My first week on an official budget!
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| Wed, 01-13-2010 - 1:48pm |
So I put my budget into place this week and had some not-so-surprising results. I went over budget! Of course I did! But I did feel more 'in control' of my finances this week. I think this budget is really going to start catching on!
For instance, I made my husbands lunch today. I never do that and we often fight about it but this week we had gone overbudget on groceries and there was no cash left to give him so I decided that I had to make his lunch otherwise he'd put us overbudget even more when he went to McDonalds! I also went over-budget on clothes. I have a $20 dollar clothing/gift budget per week. I went to the mall this weekend and Stride Rite was having a sale. My 2 youngest kids have wide and extra wide feet. I can sometimes get away with buying my wide footed kid a regular shoe that runs big, but I have yet to find a regular shoe that fits my 2 year old with his Xtra wide feet! Stride Rite and a few other specialty stores are the only kids shoe stores that carry Extra Wide sizes so I rarely find a shoe in his size let alone one on sale, so I found his size and the shoe was Regularly $55 but on sale for $39.99 so I bought it. So now he officially has 2 pairs of shoes, one in a size 7 which still fits although they are snug and the new ones in a size 8 and they should last him until the late spring when he'll need 1 pair of sandals. I just couldn't pass it up even though it meant I would be going over my budget by double! But what I did after that is stop spending. No more clothing or gifts for this week. And next week I'm going to see if I can spend nothing so I can get back on track.
I also went over on Gas by a few dollars, groceries by $13 dollars, entertainment by $37 dollars!!! But at least I'm starting the learning process. I never thought it was going to be easy to start living on a budget. And you may be asking yourself...well how did we pay down so much debt if we were never on a budget before? Well, as you can see by my tickers, we have no savings. We just started paying the bills first and then we lived on whatever was leftover. The problem with that is that nothing was ever left! If I had an extra $100 dollars in the bank after the bills were paid and the groceries were done, I would always find an excuse to spend it. But my new budget is going to fix that! I WILL have a savings!

Good for you, Abby! Having a budget in place is a big first step. We have been budgeting for over a year, but it did take us several months to really get the hang of sticking to it. And of course you'll find that you've forgotten something, or need to adjust something else based on real life - it's the nature of the beast, but a good budget will have a little "give" in it to accomodate.
Good luck!
Congratulations Abbie, I've been wondering where you were.
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus
It sounds like you didn't go over much in any one category. That is what the budget is for--a rough guideline. It may need to be tweaked from time to time as you get used to it. Perhaps next week or month you won't need a clothing item or find a sale at the grocery store to save a few bucks here and there. If one of the kids gets sick you may be staying home and not using as much gas. This will ebb and flow as you get used to it. Give it a year. You likely left out things too. Its ok, it is a process.
Good for you! And I read in another post you have not been late on the mortgage for 6 month? That is fantastic and this budget will help to perpetuate that streak!
OMG Abbie!! When I first started reading your post I did not look up at the "from" line, then I got down to the sig and your photos and I could not believe you have been here this long, hearing us talk about a budget and you didn't have one!!
Good for you Abbie! Its a great start. I have had my budget for over 3 years and it STILL gets tweeked now and then! I can't remember if you've already answered this or not, but are you taking out the money in cash? I find that really helps me stick to it, simply because if its not in my wallet, I can't spend it.
The other thing it does is allow me to easily set aside anything I DON'T spend for that week in a jar. I use this jar for things like stocking up on groceries if there is a good sale, or a dinner out with friends, or just supplementing my spending money if I am short one week. It works out really well!
Bex -
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift -thats why its called the present."
Bex -
I tried carrying cash for a while.
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus