What happened in Week 1?

I made a side bar to update my progress in the "Low Spend August" goal. On the surface, it looks pretty bad. I'm in the red in two categories and have spent more than half my grocery allocation. The good news is that I will get reimbursed for the school expense (not until October), and I have groceries for the whole week ahead (except more milk and fruit).


What I learned:

• I've been pretty unfocused this week in a lot of areas, including meal planning. Being unfocused costs money.



• I spend a lot on snacks (popcorn, chips) and drinks (Gatorade)



• I probably should make a new budget category for "fun". The spending in miscellaneous was for an inner tube for the "First Annual River Float" on Friday afternoon. Seven of us floated down the river for five hours, with drinks and snacks. It was too fun to pass up. Floating in the water on a hot summer day is in my top three favorite things to do list.


• Budgeting for gifts is working pretty well for me. This is an area I tend to overspend on, so deciding in advance how much I will spend is crucial for me. This month is DSIL's birthday.

I think that planning meals for the coming weeks will still allow me to finish within budget for the month, but it will take focus (and low cost snacks).

Menu Plan for Week 2

I've fallen off the menu planning wagon since summer started, because our schedule is so flexible in the summer. I've been reading Dawn at Fighting Foreclosure to get re inspired to plan. One of her suggestions is to make a flexible eating plan for the week. I have been trying to do this, but now I'm writing it down so that I can evaluate how it goes. I will plan for 7 dinners, plus lunches and breakfasts, which are pretty much set because we tend to eat the same things over and over.
Breakfast: cereal or waffles, toast with peanut butter and bananas (or tomato)
Lunch: Sandwiches (PBJ, grilled cheese, bologna, egg salad), salad
Dinner:
1. Oven-roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, summer squash
2. Left-over chicken :) I love leftovers!
3. Fish sticks, mac 'n cheese
4. Spaghetti with meat sauce or pesto
5. quesadillas, Spanish rice
6. Stuffed peppers, browned potatoes
7. Hamburgers or burritos (DS choice), potato salad
I'm going right now to clean and cut up carrots for the week. I already have romaine lettuce ready.
For backup, if I really don't want to cook, I have a frozen pizza for DS.
I'll have to buy more milk and fruit mid-week, but otherwise I think I'm set.

Dodging Murphy

Murphy has been trailing my car for a few weeks. First, a tire was low, so we put air in it. Next, one headlight wasn't working. I thought I would have to replace the bulb, but when I looked, the bulb had fallen out of the socket. The bulb was extremely hot and melted the plastic covering on some wires. After turning off the lights, I finally got the light into the socket and covered the wires with electrical tape. Crisis 1 averted.

Yesterday, the tire problem resurfaced . The right left tire was almost completely flat-much too low to drive to the tire shop. With no other option, my son and I took off the flat and replaced it with the mini-spare. The local tire shop is only 5 minutes away, so I immediately took the car there, thinking I would have to buy two new tires. I had already decided to take the money from the emergency fund. I was ecstatic when the cost was $15. The tire had a staple in it, so they plugged it and put air in the tire. Crisis 2--not too bad.

I know that Murphy will eventually visit, but I'm glad to dodge him this time.

Money Mistake

I just discovered that I missed paying my water payment this month. It is now 6 days late, which is really too bad because the city really has a steep penalty (like $15). I'm not sure how I messed up. I've been paying my utilities online since January and I was certain that I had scheduled the payment to be processed last week. I was pretty busy last week and didn't check my balance closely. When I looked this morning, my bank balance was more than YNaB said it should be. When I checked the online payment history, I was appalled. I'm not sure what went wrong, but I have a plan to prevent future mistakes:

1. Schedule all my online payments by the 10th of each month, since most of the bills arrive during the 1st week.

2. Double check the bank on the 15th (payday) to make sure everything is in order.

Total Money Makeover Encouragement in the Babysteps

I've been rereading Total Money Makeover in order to stay focused and motivated. I'm on Babystep 2 (Pay off all debt except for mortgage). I've found a little inspiration. From TMMO:


Close your eyes and think about what it will be like when you reach this Baby Step (# 3)....When you reach this step, you have $1000 in cash and no debt except your home mortgage.



When I close my eyes and imagine what it will feel like to have a $1000 emergency fund and no debt except mortgage, I am flooded with emotion: relief, gratitude, hopefulness.

Thank you, Dave Ramsey!

August Plan

Making my spending plan for August has been a little difficult for me because my summer income is about $400 less than during the school year. I'm trying to not invade my emergency fund, so the amount in each discretionary spending category is pretty sparse. I should get paid soon for work I did last week, but I'm not sure exactly when it will be processed, so I'm not adding the income until I receive the check. When that happens I'll increase each category a little.
Groceries $240 ($190 left)
Restaurants $20 (12 left)
Gifts $50
House projects $25 ($15)
School expenses $20
Miscellaneous $25 ($13 left)

When the extra income arrives, I will add in $100 for clothing for DS for new school clothes. He is pretty well stocked, but his jeans are getting a little short and ratty.
I'm looking forward to the challenge.

First weekend of the challenge

This weekend was a rocky start to the Spend Less Challenge for me. I got together with three of my friends from college and their children. There are six of us who try to get together a few times a year. I always look forward to seeing everybody and hanging out. This time, we descended on Gail, who lives about three hours from me, and somewhat equidistant from the six of us.
I estimate that I spent about $30 more than I would have otherwise. Here is a breakdown of my spending (and also how much I have left in each category for the month)
Eating out: Spent $8 ( $12 left)
Groceries: Spent $18 on trip, $32 at home ($190 left)
House projects: Spent $10 ($15 left)
Misc.: Spent $12 ($13 left)
Gasoline: Spent $25 ($75 left)

We went to a storage unit sale, and I bought a metal table for my deck for $10. The $12 miscellaneous was a CD of hymns that one of the kids had made.
Overall, I didn't do great on the challenge, and I will have to be more careful to come in under budget for the month. There is a lot of month left!
To see how everyone else is doing with the challenge, head over to Sharon's. Join us!