$600 charity - contributing as I go. With Y doing so well, Iāve increased this to $100/mth.
$1200 savings challenges ($100/mth) - This varies according to which savings challenge games Iām working on.
$1300 52 week challenge ($25/week) - on track
$2000 100 envelope challenge my way - I slip a $20 bill into the envelope. Not doing well with this. Keep spending the money! Also see below.
Total = $3100/year = $259/mth
NB. I was able to add $2500 to my TFSA through my savings so far.
We got power yesterday in the triplex, making this perfectly timed for Budgetober! I canāt believe it. This has been under construction for ~4 years and we might move in this month (!!!)
Total budget for move-in: $1,500
*This looks like tons of money to me, but I have the money and itās been 5+ years in the making. Plus, Iāve been paying below-market rent for the past two years as we share a studio. And I donāt have a deposit to pay! Weāre trying to buy all secondhand/thrifted furniture where we need to still buy furniture, but most of our furniture we already have. Thereās a few things I will be thrifting and then sewing (like cushions and curtains)
$129 - sconce for office
$150 - various office sundries (desk lamp, curtain tiebacks, curtains, ac cover, backing fabric for cushions)
$300 - one half of bed frame (used)
$200- one half of dining chairs (used)
$140 - brackets for desk
$180 - closet organizer stuff for all three closets (bathroom, main closet, office closet)
$50 - towels
$225 - various kitchen stuff (new kettle, organizer things, etc)
$64 hot tub setup costs (testing kit, etc)
$60 cleaning stuff
My goal for the week is to break this out and actually put it in YNAB.
Watching the Budgetober livestream and updating my monthly spreadsheet
Here are my categories for the month:
Summary
Gas: $200
This one is flexible but not totally in my control. I can take the train sometimes when I go into the city instead of driving, but other times I need to go to the doctor or play rehearsals and I have to drive.
Groceries: $300
More flexible but directly relates to controlling my eating out spending. Also we are hosting some friends for Korean Barbecue this weekend which is always kind of expensive.
Eating out: $300
I already have quite a few meals out planned with friends in October, so I made this a little higher than I thought originally. My focus will be only eating out with friends and trying not to grab convenience food because Iām tired or stressed.
Fun money and gifts: $167
This is always my āleftoverā category. I know Iām going to the Korean Spa with a friend and I know Iām going to end up buy Halloween things, whether for a costume or decor. I donāt think I have any gifts I need to buy for anyone this month.
OK, I was able to get on and do some calculating. My goal is to keep discretionary spending low in October. This time of year, we always seem to be in deep red territory, living on credit card float and heading into the holiday season with no relief in sight. (I mean, it always come out OK somehow, but itās not a comfy feeling.)
Itās going to be a high spend month from a non-discretionary standpoint because we are replacing our range, as the age and price point did not make it a good subject for repair (and some parts, including the most likely one, are not available.)
Main goal: total spend of $8400 or less. I can move money freely between these categories. Really, the main goal is to track on a weekly basis. Charitable giving is high this month because LB did something stupid involving money and has āsaved upā a bunch of his allowance to make restitution by donating to charity, but his allowance is ultimately my money!
Ok goals are:
Fill in baseline spending in ynab for October
Work out what the leftover is
Write out a list of the planned purchases for the rest of the year
Save $3k this month
Send food to work with Ponder once a week (even if itās not a full lunch, at this point i count it a win if he takes a piece of fruit. Baby steps!)
Bonus: work out my business cashflow for the rest of the year and a rough idea of 2026.
Hallow to your eāens! I keep dragging myself in at the start of Octobers, then slumping after the start, even when the last couple years have been potentially great testing grounds just because itās been so irregular it threw me off the documentation groove even if my spending was in check.
This yearās Budgetober is more stable, so the plan is to try cutting discretionary - Iāve had a year with a lot of fun discretionary spending & one with some necessary-discretionary spending, but the base numbers seem to be holding. Entertainment, shopping, & grocery budgets just had a few big months which wiped out the backlog of underspending prior, & there are no unusual purchases planned this October, so hopefully Iāll see total expenses for the month more like $1250 all-told, or better. I have changed my savings workflow around completely to be a bit more active, too, rather than autopilot, to help me feel that Iām doing something about it.
