The numbers aren’t pretty, folks. We overspent on a lot of things. The good news is that we spent less than we earned, and we didn’t take on any new debt. A couple of things saved us this month. First, I paid the rent in advance last month, so our rent payment doesn’t show up in the numbers. Second, we didn’t have any major car repairs or anything. So that was another blessing. But we went over budget in almost all of our variable categories. We definitely need to work on that.
So here are the numbers. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how to paste a chart into wordpress, so I’m going to have to give you the abbreviated version. :)
Projected Income: $3348.00
Actual Income: $2710.14
Amount Spent: $2283.55
Difference: $426.59
I was able to snowflake an extra $25 toward our debt, on top of the $200 a month I already pay. At this point, everything is at 0% interest, so everything is going toward principal. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that despite spending less than we earn, I went over budget on almost all of my variable expense categories. Groceries, clothing, drugstore, gas for the cars….over on all. The only thing that saved us was that I had payed this month’s rent last month, so no rent showed up on this months budget. We also didn’t have any major car repairs or anything, so we stayed well under budget in those categories.
I’m a little disappointed in our first month, but at least I have something to work with now. Here’s to a better month next month.
{ 12 comments }
Hey this was not so bad after all!!
Even with a significant drop in income vs expected, you did okay!
budgeting is a balancing act. You’re not going to get your nubers right the first try. I think you did great!!
Stay positive! That’s key. You’re doing great–remember, you didn’t add more debt. And you know exactly what you need to do in October to help your finances. You’re on the right track, and I know this time next month, you’ll be proud of your achievements :)
This isn’t so bad for the first month, especially since you spent less than you made. Are your variable item budget numbers based on a moving average or are they just an estimate? It could be that your estimations are off.
That’s really great, Lynnae!
So, what are you going to do with the difference? Use it for next month’s rent?
Well, this was your tester month. Now you know where to go and adjust your budget. You spent more on groceries because you ate out less. It seems in todays economy, you can plan away and still be hit by outrageous bills. I guess you need a “fudge” category amount to cover any shortfalls. How much more is your rent, than the $426.00?
You have done well! Any month that you don’t use the credit card or increase the debt is a good month. It’s also impressive that you were able to pay all the bills and have some leftover the first month so you are doing really well! Give yourself a pat on the back for a month of hard work:)
Thanks for the encouragement. My perfectionist tendencies are coming out. :)
@Hilda – I’m using the difference to fund our budget for next month. I like to fund ahead. :)
@boomeyers – our rent is $650, so I would have had a shortfall, had I paid the rent last month.
You are doing Outstanding! I need to get on track with our budget but right now we are trying to catch up on some bills we accumulated durring our move.
I was thinking that maybe some of your money went towards your cash paid for t.v? I don’t know but you are doing so Great I can’t get enough of your posts! :)
WTG! :)
Ah good point! We did have the TV in there that we wouldn’t normally have. Whew! Didn’t think of that!
Way to go! COngrats, maybe we should try this!
You did really well. It’s annoying that groceries cost more when we don’t eat out (LOL). Spent less than you earned, didn’t eat out at all, made a snowflake payment….pretty darn good if you ask me.
Lynnae, that is not bad at ALL for a first budget! It takes a bit of practice to get things down and get a feel for what expenses *should* be. I think it wasn’t until my 3rd or 4th budget that it worked completely (as in without having the “emergency” re-budgeting). Just keep working at it, it really does get easier!
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