$355 mortgage
62 gas
23 electric
38 gym
25 internet
$52 water
50 car ins.
150 food
100 gas
12 toiletries
28 pets
9 cleaning
4 rx
27 psych dr
18 phone
15 hair cut
10 clothing
9 postage
50 entertainment
15 gifts
50 oil change/tire rotation
-----------
$1102 total

$1116 income...$14 surplus

all our bills are the same except for the now needed trip to the vets for the cockatiel and if I can find toys she will chew on!    I want to cut back on groceries and eat out of the pantry because we have 3 family birthdays in November plus I have to start getting xmas presents.   I want to get as much done as early as possible.

INCOME $2290

charity 128.

mortgage 878.

electric 90.

phone/internet 81.

trash 22.

grocery 200.

gasoline 225.

auto/life insurances 201.

non-food household 25.

misc 75.

cash on hand 80.

CHRISTMAS 470.

dining 75.

farm grain 145.

medical insurance 86.

              TOTAL 2781.                               SHORT (491.)  Hmmmm.......

Hi all. It's been awhile.

495 mortgage

300 heloc?

331 car

175 electric

36 garbage

95 phone/internet (will go down as I changed package)

130 cable- we dont go out

200 groceries(we picked our cow so I do not need any freezer/meat stuff all pantry /fridge)

30 meds

120 for dh/ds

100 for gas

100 misc hh

total 2112

income 2200

extra 88

I'm not counting dh guard money s it depends on what they're doing and I really don't know when it will be in.

Christmas club money- 290 will be here this month and I will also put my election day money towards Christmas as well.

Anne

Thanks Cinnamonhuskies for the Christmas gift reminder. Some buying will happen in November, some gifts I have purchased already and a few last minute things in December's budget. I put it under supplies/gifts. We also have 3 weddings in November, yikes. And one wedding, we need to get a babysitter for part of the evening.

This list does not include things taken directly out of our paychecks: health and dental insurance, retirement, all savings.

• Mortgage/taxes/insurance  $1000
• childcare/tuition/babysitting  $1200
• Natural gas                        $75
• Electric                            $115
• Landline                           $33
• Cable/internet                   $120
• Cell phones                     $67
• Garbage                           $17
• Subscriptions                    $12
• charity                             $200
• Personal                         $100
• Groceries                        $400
• Gasoline                         $250
• Supplies/gifts                  $300
• Entertainment                 $60
• YMCA                            $75
• Auto care                        $200
• Life Insurance                  $150

Life is better without our credit card debt. Every month, I look at our budget and give thanks that I'm not sending $600-$800 to a credit card company like I was a year ago at this time. I also give thanks for finding this forum and realizing that my way of life was no way to live.

I don't usually post this sort of info, but I need to get my spending and our budget under control ASAP!! Brian is a self employed electrical contractor, and none of this will include any type of buiness expense (material, fuel [paid by the business], med. ins.[paid by business]) etc. As the business owner he gets a monthly owner's draw of $2000, which goes directly into our savings account. Anyway, here goes nothing....

Income: 6127.68

-mortgage #1 (our current home): 1602.44 (includes $300 extra toward principle)
-mortgage #2 (our old home): 512.06 (last payment due on the 1st-woohoo! need to call mortgage co. about the exact payoff amount)
-electric: 150.00 (this I'm budgeting a little high)
-propane: 300.00 (this is about 1/3 of what I expect the total amount to be at our next fill up in late December)
-Directv: $65.00
-credit cards: $1800.00 (plan to pay them off)
-Christmas: $500-800
-phone/internet: $110.00 (a little high)
-groceries/household: $700.00
-pets: $100.00 (food & meds)
-eye exams & glasses for kids: $500.00 (I have no idea if Andy will need glasses, but Sarah does, and they're both due for exams)
-possible funeral expenses: $300.00 (includes suit/dress clothes for Andy, Brian's share of the flower spray, & food, if necessary...we're expecting to lose my FIL soon, but for now he's still hanging on)

