Tale of the Tape for September

OUCH! There is much room for improvement and this was a painful month as I look back on it. BUT it has been helpful to keep all my receipts and figure out where I spend my money. What I have figured out is I stress spend-especially at the grocery store, then I stress eat. This has been a very good exercise for me and I have to update my side bars, I had to dip into my computer and new car fund to pay for the attorney and the car repair.

Here is the breakdown:

Mortgage: $542.31
Utilities: $167.44
Food: $255.48
Gas: $105.46
Medical$112.29
Hobby: $50
Attorney: $489
Half.com Purchases $9.65
Student Loan: $347.68
Donation: $18.
Misc: $100
Clothes: $184.88

Total: $2,282.19


I have not set a budget for October because I wanted to see how September played out. There is room for improvement

Food: Sept: $255.48 October Goal $175.
This was high for a couple reasons. I forgot I placed a liquor order two months ago with a friend of mine coming for a visit from a state where the liquor is cheap. He showed up at my front door with $65 in assorted bottle of liquor from my I need to restock list. I have enough alcohol at home to pickle a medium sized person. I also bought a bunch of snacky food for my weekend road trips and I included pet food in this category.

Gas: $105.46 October Goal $100
I've been in the last stages of honoring some obligations to folks and was on the road for two of the four weekends (to places far away). I am away this weekend as well, my last long distance road trip until at least the middle of November.

Mortgage: $542.31 October $552.
Due to an increase in property tax, my mortgage will increase a bit.

Utilities: September $167.44 October Goal: $60
My utilities included July and August billing and for parts of late July and parts of August I ran the A/C. Not cleaning off my desk for two months cost me!

Medical: Sept $112.29 October $112.29
I have to pay part of my Health Insurance premium so that is always be constant. I opened a Health Savings Account and will fund it with pre-tax dollars for the premium and any related expenses. I do have two MD appointments scheduled, so I should be paying about the same, if not a bit more, one is covered and one will need a co-pay. I have asked my payroll department to direct deposit a set amount into the HSA each payroll period.

Expenses I WON'T have

Attorney fees-all done and dusted, or so I hope!
Donations: done for the time being
Clothes: No need for any new purchases for October and maybe November

Expenses not noted:
Car insurance, homeowners insurance,mobile phone bills, laundromat, I am currently looking for new policies and plans.

Car repair: Came to a total of $357 including towing, but the checks did not clear my account yet.

As I stated above, I had to dip into my computer and car fund account to pay for my car repair. Not having an emergency fund was not good.

October Goals

Better grip on a budget for November once I compare October and September.
Work on the emergency fund
See if I can find some part time income to supplement what I currently have.-Second job one or two nights a week would be a big help (pay mobile bill, pay gas for the week.)
Decrease the food bill
See where I can cut back on the mad money (IE-cash in hand) expenses or at least track them better.
Only spend on e-bay and half.com what I make selling stuff. A bit of a trade off.

I do have Quicken on my home computer and I have to face up to using it to track my spending and update directly from my checking account to Quicken. No excuses! I have to hold myself accountable for my digressions.

I do envy those folks who are able to stick to their budgets and seem to track it better than I do. I guess it's all part of my re-learning curve.

Onward and upward!