by Hope
I’m still trying to figure out how to do my anticipated/budgeted spending and income each week versus my reality. But for now, I’ll just split it into two posts.
I posted my anticipated income and spending for the week of August 17th here. And many suggested posted what actually happened.
I am pleased to announce, I was pretty spot on with a few exceptions:
- Volleyball games ended up costing me $20 – Gymnast went with me to one game and there were 3 games that week instead of 2.
- CS – I ended up making $175 instead of $150.
- NH – paid me a deposit of $300 for the work I was completing, and will pay the remainder after work is complete.
I predicted all these costs and income numbers pretty spot on. But there were costs I did not predict:
- Eating out – $22 (2 meals) This has been an issue with all the sports travel for volleyball and needing to pick Sea Cadet up from his school at 10:30pm at night. We were starving! Thankfully, him having his own car now will help cut down if not eliminate this challenge.
- Light bulbs – $15 (the two light bulbs over our kitchen stove went out and I need that light when cooking)
I’ll still looking at how I can do this better. Communicate better. Your suggestions are appreciated.
Hope is a resourceful and solutions-driven business manager who has spent nearly two decades helping clients streamline their operations and grow their businesses through project management, digital marketing, and tech expertise. Recently transitioning from her role as a single mom of five foster/adoptive children to an empty nester, Hope is navigating the emotional and practical challenges of redefining her life while maintaining her determination to regain financial control and eliminate debt.
Living in a cozy small town in northeast Georgia with her three dogs, Hope cherishes the serenity of the mountains over the bustle of the beach. Though her kids are now finding their footing in the world—pursuing education, careers, and independence—she remains deeply committed to supporting them in this next chapter, even as she faces the bittersweet tug of letting go.
Since joining the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015, Hope has candidly shared her journey of financial ups and downs. Now, with a renewed focus and a clear path ahead, she’s ready to tackle her finances with the same passion and perseverance that she’s brought to her life and career. Through her writing, she continues to inspire others to confront their own financial challenges and strive for a brighter future.
So I would add volleyball entrance fees to your budget. If you know all the games are $5 I would budget for every game and add a few more dollars if other kids may attend. Once LG is at the high school, as a student he should not have to pay entrance fees. You can also look into buying a booster card if your school does this. It is a set fee for a certain number of people to get into every home game at the school. And the eating out is simply planning ahead….bring a sandwich, pack a cooler, etc. Thanks for circling back with actual spending!!
I actually account the entrance fees in the “Kid’s Activities” line item. I just didn’t break them out with my general budget.
I’m finding having these general line items helps me. I don’t feel pigeon holed AND when the money for that category is used up in a month, I have to make some harder decisions.
I am definitely a work in progress.
I’m not sure what your spreadsheet style formatting options are on the website, but a four column ‘Date’, ‘Income/Expense Name’, ‘Budgeted Amount’, ‘Actual Amount’ would be transparent and easy to follow.
I was thinking the same thing…making it one post a week other than having to flip back and forth.
It will help me track my budgeting and be more transparent for readers.
You don’t need to flip back and forth between the posts, or send readers back to look at an older updated post. For your first article, just post the spreadsheet as discribed at the beginning of the week in with the ‘actual’ column blank. When you write the second article at the end of the week, just put in the same spreadsheet with all columns complete. You’ll have it all in one place and easy to compare.
Two posts is ideal, actually. The first with the budgeted and then the second will have basically the same information but with the actual spend for the budgeted items and additional line items for anything unbudgeted that pops up.
Is the eating out category going to be taken from your misc entertainment budget or are you going to create a new line item? Likewise with light bulbs is that coming from misc or will you be creating a categoryforhousehold items that would not be covered by food stamps( that way when you need toilet pap er, shampoo offish soap it iscovered.) If you don’t create categories I can foresee miscellaneous being depleted pretty quick( you would already be at 37/150 after week 1)
Yes, those both fall into MISC. Because I’ve been tracking things so tightly, I’m pretty confident that all our general needs are covered.
I order cases of toilet paper, dishwashing liquid, soap, etc. on a quarterly basis. Again, barring any crazy events, we are pretty tight on those types of things. My next shipment of tp will come on Sept 12, my last one was in early June.
Did your client up work pay you? You said they were a regular client that you could anticipate income from.
Yes, Upwork pays on a set schedule so that is “mostly” guaranteed.
I say mostly because a client can dispute it, but I haven’t had that happen and don’t anticipate it will be an issue.