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October 7, 2016 · Leave a Comment

September 2016 Budget & Debt Update

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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This month was the first full month with the boys back at school, but we’ve also spent most of the week running around between soccer practices on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, soccer games on Friday and Saturday, and piano lessons on Wednesday.  There were even a few Sunday birthday parties and skating parties in there giving us three straight weeks of non-stop action.  Throw on top of that that I was having asthma issues for two weeks of this month, I can honestly say our budget looks better than I thought it would.

september-budget-debt-2016-update-pin

 

september 2016 budget debt

Income

Salary: $4,709.19

Monthly Expenses

Mortgage**:  $500

Cell Phone:   $44.72

Home Phone / Internet:  $75.43
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:   $87.98
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.  This month’s is a little lower because we’ve paid on pending charges the last few months as well that have finally caught up.

Credit Card 2**:   $300
This is our current snowball, although it hasn’t felt like it.  Soccer ends next month, and I’m already plotting how we can get this amount down so I can reach my goal of slashing this in half by the end of the year.

Student Loans**:  $160

Electric:  $143.12
Another high bill with the heat we’ve had this summer.  Good news is we’ve closed up the pool, the air conditioners are finally out, and I’m ready for some cooler weather and lower electric bills!

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:  $578.12
I feel that I had a better handle on our grocery bill this month, even though I was sick for a few weeks, and our total shows it.  I try to aim for $500-$600 per month, depending on how many weeks and what all we have in our pantry, and this is pretty spot on.

Household & Personal: $25.31
This month I bought Hubs razors and some lavender essential oil as our household items this month.

Gas:  $153.77
During months where I’m not driving an awful lot, like when school is in full swing and we’re just going through the usual schedule, I spend around $70-$80 a month on fuel, depending on the price per gallon in our area.  With soccer practice, Friday and Saturday games, piano lessons, and multiple doctor’s visits for my asthma this month, I spent a lot more time in the car than I did in the house.

Lawn: $9.98
We got some more fuel for our lawnmower at the beginning of the month.  Now that it’s getting cooler, it doesn’t need mowed as often.

Pet: $0
Since our rabbit is outdoors for the summer, she doesn’t go through as many pellets and hay as she does when she’s indoors in the winter.  Next month we move her back indoors, and she will need a new litter pan, some hay and some pellets.

Eating Out: $99.53
Only $30 of this was anticipated and planned for.  I had promised the kids that if they had good checkups while at the dentist this month, I would take them to Moe’s for lunch.  Well, they all got wonderful reviews on their brushing habits and lack of buildup from the dentist, and so we went to Moe’s.  But with being sick earlier this month, I had spent two days between different doctor’s offices and the Emergency Room.  I was not prepared for my diagnosis to take that long, so I didn’t pack any lunches for Lady Bug or I, nor did I make it a priority to have dinner started before leaving.

School: $40.92
Expenses this month for school include some supplies for Bookworm.  As a mom, I love to know what my kids need for school so that I can plan accordingly.  I also like to know in advance what supplies their classrooms would prefer to have donated.  As a teacher, I love to let my students know what they may need so that their parents can plan accordingly, and what we may need as donations throughout the year.  This is not the case with all teachers in our district, who prefer to stress donations and then sprinkle in required supplies throughout the first month or two of school.  Trying to find specific items when Target is already cleared out is a real hoot I tell ya!

Band: $11.61
This month Bookworm was required to get a lyre and flip folder for his trumpet so that he can participate in some parades and football shows.  Now the trouble is finding time in his soccer and piano schedule to participate in such happenings.

Soccer: $11.99
This month Lady Bug was responsible for team snack at one of her games, so we grabbed individual trays of carrots and ranch dip for simplicity and convenience on the sidelines of a soccer field.

sept-budget-debt-misc

Miscellaneous/Fun:   $70
Part of my fun money for the month went towards a book with new canning recipes.  I do enjoy canning, and while canning single ingredients does help our budget immensely, this book is filled with some more advanced canning recipes as well as some recipes that utelize what was canned.

 

Savings

Annual Savings Account:  $1,120
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.

Trash:  $34
Our trash is picked up every other week, and we’re billed quarterly based on the number of bags we have throughout the quarter.  We very rarely will go through more than one 33 gallon bag a week, making two bags of trash that we have picked up every two weeks.  This bill is what we owe based on the number of bags we used between June and August.

Clothing:  $348.94
Some of the clothing expense this month went towards some fall pieces for myself, base layer clothing for the kids during soccer in the cooler weather, and some pieces for school for the boys.

Medical:  $62.74
Earlier in the month I had caught a cold that turned into asthmatic stasis.  I had gotten so caught up between keeping up with the garden, canning, soccer and school schedules, that I neglected to put myself first.  A big no-no.  This is the cost of the prescriptions to help me breathe again; I won’t know what I owe the offices until I get the EOBs in a few weeks.

Dentist: $38.00
The kids and I had our 6 month dental checkup this month.  This is our out of pocket portion for our visit.  Hubs goes next month.

Peaches:  $40

School Pictures: $80.56

Gifting Savings:   $240
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.

Birthday Party:  $23.18
Monkey was invited to a birthday party at a skating park earlier this month, and this is what we spent on the present, gift bag, and cash for the skate rentals.

Soccer Fundraiser: $119.78
One of the requirements for the soccer league is that the kids each had to sell 2 items.  For me, that meant 6 items total.  Since their fundraiser was through Yankee Candle, and was their winter catalog, I took the opportunity to buy some Christmas gifts.  As Bookworm said, “two birds, one stone.”

Debt Savings:   $0
Since this was the first month we were back into our school schedule, and the first full month we had with soccer activities, I didn’t know how much I would be spending on fuel to get to and from town.  Or even on food after our astonishing grocery bill in the summer.  Rather than designating a set amount each week for this like I usually do, I let it go.  Rather than paying into it at the end of the month, I rolled over any extra we had at the end of the month into increasing our Emergency Fund.

Emergency Fund Increase: $500
Our car will need some repairs in the future, and I wanted to have a little more in our emergency fund in case both repairs needed done at the same time.

 

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 ended our lease on his band instrument.  We have come a long way, and we still have a long way to go.

Mortgage**:  $500

Credit Card 2**:   $300
This is our current snowball.  After increasing our emergency fund a bit, this will be back into snowball next month.

Student Loans**:  $160

september 2016 debt paid

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

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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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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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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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