Halcyon Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Link to the old thread: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/454295-february-financial-accountability-week-3-215-221/ Final week everyone!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Yesterday, I had to buy gas for both cars, stamps to mail the wedding shower invitations. And, we decided last minute to go to the local indoor trampoline place with the kids. It was $12/hour, but one was done after an hour and the other was done after 2. It's exhausting! So, it was only $32. Not bad for a fun field trip! :) Today, I have to grocery shop and it will include a trip to Sam's Club and my meat store. I think I'll end up spending the rest of my budget!!! Goals: Groceries (including all household items): $440/$700 Medical: $200/$100 (MRSA is expensive!!!) Gas: $350/$550 Kids' activities: $880/$1700 Things I'm going to try to curb this month and I hope to bank the difference in our vacation account: Eating out: $6/0!!! Coffee: 0!!! Added stuff we bought that wasn't budgeted: $150 for trip insurance for a trip in August, $23 for parking for our August trip (it was cheaper to buy it now!), parking/entrance for dd's gymnastics meet: $25, professional photos from dd's gymnastics meet: $50. Car maintenance: $200. Invitations to a wedding shower I am helping host: $20. Stamps to mail invites: $25. Impromptu trip to a trampoline place with the kids: $32. Extra income (hopefully!): Goal: $555/$400 (Dh occasionally gets "tips" for his services as a priest - wedding, funerals, etc. He has a funeral next week. I also hope to sell some things on line. And, that will be banked in our vacation account!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 I need to update my totals, but I totally failed this month. Lol. Ill do better in march. We are full on house hunting now, that's enough to make me stop spending. :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kidlets4me Posted February 22, 2013 Share Posted February 22, 2013 Month to date totals: Groceries 495/600 Kindle/Itunes- 22.01/10.00 Kids Activities and Needs- 245.61 I don't actually have a budgeted amount for this Gas 98/100 Eating Out- 92.51/20.00 I'm WAY over budget for this Misc- 319.91 this includes the wedding gift, attire for wedding, and misc purchases for myself. A lot of these are wants but a good portion are what I'd call needs. I think I need to redefine what I consider a need so I can curb some of this category. Or maybe I need to break it up into individual categories? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 23, 2013 Author Share Posted February 23, 2013 Well, we have arrived at our hotel. Looooong drive, but arrived safe and sound! 2/22 $50 gas, $73 hotel, $40 groceries/road food and snacks for game day tomorrow. 2/23 $40 gas, $14 lunch, $12 socks for ds, $10 team shirt, $2 soda, $8 dinner and coffee for drive home. we are home! And tomorrow should be a no spend day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 2/22 -- $0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 No spend day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kidlets4me Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 2/22 ordered pizza for dinner $25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 2/22 $0 (bought groceries which I'm not counting) 2/23 $2 coffee for dh (while he meets Chinese grad students for language practice---they help him with his Mandarin and he helps them with "business" English and proofreads resumes) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Grocery shopped today. This should last me until next Sunday, at least. This included $200 worth of meat. I get meat about every 12 weeks. So, I'm over my goal. But, I hope to be well under next month! And, I HAD to have a coffee this morning on the way to gymnastics. The only other things I have this month are another payment for Boy Scout Camp and another payment for rowing. Goals: Groceries (including all household items): $772.50/$700 Medical: $200/$100 (MRSA is expensive!!!) Gas: $400/$550 Kids' activities: $880/$1700 Things I'm going to try to curb this month and I hope to bank the difference in our vacation account: Eating out: $6/0!!! Coffee: 1.86!!! Added stuff we bought that wasn't budgeted: $150 for trip insurance for a trip in August, $23 for parking for our August trip (it was cheaper to buy it now!), parking/entrance for dd's gymnastics meet: $25, professional photos from dd's gymnastics meet: $50. Car maintenance: $200. Invitations to a wedding shower I am helping host: $20. Stamps to mail invites: $25. Impromptu trip to a trampoline place with the kids: $32. Extra income (hopefully!): Goal: $555/$400 (Dh occasionally gets "tips" for his services as a priest - wedding, funerals, etc. He has a funeral next week. I also hope to sell some things on line. And, that will be banked in our vacation account!