup become over $15 for a bottle?!

I knew March wasn’t going to be a total wash since we did have an extra paycheck, and while I normally put that paycheck into our annual savings account, this year with our FSA, I’m not since the bulk of our medical expenses are already saved for.  This month, the bulk of our extra pay went to making up for our Feburary budget overage.

All that being said… how did we do for the month?  We ended up paying off $1,426.64 in debt this month, and $4,961.28 in debt so far for the year.  With a quarter of the year gone, we’re very close to a quarter of the way through my $23,000 goal for the year!  While I didn’t make the $1,500 goal for the month, it was close.  So close, that when I added back in the amount I spent to fix Bookworm’s trumpet, it would have put us over the $1,500 mark.

Credit Card 2:   $746.64
Student Loans:  $180
Mortgage:  $500

March was pretty exciting.  While we may not have made significant headway with our snowball this month, we did pass the $70k mark on debt paid since we started getting serious about getting out of debt in 2014.  Excited yet?!  Cause I sure am!

March 2017 Budget Debt Update

So to break it down even further, here’s how our March budget went:

Income

Salary: $4,413.01
This month had an extra paycheck, so rather than our usual 4 weekly pays, we had a 5th paycheck to work with.

 

Monthly Expenses

Mortgage**:  $500

Cell Phone:   $47.42

Home Phone / Internet:  $75.23
The majority of our bill is for internet service.  After some research, there are no other service providers for our specific location.  I could pay for dish internet, and while the speeds would theoretically increase, the connectivity is more unreliable than what we currently have.

Credit Card 1:   $89.05
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**:   $746.64
This month’s debt payment was smaller because I needed to resave our checking account buffer.

Student Loans**:  $180

Electric:  $101.95

Insurance:   $244.42
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.

 

Additional Expenses

Groceries:  $747.77
Our bill was a little more this month.  I’ll explain more about this in our monthly meal plan post.

Fuel:  $104.85
Our fuel bill did go down a bit this month since I didn’t need to fill up for an entire week.  Coincidentally, it’s the week the kids were out of school sick.  My sanity suffered at the cost of our fuel bill.  😉

OTC Medications:  $36.40
OTC medicines aren’t something we have a sinking fund for.  I usually pay for them out of our household fund because we never get more than some advil here and cough drops there.  But this month I started to use an entirely separate category since .  Part of me wonders if I should

Bookworm: $116.07
This month Bookworm needed a few different items for his trumpet.  First was a mute, which I balked at the cost of {$41.87}.  And second {$74.20} was repairs.  During the fall, he took out the screw that holds his lyre, placed it in his trumpet case, and forgot to put it back in.  I guess I should be happy he stuck it in his case, because with his track record, he would have lost it all together.  Six months later of daily use, it finally rolled into the bell of the trumpet and got stuck.  So stuck that the trumpet itself make a sound.  So it needed to be repaired and cleaned.  And since I didn’t renew the extended warranty last month, I had to pay for it out of pocket.  Oh well…

Date Night: $36.16
Hubs and I took a night to go see Logan and have dinner without the kids.  It was nice!

Household: $82.46
I spent a lot on household items this month.  As with groceries, I wasn’t really focused on getting the best deal on some things, it was just get it and get home.  This month we bought some more toilet paper, dishwasher detergent, Moana on DVD to tame the sick beasts, and the most expensive item, a new mop and bucket.  I’ve had a microfiber o-mop for the longest time, and while it works on our hardwood floors, it’s frustrating to get our kitchen tile clean with it.  So I went back to old reliable… an actual mop and an actual bucket.

Hair: $10
For Hubs’ hair cut.

Eat Out: $52.45
This is a lot for eating out.  Some of it was planned, like lunch out after our dentist appointments.  Others, like picking up take-out after a long day of doctor’s appointments and driving in the car, were not.

Generator: $15.09
March brought a Nor’Easter our way that dumped over 2 feet of snow where we are, and left the kids out of school for 3 days straight.  Hubs bought some gasoline for the generator and chainsaw in case the power went out and we needed to use them.

 

Savings

Each month I put an allotted amount of money into our savings accounts to pay for expenses that vary throughout the year.  Here, you’ll find a break down of what we put away in the account throughout the month, as well as any expenses through the month that came from that account.  Keep in mind that what we put into the account each week is not a representation of the account balance.