The best thing about this yearās October/ Halloween season is that itās already cool enough outside to bake again! So far itās been mostly uninspired but I would like to do more partying amidst the chaos by getting back into food prep in a big way. Getting to wear some of my new-to-me clothes & make them seasonal will be a perk too.
I am belatedly in! I need to make a grocery budget for the month, which i will post here once complete. I also want to track discretionary spending just to get an idea.
My eldest is now five and holidays obsessed, so the Halloween decorations are up in our house and sheās getting excited!
Update: budget groceries for under $600/month not including fresh fruit and veg (get as a perk from my weekl vollie role at a food bank)
Discretionary spending will be tracked but not budgeted yet as weāre doing more things outside the house as kids get older, although mainly food.
I made actual food with real ingredients from my pantry for dinner and this will serve for at least 2 more meals.
Tomorrow Iām going to Target because a price drop and Target circle freebie will get me $15 back on a Halloween decoration purchased last month. Goal will be no extra spending while there. I will resist the siren song of the Halloween decorations.
My new mantra for spending is āIf I donāt buy it, I donāt have to move it.ā
I think an additional goal for me this month is to find more low-hanging fruit for reducing our recurring/semi-regular expenses.
I can cut down on my personal spending all I want, but thatās a consistent willpower/habit building exercise, and Iād much rather do things like reduce our internet bill by $10/mo. forever and ever. I did just cancel Peacock and Crunchyroll - weād signed up to watch one specific show on each of them and then justā¦kept them?
Re: internet - we have a single provider for our area (TDS), and weāve been with them since we moved here 6 years ago. Their website advertises a better connection than we currently have (1 gbps vs 300 mbps) for about $10 less/month, BUT only for new users. I have called once and been told that they can only update our service if we sign up for an additional service like TV or landline telephone, which I for sure donāt want/need.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get around this? Just call again and be super annoying? When we had Comcast I used to go in person and threaten to cancel, then theyād offer us a deal, but TDS is the only option unless we move to Starlink (ew).
I also donāt want to cancel and sign up in my husbandās name, haha, because we need the internet for his job. Also it feels like when your toddler tries to trick you and fails miserably because itās SO OBVIOUS that theyāre doing it
I forgot about Halloween. Oops. Might need to recast. LB doesnāt have a costume yet. Cuckoo already has one and BB is in high school so he gets cut loose and can buy one out of his generous allowance if he wants to. The kids and the Boy usually pick out a new decoration every year, too, and I am doing a costume! Which I never do! We are doing a group costume at the library with Pokemon theme and I have called dibs on Nurse Joy.
I will include all convinience food into the eating out category.
When I am back home , I will fill the data into a spreadsheet, Here are first my reminders:
Oct. 01 36 euro dinner inclusive tip. 7,20 euro coffee and danish
Oct. 02 16 euro dinner
Soā¦ October Budget:
0 Weebly FF (fully funded)
0 Membership Site
$25 Domain - due this month - FF
$200 Biz Office & Tech FF - laptop maintenance & ink cartridges
$100 Biz Supplies/Materials - bag linings & handles
0 Education FF
0 Writing FF
0 Planners/CES supplies
$100 Charity ($55-100, depending on income) FF
$125 Christmas
0 Birthdays
0 Clothing
0 Haircuts FF
0 Other Hobbies FF
0 Miscellaneous FF
0 Savings Challenges
0 52 Week Challenge
TOTAL needed in October = $550
Minus $325 already saved in other envelopes = $225 needed
$520 income - $225 expenses = $295 surplus
Any extra income goes to: 100 envelope challenge, 52 week challenge, and savings challenges, with the goal to top up a GIC in November, and any overages in Biz Office/Tech and Christmas, if needed.
No idea about the rest of it, but based on most recent visit to siblingās (and nephlingās current obsession) thereās definitely Peppa Pig on youtube
Gas: $200
Groceries: $300
Eating out: $300
Fun money and gifts: $167
