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November 4, 2016 · Leave a Comment

October 2016 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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This month is our last month for full on soccer practices until the spring. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me at this point.  I’m glad they’ve enjoyed soccer, I’m impressed with how far they’ve come and how they’ve handled the crazy schedules, and I’m excited to see them start back up in the spring.  But there comes a point where mom is just plumb worn out, and I’ve hit that point.

october 2016 budget debt update

october 2016 budget debt update

Income

Salary: $3,757.43

Monthly Expenses

Mortgage**:  $500

Cell Phone:   $47.42

Home Phone / Internet:  $75.31
The majority of our bill is for internet service.  One of my goals for for remainder of the year is to look into other internet providers for us, to see if we can get this bill any lower.

Credit Card 1:   $106.93
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.  Last month’s is a little lower because we’ve paid on pending charges the last few months as well that have finally caught up.  This month’s is back on track, although a little higher due to some rate increases on a few bills.

Credit Card 2**:   $950
This is our current snowball, although it hasn’t felt like it.  Since fall soccer was coming to a close, I was able to put a little more towards this than I have over the last few months.

Student Loans**:  $160

Electric:  $128.79
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:   $246.77
Our insurance payment includes the car, house, and five 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:  $570.47

Household & Personal: $29.73
This month I redeemed our Sam’s Cash Rewards to purchase toilet paper, dishwasher detergent, and tissues for free.

Fuel:  $113.11
Now that soccer is done, our fuel bill will be a lot lower until spring soccer starts.

Lawn: $0
No need for fuel for the lawn mower when the grass stops growing.

Pet: $56.71
This month I got hay and pellets for our rabbit, as well as a new litter pan since she’s now inside for the rest of fall and all of winter.  I also bought food for our betta.

Eating Out: $39.44

School: $10
This month was Book Fair month at Monkey’s school, and this was his budget for his trip to the fair.

Band: $20.00
This month Bookworm had a fundraiser for a band related trip later on in the year.

Soccer: $22.83
This month Monkey was responsible for halftime snack at one of his games.  The fall soccer season officially ends this month, so this expense will go back to zero while we wait for the spring season to begin.

Miscellaneous/Fun:   $78.40

Hair Cuts:   $20
The boys get their hair cut every few weeks.  While I realize that I could cut them at home, I also realize that there are somethings, that no matter how hard or often I try, that I am simply not good at.  Hair cuts is one of those things.  When the boys decide they want to start having buzz cuts – the ONE hair cut I know how to do – I’ll start cutting their hair at home.

Household Repair:   $38.12
This expense is considered under household repairs, but wasn’t really a repair.  We have a used oil tank, the small kind that you can drain your car oil or ride-on lawn mower oil into.  Sometime over the summer, with our insane heat, it cracked and made a mess in our garage.  This expense was for materials needed to clean up the mess.

Wood Stove Maintenance:  $31.76
Our main heat source is our wood stove, in which we primarily burn wood because we get it for free from family land.  I bought some CSL logs to help reduce any creosote buildup that may occur before we get to the colder weather.

Velcro:   $4.75
I don’t know where to really categorize this expense.  I needed to get some Velcro to help tighten up Lady Bug’s mask and belt to her Antman costume, but both packets didn’t get used up on this.  I don’t have a set craft items budget for myself anymore either since I’m trying to go through what I have first before I start buying more.  So, here it is, velcro in it’s own little category.

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.

Annual Savings Account:  $240
Every week I put money aside into this account, and on months with an extra paycheck, I put even more into this account.  To read more on how much we try to put aside and what we use it for, you can check out this post.

Medical: $149.45
My EOBs have finally come back in for a few of my visits last month.  This is just what I owe MedExpress for their x-rays, nebulizer, and shipping me off to the nearest Emergency Room.  I’m still waiting on the bill from my doctor’s office.

Dentist: $22.00
This was for Hubs’ out of pocket portion on his checkup earlier this month.

Gifting Savings:   $160
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.

Debt Savings:   $0

Savings – Miscellaneous: $93
This month we were notified of changes to our insurance coverage beginning in January.  I’ll have an upcoming post about what we did before, what changes are being made and how we’re going to prepare for them, but suffice it to say that our deductible will more than double, and the entire scope of how we pay will change.  We will no longer go by a 20% coinsurance, which means I pay roughly $15 per sick visit, but now a $35 copay.  We are also tossing around the idea of starting an FSA, which we didn’t need to have before.  So, until we make the final decision of what to do in the next month, I’m throwing extra money into savings for the time being.

Debt Repayment

After paying off some debts earlier in the year, we are down to our mortgage, two student loans, and one credit card.  Since we started getting serious about our repayment at the beginning of 2014, we have paid off 3 credit cards, a small student loan, and our car.  We have also ended our payment plan on Bookworm’s orthodontic work, as well as our lease on his trumpet.  We have come a long way since we started two years ago, but we still have a long way to go.

Mortgage**:  $500

Credit Card 2**:   $950
This is our current snowball.  After increasing our emergency fund a bit, this is currently in repayment.

Student Loans**:  $160

october 2016 budget debt update

Well… there you have it.  A complete rundown of how our budget and debt repayment went throughout the month.  How did your October 2016 budget and debt repayment go?

october 2016 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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#budget #budgeting #savingmoney #savings #cashbudget #cash #cashisking #frugalblogger #frugalmom #frugalliving #financialgoals #personalfinancetips #personalfinance #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogress #makingcentsmatter #financialfreedom #debtfree
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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#mealplanning #mealplan #budget #budgeting #monthlyincome #savingmoney #savings #cashbudget #cash #cashisking #frugalblogger #frugalmom #frugalliving #financialgoals #personalfinancetips #personalfinance #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogress #makingcentsmatter #financialfreedom #debtfree
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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