August Wrap Up & September Goals

Here is where the money fell this month.

Income - $4154.56 (paychecks) $226 (craigslist and yard sale) = $4380.56
Coffee - $100.69 (down $43.92)
Eating Out - $150.51 (up $49.86)
Groceries - $406.72 ( down $117.85)
Gas - $213.09 (up $2.16)
I started contributing to my 401(k) again as well

We put $600 in savings and then transferred it out again plus the $225 we made to buy our new flat screen TV. This was a planned expense and we have been enjoying it immensely. No CC used! Now the focus is to save.

The goals we had for August were...

• Pay off personal loan - check
• Pay off six credit cards - paid off four and then used two (explanation below)
  
• Save $525 - check (see TV above)
• Birthday gifts for niece, nephew & mom - check
• Concert tickets to Diana Krall at the winery - check (did use CC's for this purchase)
• Get hubs BMW diagnosed - check (it only cost $48 to fix)
• Track in food journal - check (did pretty well for the first time and lost 4.5 pounds in the first three weeks)

I am glad to have the major credit cards paid off but available when I need them. Even though I used two of them the balances are low and will be paid off this month. When shopping online I prefer to use credit cards as opposed to my debit card to protect my hard earned wages. Now that they are paid off, any time I use them I immediately put that amount in the budget to pay back to the card. This both avoids interest and doesn't get us in the kind of trouble we have been in before. So, items purchased on CC's.

• Diana Krall tickets
• Groceries (I forgot how much teenagers eat when they are at your house for two weeks)
• Weight Watchers sign up (will transfer to debit card and lost 4.5 pounds - yay!)
• Pre Paid Legal sign up fee (issue of the ex wife kind which has now been resolved without legal action - well, at least without expensive legal action)
• Two crackberrys (see below for explanation)

So, I have been wanting a Crack (I mean) Blackberry for at least a year. Every once in a while I get online and price them. I did that on Sunday and lo and behold they were having a buy one get one free sale (the hubs wanted one too). I thought the one I wanted would cost me $49.99. When I went in the Verizon store (cause I have to touch and play with stuff and ask load of questions) I ended up with a different one due to the 8 gig memory feature. That one was (after rebate) free! So, aside from a few accessories I spent $100 on my blackberry which will be $0 when I get the rebate of $100 in the mail. We used a credit card to pay for it cause I'm not really in the position to not have $100 while I wait for it to be returned to me.

I got the Blackberry Storm Touch Screen Smartphone. So far I like it but am frustrated with a few things. Apparently I can download my own music and use them as ringtones - having issues with that. I purchased one ringtone and it was sent to me as a text message but I have yet to be able to activate it as a ringtone. Ug!

It's great for Facebook because there is an app that's really crackberry friendly. Hard to read blogs though. GREAT for checking and answering my personal email. Of course the kids asked if they could have our old phones.

I know why they call them crackberries - they are addictive.

So goals for September....

• Pay off major CC's from August usage
  
• Save $200 - I know, small amount but I need to fulfill paying the CC's
• Follow grocery ($200), coffee ($50) and gas ($140) budget
  
• Start working out two more days a week with Wii fit and Jillian Michaels
• Drink at least four glasses of water a day
• Continue on eating at least five servings of fruits/veggies a day
• Start taking a multi vitimin
  
• Finish baseboard molding in main part of house (purchased without using CC's)
• Paint living room
• Install tile on hearth
• Finish SD's Tabi Socks for Christmas
• Complete at least five knitted ornaments
  
• Refinance condo

Created sidebars on my blog as well. Will update as needed. Here's to a great September!