Total: 6943.38   <short: -815.70>

For my total, I added the high end of the Christmas budget, and honestly, I have no idea how much eye exams & new glasses for Sarah will be either. I budgeted higher for our electric and phone bills as well. I'm hoping the $150 will be more than enough for our electric bill, and I doubt that food/household will go over $600, and the pets budget is based on how much I spent on pet food today at Sam's Club (approx. $87). I know the cat food should last through the month of November, and I'm hoping that the 132lbs. of dog food will last awhile as well. I'm also budgeting high on the credit cards as well. I think the balances will be approx. $1500 or lower, but we'll see. And the funeral expenses that I'm preparing for, might very well be less than $200...it will all depend on what type of casket spray Brian and his siblings (there are 4 of them total) agree on and order. I really don't want to buy Andy a suit that he'll only wear maybe once or twice before he outgrows it. I'm hoping to get by with maybe a pair of nice navy dress slacks (which we already have), a nice dress shirt & tie (which we'd have to purchase). He'll also need a pair of decent dress shoes, but still casual enough he could get some use from them wearing them to school.

Starting in December, we'll not have the 2nd mortgage payment, so there will be a $500 savings!! WOOHOO! Anyway, wish me luck!!...I'm really gonna need it!!!

• 928.00  Mortgage
• 100.00  (90.37)  intenet/phone/cable
• 50.00 (50.00) student loan
• 192.00 (201.00) auto loan
• 150.00 (159.95) accident
•  100.00  (80.55)  electric
• 283.00  Auto insurance
• 55.00 gas
• 125.00  (32.55) petrol
• 250.00 (127.68)  cc debt
• 300 (150.00) groceries
• 300 (150.00)  misc
• 75.00  cell phones
• 175.00 (125.00) savings
• 100.00  (6.38)  cat vaccinations/dog grooming
• 50.00 (37.39)  hosting bridal shower
• 75.00  DH's professional licensing

outgoing:  3158.00

incoming:  2980.00 (1459.83)  Dh's pay + 525.00 (300.00)  my pay +  100.00 wire $ = 3605.00

Positive balance of  447.00

Okay here is my problem.  EVERY single month, we have a couple hundred more than we need. but I seem to never be able to make it turn out this way because we are spending $ on things we don't need.  This month my goal is to really truly stick to the budget.  I am going to start the cash system for groceries and the misc. fund.  Those are the two items in our budget we have the most trouble reigning in.  i'm going to keep posting actual totals so that I can feel like you all are keeping me responsible.

Good news!! The $500+ payment for our old house is now NULL & VOID!! I called this morning to get the pay-off amount ($374) and asked how much is in the escrow account ($378.02). I will be faxing them the pay-off form from escrow authorization this afternoon. So technically no money out of pocket for that!! WOOHOO!! So my new totals will be:

Total: $6431.32  <short -315.70>

This, I think, will be much easier to work with...with a little tweaking here and there, I think it can be do-able. I am getting very excited about this and really working hard to get it under control!!

that is very good news!!

Angie, you need to write out a spending plan so that when you have a possible overage in a month, it still has a designated place to go, like into a savings fund, retirement, college, or against a debt. Otherwise that "extra" money kind of just blows away in the wind when you aren't looking.

Cinnamonhuskies:

that is very good news!!

Angie, you need to write out a spending plan so that when you have a possible overage in a month, it still has a designated place to go, like into a savings fund, retirement, college, or against a debt. Otherwise that "extra" money kind of just blows away in the wind when you aren't looking.

You are absolutely right!! Brian is wanting to build a pole barn/shop...and it's quickly turning more into a NEED than a want, at this point. He is very diligent about saving money (I willingly admit that I'm the spendthrift), and has some money set aside (and out of my reach-LOL) for it. I suppose, I could designate any overages to go toward "Dad's Workshop Building Fund."

I also completely forgot about all the rolled and the unrolled loose change we have. I have over $300 already rolled, and probably another $100-200 needing rolled. My plans for this money at the beginning of the year was to set it aside to use toward or for Christmas shopping. I think I'll work on wrapping some more change this week, and maybe take some of it into the bank. I'll put it in an envelope and use it solely for Christmas. So if I do that, it could easily erase a large chunk of the amount I've budgeted for Christmas in November.

I am feeling extremely motivated right now and eager to prove to Brian that I can make a budget and stick to it! And it would be nice to be able to hand him some money at the end of the month for his shop...even if it's only $10!!