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 23, 2013 Share Posted February 23, 2013 This has been an expensive month. :glare: On Thursday, I ordered contact lenses (267.96), signed the boys up for baseball (340.00) and then paid for the co-op classes (266.00). On the plus side, I bought groceries today, which I expect will be the end of grocery-buying for this month. I find it fascinating that my total food groceries comes out to $548.07 today, while last month, the same category was $545.35. Pretty remarkable how close those figures are! I did buy groceries for my MIL, too, but I'm counting them in my "Gifts" category, so it won't confuse my family-feeding records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Bought socks and underwear for dh and ds - total was $127.00, but I didn't buy Movies as Literature or Wordsmith Apprentice even though I got to checkout TWICE. I do need to order our CAT tests for the required annual testing and register the middle two boys for the ACT this spring. That will all take a chunk of change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 Bought socks and underwear for dh and ds - total was $127.00, but I didn't buy Movies as Literature or Wordsmith Apprentice even though I got to checkout TWICE. I do need to order our CAT tests for the required annual testing and register the middle two boys for the ACT this spring. That will all take a chunk of change. I need to order itbs...i will wait until may though, i think, as we dont take it til end of may beginning of june. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Gas, 6 tires, pointe shoes, performance fee, snow storm roof repair (does not meet deductible), sticker to renew a car, ,donation for a funeral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 2/23: $90.00 Barnes and Noble (Books for school, Walking Dead for ds) $29.00 Dinner out with family $18.00 Bread, Milk, Cereal at grocery store Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 25, 2013 Author Share Posted February 25, 2013 2/24 $8 froyo, $3 coffee and donut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 2/24: Groceries 103.00 Home Repair 24.00 Dinner with dh 34.00 *I am happy to brag, which is not in my nature at all, that we have paid off $4,400. of debt so far this new year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Thanks, and it is so stress relieving. We have a long way to go, though. We are Dave Ramsey converts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 2/22 -- $0 Somewhere along the line, I got off track during the weekend. So, I'll try to remember what we did. 2/23 -- oldest dd had a robotics class about 1 1/2 hour away. I bought snacks and gas. $54 gas, $20 snacks and some medicine at Target 2/24 -- $182 new faucet; my dishwasher died and DH was so nice, he bought me a fancy faucet (on clearance at Lowe's) with a sprayer and soap dispenser. But...our current faucet is all set up different, so we may need a plumber to install it. Sigh...but maybe he can revive our dishwasher while he's here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kidlets4me Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 2/23 0 2/24 I went a bit nutty at Amazon. They had a bunch of movies for 3.99 and then my DH wanted a video game. Grand total-$78.67 :leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Well...I didn't spend any money last week as I was to darn sick. However, I gave my envelope to the kids to buy groceries and craft supplies. Needless to say it's empty, but we are well stocked and we did have Chipotle over the weekend. I'll be staying home all week to recover from this cold and will not spend any money until Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 I am over on groceries for this month....we are in between huge snowstorms (had a foot last week and am expecting a foot today of snow) and I had to buy at the store closest to me rather than where I usually buy. The prices were 40% higher, at least. It was bad for the budget, but great motivation to keep driving to the farther away store. I am under on our eating out budget and gas, though. Hurray! For budget purposes, I can rearrange and have it all covered. Our NICU bills are all paid off but one ($1100 that my insurance company should cover fully but is denying)! We have had some other unexpected expensive stuff come up.....it looks like I remain disciplined in my spending! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 I went to Goodwill today, to try and score pants for ds13, who I swear grows a quarter inch every night. There were almost no pants in his size at all, though I did find a nice pair that will be for Easter. Less than $2. The big win, though, was the barstools. I found two good barstools with a black "leather" padded seat at $10 apiece. We're finishing our basement (very slowly) and those will work at the bar. (Perhaps not forever, but for $20, it won't hurt to have them already.) I also got ds soccer cleats for $15, which, TBH, I thought was a little expensive for Goodwill, but obviously much better than buying new cleats in a men's size. Cute side-bar: there was an antique meat grinder I pointed out to ds13. He took an interest in its potential resale possibilities. He looked it up on e-Bay and then asked if I would buy it so he could resell it. So, I now own an antique meat grinder, on the potential that he might be able to make $50 or more dollars on it. :001_cool: Of course, it may not work out as well as that, but I greatly enjoy it when my kids are open to possibilities such as this. He shows a lot of entrepreneurial promise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 2/25 $113 groceries, 22 paper products and cleaning, $4 drive thru food. Blech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kidlets4me Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 2/25 0 2/26 My DS needed jeans so hit up JCP and there was tons of clearance so got him 2 pairs of jeans, 4 shirts, 2 hoodies, socks, underwear, 3 pairs of jeans for my DD, and a couple of things for my younger 2. I spent $120 but ended up with a lot of stuff, enough to hold him over till the summer. $2.18 at Amazon but I got a whole album for that price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 2/26 $10 dining out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 2/26: $7.00 medicine for my fluffy golden friend at the vet I have to order ds 16 swim team stuff by 3/1. Thinking it's going to be in the neighborhood of $230.00 At least the parka will last him through his high school team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 I will update with my monthly totals on thurs. needless to say, I failed this month. I think I'm over on everything. