Week 2 check in:
10/12 deli salad $3.84 (+ leftovers I packed)
10/13 stir fry $0 (reward from my manager for helping out when she was in a pinch)
10/14 tacos $11.78
Weekly total: $15.62 
Getting a free lunch this week helped keep my budget down and its nice to be appreciated.
Oct 15 check-in, food budget:
Foolish, aspirational me, forgetting how there is no one to stop me from ordering delivery stressburgers AND forgetting how the eustress of putting on an event is still stress WELL THEN LETāS SEE HOW IT SHOOK OUT
ā¦
Ah. 94% of budget spent, to cover ~67% of the month.
Wellā¦ clearly I need a new strategy 
Check-in
X = dialed-in expenses (including mortgage)
Y = current expenses (including mortgage)
Oct 2
54% X
38% Y
Oct 7 8 (did I get the date wrong last week? lol)
68% X
47% Y
Oct 15
84% X
59% Y
Still fairly okā¦ I did just buy a KitchenAid stand mixer which added quite a bit to the spending last week! But it was a good sale price, gotta strike while the iron is hot!
Week Two: 1 bubble tea, $20.71 so far this month (32.3% out of $64)
Had many nights this week I was too tired to go out and fetch ridiculously overpriced drink. Had friends cancel on me for planned bubble tea night. Definitely had substitute junk food. But on track for this budget challenge.
Famous last words 
Iām gonna go ahead and use my magic wand to recast my budget 
Food will now be $700 cuz I forgot Iāll be paying for some food for friend get-togethers and there are some work farewell gatherings coming up as well. Clothes will be $500, and Recreation/health will now be $750 (more deets below). Yes these totals are insane but Iāve just accepted it and moved on 
Week 2 (totals are cumulative):
-Food: $306.98/$700
-Clothes: $222.27/$500. Do I now own a ridiculous number of flannel shirts? Yes. Yes I do.
-Recreation/health: $741.82/$750 (Gym + fitness watch + hydration mix & exercise snacks that were on sale). Sooooo as a celebration for getting my new job, I upgraded my fitness watch to have some features that Iāve been really wanting for a while (and I sent my old one to my sister who has wanted one for a while but hasnāt wanted to spend the money on one haha). Expensive but I already really love the new features and at least Iāll get a good REI dividend next year
Week 2 Check-in
Snacks $0.00 / $0.00 
Books/Music/Games $0.00 / $25.00
Hobbies $10.00 / $10.00 
Giving/Mutual Aid $225.23 / $200.00
Spent out this monthās $200 allotted for giving plus $25.23 of the $50ish thatās been sitting in that sinking fund. So 1/4 of Budgetober goals met.
Iām really struggling with getting things done at work and am increasingly freaking out about it. I panic bought two planners to try to rig up my own Jibun Techo Days planner, and then found an actual Days for sale so panic bought that too. (I also bought some pens). Iām not really sure how to classify them, but I figured it wasnāt totally a hobby but donāt have an office supply sinking fund, so I guess it goes in Miscellaneous, but I only keep $75 floating in that fund so I moved some of the Hobbies sinking fund into Miscellaneous to cover the planners, so I guess that includes the $10 I budgeted for the month. These were totally not in the plan, and Iāll probably return the two non-Days planners, but I think Iāll consider this my wand wavey reset moment and consider that I stuck to my Hobbies budget. (Also, why do I have a hobbies budget and then a books/music/games budget? ĀÆ_(ć)_/ĀÆ )
week two check in:
WHOOPS. Iām taking a very fun 10 week online natural dyeing class and I was certain I had all my supplies and tools lined up. I started working through the material for the course, which started last week, and I am totally frustrated with my set up. Pulling hot fabric out of hot water with bare hands is not ideal and my cheapo hot plate was cheap for a reason. Thankfully, I have enough in my āfun stuffā sinking fund so all of these purchases are coming from there and it doesnāt seem to have impacted the rest of my budget. So I donāt know if I need a full magic wand wave re-set, but if there needs to be a ruling on that, Iām good with using it here. I gave myself a little bit more money in the new category to grab some more supplies if needed (I still need to get tongs and a big spoon).
In the past, Iāve had a lot of problems with impulse spending and this week really felt like a test of that. I spent most of the time dwelling on whether I was being wasteful by spending money when I could have just put up with the crappy stuff I already have. Iām still not sure whether I made the right decision, but even just being aware of the spending and knowing that Iām not blindly putting it on credit is a step in the right direction.
Very happy with the house and personal hygiene numbers though. Although my current fall-ish scented candle is getting very low and I might have to get a candle. Thankfully Iāve been distracted by my class.
okay numbers!
hobbies: $53/130
natural dyeing class: $305/400
house: $0/50
personal hygiene: $44/125 toothbrush heads (planned) (I had this total amount wrong last week, my budget says 125 as there is a haircut coming up next week).
phew this is all very rambling
Week 2 Update:
Got the $30 back from friend and then spent it (and more) on some scratch-and-dent lobster tails at the fancy grocery store. The total is higher than Iād like it to be right now, but I should be good on the supply side and the only going-out plans for the rest of the month are whatever we do before the play in the park.
Still need to deal with thisā¦was very happy when I found the same kind of bras as my remaining āgoodā bra available, up until I read some reviews and found out theyād changed something about the style in the last year. Annoying.
Leaving the amount refunded in this total since Iāve already spent ~$10 more on some new brushes and will probably need to go back for another can of finish this weekend.
No new spending, same overage as last week
Week 2! Ow my back hurts from all this driving around.
I realized I hadnāt actually said my budget yet ā itās $2000. Iāve always lived in semi-furnished houses with roommates, so I actually need to buy a lot of basics. Between Target, CostCo, Ikea, thrift stores, and Amazon Iāve carved out about $820. And another $80 on gas. My friend has dropped off the furniture I need but hasnāt charged me. Iāll make sure she gets paid, but nothing to report there ā¦yet.
Two lessons learned so far; Iām not moving myself ever again (my back is very upset with me) and CostCo wasnāt worth it. Not because of the prices. Itās because the local CostCo has completely stopped enforcing masks and itās very gross and gives me the creeps. I do not consent to killing unvaccinated people.
On a happier note ā thereās some very good food trucks near my new apartment and thatās a real pleasure. Iāve never lived close to food trucks before.
Week 2!
(my goal is at least 2 hours of cashflow management a week)
I got in 1 hour this week. The biggest obstacle to me doing this is having the energy for it and the biggest drain on my energy is some recurring work struggles. This week has been a rough one on that front. I hope things are lighter next week.
Oof! I feel you! Iāve been in a similar situation with work/energy and making time for things. Itās hard!
Buying something you have wanted for a while seems like a perfect reward for getting a fantastic new job!
Tomorrowās budgetober stream is about budgeting and handling money with anxiety and decision paralysis. Live on Sunday, October 17th at 5 PM PDT, 8PM EDT and at 12AM GMT - Monday 8AM AWST, 10AM AEST (Please hit the āreminder iconā on youtube - it helps with youtube algorithm). And subscribe if you havenāt!
Finally got in to Chase card (thatās the one we put pretty much all spending on). The issue may have been with Chase rather than the phone line, not sure since it just magically got better on its own. But at least I didnāt have to talk to a human on the phone, or wade through a phone tree.
Budgeting not going badly so far, though the big hippie event has driven eating out way up since I just couldnāt be bothered to cook over a fire or schlep a camp stove. Havenāt in several years, really (we do this annually, have for decades).
