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Budget off a little

November 1st, 2017 at 01:38 am

New zero budget balance period kicked off today. Normally I look at what I did for the previous period and estimate my spending.

I'm annoyed because two items I budgeted were off and I'm generally right on. The JCP bill last month was $119, this month its $121. I didn't purchase anything so not sure why it's more. Though it could be because there are more days in the month this last billing cycle. I know it's only three dollars but it annoys me. I paid the bill in advance so I'm waiting on the statement to review. Unfortunately I can't view online since I'm still receiving paper invoices. And I'm not changing it, ink is expensive.

Next the truck insurance is usually about $80, this month, the renewal, it was about $92, $12 over.

I picked up my mentee tonight and we headed over to the free fall festival at the church. She brought her nephew, who was such a good kid. I enjoyed it and was glad it was free. I have to start looking for free things for us to do, it was getting way too expensive. I don't mind spending the money but not too much.

Last item on my list are the contacts. I tried ordering through iBotta so that I can get the 3% cash back but I'm running into some issues. I did get $0.10 from a Walgreens purchase. I think I might just write them regarding the contacts.

4 Responses to “Budget off a little”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1509536466

    Budgets are never perfect. Expect that.

    I receive all but our trash bill online. I never print those bills. I just look at them. Often the sites will let you go back months, even years to look at statements. Once you pay for something and don't expect to return there is no reason to keep. Of course, there are exceptions.

  2. crazyliblady Says:
    1509554474

    ccf is absolutely correct. It is pretty much impossible to have a budget correspond to what you think it will be month to month. Some things are out of our control. What helps me (that I learned from ccf, thank you!) is to have a slush fund. It is sort of like a mini savings account that can literally save your butt when weird things come up that you totally did not anticipate or forgot about. I have a savings account for this that is attached to my checking, but separate from other savings like for emergencies, medical, car, etc. I deposit a regular amount in there every pay day. If it is still there the day before pay day, I move it to cc #1 as an extra payment.

    Another approach other than printing your online bills if you want to keep them for awhile would be to save them in a folder on your computer or external drive. If you ever need them as proof of payment, you could print them.

  3. Amber Says:
    1509587430

    Thanks for the tips. I absolutely love the slush fund idea. I'll definitely add to the budget, may starting off with $10

  4. LuckyRobin Says:
    1509823606

    On my budget I built in some cushion when I was getting out of debt and saving for the EF. My internet bill was $70, but I budgeted $75. My garbage bill was $25, but I budgeted $30. Water bill was $72, but I budgeted $75. So there was always a little wiggle room in each category if it was off. Then at the end of the month, anything not spent in that category or needed for another category that went up, went toward the EF or a debt payment.

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