Can you tell it’s June?
January started this blog off hot with timely posts and weekly updates on how things are going, how the budget is working, “it’s hard but we’ll get there”, la la la, tra la laaaaaa!
Well, it’s mid-year now and you can tell by the cobwebs scattered all over this place, don’t you think? It’s time to get more focused and I’m not just talking about blogging!
The budget this month isn’t going all that well. And I have to point at myself and say it’s all my fault. I have been buying things that aren’t in the budget. There! I said it! It is ALL MY FAULT.
Now, time for the excuses!! (New! Improved, Excuses!)
It’s hard sticking to a budget! Whine, whimper moan! We wanted/needed (ok, more on the wanted side) some new pool toys once summer hit hard, both kids needed new shoes for the summer. Did I need to buy 2 pairs of sandals for my daughter? No, no, probably not. However, I’m not going to feel guilty - You wouldn’t either if you’ve had to hunt all over the house for that ONE pair of sandals, wishing that there was another pair to use as a backup!
Of course, now I just hunt all over the house for both pairs instead of one. Ahem.
Another over budget item — my own personal fun money. I was futzing around with the new Quicken 2008 (another purchase that was not budgeted for) and neglected to keep close tabs on my own ‘fun money’ category and damn it all if i’m not over by like $40. It was that night out with girlfriends. Drinks, movie, popcorn, more drinks after — it really added up, and I didn’t even notice.
Other overspent categories:
Gifts: Should have allotted more for Father’s day and various birthday parties the kids get invited to.
Dining out: We’ve done more fast food than we should, add that to more spent at dinner for Father day.. doh.
Kid’s activities: This one just creeps up on you. I tend to lump all kid stuff in here, so the DVD of the kids at their closing program was in here, as well as the swimming lessons, as well as the sunscreen fee at the kid’s school… some things we can budget for (swimming lessons) but other things just crop up unexpectedly.
GAS: Uhh… HELLO! Gas prices are insane. I budgeted a LOT for gas this month, and technically we haven’t overspent this category yet, but I’m not sure we’re going to make it. I think in January, I budgeted $400 for gas. In May, we spent closer to $600. In June, we’re shooting towards $700, easy. YEOUCH. I want a hybrid.
Even with the overspending, we’re having a fantastic month debt-wise.
We’ve had a lot of reimbursements from our FSAs (and I earmark all FSA money to go toward debt).
I got paid for a freelance gig I had in april-may.
We received our tax stimulus check.
However, with the overspending, I’ve been kind of wary of just paying the minimums and letting the extra sit in our HY checking, earning interest, waiting for the day our 0% interest rates run out to pay everything. It’s too EASY to just fiddle our budget around, take some AWAY from the debt category and put some INTO the overspent categories to make it all nice and neat, to the detriment of our debt paydown!!
I had this uneasiness right from the beginning of June, probably because July was so crazy with the spending (even thought it was budgeted for). So, because of the butterflies in my stomach, and my DETERMINATION that we don’t steal from peter to pay paul … When money came in, I deposited it, and then promptly made a credit card payment for the same amount. If the money is GONE, you can’t borrow from it, right?
I think I am feeling a little less uneasy now. The thought of the stimulus check sitting in our checking earning interest doesn’t give me butterflies anymore, so I will probably let it sit there instead of rushing it off to the debt paydown plan. However, I reserve the right to rush it off to the nearest credit card debt if the butterflies start to form again.
So, even though I didn’t let some of the debt money sit around earning interest, we have a good bit of our income sitting there, as we now use our amex blue cash card for everything. Last month we earned about $15 in interest, and we didn’t fund the account until mid month, so we should at least break $20 at the end of June.
Well, that’s a long update - long in words, and long overdue. Time to get the motivation back and keep at it! Blogging, budgeting, EVERYTHING!
As always… please comment! It makes me feel like I’m not talking to an empty room. *Tap tap tap* Hello? Anyone out there?
-99k
Comments
Whoops, would you mind deleting my previous comment? I’d prefer not to have my name on it. Thanks :)
I’m in the same boat this month–I bought frivolous stuff AND we had emergency car expenses. Yargh! I just started my own blog because this month, alone, has sent us way into the red.