by Hope
I was spot on in my Anticipated Spending this past week. I’m getting pretty good and staying on track and tight with my money. Now instead of having buyer’s remorse after I spend money, I’m listening to those inner twinges BEFORE I spend money. This is huge for me!
Actual Spending - Week of 9/28
| Description | Anticipated | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| Income *after taxes | $576 | $576 |
| Gas | ($35) | ($35) |
| Volleyball - entrance fees | ($5) | ($5) |
| Princess - camp savings | $178 | $178 |
| Rent | ($650) | ($650) |
| Camp Payment | ($178) | ($178) |
| Utilities - water, sewer, trash, gas | ($127) | ($127) |
| Total | ($240) | ($240) |
I don’t really have any notes for this coming week. Princess is out of public school until Wednesday due to Fall Break. We are not going to leave the house (best way to prevent me from spending money.)
I have a meal plan, a list of things to do if the kids get bored and a giant to do list of projects and work tasks I can tackle.
My biggest goal is to avoid temptation. As my bank account grows, it is always easy to think of all the things I can do with that money. But it will be exciting at the end of the month to be further ahead than I have been in years.
Remember, we are in No Spend Month and I am only paying minimums on everything. So while my debt payoff will be halted for the most part this month, I am not just twiddling my thumbs, lots of planning and studying going on behind the scenes. More to come on that.
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
When do you expect to do a monthly budget?
I posted my Fall monthly budget back in August. You can find it here: https://www.bloggingawaydebt.com/2018/08/hopes-fall-2018-budget/
Great! Have you done any monthly reconciliation to see if that has been on target? And also have you projected your income to see if it matches or exceeds? Looks like it does from what you have posted. Great job with the college enrollments, student loan debt is the worst!