Checking Buffer:  $500
After going over budget in February, and dipping into our checking account buffer, replenishing that buffer was top priority for our savings this month.

Annual Savings Account:  $450
Every week I put money aside into this account to cover certain expenses we don’t have every month.  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.

Prescriptions: $31.69
With the sick this month, I had to buy some more antibiotics for Monkey, Albuterol for Lady Bug, and Pulmicort for both.

Clothing: $98.42
At the beginning of the month, I had received a 30% off coupon from Kohl’s, and decided to go check out their clearance selection to see if I could find Lady Bug anything for Kindergarten coming in the fall.  To make it even sweeter, they had a $10 off $40 on kids clothes too.  I’m glad I decided to stop because I found a LOT of clothes for her on clearance.  More than I had found last month!  She won’t need much more for Kindergarten beyond shoes and school supplies.  I also found a LOT of shirts for Monkey, also on clearance.  I even found myself and Bookworm some things too, including some nice hooded sweaters.  While it seems like I spent a lot, it works out to be $4 per item, and I saved $452.70.  I also have quite a bit of Kohl’s cash and Yes2You Rewards that I can use later.

Trash: $40
We pay for our trash bill every 3 months.  It varies based on the number of bags we set out for pick up over that time frame.

Gifting Savings:   $360
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.

 

There’s the rundown of how our budget and debt repayment went throughout the month.  I didn’t get as much paid on debt as I would have liked to, but we didn’t go over budget like last month.  How did your March 2017 budget & debt repayment go?  Did you have any successes or hit any snags?  I’d love to hear in the comments below!

March 2017 Budget Debt Update

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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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We always try to go with themed days, but some weeks are so hectic the theme is literally "fast". Thankfully that hasn't been the case lately.⁠
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I can only hear about my extended warranty I never I can only hear about my extended warranty I never purchased so many times. 😣⁠
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#makingcentsmatter #budgets #monthlyincome #debtfreecommunity #realbudget #savingmoney #payingoffdebt #savings #frugalliving #frugalblogging #budgeting #monthlyincome #zerobasedbudget #financialgoals #personalfinance #personalfinancetips #financialfreedom
March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠ .⁠ House: $51 March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠
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House: $511.13⁠
Citi: $0 – this has a residual $3 in interest charges since payoff, due in April⁠
D NelNet: $100⁠
K NelNet: $100⁠
K Chase: $600⁠
Explorer: $336.27⁠
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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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#makingcentsmatter #debt #debtfreejourney #debtfreeprogress #debtfreecommunity #realbudget #savingmoney #payingoffdebt #savings #frugalliving #frugalblogging #budgeting #monthlyincome #zerobasedbudget #financialgoals #personalfinance #personalfinancetips #financialfreedom⁠
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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My kids run off with my charger, plug it into one outlet 5 feet from where they found it like that particular outlet is the only one in this house, and then proceed to fight over who can charge their device first at night.⁠
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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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#parentingteens #parentingtweens #momlife #realife #budget #budgeting #savingmoney #cash #frugalblogger #frugalmom #financialgoals #personalfinancetips #personalfinance #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogress #makingcentsmatter
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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To the mother with little kids struggling to get your finances in order, it will get better. I wish I could have heard those words years ago.⁠
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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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It was a lot of money for us at the time. Our kids were 6, 2, and 3 months old. I don't think we even had $500 in savings, and I just left a part-time teaching job because it wasn't paying the part-time daycare bill, so paying our portion in full was just a dream I didn't think was achievable.⁠
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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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Will it delay our debt-free date more? Yes. But it's not worth stressing over. Life happens, readjust, and continue on down the path. It's called a journey for a reason.⁠
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#wisdomteeth #personalfiannce #personalfinancetips #financialgoals #budgeting #budgets #savingsgoals #savings #cashbudget #zerobasedbudget #debtfreejourney #debtfreeprogress #adulting #lifehappens #realife #realbudget #makingcentsmatter
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
Automating your finances makes saving money and bu Automating your finances makes saving money and budgeting more convenient, and therefore easier on you. Out of sight, out of mind, right?⁠
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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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#personalfinance #personalfinancetips #budgeting #budgettips #personalfinancemadeeasy #savingmoney #savings #sinkingfunds #cash #frugalblogger #frugalmom #frugalliving #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogess #financialfreedom #makingcentsmatter
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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