Welpā¦ I didnāt bring lunch to the office yesterday and ended up going to Chipotle. That (8.21) + McDonaldās breakfast (9.27) + my first weekās spending on Sunday mean I have exceeded my planned budget of $20 for the month.
So, this is an adjustment post. Rather than trying to abstain for the rest of the month, Iām going to double my budget to $40. That still represents quite a cut from my August and September fast food spending and probably would have been a more realistic number in the first place.
This leaves me with $13.25 or the rest of October. Definitely doable if I lean into planning my office food more intentionally, as I did last week.
Welp. I wildly underestimated how much Iād need to spend on groceries and eating out. Partially because I need to buy my brother food when I get a ride somewhere, and also because my pantry is barren, and staples cost money all together.
Groceries: $103.44/$250 (Iām going to add $50 to this category to make sure I can stock up my pantry, new budget amount, $300)
Restaurants: $70 /$60 (I either need to treat my brother eating out as a travel expense, or add about $70 to the budget, for a total of $130)
Ikea didnāt pan out for the bedframe, but I ordered the mattress and bedframe online! They should be arriving in the next couple weeks. Next up: Sheets and duvet covers.
Checking in a day early just in case bachelorette shenanigans prevent me from getting on tomorrow!
I did not buy any new gifts this week, but I did reach out to my mom and sister about splitting a new tent for my brother. Itāll be a little more expensive than the tortilla press I wanted to get him, but with the three of us splitting, should still be in my budget!
Updating now, because Iām going to forget tomorrow. My spending is pretty much a trashfire? But, like, the extra firey kind?
Though, the only actual trash fire Iāve ever seen was in one āa them circular little buddies that populate governmental areas. And we never figured out how it caught fire, cause I picked it up and dumped it right over the leeward rail.
Which is why @anomalily shouldnāt go on a cargo ship; too short to reach over the side rails.
Budget = $1,400.00
Total Spent ($1,115.12)
Total remaining = $284.88
I will most likely need to wave my magic wand and make an adjustment but Iām going to try and hold out as long as possible. The remaining $284.88 needs to cover my cellphone, car insurance, and any groceries and gas needed for the rest of the month but it might actually be possibleā¦ weāll see how things look at the end of week 3.
Friday, October 15th is the second week checkin. If you missed the first week THAT IS OKAY. (I did, so join in with me and weāll start now!)
Nothing has to be perfect! Just check in by posting on this thread and mention where youāre at with your budgetober objectives.
This can be posting how much youāve spent this week, what problems you ran into with your plan, or asking for help if you need it.
After you post your check-in, I will get you a special-edition week 2 budgetober badge. If you still havenāt gotten your badge by Sunday, please bat signal me and Iāll make sure you do!
Date night: $0/$66
Household: $40/$50
Groceries: $280/$600*
Books: $14/$30
Dining out: $144/300
Personal care: $0/$75
Baby supplies: $25/$150
Home improvement: $1271/$2000
*** We are still doing well on groceries but Iām super annoyed that we spent an extra $100. The people who installed our new fridge left it on demo mode and we didnāt realize it, so we lost everything that could be spoiled. Wednesday morning I had to take a half hour off work to run to the grocery store and replace everything that was lost, which came to $101. We would be doing REALLY well this month if that hadnāt happened.
Personal Budgetober Budget: $983.50/$1,266.88
biggest concern here is that groceries are already pretty high for how early in the month it is. We went to the discount grocery when we were hungry without a plan, and came home with a lot of stock-ups. But I did get heaps of clif and luna bars at very discount prices - something Iāve needed to have in my skating bag.
I am currently working a LOT between OMD, studying, and day job, and having trouble prioritizing doing the things I know I need to do around meal prep even though they reap good benefits later.