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 I got busy and forgot, repeatedly, to come post. But I was still keeping track. In fact, I created my own Excel spreadsheets for keeping track of how much we are spending in our cash categories each month. It's much easier than the writing down and then adding that I was doing. I should come in about $400 under what I spent last month. Yay! These totals are as of last Saturday. There have been a few additions. Groceries: $794.99 Gas: $80 Eating Out: $43.78 Medical: $56.99 Car Maintenance/Fees: $18.20 Pets: $24.97 Self-Care: $20 Clothing: $177 Entertainment: $11.79 Crafts: $5.42 School: $219.96 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 I had to buy a few things at CVS - shampoo and deodorant. But, I used a bunch of coupons and stacked them with a $3 off of $15 and ECBs and walked out spending very little. Then, I spent $530 on wedding and shower presents from my sisters and me for my new sister-in-law to be. That wasn't budgeted for this month, but both the wedding and shower invites went out and I wanted to get what I wanted! So, it needed to be done and since I'm the only one who lives near a Bath, Bed and Beyond, it fell on me. And, I used 20% off coupons, so the original total was near $650!! My share of that is only $135 though. And, we put down a $150 deposit on Boy Scout camp for the summer. Goals: Groceries (including all household items): $784.50/$700 Medical: $200/$100 (MRSA is expensive!!!) Gas: $400/$550 Kids' activities: $1030/$1700 Things I'm going to try to curb this month and I hope to bank the difference in our vacation account: Eating out: $6/0!!! Coffee: 1.86!!! Added stuff we bought that wasn't budgeted: $150 for trip insurance for a trip in August, $23 for parking for our August trip (it was cheaper to buy it now!), parking/entrance for dd's gymnastics meet: $25, professional photos from dd's gymnastics meet: $50. Car maintenance: $200. Invitations to a wedding shower I am helping host: $20. Stamps to mail invites: $25. Impromptu trip to a trampoline place with the kids: $32. Wedding/shower gift for said wedding/shower: $135. Extra income (hopefully!): Goal: $555/$400 (Dh occasionally gets "tips" for his services as a priest - wedding, funerals, etc. He has a funeral next week. I also hope to sell some things on line. And, that will be banked in our vacation account!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 I have fizzled this month. I think it's because I am on a diet, and I can apparently only focus on one self-help thing at a time. I'm down 7 pounds and 2 inches off of my waist! But, I have got to get back to tracking my spending. Middle dd is getting her braces on March 11th, at which time I have to have 25% of the cost to put down. Oh, and I have baseboards already purchased, but I need to buy all of the door casings before I can install the baseboards. So many things to spend my money on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted February 27, 2013 Share Posted February 27, 2013 Only non-essential spending: 2/22 $0 2/23 $2 coffee 2/24 $217 DSW (scored on clearance---2 pr boots for me, boots and lace-up Oxford heels for dd18, sneakers for dd13----and we all wear size 6 :D), $13.13 at used book store (astronomy books) 2/25 $0 2/26 $0 (dh met a friend at Starbucks but used gift card funds) Today should be $0 again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 2/27 $4 frozen yogurt, $14 toner for printer. I also found out I will be earning an extra $300 this week. Yay! Straight into the emergency fund. How many months of living expenses do you have in your emergency fund, people? 3 months? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 28, 2013 Author Share Posted February 28, 2013 I was just looking at that other thread. Suzy Ormand or whatever the heck her name is - you know, the money woman who has way too much energy for my taste -- says 8 months. Man, is that depressing or what? We haven't had to pay utilities for years (included in our housing). I know it probably varies by region, but what do people generally have to pay? Tbh, suze drives me a little nuts. 8 months?? Hahahahaha. No. Just no. We will start with 3 and then continue to fund it WHILE funding other things like xmas gifts, car repairs, and vacation. I dont know what we pay for utilities as dh is in charge of that, but around 80 a month in winter and 150 in summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kidlets4me Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Took the kids to the children's museum today. Had a coupon for free admission. We did spend $6 on drinks and a snack though. My utilities here are nuts. Water bill comes out every 2 months it runs $160-170. The charge for water is only around $30 the rest is sewer and all the taxes they add on. Garbage bill is every 2 months $43 for pickup once every 2 weeks. My heat is electric so electric bill runs $225+ in winter and $100 in summer. My electric company tacks on around $40 as a minimum system charge. Payable even if you don't use any electric! