by Ashley
Happy August! Despite the terrible heat Tucsonians experience in August, it’s one of my favorite months of the year. My husband and favorite (only) sister both have birthdays this month. My girls’ original due date was this month (I ended up having them 8 weeks early – at the end of June – but they were due in August). And we get the most incredible monsoons in August. I love the sound of an afternoon storm raging on outside the window while the girls nap and I busy myself with work, cleaning, or even a little afternoon reading. : )
Now that it’s a fresh month, let’s see how last month shaped up:
| Place | Amount Spent |
| Rent | 1055 |
| Electricity | 209 |
| Water | 68 |
| Natural gas | 16 |
| Sprint (2 lines) | 115 |
| Cable/Internet | 103 |
| Car Insurance | 155 |
| Health Insurance | 394 |
| Trash | 35 |
| Preschool | 1378 |
| Gift-Giving | 60 |
| Restaurants | 109 |
| Entertainment | 15 |
| Groceries | 537 |
| Gasoline | 70 |
| Household Goods | 39 |
| Clothing | 52 |
| Parking | 96 |
| Postage | 10 |
| Savings | 1209 |
| Debt Payments | 2125 |
| Total | 7850 |
Explanations:
Most of the budget is in-line with summer spending. Here’s a little commentary on specific categories of spending:
- Preschool ($1378) went up this month because the girls started going full-time on July 13th.
- Gift-giving ($60) accounts for $45 worth of gift cards for our preschool teachers for their last day of school ($15 gift card each), + a $15 charitable donation to a children’s nonprofit organization we like to support. This specific organization also qualifies as a tax credit (basically – instead of paying state taxes to Arizona, it’s like directing those taxes directly toward the organization we support). We like to donate $400 (the max allowed), so you’ll see additional donations in the future.
- Gasoline ($70) is lower than normal (despite increased driving) because I’ve been taking advantage of Fry’s fuel rewards program. In my area Fry’s grocers give points (generally $1 spent = 1 point) that accumulate and can be used for cheaper gas (100 points = 10 cents off per gallon). This summer they’ve been doing double points ($1 = 2 points), and I’ve been racking up the points! My last fill-up I got 70 cents off per gallon!!!
- Clothing ($52) accounts for a new pair of nice work pants and a work dress both from Banana Republic. Both were on mega-sale earlier in the month (marked down + an additional 50% off!). I needed a couple new work pieces, and these were a killer deal!
- Parking ($96) is from all my daily parking + the prorated summer parking pass I bought for work.
- Savings ($1209) is a bit deceptive. $484 went toward car repairs (so…I put it in our car savings account in Capital One 360, and then I withdrew it for some repairs we had to deal with earlier in the month). The rest of the savings were allocated as follows: $500-cruise 2016, $100-annual fees savings account; $100-Roth IRA savings; $25-girls’ college savings*.
*Note: One of my goals this year in respect to “the year of becoming adults” was to open up college savings for our girls. I haven’t actually opened up ESAs yet, but I’ve earmarked that $25 as the first contribution. I hope to set up the accounts this month and start depositing money more regularly (initially in very small quantities) as our debt continues to decrease.
I’m so excited for the coming months as I start to get paid at my new job! I already got one paycheck (albeit a smaller one given I started in the middle of a pay-period), so August will be my first month will full-time regular pay. We live on last month’s income, so it still won’t really impact our budget until September, but I’m already itching to make some really big debt payments! Can’t wait!!!
How did you do with your budget in the month of July?
