May Budget

...better late than never? I am glad this month is over, that's all I can say.

Revenue: Includes my husband's raise, and my extra week paycheck for this quarter.

Fixed: Termite bill due.

Debt repay: Typical amounts all around.

Variable: I have split this section up into the categories we are actually spending each month and the categories we are funding, and may or may not actually be spending. It makes it easier for me to read, plan, and analyze.

We gave ourselves a small raise in our discretionary spending. This is financed by my husband's raise, but also well deserved after a full quarter of really having no spending money, and making good debt progress. As I have started to work out more, I had wanted to buy new sneakers, but that money ended up buying mother's day flowers :/ The rest of the expenses are the same as any month.

For the funds, my husband's raise allowed us to add a car fund category. My hope is that this will build toward a new car when needed, but may end up going to car repairs if necessary. All of my extra paycheck this month was earmarked for our wedding expenses, including our stay and parking.

Payoff: Month 5

April

cc 1,2,3,4: 0
cc5: 6105.14

Loan 1: 4542.19
Loan 2: 11437.74
Loan 3: 11401.28

Debt: 33486.35


May

cc 1,2,3,4: 0
cc5: 3514.67

Loan 1: 4454.32
Loan 2: 10972.64
Loan 3: 11347.35

Debt: 30288.99
Paid: 3197.36

Total Paid: 13618.89

My doll arrived today!

I have waited almost 6 months for this doll to arrive. He is one of the catalysts which started this whole journey. He is paid for. And he is finally here. I may as well enjoy and share him, yeah? :)

(He doesn't stand real well on his own)

UGH

Work has blocked blogger. This is new this week. I cannot post or read any bloggers from work anymore. How annoying.

We got our roof fixed. I don't have to worry about that anymore. It is done. I am glad. Onto the next thing.

My cousin called me up last minute and asked me to make wedding programs for her. At first I was going to say no (mostly for the time crunch), but I ended up saying yes. I have already spent maybe $75 on supplies, and I have run out of ink so I need to buy more. This is money I hadn't planned on spending. This is going to have to be her gift. Tight month gets tighter. We leave next week.

We are on track to pay off the credit cards mid June.

Coupons

In trying to eek out everything I can, I have started researching coupons. I already feel overwhelmed by the number of coupons I have accumulated in just two weeks. My husband got very defensive when I started pushing the issue. I guess he took it personally. He has done a great job cutting our shopping costs, but I just feel it can go lower. He insists price-coupon is equivalent to store brand price. So now I am taking over the shopping. The problem is that I don't do the cooking, and I don't get home til 7 on a good day. So when am I fitting this in? He works from home, so he could always run out at lunch or after work.

It seems hard to plan everything out and spend as little as possible and match coupons to sales and know when to buy and when to wait and do without. I have also started working a drug store. I have never shopped at drug stores before. I did my first trip today:

Aleve $5.00 (save .80)
Colgate $2.99 (save .90)
Gillette Razor 9.79 (save .20)
Depends 6.99
Dawn .97 (save 1.02)
2 Nivea lipgloss 2@2.99
3 Nivea body wash 2@4.88 and 1@6.99 for some reason. They all said 4.88 under them. I didn't notice this til just now.
GBT .99

49.46 b4 tax

Coupons:

Dawn .50
Colgate .75
Aleve 1.00
Nivea lipgloss 1.00
razor 2.00
depends 2.00
lipgloss BOGO 2.99
Bodywash 4.00
bodywash 4.00
bodywash BOGO 4.88

Total: 30.86

Saved: 28.26

EB Offers:

Nivea $5
Gilette $6
Aleve $3
Depends $6.99
Colgate $2

Total: 22.99

Difference: 7.87

Not bad, and now I have all those bucks to float my future trips. One does tend to wonder how much stuff you don't need is worth buying just to have good rewards. I can at least use all of this (except the depends, which I will take to my grandmother's alzheimer's home this weekend), even if I wasn't actively looking to buy any of it. I am set for body wash for a while.

Anyway, I am going to start linking up websites I have found to be helpful, and hopefully start making dents with coupons.

April cash jars

Not a great month in the sinking fund front. We spent a good bit of a weekend cleaning out our basement, and had to get a lot of supplies for that. We had a few expensive grocery trips. I had a work outing. I had a friend obligaion in which I spent a lot of money. We got pizza once. My diet is causing us to cut back on the takeout, but I spent the rest of that money covering shortages in other areas. Lots of schlepping around this month, so I was desperate for gas. I am also doing most of the driving because my husband's tire is flat.

Jar~~~~Spent~~~~Left
Grocery~~388~~~~~~12
Supplies~~71~~~~~~~ -21
Misc~~~~40~~~~~~~~10
Takeout~~50~~~~~~~10
Gas~~~~~125~~~~~~~0

We had $10 left in the end. But I used that money to help cover one of the jars for May. So we ultimately had nothing left for the sinking fund. The upside is I am getting better at giving us just what we need. The downside is less for whatever we are saving it for.

March Income Statement

March:

Income: Standard.

Fixed: Power is still high. Trash bill this month. My husband says they are redoing the trash system here so that it will be included in property tax and will also pick up more recyclables, which will be fabulous. They tried this last year, and it failed, so we are hoping it passes this year. Water was high. We have some plumbing problems we haven't addressed yet, and some leaky toilets. But, it's only like $5 more than usual... Our insurance (car) was crazy low this month. With all the roof stuff, my husband also spoke with them about some discounts he thought we should be getting, and reduced our price. I guess they were crediting us back or something? I really don't know.

A note on Bally's: I have started going back. I am trying hard to lose weight (for the wedding, and pre-baby) and am working out 4 days a week now. 2 at Bally and 2 at the gym at work. I'd like to also do wii fit on the weekends, but haven't gotten to do that yet. It's been pretty busy. I have lost 4 pounds so far. So, I am keeping Bally's for now.

Debt: Paid off my credit card. I now own a lot of veterinary work and all my dollstuffs and my transmission. Only $1000 to cc5, to allow for us to save for the roof repair. Minimums all around.

Variable: My car renewal was due. Two cats got shots. The repair is for the power guy who came out when my house lost power. I spent some extra money going out with work and friends this month. Bank fees are finance charges, as usual. Our Misc. was high this month, too, and I don't remember why now. (my book is downstairs)

Saving: $59 to sinking fund. $900 for the roof.

Highly unusual expenses which get their own category this month: My husband spent money to be with and help out his parents. They paid him back for this (but not until April). I bought and mailed invitations for my cousin's rehearsal dinner, which I had budgeted money for. I also bought shoes for my dress.

And, we still made it out with $20 to spare.