by Hope
Sometime back, I would post regular updates on where I had money going that week or month. I cannot remember the cadence. It might be a good idea for me to revisit that strategy to hold me more accountable.
The goal will be to publish where I plan to spend money every month. I realize I’m starting towards the middle of this month so many of my budgeted items have already been paid, so I’m starting with just those that have not already been paid or in many cases, are waiting to be cashed, having been sent previously.
For the remainder of August, these are my line items:
| Amazon | -500 |
| Giving | -300 |
| Groceries | -200 |
| House – Electrical | -750 |
| House – Flooring | -1690 |
| Kennel | -400 |
| Lawn Care | -100 |
| Auto – Gas | -100 |
| Student Loan – interest only | -163 |
| Netflix | -18 |
| Gym | -50 |
| Princess college | -1500 |
| Princess move | -200 |
The Details
I think most of these line items are pretty self explanatory, but I will do my best to predict the ones that might not be.
Amazon
I still have an open line of credit with Amazon which I use regularly for many subscribe and save items…Using this credit line gets me discounts on the items and cash back on the line of credit. I pay it off every month and rarely spend more than a hundred or so. These items include: toilet paper, trash bags, toothpaste, soap and now dog food.
That is not why the bill is $500 this month…I bought myself a dishwasher. It is a fancy one but I got a great deal and have been watching it for years. We have not had a dishwasher in 7ish years. I’m so freaking excited!
It should get here towards the end of the month and I should be able to install it myself with minimal outside help.
Housing Bills
Since purchasing the house, I have tackled a few larger projects that I felt were more needs than wants…
I am replacing all the old linoleum that was 50ish years old, pulling up and just pretty terrible with ceramic tile. One bathroom, the kitchen, dining room and laundry room are done and the other bathroom is prepped and ready for floor. I’ve used the same tile throughout.
This cost includes tile for a kitchen backsplash which I hope to install myself when it gets a little cooler. They had 10 boxes of white subway tile on clearance, dirt cheap so I got them all.
The electrical bills were to install outlets in the kitchen. We literally had 1 outlet on the 2 walls of the old kitchen. And I had to get one installed to hook up my new dishwasher.
Kennel
The kennel costs are estimated as I’m not sure what it will cost. But I am paying $200 for my new puppy to attend a obedience class. (It’s been decades since I had a puppy so I’m really good at spoiling her, but not so much as training.)
And then I’m boarding her for Princess’ move. I’ve asked for a quote, but haven’t received it yet.
What do you think of this new monthly post? I think it will help keep me much more accountable for how I’m spending my money every month.
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.
I dont care what anyone says, a dishwasher is a necessity for me! Haha. Hope it will be easy to install for you
Thank you. I am SO EXCITED!!! As much as I cook, this will literally save HOURs of my time.
Wow lots going on. Remember you don’t need to upgrade everything in the house all at once! A little at a time.
Did you test the linoleum for asbestos before you started ripping it up? You said the house was built in the 70’s and all original. Asbestos was prevalent in linoleum and vinyl flooring until mid-70’s/early 80’s.
I don’t think this linoleum from original. There was some other flooring under it and we covered it with concrete board before installing new tile.
The flooring we pulled up literally just rolled up. We had furniture holding it down along the edges (and had for years.)
We do know there is abestos in the paint. It’s been painted over several times but it has been tested. When/if I replace windows that will be a consideration.
Nice recap. I would think the more important thing would be to do a full monthly recap or next month’s budget. For example, there is no mortgage or utility bills here, its just a random slice of bills that are to be paid over the next 2 weeks. Plus some of them are infrequent, one-time items.
+1 on the previous month’s recap, I remember suggesting this the last time you put up a budget. Plans are nice, but as you’ve shown they change, how you deal with the changes is important too.
You are spending more on ‘nice to have’ hike repairs than on debt reduction. I thought it was blogging away debt not ‘instructions on how to stay in debt forever?’
Sounds like you are doing everything you want in the house all at once rather than having any kind of long term plan: save up for a project at the same rate I pay down x, or reward myself for paying off x by doing a single project.
I am currently in a 1950s rental with an all original kitchen, bathroom, flooring in sections. I get being in a dated place and wanting upgrades. Seriously – take some of those house project costs and throw them to your debts. Or retirement account. Or emergency fund. Something responsible.
I guess I don’t see floors that are not literally falling apart as a want but rather a need. Especially if the pressed board underneath would have gotten wet or damaged the cost to replace would have been substantially higher.
But you are right, the dishwasher is definitely a want…however, the hours I will save from washing dishes will be hours I can work. So it will actually end up helping me make money. 🙂
***. Floors, dishwasher, kitchen cabinets, bathroom door…. Sorry. Not buying that it’s all needs. Would the previous owner have replaced the floors if he were still the owner?
Well, it might be easier for us to imagine prioritizing debt payment over living in a home with hardware problems. I had cabinets with shelves that weren’t securely fastened. When you tried to pull something off the higher shelves, the whole board would slide out with whatever item you were pulling down. One came all the way out and smacked someone in the face. Paying debt becomes a problem when you have new hospital bills. Maybe that wasn’t the case here but we don’t know.
Sure, get safety and structural issues fixed, but at least what you described is a $10 hammer and nails fix rather than a $10k kitchen remodel.
Where are you getting the money from? I added this up and you have over $5000 in expenses listed and this doesn’t include your car payments, mortgage or utilities. I know you have a job that pays well but even with a job that pays well this seems like it will cut into bills like the car
Many of these checks were written against last month’s income, they just haven’t been cashed yet.