Thursday, March 27, 2014

The Deteriorating Budget

So, if any of you are so observant, you probably noticed that I did not post a monthly recap of my spending last month nor will I be putting one up for this month. And you may ask, why is that? WELL, let's just say there really are no numbers to post...

Last month was one of my best months in terms of earning a living off of waitressing, but it was also pretty hectic. There wasn't a lot of time after coming home from work and getting ready for the next day. My priorities came to be work, getting food, and making sure my uniform was decent.

And because the habit dissipated last month, this month it was also non-existent. I'm still paying off my student loans and saving for retirement,  but I cannot tell you how much was spent on groceries or hair care or anything else.

It's pretty easy to put things off, and budgeting is something that you think you have control of after awhile, and then you completely forget that there even was a budget. You start spending all your money on things that seem important, when in reality, looking back in your budget will show you you've already maxed out that category last week.

So what will I'll doing differently next month to make sure I'm keeping myself on track?

1. I'm hoping to track and post my spending and savings budget weekly here. I started this blog with a purpose and it was mainly to document my student loan repayment process. But that doesn't mean that it can't serve double duty.

2. Getting back into the habit of writing everything down, no matter how tired I am. I've already gotten back into saving all my receipts and putting my income and my expenses into my designated notebook. So, once April comes around, the habit is already there.


Have you ever fallen off the bandwagon of sticking to your budget? How hard was it to get back on? 

4 comments:

  1. Great job getting back into it. It is especially hard when you're busy, but if it's important to you, you'll find the time to do it :)

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  2. Great job on the earnig and saving. Tracking is my least favorite thing to do. I wish I were better about doing it daily but I'm just not. So it makes month end a blast...errr not.

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  3. It's easy to think you'll be able to stick with something once you've gotten a hang of it. But budgets, just like everything else, require maintenance.

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  4. I find keeping track of expenses tedious, so what I do is save money when I get some, so my savings goals are met, then spend the rest. It doesn't matter where the money goes if you have met your goal.

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