Pages

Thursday, April 30, 2009

April Wrap Up

I am so very glad this month is over. I know I said I would not revamp my budget but it happened - I revamped it - again. I have discovered its pretty hard to keep to a predetermined dollar amount to put on debt when every month seems to bring expenses I should have planned for. Case in point - this month I forgot to budget for a birthday gift for my brother and our anniversary dinner out. So - I did not pay off my Macy's card. At least I didn't add to that debt!

So, my new philosophy? Pay all of my bills (including debt minimum payments), budget for food and gas as well as any expenses that are not normal but may come up. Whatever is left over get's split in to thirds. One third goes in to savings, one third goes towards an extra debt payment on whatever debt we are paying down and one third is our fun money for the month. The less extra expenses we have the more each of our thirds will have in it. Also, the more we pay debt off the more we will have to roll in to the debts that are left.

One of the struggles I had this month was groceries and gas. For the first three months between my husband and I we got a paycheck once a week which made it easy to stick to $100 for groceries and $35 for gas (we carpool) a week. With my pay periods so wonky it was harder to stick to that budget which is why we went over.

So, as far as goals for this month...

Finances
Debt reduction: April $1212.92 - actual $917 (minimum payments), May $1074
Pay off credit card: Macy's - nope, May none scheduled to pay off
Savings: not scheduled - actual $150, May $157
Eating out/Coffee: April $120 - actual $230.46, May $120
Groceries: April $400 - actual $439.83, May $400
Odd expenses: none, May BJ vet, Costco membership, sister b-day gift, SD b-day gift, mothers day, BMW club membership - yikes an expensive month!

Health
BJ dog park every weekend: went several times not only on the weekend - continue
Walk every Sunday: twice due to illness and another scheduled event - continue
Walk pier every Thursday: walked several times not only on Thursday - continue
Wii fit and elliptical 3 days a week: yeah no - get back to it and combine with 30 Day Shred
TV viewing during work week 8 hours: did pretty well keeping to my scheduled shows - continue
Computer time during work week 5 hours: yeah no - be better
Drink 8 glasses of water a day: not stellar at this - be better

Hand Crafting
Was not really in the mood for that this month. Not certain what I will do in May. I have an out fit I want to make and I already have the fabric. Maybe this weekend...

Decluttering and Condo Projects
Stuff behind couch: still there
Stuff along TV wall in master bedroom: still there
Buy and install new master bedroom door: its been purchased - need a tool

101 Things
Did not actively work on this. Will get two accomplished in May.

Our first goal is to reduce a personal loan we have so we can refinance and lower our payment. This debts minimum payment is half of our debt payments in a month. By reducing the balance and refinancing we can increase the money we have available to us every month. Then we can focus on getting our credit cards paid off.

You may have noticed that my net worth badge is gone. If you choose to make your net worth badge public on a blog anyone can google you and find it. That was just something I didn't want so public.

One of the most significant things I have decided to do is start a home business. I have been reading a really great book called The 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris. After the week I have had I have realized that I really want to have freedom. I don't need millions of dollars - just freedom. I am fed up with the status quo!

Want I want to do with this home business is use the money I make to pay my debt down even faster and increase my savings even more. I want to be able to quit my job and design a life for myself and my husband. This will free up time to do what I really love. More on this to come.

Here's to a great May!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think that is the great thing about budgets is they can constantly be turned over and reevaluated. It sounds like you have a great plan in place.
I can't wait to hear about your home business. :)