Iām in! This will be my first challenge. My main focus is going to be grocery spending. I know we end up spending way more than we should at the grocery store. Our extra cash should be going to pay off credit cards (we are sooo close!) but we keep using it for groceries, I think. So I am going to write out a budget, keep track of spending, and hopefully get the husband on board.
My favorite part of the Halloween season is the fall leaves and the chill in the air. And getting to watch Hocus Pocus on repeat.
OK letās do this. I will track baby costs. If baby doesnāt come til November, I can still track baby-related purchases made in advance, of which there will be many.
Most of our stuff is on auto-pilot right now. However, I too am in because STICKER.
We are all so predictable, yāall.
For earning said sticker: I would like to do detailed tracking for our groceries. That category has been so chaotic this year, and I want to get a better sense of what weāre actually spending on. Once I find my category tracking I did previously on groceries ā I know itās somewhere on this forum, where the heck is it? ā I can do a comparison on categories too, to see where weāve had changes.
I. um. also want to look through our wedding prep spreadsheet and make a better budget for that ā I penciled in initial amounts with very little research, and I would like to nail more of this down.
Um. I also need to actually send in my California tax forms instead of just having paid the tax.
Definitely willing to try some changes . But I want the āoldā stickerā¦
I took a pay cut and pay $180/mo to park (v. $30 at last job). Somehow that worked out in budget without reducing retirement savings. I need to get a realistic split between groceries budget & entertainment (eating out). I also need to work out a realistic amt to set aside for vet bills in the bi-weekly budget. Based on past year, that would be $347/check, which is not possible. Currently use a savings set-aside for vet, but that 5k wonāt last forever.
I am about to start a new job and am in the process of starting two businesses and combining finances with my spouse #allthethings
For Budgetober my goal is to get a baseline of where my money is going now and figure out how much money I need to reliably bring in via the 2 businesses to be able to quit my full-time job
(also realllly want that sticker)
re: spooky szn faves has got to me putting on my clompy boots and stomping around after the leaves have fallen to hear that special crunchy autumn sound
Ooooh so many new people. Damn I really need to get it together and clarify my goals here pre-goal goal: discuss goal with husband, come up with a plan. Stop simply rolling with panic vibes And make a goal.
Hiiii! I signed up for the forum just for this, having a dedicated event is such a good idea!
I told my partner that the cat-money-book-person was giving out stickers for a budget-thing in October and they were like āHavenāt you been talking about wanting to budget more?ā So this is perfect!
Iām not exactly sure what to set as a goal though, I almost always take on too much work for myself. A reasonable goal might be just tracking groceries/food/coffee to get an idea of what Iām spending, as itās definitely the thing I spend the most on per month.
Happy to be here (and hello from XOXO @anomalily)!
Iām in. I stopped tracking expenses maybe August 2020 and am a little scared about what Iāll find when I try to again so Iāve been putting it off. Iām going to track everything this month and decide I donāt need to keep tracking in the future if I am comfortable with what I find.
And maybe this year is the year my cat dresses up in the spider costume I bought her 3 halloweens ago. At least I will dress up the toddler as a pumpkin in her hand-me-down costume
Okay okay okay. Iām in! Iāve been spending a lot recently, so I need to have a frugal month. We will not talk about how much money I have spent on bicycle related items this year. ANYWAY. Besides normal bills, I really only want to spend money on groceries and gas this month, but it feels like something always comes up. Hoping to keep that category to a minimum.
Groceries - $300
Gas - honestly, it is what it is. I have a couple of short backpacking trips planned with friends, so weād split gas in those scenarios. Iām going to take a stab and say $100 for the month? But really I canāt control much here.
Misc - $100. Because, ugh, life.
Iām inā¦holding my breath. Hubby and I sat down and drew up a proposed budget this month. We are actually going to be in the hole because of anomalous expenses. That is, expenses that happen irregularily or just once a year or in our lifetime.
The budget looks like thisā¦
$2250 dental scans and initial payment for tooth implant
$250 for once every four months meat & poultry stock up
$1500 car maintenance
$200 paint metal front door
$250 have heat pumps serviced
$1400 one of our twice annual property tax payments
$400 personal allowances
$7.95 bank charge
$500 groceries ( + the $250 above for meat/poultry)
$350 utilities
$350 medical insurance + copays
$100 dining out (itās our anniversary this month)
$150 transportation
Sub-total = $7707.95 CAD. BUTā¦we already have money saved up for most of these expenses. In fact, $5600 is already in savings and earmarked for these expenses. Soā¦
$7707.95 - $5600 = $2107.95 to actually come out of this monthās paycheque. We can manage that just fine.
pre-goal goal: discuss goal with husband, come up with a plan. Stop simply rolling with 
panic vibes 
ANYWAY. Besides normal bills, I really only want to spend money on groceries and gas this month, but it feels like something always comes up. Hoping to keep that category to a minimum.