We’re here to make it work for you! Let me know if we can help.
Hi! I did an episode on this ages ago, I talk about food a bit, too. unfortunately, it pre-dates transcripts.
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First Week!
Progress for the month:
Groceries: $41.65/$250
Restaurants: $47.89/$60
My eating out budget is almost gone because I accidentally dragged my family to a farmer’s market that didn’t exist (more than an hour’s worth of walking) and so treated them to a nice lunch to make up for it.
Very little progress on the bedframe and mattress at the moment-- my brother has promised a ride to ikea, but we’ll see how that pans out.
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Hello Everyone!
First check-in (a little early), tracking food (groceries & dining out):
- groceries = $18.00 ($300/month)
- dining out/treats = $18.00 ($300/month)
Amounts for these categories are high this month because I’m going on vacation this weekend. Will report back on vacation budget next week.
Also I got my Patreon stickers from @anomalily yesterday and I’m OBSESSED! Plus the personalized note. Ugh - my heart overflows with joy 
thank you.
Thank you for the accountability: you rock 
Hope you’re all healthy & safe 
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In preparation for my check-ins, I finally did the math for my dog’s fixed monthly expenses (food, meds, groomer, insurance) and he costs… about $400/month! That doesn’t include toys, costumes, the many vet visits, etc. Love him but, ouch. (Quick edit for folks who may not know me already: my dog has “a lot going on” and unfortunately none of these expenses are flexible - so not looking for money saving feedback.)
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Good thing he’s cute! 
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I realized that I never posted my budget goals here! We are still setting up the new house so I popped a big amount into the home improvement category. Plus no mortgage payment this month!
Budget
| Monthly Goal /Contribution | |
|---|---|
| Family Visit | $0 |
| Trash | 25 |
| Taxes | $0 |
| Student Loan | $0 |
| HOA Dues | $0 |
| Life Insurance | $71 |
| Subscriptions | $40 |
| Water | $40 |
| Electric / Gas | $100 |
| Security System | $0 |
| Cell Phone | $65 |
| Mortgage | $0 |
| Internet | $50 |
| Gym Membership | $0 |
| New Technology | $50 |
| Enrichment | $25 |
| Christmas Spending | $75 |
| New Gym Equipment | $0 |
| Home Improvement | $2,000 |
| Amazon Prime | $12 |
| Judo | $75 |
| Eyecare | $5 |
| Citi Annual Fee | $41 |
| Gas | $50 |
| Service and Parts | $50 |
| Car Registration | $30 |
| Car Insurance | $100 |
| Medical | $100 |
| Date Night | $50 |
| House Cleaner | $100 |
| New Furniture | $0 |
| Uber | $50 |
| Baby Sitter | $200 |
| My Fun Money | $50 |
| Ryan Fun Money | $50 |
| Pharmacy | $35 |
| Family Photos | $0 |
| Household Items | $50 |
| Groceries | $600 |
| Books & News | $30 |
| Toiletries | $30 |
| Clothing | $50 |
| Gifts | $75 |
| Giving | $85 |
| Dining Out | $300 |
| Personal Care | $75 |
| Baby Supplies | $150 |
| Other | $150 |
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Reminder
Friday, October 8th is the first weekly check-in. Nothing has to be perfect! Just check in by posting on this thread and mention where you’re at with your budgetober objectives.
This can be posting how much you’ve spent this week, what problems you ran into with your plan, or asking for help if you need it.
For most of you, October 8th is tomorrow! (If you’re in Australiasia, then today is check-in day!)
After you post your check-in, myself or @Smacky will get you a special-edition week 1 budgetober badge. If you still haven’t gotten your badge by Sunday, please bat signal me and I’ll make sure you do!
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Hi! I just joined and I’m in. We have a couple of different things happening this month that affect our budget majorly. 1) a visit from a Canadian Korean friend from the other side of the continent. 2) Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend.
Hubby handles the car money here and says we’re okay for gas money. I handle the grocery money and I’m already panicking. So I’m in this for groceries.
Our friend has gone through a rough year and her teenaged daughter, who is not coming with her, is concerned that she eat well. So I will be cooking Canadian and Korean food the entire time she is here. She will have options.
In order to keep costs down, I am making as much from scratch as possible. To that end I have small batches of three different types of kimchi fermenting right now. Plus some spicy pickled radish (daanmoji) in the fridge marinating. Hubby and I are doing the rounds of the local Korean grocers tomorrow for last minute groceries.
My budget is $600 CAD. I’ve spent $350 so far. However, we are stocked. All three freezers are full, the fridge is full, the pantry is getting there. I’ve also been canning and baking this past week. More expense, but it will save us in the long run.
I’ll keep you posted on how I do!
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Week 1 check in: since I’m just tracking this month to figure out new baseline budget I might only post final numbers at the end of the month but all week 1 spending in my budget tracker up to date.
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Week one check in
So far I’ve spent $827.33 this month out of a $1,400 budget. I have $572.67left for the month.
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I should add, my grocery budget is just food…nothing else. No dining out. That’s a separate budget category. 
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Uh, I’m in the US and today is the 7th and a Thursday. Tomorrow is Friday the 8th. Am I very confused somehow? (ETA: I can check in whenever, but this seems off)
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OKAY FINE I DON’T UNDERSTAND DATES. (Fixed.)
Clearly I need to buy another planner.
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This was a new term for me! Usually I see Oceania used. I’ll check in later.
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Well, I got smacked down by life events, and probably won’t be going on the cruise. Which means I don’t need to minimize Oct expenses, except for how the car needs maintenance, and the dog needs maintenance, and the apt needs maintenance, and this fucking city, ya know?
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Checking in!
I have spent very little so far and am on track. So far I’ve paid for rent, one grocery trip (with no junk food purchases!), my cell phone bill, and gas/electric bill. Oh and one $10 restaurant meal, at a time when I eat out exceedingly rarely.
I still need to find and buy a new bicycle headlight as mine broke, I’m hoping I can limit my non-routine purchases to not much more than that.
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10/8 Check-in
Snacks $0.00 / $0.00
Books/Music/Games $0.00 / $25.00
Hobbies $0.00 / $10.00
Giving/Mutual Aid $10.00 / $200.00
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Question from my Budgetober budgeting so far: How does everyone handle sinking funds? For things like magazine subscriptions where I get billed once/year, I have that in my planned budget spreadsheet – but should I include 1/12 of that in my October budget? Or for things where I don’t know what my annual cost will be – like haircuts – what’s the best way to handle that? I don’t use any app that lets me visualize the different “buckets” I save for things like that, but maybe I should, or other ideas? Thanks all!
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I’ve always struggled with how to handle sinking funds. My only attempt involved having funds transferred to separate savings accounts each month I could then visually see what I had and I would count it as an expense in my budget for however much I put in the savings account. I eventually stopped doing that and now just track the expense when it happens, so my month to month numbers vary but it all averages out when I look at the whole year.
I may try sinking fund savings accounts again next year. We’ll see.
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