It'll be January before we know it.
October's Goals:
- Keep throwing any and all extra money at the truck debt. We paid a little extra on the truck this month. To the tune of $200. Not as much as I would have liked to, but it is better than nothing.
- Keep the grocery budget set at $300. Did so with success. Managed to come in under budget! Yippee.
- And, I really want to get over my fear of selling on Ebay. Uh...Negative. Hi, I'm Phoebe, and I'm a procrastinator.
With that being said...here is my list for November:
- Continue to throw money at the truck. Every penny counts...so any and all extra income that comes in (if it exists) needs to go here. If there is leftover money from month to month...throw it at the truck! This one is hard for me, because the truck is the only bill I have that cannot be paid online! So, when I get "extra" money, I feel I have to wait to mail it all in at once instead of a random payment here, and there. I'm not patient.
- Continue the grocery budget at $300. Hopefully we can go for lower than that.
- Ahem...try ebay. I had good intentions, but I procrastinate. I continually procrastinated getting the flat rate box, and before I knew it it was the end of the month. Then, I realized I procrastinated making Halloween costumes. Yeah, not a fan of Halloween much....but the kids have a big party at school. I couldn't let them not dress up. So...here I sit a day before Halloween frantically finishing costumes. Ebay can wait a couple more days.
- Get meaner/tighter on the envelope system. This is one of the things that Dave Ramsey is big on. Envelopes for budget. It worked great for us while we were in FPU, and while we still follow it loosely...I notice areas where we can improve. We'll see if there is any progress here, because the main culprit, is my husband!
I don't know about everyone else...but I was so excited the other day when we went to go get gas! $1.99 BABY!!!!!!! I think that it has even went lower than that since. I told my husband we needed to frame the receipt!
So, I was curious what everyone else was thinking here. Since it is costing us considerably less to fill up, are you leaving your budget the same, or are you lowering it? I'm thinking/waiting for it to go right back where it came from, so I am reluctant to lower it.
Also, in these tough times, do you find yourself cutting back in certain areas? Or are you spending the same as you were a few months ago?
10 comments:
WTG!!! Sounds like you guys are doing really well! I, too, am excited to see gas prices lower again!! It now only costs $50 to fill up rather than $80. We will have our van paid in full by the end of November, and I'm so excited to throw that payment to our next debt!!! I can see the light! :)
It cost me about the same to fill up, and I was so excited! I never thought we would see it dip that low again. We'll see how long is lasts.
Isn't the "light' great! Such a great feeling. WTG to you all too! You'll be debt free before you know it! :)
That's super that you stayed in your budget this month on the groceries! And also that you put $200 extra on the truck!! Woop, Woop!! (doing the happy dance here for ya')
Gas and our budget... "way back when" before gas decided it was a mountain climber, DH was able to stop driving his personal truck to work. So since it was only my car doing most of the driving I waited a couple months, looked to see what we were kinda spending on gas, and lowered the auto budget accordingly. Then I was working and driving to work every day... we were able to stay close to the budget, but I had to put some of my paycheck towards it once in a while, esp if we made an extra trip. Then I stayed at home again, and gas hit the roof. If we didn't go ANYwhere extra, we were ok, but if we did make any extra trips, we were always over budget. I didn't change the budget, I just added what we needed each month and we were careful to make trips count. Hopefully we'll be back to under budget next month with the lower gas prices. I always liked it when we had lots left over in the gas budget, 'cause I would take most of it and put it on the mortgage :)
I would keep the gas budget the same. the low price is nice(I seen $1.95 here this morning) but it will eventually go back up
Have you tried listing stuff on Craigslist? Ebay and Paypal take so much out anymore in fees.
Congrats on coming under on your grocery budget!
I am so excited about budgeting now because of you!
I'm not that great but I'm loving Walgreens. I can't wait for ours to open.
My grocery budget is the same as yours. I went over this month by about 164.00 - but I plan on making that last for 2 months (gotta love aldi's, get more for your money).
I started a new blog to keep track of it all.
http://smartshoppingfrugalspending.blogspot.com/
I already made my coupon book and I'm just waiting to get them organized (i need my card sheets to put them in.)
So when we get a lot paid off, Chris and I owe you guys a dinner.
Yay for budgets!!! And Walgreen's !! When does yours open?
ooh..and Aldi's. Favorite store next to Wags. It'll take ya a bit to get in the groove of your budget...but you will. And then, when you see your debt shrink, you'll be so far in..you won't ever look back!
Great news, Kristina! I'm so excited for you guys!
And dinner....alright, but only if it's frugal! :)
Off to take a looky at your blog....
Agh! Gas is still $2.29 here (not that I'm complaining, really). Good for you for putting $200 towards the truck.. slow and steady wins the race!
When I budget I tend to overbudget in all areas (I would rather end up with savings, then end up short). Its sorta like a game to me.. I know that if I can spend less than I budget then I will get to put more into savings each month (I'm a dork, I know!)
Maybe keep your numbers the same, but think to yourself if you don't spend all of it then you can pay off the truck faster!
Thanks to the wonderful world of coupons opening its doors to me I feel like I'm spending less now and getting twice as much! We have made changes in spending in some areas (though I don't know how much is due to the economy, b/c I feel like I probably would have done it anyway, but now it is easier to get DH on board!) for ex. i refuse to turn on the heat, even though my toes are frozen and its 56 degrees in here. I will wait as long as humanly possible so to put off a ridiculous gas bill. :)
We are already pretty frugal, like you, but we have areas we can cut back on. So yes, we are cutting back. I recently did a powdered milk experiment (kids didn't notice a thing, lol!). I have a whole "frugal planning" list I'm experimenting with...I want to save some money! LOL!
Jaime-
I'm all about cutting back...but freezing cold piggies?! I'm not that frugal...yet! :)
We've cut back on some things...but I'm with you, I think we would have done it anyway.
momstheword-
I've thought about the powdered milk thing. That is my highest expense when I grocery shop, and I've cut us down because of the price twice already. Is it really that much cheaper though. And what about nutrition...is it equilvalent?
A "frugal planning" list? OOhhh..do tell. I'm all about saving money! :)
Thank you everyone for your input/comments!
The powdered milk is supposed to be just as nutritious, and it is usually cheaper. We mixed 1/2 gallon of 2% milk with 1/2 gallon of very cold powdered milk (that's why nobody noticed). As for my frugal planning list, I posted some of my ideas of areas under "How High Are You Willing To Climb To Get Out Of Debt" on my blog. Come visit and let me know what you think!
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