Auto is high enough Chase sent me a notification, but weāre going to come out low cost for a ānewā vehicle so thatās cool. New radiator (rust in the engine block is probably what killed the old one), new serpentine belt, new clutch since the old one had over 200K miles and when the engine is out is when you want to replace. Weāll need random other stuff, plugs, wires, likely things weāve forgotten. But the finances and the landfills will both thank us.
| Category | Week 1 | Week 2 | Cumulative | Goal | Notes Week 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grocery | $109.69 | $40.72 | $150.41 | of max $300 | Snacks, some mystery $25 at Walmart that probably wasnāt food |
| Fuel | $36.20 | $114.20 | $150.40 | of max $230 | Diesel once for mine, gasoline twice for his due to going out of state to buy the new-to-us engine for Jeep |
| Shopping | $58.06 | $0.00 | $58.06 | Just monitor this | |
| Puppy | $37.43 | $0.00 | $37.43 | Whatever they need (or āneedā) | |
| Eating out | $9.36 | $65.99 | $95.87 | Just monitor this | Food at our weekend event plus a chocolate mocha milkshake that I didnāt need but was totally worth it |
| Home/Hardware | $0 | $0 | $0 | Just monitor this | |
| Auto | $650.00 | $450.42 | $1,100.42 | Just monitor this | Various parts |
ETA: I donāt remember why eating out adds up to a little more than $20 more than it should, but there was a Reason back in Week 1. Maybe something spent on Friday the 1st.
Hope iām not too late for week 2 check in! Put my savings away, took out the cash for the sinking fund and made the extra $100 debt payment. Now just need to focus on working my cash envelopes until next payday on the 25th!
Week 2 Update:
I would not say I am budgeting so much as I am just Buying Things and Going For It, I Guess. Also I have to quit one of my jobs so I can start a new, different job! (It pays more and has better hours and I think hopefully will be less stressful.) So, absolutely no idea how that will go. Also I worked 20+ hours last week and have not worked at all this week, which is Fine.
Week 2: doing well on the categories that I could budget, and having great discussions about the Wish List with the family about what our priorities are. About half spent on food for halfway through the month, and Iām happy to shuffle money within the overall Food category if we overspend in an area.
Man I don;t think Im doing this right. I guess my check in is that I am reigning in my impulse purchases but not feeling the best about money rn
Week 2 update:
| Coffee | Bars | Eating Out | Groceries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | $20 | $60 | $60 | $150 |
| Week 1 (Oct 1-8) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $51.59 |
| Week 2 (Oct 9-15) | $0 | $10 | $0 | $78.49 |
| Remaining | $20 | $50 | $60 | $19.92 |
Well this experiment is failing miserably 
So far I have only spent $10 not on groceries. Other than beer at the movie theater last night, the only other time Iāve eaten out was for a work event and that was paid for by work, so that didnāt come out of my budget. I also spent way more on groceries than expected this week, probably because I stocked up on some frozen food for lunches at the studio. Maybe I need a separate category for groceries that Iām not planning on eating within 1-2 weeks?
I donāt think Iām going to make it to the end of the month on only $20 of groceries left in my budget. But I also donāt think Iām going to use the rest of my coffee/bars/dinner budget eating out, so I can just move that to my grocery category.
Week 2 check in:
New current account sorted. The card arrived yesterday, so a job for tomorrow is to activate it, then get everything switched automatically over from the one which is closing. And then all done. Goodā¦ 
Was going to move onto sorting out what to do with the PIP savings in week 3, but have just remembered that my main, and longest-standing, bank (current and savings) accounts are not appearing in my credit report. Which is pants.
I had a bunch of phone conversations with someone at the bank about a year ago, and they apparently canāt add it retrospectively, so I lose credit report goodness going back to 1987. Which is treble-pants. So I went off in a huff then about that, and didnāt add it, and then forgot. Which means Iāve now missed yet another year. Which is quintuple-pantsā¦
Going to moan about it, but get them to add it this week. Because if the new landlords do a credit check (and I think they can), then my credit rating is awful. Credit ratings are something which snuck up on the world while I was living abroad, and until recently I had never engaged with them. I still think theyāre deeply intrusive and unconscionable. And just give ordinary people more hassle/hoops to have to jump through in life. But the world of money doesnāt give a wotsit what I think or feel does it? Thatās the point.
So I need to get that sorted this week instead.
Bonus points if I can also start looking into whatās best for the savings. Thereās better interest than Iām already getting in the basic savings account which came with the new current account for example: 0.01% to 0.035% (I think?), so that might be the temporary stopgap play for now. I can always move them again. (Also pending what actually happens with the house).