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Don't be too hard on yourself. Changing one's thinking about and behavior toward money is a process. You can take baby steps and it will be ok. This is true! I'm actually really proud of us, we got our tax return and put all but $200 into savings. We used the 200 to pay off a credit card, and buy the last of the curricula we needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I was just looking at that other thread. Suzy Ormand or whatever the heck her name is - you know, the money woman who has way too much energy for my taste -- says 8 months. Man, is that depressing or what? We haven't had to pay utilities for years (included in our housing). I know it probably varies by region, but what do people generally have to pay? Our landlord pays our water, but I know our electric is 40-75 depending on the season, and gas is 50-250 depending on the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 28, 2013 Author Share Posted February 28, 2013 2/28 $40 curriculum. Splurged on some fun books on cells and dna from amazon. Havent done that in ages. Hopefully the books will be worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 28, 2013 Author Share Posted February 28, 2013 Total for this month (I don't anticipate more spending today-maybe a coffee at work, but that's it) Total: $1859 Groceries: I was very good, but DH went to BJs and spend $200. So $790 total. Not bad, but man, set DH loose in BJs and he goes NUTS. Gas: $242. This includes a very long road trip (about $90 worth of gas) so not bad. Kids: $158 (clothing, new socks, medication) Dining Out: $136. More than usual, but again, road trip was expensive. Curriculum and Paper supplies/Toner: $132 Transferred to savings: $100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4kidlets4me Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Total for this month: Groceries: $529.57 Kindle/Itunes: $103.59 Kids Needs: $381.09 clothing, sports Gas: $98 Eating Out: $117.23 I also have more than $300 under miscellaneous that I'm going to try and break down into categories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Our water bill is about $30 a month. Our garbage pick up is $69 every two months. Our electric/gas combined ranges from $169 in the summer to $306 in the winter. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I was just looking at that other thread. Suzy Ormand or whatever the heck her name is - you know, the money woman who has way too much energy for my taste -- says 8 months. Man, is that depressing or what? We haven't had to pay utilities for years (included in our housing). I know it probably varies by region, but what do people generally have to pay? I like Suze. I don't hear her often, but once in a while I catch her on TV and I have a CD I picked up at Goodwill. On the CD, she was saying 8 months for the emergency fund. I don't technically have one fund that I call our "emergency fund," but I do have several liquid accounts that can be tapped without penalty. I do have a bottom number that I don't like any of them to fall below. We would be in good shape for many months without an income. In 2008 and 2009, we earned only about half a year's worth of pay from dh's business. If we did not have accessible money, we would have been in serious trouble during that time. Currently, I'm striving to build those accounts back to a comfortable level after those years of draining it quite a bit. My utilities may not compare in any logical way, but FWIW, my electric is about $300 during the coldest months, $250 in the hottest months. We have a wood-burning furnace for heat. Before we had that, heating oil was shockingly, horribly expensive - and that was before it was half so high as it is now. We were averaging $700/month for OIL in the winter when we bought the furnace. We're on a well, so no water bill. I think trash and recycling removal is $86/3 months. (I can't remember the interval off the top of my head; might be 2 months.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Here are my February totals: Food Groceries: 548.07 Non-Food Groceries: 118.82 Other Household: 222.54 Food Eaten Out (incl. dd's lunch): 86.39 Kids Activities: 460.00 Co-op Classes: 266.00 Books: 133.55 :ph34r: Gifts/Parties: 47.95 Hair/Personal: 257.00 :ph34r: Auto Maintenance: 180.00 Clothing: 179.19 Fortunately, we received three rental checks that were very helpful. :thumbup1: Straight to savings you go, little dogies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I won't have totals until tomorrow... 2/28: Ikea $106.00 (who knew they had a clearance section?) Hair Supplies for dd and I: $24.00 Starbucks: $3.45 Did not expect to spend anything today but I took my mom out for some errands. At least we stayed out of bookstores! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Yikes. Gas $250. You're in the midwest and we're in the north east. Probably would be a similar expenditure here. Just trying to look ahead for when we have to pay our own utilities. Good thing I've gotten the family used to lowering thermostats. Yeah, December - march are rough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted March 1, 2013 Author Share Posted March 1, 2013 Is anyone interested in a March thread? If so, i can start one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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