Optometry : $20.98/15.00 (got 4 boxes contact solution while on sale) Random : $5.49/$0 pill splitter
Figure Skating ā $125/$205.00
Ice time: $125/$135.00 (paid for ice time through december)
Coaching: $0/$40.00
Bunga Pads : $/0$30.00
Looking Good ā $40/$0
**Clothing: $40.59/$0 - went to the first lolita swap meet in 2 years and purchased two thingsā¦ good value for what I got, but didnāt really need. Using them for halloween though?
Extra Food + Drink ā $5/$45.00
Restaurants: $5/$30 - got some impulse pumpkin spice knots from the pizza place because PMS
Coffee Out: $0/$15
OMD Budget: $773.70/$1,200
OMD budget is going okay, but I havenāt been invoiced by contractors yet for the month so itāll be a bit. Did a big restock for the holiday season since I was down to TWO sticker sheets (out of an order of 1,250). I went with a new printer for the kiss-cut sheets and theyāre arriving today so I hope they are good quality. They were about 1/3 the cost of the printer I went with before and allowed me to do more kisscuts (both US made).
Week 1 and 2 OMD budget details
Overall income goal: $800.56/$1,100.00
Cost of Goods Sold: $500.89/$544.24
Stickers : $368.36/$441.00 (500 sheet order - 6 month supply - 2 other orders) Shopify : $29/29 Shipping : $103.53/$74.24^^
We only needed a small stock up this week from Freddieās and I was careful to eat beforehand (We also got our flu shots on this trip so go us!). Additionally, I spent $10 at Safeway last Saturday buying treats to share for a training at work. It seems like we are doing AMAZING but Iām going to hold off any prideful feelings until we do a Costco run, which I think will happen next weekend.
Other food categories:
Treats/eating out alone: $52/$130
Eating out with friends: $70/$300
That eating out with friends is going to JUMP this weekend though because Iām having two/three meals out with my best friend and probably buying a drink. But itās all part of our plan for going to our first punk show since 2019!! I am SO ready.
Iām very much on track. Mostly I am tracking my general merchandise/shopping this month. Progress: $0/$100 so far!
I also had an overall budget for the month and I donāt think Iāll come anywhere near that as I simply havenāt been buying anything outside fixed expenses and groceries.
Week 2 check-in. Goal again is 25 percent less spending on food this month versus last monthās insanely embarrassing outlay.
As I expected we were over for the week but not out of control. Plus we are still under the two week budgeted amount so Iām happy with that. We didnāt cope with our loss with food so double win. Life tried to pile on but we stuck to the meal plan.
This coming week will be another test. I have an out patient surgery mid next week. Goal is to avoid stress purchased take away meals by having a strong meal plan. Working on that today.
I need to buy a new headlight for my bicycle as mine broke but Iām still mad about it and so will likely procrastinate this purchase. Otherwise, I donāt foresee any other shopping needs at the moment.
Iām in a similar camp. I have an $8 phone holder for bike handlebars and now Iāve had TWO stolen. I donāt want to buy another, but Iām also annoyed without one. Itās not expensive enough to take off every time I walk inside, but replacing it is so annoying. So Iām procrastinating and punishing only myself.
Checking in to say Iām locked out of my Chase account online because apparently itās a bad idea to use a rural landline for 2FA since they are so very unreliable. May I have a deadline extension until tomorrow when I have time to deal with this bullshit? And maybe some spoons?
Re last week- The Costco didnāt have TP lol. Weāre not too low, but I also donāt want to change out tp Brand!
Coffee Shops: $10/30 (coast trip)
Restaurants: $30/100
Groceries: 34.5% of last months total. Weāre topped up right now- just got an imperfect box (we only do once every 2-3 weeks) and stopped at Trader Joeās when we were nearby, and a regular grocery pickup today.
Week 2 budget update: realized I set my grocery budget way too low, but trying to stick to it. Found another thing I didnāt account for. This has been really helpful in keeping an eye on what these random things are that end up taking a lot of space and is giving me some fun ideas for life changes that would result in more responsible spending. No useless or random purchases.
