Our monthly budget runs from the 13th day of one month to the 12th day of the next since that is the billing period of our two main credit cards. That’s when I can see the complete list of our expenditures easily. So here’s the results of August 13th to September 12th.
Our Basic Budget followed by Our August 2011 Results
- Mortgage – $900 / $900
- Roth IRA – $300 / $300
- Car Insurance – $125 / $125 (Need to take defensive driving again for that discount)
- Gasoline – $185 / $140 (Yay for no commute)
- Electricity – $150 / $155 (Great for the summer, that $150 target is an average)
- Water – $30 / $30
- AT&T U-Verse & DSL- $115 / $110
- Sprint – $140 / $140
- Housekeeper – $130 / $120
- Lawn Services – $50 / $0 (I stopped watering so our grass is…ummm…crispy…)
- Netflix for Us – $10 / $9 (streaming only)
- Netflix for Grandparents – $20 / $0 (Grandma asked for us to put it on a temp hold while she gets a new list together)
- Groceries – $350 / $295 (but see below)
- Fast Food / Restaurants – $150 / $415 (Oops…Chick Fil’a, Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, and laziness did us in…)
- Misc. Bills – $125 / $465 (We bought new clothes since we have lose a lot of weight and my husband needed reffing supplies)
- Toll Roads – $100 / $120 (grrrr)
- Car and Home Account – $500 / $500
- Joint Entertainment – $50 / $220 (We joined a bowling league so this will be high every 5 weeks)
- Hubby’s Fun Money – $100 / $100
- My Fun Money – $100 / $100
- Emergency Fund/Savings – $350 / $350
- Vacation Account – $50 / $50
- Tax Account for IRS and Property Taxes – $400 / $400
- Cash for Investments – $120 / $120
- Cash – $150 / $160
- Total Budget = $4700 / $5324
Thankfully we banked way more than usual now that I am self-employed, so going over budget didn’t matter much at all, but we will not be eating out as much in September. My husband’s paycheck was hit pretty hard with my medical insurance, so his take home pay is now at about $2600 a month. After blogging expenses and taxes, it looks like I will be bringing in at least $3500 in a bad month from my online income. We’re going to leave our budget at $4700 but we divide the monthly extra between savings (25%), investments (35%), our vacation account (20%), and our fun money accounts (10% each). You can see exactly how I budget by clicking on those words. 
How is your budget right now?
Our budget looks to be right on track. I wasted $119 with a stupid tux late return penalty that was not my fault (the groomsman I entrusted the return too, did not return it on time).
Its fall here, so our heating and cooling bills are almost zero. Overall, it is a good month.
I need to review my budget this weekend. I made a practice budget and need to see how accurate it might be. We just got an Orange Leaf Yogurt place by our house. I haven’t been but the wife and kids have. No wonder your budget got shot!
It funny how when groceries go down inevitable dining out goes up!
Great job! My Quicken file was corrupted back in June and I’ve just now gotten it all updated and transferred over to Quick Books. It was a MESS!!
It’s amazing how much you can spend eating out. My wife and I usually make two big meals on the weekend to have left overs. This keeps us from eating out because of laziness. It is much easier to put leftovers in the microwave than go out to eat.
For most, the increase in the fast food budget would not have led to the needing new clothes because you lost wait part of your Misc. budget. So, however that worked out, good for you!
Why no grass watering? I don’t think it’s necessary to have the greenest grass on the block but I get annoyed at those neighbors who let theirs turn brown and full of weeds.
The fast food will affect you in the budget and health wise too. My wife and I eat out every weekend (2 times) and try to keep it no more than $35 in total for the weekend. It is part of our entertainment. Add in discount movie tickets ($6 each) about once a month. Your medical insurance seems very high for a young person.
Wow, that’s quite a jump on fast food – usually I do well there, but the sit-down restaurants are what get me every month! This month is good so far, but I’ll be traveling quite a bit soon, so that will increase sharply.
Whoops, indeed! LOL! But I think you deserve a little treat now and then as long as you can afford it. I think we all need a little slip-up now and then to remind us of why we make and keep budgets in the first place. Personally, I am not a big fast food fan but could easily go over my budget on nice restaurant meals if I had the chance.
Crystal, I am curious about life insurance, since I don’t see it in our budget. Did you just decide that since you both work and don’t have any other dependents, it is not necessary? Also, I’m wondering if you have looked into private disability insurance now that you are self-employed (my husband has some through work, but I’ve wondered if I should buy my own since I don’t have any through work).
Nice saving on Gas, but ouch on eating out. I’m holding you accountable for a better September on that.
Congrats on loosing weight! Definitely an expense that is worth it in my head. Yeah for being healthier and looking great.
I commend you for continuing to keep track. Many people would just say oh well after awhile and quit keeping a tally of how much they are overbudget, and then they end up going WAY over budget.
@MoneyforCollegePro, yay for a good month!
@cashflowmantra, yeah, freaking frozen yogurt is addictive…I think they lace it with crack or something…
@Molly, I hate it when computer stuff breaks!
@20s Finances, want to hear the bad part? When we have a hankering for a specific taste, we will ignore leftovers to get what we want…
@Money Beagle, we are on water restrictions because of a major draught in Texas, so we just decided to use a little on our plants but let the lawn go. About half of the lawns we see are brown just like ours. I just think it’s silly to have a green lawn but we’re borrowing water from other cities…
@krantcents, my medical insurance sucks. We are working on that right now.
@Jeff, that is for restaurants and fast food.
@Denise, about $200 of that $400-something was at sit down restaurants…
@Amanda, I get my life insurance, disability, and health insurance through my husband’s job (so it’s part of that medical insurance cost).
@retirebyforty, hahaha, we’ll see…
@Jenna, thanks!
@Mom’s Plans, I can’t give up long term habits very easily, so my monthly budgeting is pretty necessary for me, hahaha.