The second month of my budgeting adventure is teaching me that I am way, way off on some figures. For instance, gas. I budgeted $60 a month and have spent almost twice that. And Doctor bills... I just assumed that other than the rare office visit co-pay we'd have none, so I didn't budget it in. And this month alone we've spent $330 on medical bills. Oops. $400 for a unexpected flight to Florida to visit family in February... oh, yeah.
But as far as grocery budgeting, we're really doing well. So far this month, $294. Last month, $364. September... I don't even have the patience to do the math but I'm sure it was horrifying. So I can see it paying off, but we're not ending at 0 every month because of these bills I wasn't expecting.
After this month ends I'm going to see if $150/month can be adjusted downwards. Some days, I think we could do it.
2 comments:
If there is one thing that I have learned the past few months that we have been trying to save, it's that a budget is an ongoing work in progress! :) GREAT job on the grocery budget! That is where we are trying to cut back the most too.
I'm sure you have a budget form that you already use, but I thought I would just share the one that we like to use: http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/fpu_monthly_cash_flow_plan_forms.pdf
Thanks Vanessa! We use the short form from Dave, and for the most part it's been really helpful- we're still trying to get a handle on the enormity of *all* the expenses, not just the monthly bills. It's a lot of work, but definitely worth it so far!
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