Today is the last day of our October to November budget period. And we were bad. Really, really bad. We have plans like to pay off our first mortgage next year and to max out our Roth IRA’s for 2012 and 2013, so now is the time to dust ourselves off and to stop spending like crazy people.
This Coming Month
Since November to December is usually when we spend the last $200-$300 on Christmas, and we are also heading out this coming week for Board Game Geek Con, I know that this coming month can’t be perfect. But we are going to attempt to stop splurging. I want to feel like my old self again. I like having money in the bank, having retirement accounts, tackling mortgage debt, and having fun with the money we actually save for our splurges. Even Mr. BFS feels like we may have gone a bit far.
This Last Month
We knew that moving was going to lead to some extra expenses. We even budgeted for them and found great deals. But even planned huge expenses are huge expenses…and when they all happen in the same month, it feels like a money faucet turns on and that is hard to turn off. Especially when every little $10 or $20 house thing screams “Yes, choose me! I can make your home really feel like your forever home!”
Here are the big hits this past month:
- Fixing up rental house – $700 (not a true splurge, but definitely a big hit)
- Enclosed pantry to hide away our roommates’ food – $87 (splurge…they had open shelves in the dining room but it was ugly)
- Christmas decorations that I wanted but we could have lived without – $33 (splurge)
- Housewarming parties (food and some disposable dishware) – $100 (splurge but worth it)
- Surround sound – $185 (splurge but budgeted)
- Counter stools – $180 (splurge but budgeted)
- Black Out Curtains for Master Bedroom – $92Â (planned)
- Random other stuff from Amazon – $100 (splurge)
- Pest control annual service – $373 (splurge but budgeted)
- Household stuff like new towels, air filters, etc. – $200 (splurge but budgeted)
- Overspending on food – $200-$300 (half planned since we needed to restock, but we also ate out way too much)
- New kitchen chairs – $288Â (yep, we splurged and went for it after staining the table…see pic below of how it all turned out)
It’s crazy – that’s more than $2500! I want all sorts of things just because they would fit well around the house. Boogers on that – we have priorities and now is the time to remember them.
New Plan
We sat down and made a priority list, and now we are going to stick to it dammit. First priority – paying off the mortgage on our rent home. We have around $24,000 left to go. We aren’t making as much as I was last year at this time, so this will probably take a few sacrifices. For the upcoming months, we are going to stick to our budget and put half of the extra towards that mortgage. The other half is going to be spread out between our Roth IRA’s, savings, and our fun money and vacation accounts. That’s the plan.
You may be wondering how are we going to stop splurging like crazy people? Every single expense is going to be balanced against the mortgage payoff. If it isn’t as important to us, it won’t be made. We made spending decisions like this for years and only fall off the wagon once in a while. So we will be able to pull this off…it’s just a matter of being serious about it. So we are digging in.
Do you have any major financial goals? How are you reaching them? How do you keep yourself from spending on the less important stuff?
We just moved in August and the first couple of months were extremely scary! Even though we had budgeted for almost everything, as someone who is careful with money, I found the first couple of months really stressful. 3+ months in things are much better. So there is hope!
For household purchases (like furniture, appliances, bathmats, new cookware) my husband and I work out a small section of our monthly budget and make a priority list of what we need and the order in which we want to get them. Having that bit of budget for household decor and improvements lets us live with stuff being a little more mismatched and unfinished with more peace because we know we’re still actively looking on getting those items. It’s definitely not as easy to hold to that budget and list just after a move though!
We have a mortgage on our investment property that we’d like to kill as soon as possible. We have $25,000 to go. Normally we’d be able to knock that out pretty quick but Derek and I have been splurging lately on blogging conferences, next one is Vegas in January. Bad, Money Master Mom….
I am trying to widdle down the 3k in medical and credit card debt. My goal is to get that done by March 2013 – in the meantime, this week, we’ll be sitting down to discuss our wants and needs, then prioritizing them. I even got hold of a white board to help with the planning! Makes me feel confidently nerdy.
