Made zero progress cancelling recurring payments. On the other hand, did not start any new subscriptions!
My partner was sick this week so he did not go to weekly fun thing with me. But I did buy him tea, vegan soup cups, cough syrup, and tissues.
Mutual aid group spending was a little wild but Iām just tracking here not working within strict limits yet . Also, weāve got some decent donations lately AND have probably our biggest fundraiser yet scheduled for next month.
From my own money:
$62.44 that covered some harm reduction supplies, ziploc bags, masks, bulk bar soap.
From party funds:
$59.36 That covered some travel sized toiletries, PBJ ingredients, snacks and more toiletries (razors, band aids, alcohol prep pads, period products), bottled water.
I did not track consistently and had to do a wrangling of receipts this morning to get this together, which made me stress a little and think for a sec about throwing up my hands but I didnāt do that!!!
Fuel: $275.47 ($69.40 gasoline, $206.07 diesel)
It costs about half as much to fill up the gas Jeep as the diesel, but it doesnāt go as far on a tank and it gets about half the MPG. Iāve not done the $/mile calcs because Iāve been trying to recover from an abscessed tooth/inflamed nerve/root canal. May be human next week.
Food: $429.16 Grocery: $302.13
(whoa, damn! But lots of trips this week for progressively softer convenience food so I could eat something as that abscess took hold). Eating out: $127.03 (again with the whoa, damn).
Okay, so this week was pure survival mode. I only went to work two days, did classes online two days. Emergency trip to dentist Monday, had to wait overnight for emergency root canal Tuesday (after which I taught a class because Iām an idiot). So I (and he) were finding all the food that requires no chewing. An unreasonable number of milkshakes, a truly terrifying amount of Ibuprofen (even for people without ulcers) since apparently I canāt take codeine.
Also got both the homeownerās insurance bill and the property tax bill, which will come near to $2K combined. Totally expected but still, did it have to be this week?
Also also someone set several fires in the now-vacant lot thatās a cutout of our property. Husband and fire department got them out and discovered there were fireworks in them. We have fire hazard weather warnings and own the wooded property above that lot, so great. Weāre going to look into buying the lot and blocking access.
Answer to the question of whether we spend more than is coming home is an unequivocal yes. Iām adjusting withholdings.
Week 3. I believe I will not need to move any money over to cover November and we can actually cash flow it.
I have created another page in the spreadsheet to note when we took out money from EQ and track when it is returned. And then eventually if/when money starts moving to rrsps. That way we arenāt just running on assumptions of where we are with the new money coming in and whether it is worth the trade of my time and brain space.
Oh boy I have spent $126.84 on eating out this week. Groceries werenāt as bad since Bro was able to cover the meat market and Food Lion but I still spent $150.72. Total for the month so far on out to eat is $271.88 and grocery/household is $957.83!!!
Still playing Budgetober catch up, but budget is set w/categories and then I am filling in specifics. One thing Iām noticing right away is how many items were outta sight/outta mind, like subscriptions (not many, but around $40/month), bike payments (we sold a car and got 2 e-bikes), birthday gifts, postage, cell-phone charges that went way up w/Verizon
Home expenses 20% higher than budgeted so far (winter maintenance), food costs (groceries) up around 30% (holy cow!). Good news is that weāre not eating out as much, and that may be a big part of the increased grocery bill. I love to cook, and am being more free with buying ingredients.
Will finish budget and post real numbers, hopefully by end of the month.
Spent $279 on a big grocery stock-up - definitely noticing some price increases on some of our standard purchases. Also spent $8 on a grocery store hummus wrap as a rehearsal dinner.
This coming weekend is tech weekend for the play Iām working on, so anticipating at least one food cart or grocery store deli purchase.
My week 3 checkin. Had to change some categories because I got increasingly confused about where Oil went, and where pickles went. All my groceries for the month thus far
My goal was $75 food (ideally $50 groceries, $25 eating out); $75 gas; $19.75 for recurring payments / subscriptions & $80.65 for kitten health stuff. Recurring & health payments were as expected. Paid a little more on groceries than I wanted to-- $65.77-- but some of that was restocking household essentials (oil, etc) and some was buying toothpaste. Do people have strategies around budgeting for irregular purchases like toiletries / household supplies? It always catches me off guard, even when I know Iām running low on something.
I did however only spend $12 on eating out, and only $49.02 on gas!! Doing a lot of driving for work this weekend unfortunately, but hopefully I wonāt have to refill again this next week.
Goals for W4:
Again, $75 food ($50 grocery / $25 eat out); and I need to suck it up and actually go clothes shopping for the first time in forever. Iāve needed an upgraded work outfit selection for a while now, and with it getting colder itās getting more important. On my time off this week Iām going to evaluate my wardrobe, go shopping (urgh) and use my sinking fund for clothing: up to $500. Weāll see how I do. I might end up going over my eating out budget-- since Iām eating dinner with a friend one night, and will inevitably end up ordering food out to reward myself for braving the shopping mall.
Eating Out: $87.70 (This includes treating a friend to boba for a ride, an overpriced DnD pretzel, and a sandwich because I had joint pain and hated everything)
Groceries: $262 (definitely still includes some skincare, medical, and to-go food, but I need to sieve my receipts)
Transport: $0 (Still all been caught rides. But I will have a doc appointment soon that I should ride to)
Non-budget: Things got put on hold because of the new joint pain developments still need to buy that ticket though
Also, got an unusually high electricity bill. I should see wtf is going on there.
Soā¦ I think I just need a line item for takeout and to have a realistic budget and start winnowing it down. Because saying ādonātā isnāt working?
I had 2 takeout dinners, 1 takeout lunch and 3 take out breakfasts so letās just say I UTTERLY AND COMPLETELY FAILED at going out to eat only once.
Goal for the final budgetober week is to go through and add up our total restaurant spending from bank statements so I can just put that in the budget as a starting point.
I was wrong on diapers. Not quite at size 2 so bought a small pack for 11 ish dollars.
Ate out once.
1 medical appointment. Starting 3x a week medical stuff for the next few months soā¦
At a family event so quick check in.
I just got back from a work trip, the costs of which should be reimbursed, and I think the only thing I have bought this week are
Target: ~$125
gas - 33.31
At Target I got some underwear and leggings, plus some snack things, I have to find the receipt to properly divide. Hopefully it is somewhere? It was very hectic before leaving for the trip. I havenāt had a chance to do a grocery shop yet since coming back.
. Also, weāve got some decent donations lately AND have probably our biggest fundraiser yet scheduled for next month.
