Comments on: Summary of our first month on a budget

By: Debt Free Revolution

Debt Free Revolution — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 02:22:27 +0000

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!

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:22:16 +0000

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.

By: debtfretter

debtfretter — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 07:27:36 +0000

Way to go! COngrats, maybe we should try this!

By: Lynnae

Lynnae — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:28:11 +0000

Ah good point! We did have the TV in there that we wouldn’t normally have. Whew! Didn’t think of that!

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:17:47 +0000

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! :)

By: Lynnae

Lynnae — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:32:40 +0000

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.

By: louise

louise — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:06:56 +0000

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:)

By: boomeyers

boomeyers — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:04:51 +0000

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?

By: Hilda

Hilda — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:02:40 +0000

That’s really great, Lynnae!

So, what are you going to do with the difference? Use it for next month’s rent?

By: E. D.

E. D. — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:36:30 +0000

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.