Week 4 Final Check-In:
Uhā¦obviously I checked out for Week 2 and 3. Itās been a bananas month.
I did not update my budget weekly, but it wasnāt absolutely terrible with a 21 day gap.
Total dining out spending for October: $57.40.
Summary: I did not meet my goals, but Iām calling it a win. September dining out spending was $177, August was $343, July was $470. I would say that it was out of control, and Iām very much back in control now.
We are at $257 for our $300 grocery goal, which Iām really happy with. We might check out Aldi for the first time in a few years today, but Iām not worried about that. I think I am just going to consider October over!
Final updates since I donāt have any plans to go anywhere this weekend and donāt expect to spend any more money
Final spending includes pre-play dinner and then a happy hour, but it came in at about what I expected for the month
Acquired what I needed (boots, bras) so good to go
All supplies acquired, just need to finish the projects
Unexpected play ticket and on-sale puzzle kit acquired
Generally went wellā¦definitely some impulse spending in the sports/hobbies categories, but not crazy amounts.
Final checkin (whew!)
To recap ā the last big-ticket item Iām planning on buying is a couch.
Many of the couches Iām interested in are out of stock, some until February of next year. My current choice in couch is at IKEA and in stock and theyāll ship ā but the website keeps breaking down on me when I get to checkout. I briefly considered buying one of those sketchy couches from LOWES or Home Depot, but honestly, I think Iāll just get a rental truck and drive to IKEA for pickup.
This is a long way to say that I donāt have a couch yet. But because I tracked my spending for moving, Iām headed in the right direction.
Final total:
$1670 spent (bought blackout curtains)
$330 left
Still still still need to buy a couch
(Edit ā I just want to say that itās nice to finally just enjoy my apartment and not be constantly shopping for stuff. Whew, what a month.)
Gonna wait to check in until tomorrow or the next day, make sure we donāt do any grocery trips. My schedule is not my own, lol, so these things often happen impromptu.
I made sandwiches and we brought apples with us for our outing today to see art, so we didnāt spend more on takeout or restaurants today.
We discussed getting something (takeout, slab-o-meat) tonight to celebrate a personal anniversary, but we had picked up half priced flank steak on Thursday and there were leftovers, so instead we had wraps with fried onions, tomato, cheese & horseradish mayo.
Was it not for the challenge, I probably would have spent money for both, and the homemade versions were probably better than anything we would have purchased.
Final update, Iām including today even though that means there is 1 extra day in this āweekā
| Coffee | Bars | Eating Out | Groceries | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | $20 | $60 | $60 | $150 | $290 |
| Week 1 (Oct 1-8) | $0 | $0 | $0 | -$51.59 | -$51.59 |
| Week 2 (Oct 9-15) | $0 | -$10 | $0 | -$78.49 | -$88.49 |
| Week 3 (Oct 16-22) | $0 | -$8 | $0 | -$31.73 | -$39.73 |
| Week 3 (Oct 23-30) | -$5 | -$16.80 | -$10.62 | -$37.70 | -$70.12 |
| Remaining | $15 | $25.20 | $49.38 | -$49.51 | $40.07 |
This week was much more like I was imagining the rest of the weeks going. I went to a bar and had dinner and beers. Also had coffee out once.
Overall, I ended up with $40 left in the budget, even though I spent $50 more on groceries than expected. The $50 less on eating out covered it though, so iāll take it!
Week 4: same as week 3, about 0.5 hours out of the 2 for the goal.
Because I tried to reach this goal I can now see how cash-flow work gets less and less attention as my stress levels rise. Iām glad I learned that about myself. I want to change how I plan for things to get done and thus put a lot more effort into the times when I do find myself making time instead of putting it off and then never getting to it. To put it another way, rather than hoping for a consistent amount of effort like clockwork, I could accept that I do best in bursts of effort when the circumstances align.
Iām glad to I did this challenge. Thank you @anomalily!!!
[bonus thing: last week I discovered my credit card cash-back wasnāt automatically depositing for some reason so I had built up enough for a piece of music gear. It was the perfect bit of ātreat-yourselfā money, and now I have that nice gift for myself, from myself]
Halloween Night Livestream for last day of budgetober! 
Tonight - Sunday, October 31st, for Trick or Budget. - at 5 PM PDT, 8PM EDT and at 12AM GMT - Monday 8AM AWST, 10AM AEST
Doesnāt look like weāre going out today so the final number spent on local food is: $116.74
Which is about four dollars more than our previous average 
completely failed at decreasing spending. Oh well.
I ended up spending $15 out of the $100 I had budgeted for general merchandise. I also came in about $500 under my overall budget goal for total spending which suggests to me that I can give myself a lower overall budget going forward (with the exception of the few months with lumpy expenses, such as insurance). Success!
And that $15 purchase was very satisfying: some birch logs to display in my fireplace since our new lease no longer allows us to burn anything in it. At least it can look pretty! I bought it off FB Marketplace and I really enjoyed the chat I had with the seller (an older man) and his very friendly doggo.
Happy Halloween, Budget Wizards! 
Came real close but my final totals are:
ā¢ Groceries: $201.83 spent ($300)
ā¢ Dining out/treats: $596.01 spent ($600)
(Vacation budget stayed the same from last check in)
Thanks for being accountabilibuddies all month 
Wishing you a sweet All Hallowās Eve 
Bella
Woot!! 
Groceries: 63.5% of last month
Restaurants: $41/100
Coffee Shops: $29/50
Which is 62.5% of last months overall food spending. A LOT lower. This month was the lowest our groceries have been possibly since the toddler has started solids? If not longer. Perk to husband traveling so much I suppose, I didnāt want to shop with the kiddo in tow, and I think we went through a lot of freezer and pantry goods too.
Week 4: spent more than I wanted, but still less than I made, so I hit that goal at least. Definitely got me being more thoughtful about purchases and will continue to set up budget as a guideline for November.
Week 4:
Okay. I have produced an entire energy expenditure spreadsheet, and logged before and afters on the kettle, bath, washing up and some other things. Which means I now know a bath with the new boiler costs between 4 and 5pence (Ā£0.05/5p). I donāt have a working shower, so considering I used to have to heat up an entire tank of water every day before, and wouldnāt always use it all, I think thatās not too bad. Yay new boiler.
I havenāt done anything else on the savings front. And I do still need to update my payment method for several sites, but the transfer to the new Current Account has now totally gone through, and the old account is now closed. So thatās good.
Lastly I have been sorting out some planning type things. Which I know isnāt strictly budgeting, but I think it will help me pay attention and focus just that bit more. So, my old Filofax has been pressed back into service, and I am using mainly stuff I already have like some old Record cards, which fit surprisingly well. Iāve only spent Ā£2.21 on a pre-prepared pdf for it, which saved me a ton of time. Determined not to let it become a hyper-focus spend-fest (now I know such things exist).
So thatās me. This month has been extremely useful. And I am going to continue it. I NEED to start/keep paying more attention. Thanks for that. Appreciated. Onwards and upwards 
Finished logging all spendings in app, few more eating out than planned but will continue tracking next month to get a bit more of an average monthly spend going forwards.
Okay, had to add 500 Euros from saving, goal not reached in Budgetober. 
To many wants instead of only needs. And coming from ādue to XX shit you deserve YY as a treatā
November: New month new chance 
Final check-in: the number doesnāt matter. It was much higher than what I planned, which sucks. What I learned is that I have a really difficult time restricting spending when Iām depressed. My spending was higher than normal overall.
For me, trying to restrict when Iām depressed makes BOTH worse. And totally a lesson I need to be reminded of, now and again.