Thursday, June 18, 2015

The Budget That Isn't Working...

As I sat down to make a new budget, I had my old budget in hand and considered it 80% there. No one is perfect, but it's not like I forgot to add in a new designer bag anywhere in there...

But then lots of questions and concerns started coming into play. I tend to be a frugal and conscious person. However, I love buying those small things that make life worth living, like flowers, and teas and cute pink things (no judging!!!).

And where did I have to start, with my debt. Being able to fully admit where I am and where I started is a great thing. It shows me how far I've come these past two years.

Total Debt: $29,670.44

This includes my student loans and my car loan.Yikes, that's quite a bit, but quite a bit of progress from 36k in student loans and 10k on the car.  With my car being half paid off and that key chain still on there, along with extra payments, we are making progress every day!


Each month there are a few priorities I want to take into account.

1. Paying off my debt sooner rather than later.
2. Enjoying life, including family and friends.
3. Being prepared!

Being able to take these things into consideration, categories start falling into place.

Based on 2200 an average take home pay...

Rent: 264 + 125 (part of home repairs that are underway)
Car Loan: 320 (extra 100 each month)
Student Loans: 500 (extra 311 and change each month)
Roth:360

Remaining: Not a lot...

Ballet: 100
Hair and Nails: 40
Taxes: 200

Remaining: Even less...

Hmm, and that got me thinking. There's a few categories that are missing here. Like savings and tithe and FOOD...

Church: 50
Savings:?
Groceries: maybe 100?
Gas: 100
Household:100
Everything else:100

There is something that needs to be done. These past few days have been good to me, but that is the present and does not speak of the future. What happens when your budget does not balance? Do you start cutting your debt repayment to fit in food? Or perhaps putting the needs first, debt repayment second and then everything else third? Do you stop planning for those 'important to you' things? Take out the spontaneity from life? What is it that must be done to balance the budget?

That is the question that I'm still working on and will be for the next few months...


What do you think I should do? Do you think I should stop contributing to my Roth or perhaps lower my student loan payment? There's no wine budget...I NEED MY WINE...

Monday, June 1, 2015

May Expenses and the Start of a June Budget



And here are the final numbers. These past few months has seen me slacking in the tracking every expense category. So, I've looked back as best I could, but without a doubt there are a few lines with random purchases that cannot be remembered for the life of me.

Expenses:

Taxes: $125
Ballet: $120
Hair: $50    
Rent: $370
Phone:$168

Snacks: $83.61
Groceries: $100
Eating Out: $100
Household Stuff: $100

Gas:$50
Car: $15
Gifts: $17.12
Makeup: $126
Wine: $25

Car: $320
Student Loans: $200.00

Roth: $360


Income: $2200

Total Expenses: $2329.73 (Give or take that groceries budget...)

Got a new cover for my license plate! It's always been a hope of mine to have one with my alma mater's name on it, and I finally took the plunge! Lucky for me it was 75% off and figured it was the perfect time. Only three years later...

I made an effort and finally went around and got a new phone plan for my mom and I! So starting next month this should be a slightly lower figure!

That grocery budget, there must be something missing there...that's really way too low... Lots of gift cards from previous months were found to purchase wine, so this figure is also not that accurate. It's kind of sad to see that I spent more on makeup and dining out, but can say that's what happens when the budget really isn't in play.

What is frustrating me at this point is that I'm not assigning a job to every dollar and there were times where I could have really cut back or held out on going out just to have been a bit more in line with my income. I'm lucky that my bf pays for many of our outings and whims, but I still need to get a bit more on track. Instead of going out I'm going to try and convince friends to host small dine in dinner parties. And on days I feel bored, breaking out a book or two from the library down the street to cure it.

These next couple months are going to be tough. They are the months that I earn the least. But the best part is that if a new budget can work this month and next, it will work for basically all the others! Stay tuned!

How did May treat you in terms of life and finance? What are you looking forward to in June?