Some day, though, I hope to be as savvy as you! I’m already looking into the whole landlord thing with our current home to start learning what it takes. I’m hoping in a couple of years I can move the family closer to work and possibly send my son to one of the highly rated charter schools for kids with Autism… that was a tangent to say that I have a few longer range goals that I’m trying to figure out what the baby steps will be to get there.
My secrets to not spending money on home stuff:
* Poor time management. If you’re having trouble getting basic stuff done like work projects, cooking, and housecleaning/chores, you won’t have time to visit stores or shop online.
* Poor project management. Every once in a while, I rebel against work and have a look around the house or at home furnishing catalogs and think about doing something in the house. Then I start thinking of all the things I want to do, get overwhelmed by the time and money involved, and since I’m not thinking about it in the classic project management approach of breaking it into smaller steps and prioritizing, I completely abandon the ideas.
* Not watching “home shows” on pay TV (such as HGTV and DIYNetwork) or looking at lifestyle magazines. Not having pay channels and only getting over the air TV helps me a lot with setting expectations. Basically, because I’m not seeing inside all those perfect, staged homes all the time I have nothing to compare my house and rooms against.
* I also like a minimalist, clean style. I don’t like lots of knickknacks and gewgaws on the walls or on walls and shelves/furniture. That’s just more crap to dust, which is my least favorite chore. If only I wasn’t such a clutterer, and would toss out catalogs and paper faster…
I know these sound kind of snarky or tongue-in-cheek, but this really is what I do. Also, I’ve been in my house for 11 years now and realize that getting rooms set up “perfectly” is never going to happen because my needs change over time and styles change, too. If I need to convert a room bedroom into an office, that means moving out the furniture already there and replacing it with office stuff. It may also mean re-painting or other more “decorative” touches. So I try never to focus on making a room “perfect” for my needs, since that is such a short-lived thing.
It’s always pretty crazy for those first few months after a move. Of course it never ends, we are 5.5 years in our house and now are replacing some of the stuff we originally bought, like the rugs in the bathrooms and such (of course having a three year old boy having just finished potty training will trash those in a hurry *lol*)
I think that kind of things happens to everyone in their own way. As PF people, I just think we catch on quicker than most people and get a grip and refocus easier. I hope you get back on track soon!
Our biggest goal is to get my girlfriend’s student loans paid off. She puts her extra money toward them and I save for them until we get married. We want them gone because they were such a large amount. When they’re paid off it is going to be awesome!
We are REALLY working on getting rid of my student loans. Whenever we are about to buy something, I just say “STUDENT LOANS!” and then I usually don’t buy it haha
Christmas donations, pay off the rest of the house debt and max out my Roth IRA for 2012. Better get to it!
Good luck sticking to your list… I know how hard it is when you get a new place!!
How did you manage to spend $100 on your housewarming? That is a lot of bubblebath for your bathroom party 
My major financial goal right now is to make more money. Which would certainly help with a planned trip, updating my app, funding my Roth, and getting my car painted. So I guess I have more than one goal. (What a surprise.) To keep from spending on other things, I pretty much do exactly what you said: weigh what I’m thinking of doing against what I REALLY want to be doing. And sometimes I still have months like you described.
We’re in the thick of paying off our HELOC, and then we’ll tackle a personal loan from Mr. PoP’s parents. We all have months where we look back and say, “how the heck???” We had a $4K in unexpected expenses in a single month this year… it was a bit painful, but we took care of it and moved on. =)
@No Trust Fund, it is nice to know this happens to others. Looking forward to that 3+ month stage.
@Sheryl, yeah…that list just stares me in the face and yells “look for deals!!! You can have it all!!!”, lol.
@Mandy, I just read through Free By 33′s (Derek’s) BFS Reader Profile and realized that you two were married, lol. That is so cool that you each have a blog!!! I couldn’t pay Mr. BFS to blog (really, I tried). You can totally join the challenge that Jason at Live Real Now and I have…the loser of our debt payoff race has to visit the winner…
@Mel, I love whiteboards!
It sounds like you know your goals and will soon have a priority list to reach them, so kudos!!!
