I readjusted my budget to 3,500php taking account “weekend” expenses. I got a little bit better at my “weekday” expenses and I ended up spending under my budget: 2,851php
I think it’d be safe to say that 3,000php is a reasonable and sustainable budget moving forward!
Not a mod or admin but to my mind there’s a few appropriate areas.
Budgeting and Big Money Playpen both seem appropriate, depending on how closely you wanted to focus on the budget aspect.
You could also start a thread in Journals if you want to keep things more private. Iirc that area is not indexed for public search, so nothing would turn up in Google searches, plus you have to be a logged in trusted user to see threads there. (Someone else please confirm that though.)
Fun food: $642/800. We hosted some friends and also indulged in some fancier restaurants. It feels VERY nice to indulge in dining out after a long day of interviews.
Job hunt is proceeding well, I have final rounds booked with 4 companies and hopefully will add a fifth soon. Phew! So I feel good about pushing our fun budget a little.
I am always a bit lost when I see housing/rent amounts below $2k USD. How and where… (but also am happy for you and anyone else, we all ought to be paying generally much less)
I try not to think about how much of my paycheck goes just to rent each month
Our house situation is stupid complicated - we are building a triplex but live in the ADU behind it. The land is paid off as is the ADU and the (construction) mortgage for the triplex is held by an LLC that my spouse owns. I share a 450sq studio with my spouse and pay rent to them, so it’s fake rent. It will go up when we move into the triplex but we will have tenants in the other three units. Doing our tiny part to help build more housing during the housing shortage.
But I’ve never had rent that High due to a combo of living in big group houses (11-40 roommates), living at my job (residential case manager), having roommates, eco-villages , co-ops and living in a geodesic dome I made of trash for a few years. Portland used to be cheap, it is not anymore. It was getting stressful before relocation assistance was implemented- my rent doubled in a year. I did my economics thesis on the Portland rental market so always down to talk about housing prices.
Essentially yes it sucks for everyone and nothing about my current situation is re-creatable.
I keep forgetting to post but better late than never. The cupboard was bare last week so we did two grocery runs ($60.97) and a visit to the farmers market ($28.95) for a total of $142.16 on groceries this month.
(Walking back from the grocery store we ran across a flea market and M picked up a cool surplus jacket for $90, but that’s a different category )
I’m out for now. I made it longer than I have before, and I’m still noting it when I spend money. Right now I can’t face putting it into the spreadsheet, but I will at some point. This month is too busy. Next month I hope to continue as it ‘should’ be a calmer, cheaper month.
In addition to replacement, I am also adding about $30 to the budget for repairs, as that is more sustainable in the long term
It feels like we shouldn’t need to spend much on clothes, and then each year it surprises me. And I still haven’t done a new winter coat. Idk, whether to just accept or do a strict no buy beyond replacements (being clear I would not get rid of the current coat) and the winter runners I noted earlier? Crossing the threads, maybe that is my no buy challenge.
We are still under budget overall here as we approach the end of the month, which is good. We’re only over budget on 2 categories right now – gas and miscellaneous – and those are both categories where I’ve been trying to get the balance right.
Groceries is up to $650. We may or may not have another shop this month – it’ll fall around the cusp. So, we’ll either be under budget or just at/over budget.
Eating out is very close to the line. I’m hoping we can stay under/at budget, but we will seeeee. We had a very expensive night out last Friday, plus a night where I treated some friends who had treated me previously. As always, looking at our behaviors here…
Our miscellaneous budget is high with tech stuff (Wizard got a new graphics card) and I’m wondering if it makes sense for him to have a computer/tech category. I will run it past him.
Ya girl misses riding ponies and is pondering lessons except omg so expensive. But also we save over a third of our take-home despite also paying for a wedding this year… so it’s not like we have no room for me to do a stupid expensive thing. Decision on that to be put off a bit longer though.
I know I’m way way late, so probably won’t count but here goes!
I spent $300 on cute, comfy clothes that I really like including new workout stuff (mine was years old and ripping slowly) and some nicer things for the rare days I have to dress professional, so that’s really nice and goal met <3
I’m at $203 for gas and I think I will need to only fill up once more this month, but my plan to take the bus never ended up happening between getting sick last week and then getting my car window smashed today. I can’t park at the park and ride with a tape window!
I was being so good about eating out, and then aforementioned being sick meant our household kind of stopped trying to be responsible about it for the last week. I’m at $320.
I’d like to say I’m going to be super good until the end of the month, but my backpack got stolen today with my journal and all my planner stuff (except the planner itself thank goodness, which was not in the bag), so I’m kind of wrecked and eating all my feelings.
Spending is going well. MUCH more thoughtful about “is this something that is actually going to be a benefit NOW or is it something I should buy later when I can make good use of it?”
Also started getting through projects I’d already bought everything for. We did a garden project last weekend. $80 in tubestock, which I’ve planted half of so far, and the rest was the trellis and T pickets I ordered a couple months ago when I needed pavers for our new shed (and therefore made the most of the delivery fees).
Finishing projects might be the best money-saving thing I can do?
might have just blown my budget on a friend’s birthday dinner. It was supposed to be 3 of us so 2 of us was going to cover the bill of the 3rd, but it ended up just being me and birthday-friend, so at that point how can I not cover the ($140) bill!? at least I can categorize over half of that as “Gifts” (she drank; I did not) instead of Restaurant to make myself feel better?
but better late than never. The cupboard was bare last week so we did two grocery runs ($60.97) and a visit to the farmers market ($28.95) for a total of $142.16 on groceries this month.
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