Its a challenge and disappointment, a goal and a curse. I need to continue to remind myself that this is a work in progress and that even at a minimum, having a budget outlined and tracking our spending is a HUGE step and better than doing nothing at all.
Our "monkey wrench" during this period and our current pay period has been Ashlyn's birthday and receiving a hefty tax refund. Some people see having a big influx of money as a good thing. Personally, it scares the heck outa me! I can be so impulsive at times that I stress over purchases and how to spend and be responsible at the same time... but more on that to come with the next review!
Ashlyn turned 10 yesterday! It makes me feel old to be the parent of a ten year old... the fact that I'm on the brink of 30 doesn't phase me, but a 10 year old daughter seems monumental! I wanted to make sure we celebrated this birthday in a big way, so we invited Ashlyn's best friend from our neighborhood to spend the night with us at the new Holiday Inn Express here in Red Bluff. We had a great time at our girl's night slumber party/pool party!
All in all, including the cost of the hotel room, pizza, snacks & birthday gifts I think we were able to keep Ashlyn's celebration in the $150 range. I love being purposeful with gift giving, planning ahead and shopping for deals. We were able to get an outfit from Justice (Yikes! Expensive!) for Ash to wear to dance rehersals. It was $30 for a pair of yoga type pants and a cute top, and that was after I used a $25 off $50 purchase reward card that I got for free from a lady on Red Bluff Needs. Now, had it not been her birthday I probably would have searched the thrift stores for an outfit or two, but birthdays deserve something new! We also gifted a pair of Monster High Earbuds (free through Amazon when I redeemed some swagbucks, an American Girl book called The Care and Keeping of You that I found at a yardsale last summer, an American Girl craft kit that I got on super clearance at Michaels and an 8x10 print of the fruits of the Spirit with a cool frame also found at Michaels.
Now, onto the regular scheduled programing:
Groceries/Consumables:
Initially budgeted: $300
Actual spending: $349.87
Hmmm.. Over again. I need to determine a better way to work within this category. I think I do pretty well with the grocery part in seeing big savings, but this will be something I focus on continuously. Using coupons, shopping sales and menu planning is helping us tremendously. We need to get back to using cloth diapers more frequently, and maybe be a little more selective with the drug store deals I'm doing. I know the way I shop saves us money in the long run, but I need to do better at keeping the budget in mind WHILE I'm shopping!
Eating Out:
Initially budgeted: $50
Actual spending: $18
It seems like this can't possibly be right. Did we actually not get pizza, or anything else with the family? This $18 included $9.11 at Sonic for an afternoon ice cream treat one day, and $8.89 for a late night Mom & Dad McDonalds run.
Gas:
Initially budgeted: $50
Actual spending: $45!
Yep, loving our van (and Safeway's gas reward program) more and more and more!
Spending Money:
Bob's budgeted: $50
Bob's actual spending: $79.81
Bob's spending was mostly eating out while he was working. This number is crazy to me, I would think he might want some of his spending money to actually spend and buy himself stuff he wants. Granted, he filed an expense report and will get about $50 back from his per diem allotment when he had to spend the night on the coast for work. Still... definitely need to work on this area for the budget AND our health.
Hailey's budgeted: $100
Hailey's actual spending: $84.01
I am so proud of myself! I really thought this would be a bigger challenge, and I'm sure there are times where it will be, but it helps to be aware of this category and be more specific and conscious of my purchases.
We had a lot of "extras" during this period: $10 at the mobile vet clinic to get Dallas utd on his rabies shot, $45 for Ashlyn's dance costume for the recital coming in June, $55 for Dannon's soccer registration and $40 to some friends of ours. I was thrilled to be able to raise the $100 for the kid's activities by selling items on Red Bluff Needs and Craigslist.
Part of my yard sale/thrifting hobby is knowing what I can buy for cheap and resell. When Ashlyn and I were in Sacramento during the beginning of January I found a like new pair of women's K2 inline skates. The beauty of owning a smart phone is that I could look up the specifics on the spot. I ended up buying the skates for $8.99 when I realized they retailed for $120+ and successfully sold them on craigslist for $50! That one ten dollar purchase ended up paying Ashlyn's costume fee. Bring on yard sale season!
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