@Linda, your list made me laugh, but I knew you weren’t being snarky. That’s how I lived so cheaply in our last house. I really don’t know what is causing me to want to spruce up this one so quickly…maybe I’m just ready to show off my big girl home for the holidays. Plus, I always tend to spend more this time of year, so the drive was already there, lol.
@Money Beagle, I can just bet. With a 3 year old, I am sure you have some major spending down the road too. Good luck! At least they’re adorable, right?
@Budget and the Beach, me too.
@Lance, great plan! You two should celebrate when those loans are dead.
@Michelle, I am really giggling because I literally told myself “mortgage payoff” yesterday when I saw something for the bathroom I wanted on Amazon…
@Jenna, good luck!
@Savvy Scot, LOL, we spent $100 on finger foods like mini egg rolls, jalapeno poppers, and pizza rolls that we heated up in the oven, soda, and disposable dishware for our two housewarming parties. That also includes the $20 of ingredients for a chicken enchilada soup that we made for the Halloween party for 15 people.
@Jackie, I guess we are normal. Sucks to be normal.
@Mrs. Pop, congrats for being on track. Good luck with the last loans!
I have no doubt in your ability to get back on track. That’s the beauty of having a blog. You have to tell everyone about it. Kind of like AA maybe? “I’m Crystal and I spent too much this month.” Just a joke. Not making light.Seriously, how often do you move into a new house? You did, you spent, now you’ll get back to normal.
Eek! I know I encouraged your spending on the kitchen table chairs. But I have to admit, after seeing the picture they look perfect with the table, I am jealous!
Curious, have you worked “fiscal cliff” tax increases into your budget yet? I am losing sleep over this and wondering if I should stop my mortgage over payment I do each month in favor of extra savings do to the uncertainty of everything.
Chin up — you saw the problem and you’re correcting it! At least you didn’t put that on credit cards…
Isn’t it crazy how FAST those unexpected expenses add up?? I like what Budget & the Beach said that as PF peeps we really do catch on to our financial issurs quicker than the norm. What’s great about having a blog is it holds you accountable to your readers
@Kim, yeah, this is totally a great way to stay accountable. Or risk looking like a dumba$$, lol.
@Jenn, you were definitely one of the “pushers”, lol. But you are right, they look perfect in our kitchen and are more comfortable than the wooden chairs we had. Plus, these cost $288 but I sold the other for $100 on Craigslist, so it wasn’t THAT bad.
Everything I can find about the “fiscal cliff” tax increases says that it will affect those that make more than $250,000. If we were at that point, I would start putting more aside right now. But we are currently at around the $130,000 to $150,000 range per year even with the extra hobby jobs and rental income, so I am continuing as planned until I hear otherwise. That still means we put at least a third away for taxes…
@Kathleen, we did use credit cards and pay them off religiously, but I know what you meant. At least we’re not paying interest on our splurges.
@Victoria, totally. Thanks for being an unwitting accountability partner.
Doesnt the fiscal cliff raise everyone’s taxes if we go off it? That is what I am afraid of. I believe that is if congress doesn’t reach some sort of agreement before the end of the year.
@Jenn, both parties agree that raising taxes for the middle class would actually hurt the economy, so I am generally optimistic. But if taxes do increase, we will squirrel away extra accordingly.
[...] @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes We Scared Ourselves – Now to Stop Spending Like Crazy People… – Today is the last day of our October to November budget period. And we were bad. Really [...]
[...] @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes We Scared Ourselves – Now to Stop Spending Like Crazy People… – Today is the last day of our October to November budget period. And we were bad. Really [...]
[...] other precincts, over at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, Crystal and Mr. BFS are feeling a bit unnerved at the confluence of moving expenses and holiday expenses. They’re determined to get spending [...]
[...] @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes We Scared Ourselves – Now to Stop Spending Like Crazy People… – Today is the last day of our October to November budget period. And we were bad. Really [...]
[...] @ Budgeting in the Fun Stuff writes We Scared Ourselves – Now to Stop Spending Like Crazy People… – Today is the last day of our October to November budget period. And we were bad. Really [...]