Second week check-in!
I dreamed last night that I had gone out for dinner, totally forgetting that I was doing a no-eating-out October, thereby screwing up my goals for the month. I was so sad in my dream!
Luckily, I woke up and had in fact not eaten out last week. So, other than my Week 1 Ikea hangry screw-up, I’m on track!
Utilities - 355.67 – paid & under budget
Food - 761.90 – still well under budget (thanks parents for feeding us this weekend—also I bought a car snack at the grocery store and wasn’t tempted to buy anything at the gas station)
Transportation (gas for car) - 37.81 – under budget, though if we get gas again, we will go over; however, I don’t expect to do so
Household - 37.99 – under budget and I have not bought any Halloween decorations despite temptation!
The wiggler - 0 – on track
Car insurance - 450 – Not paid yet but it is scheduled. I checked compare.com for other quotes and didn’t get any that were even close to what we are currently paying, so that’s good (especially since we have a multi-policy discount with our homeowners’ insurance)!
Pet - 200 – Still under budget but will probably recast at some point. Haven’t actually made a vet appointment yet
Family Fun & Festivals - 60.96 — still under budget
Also I did not get anything with the ModCloth coupon.
Did I check in yet? I don’t know. I’m on track. Because it’s cash. And I can still get out the rest of the cash if needed.
Also, it is Thanksgiving and my festive cat likes festive pumpkin muffins
Even though I’m not participating and watching from the sidelines, I’m really proud of all of you!!!
I need to spend some time organizing and get on this with you all to flex some of those frugal muscles. I kinda did since Marshall’s and winners is my weakness, and I bought nothing at either this weekend when I was at both.
Great work everyone! 16 days to go!
Second week check in.
Payday happened Friday night. Spent most of it on bills.
Gas ($120.51 two months worth), Electricity ($364.21 two months worth), Water ($202.75 a quarter), Mobile phone ($120 two months worth), Daycare ($406 a fortnight), Health Insurance ($249.10 a fortnight).
Retained $440 for mortgage (due 20th) and $2241 for rent (due 17th) both of which are monthly payments.
Apparently my mobile provider has updated their plans and what I pay $60 a month for now can be had for $50 so on Wednesday (tomorrow) I will go visit their store front and see if I can make that happen.
Feeling quite frustrated about my food budget. However, knowing what I went over my initial estimates on this month will help me see what to keep an eye on in future months. This month I’m tracking everything, but maybe next month I’ll only track food and gas.
Checking in for Week 2. No unplanned expenses, though I did buy cat’s insulin today - since he’s so much smaller than a human, his doses are small enough that one insulin pen lasts nearly two months (and costs just over $100). So that’s not an every month expense.
Paid bills and discovered we’ve spent under $2k the last two months, which is unusual but encouraging.
In the bigger picture, husband submitted the application for the masters degree and it’s been accepted. He’s coming home in December, which means both a significant reduction in expenses and a (more) significant reduction in income, for a while at least. Getting the MS instead of holding on for the Ph.D. may mean he winds up in industry instead of academia - which would translate to roughly a metric fuckton more money, maybe even if he goes the independent contractor route. And he’s coming home!
YAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY
That’s such big news!!
My friend that mastered out of her PHD exited her orals saying “I wanted to be called Dr. [HERNAME], but I’ll have to settle for being called Master” and winked.
The pay in industry is no joke! With my bachelor’s degree I made about twice what Dr. Spouse did for a decent chunk of my career.
Yeah, he worked industry for ~10 years with a bachelor’s and has a hard-to-get professional license that he’s kept up. He made more than I did with the BS, too. Well, actually, no, he only made more than me once he got the license. But the MS will amp that up, especially since it’s in an adjacent-but-complimentary field. I have a feeling I’m about to be reduced to “working for our health insurance” status so he can freelance (and I’m very much okay with this!)
It’s great he has industry experience. I worked in academia 15 years before moving over - it was hard to get my foot in the door. It was easier to get hired right out of university. I got a couple of certifications too. It can’t hurt, and if work pays, why not?
Here are my totals for Week 2 of Budgetober:
I started my sinking funds, but since they haven’t left my account just yet, I haven’t recorded the amounts. The amounts will probably end up in Week 3’s totals, as will the weekly groceries for this past weekend and toiletries/household cleaning items.
Some observations so far: I feel as though Mint has made me pretty passive in terms of budgeting. Sometimes I have charges that are counted twice for some reason, or just categorized differently than what the charge was intended for. I do like the graphs, and seeing the budget/line items in graph form is helpful. I’m wondering if I should look into different budgeting tools after Budgetober. When I budget for the month, I tend to favor pen and paper. So a written journal might be nice.
I will most likely recast my budget starting Week 3. I’m in the red for at least one category, and groceries will have to be a bit larger. My boyfriend and I bought an Instant Pot, which has been really fun to navigate and makes cooking so easy. 
We did go halfsies on some wings from BonChon on Friday, so ehh. Progress? Trying to minimize dining out, which I think I’m doing a decent job at so far.
Let’s go, Week 3! 
Chicken thighs in the instant pot are awesome. It only takes 8 minutes when I cook them in it with some unsalted chicken broth.
Alright I’m definitely recasting my budget. I had some feelings about food and health, and basically decided to spend more on groceries in exchange for more convenience for easier compliance with personal eating goals.
We also got invited to another birthday party. October is a huge anomaly in terms of birthdays in our friend groups, and I should have made a specific October gift budget. I’d like to separate that out in my recasted budget, which I’ll post later this week once I do a bit more food & gift planning.
Week 1
Week 2 (through 10/14, cumulative):
I expected to do a big grocery shop today (including buying some more fish or shrimp) but I ended up only going out for milk and dog food. (I did a small shop earlier in the week as well.) I also still need to order some more protein powder, which will cost a lot.
I have not completed any home projects so have not spent any additional $ on the house. Although, I may need to get some specific grass killer to kill the Bermuda grass now growing into my lawn (which sucks) and waiting until November is not really tenable as everything will be dormant by then. (It might already be too late, but I want to try.) I also need some stump killer, as I need to kill a Tree of Heaven that is growing under the fence from my neighbor’s yard - they are invasive and destructive and neigh near impossible to kill, so will require chemicals.
I still feel weird about spending on myself since the the cost of the Majestic Derp’s extractions and ultimate prognosis is unclear. His procedure is on Thursday so I’ll know more after that. I probably won’t take any action on the glasses before then.
This coming week I expect to spend more on groceries (need to stock up on some basics, plus buy that protein (and eat it!)) but that was the plan. Hopefully I will convince to also spend on myself for health.
Week two check in
I’m at $1,105.22 as of today out of a $2,000 monthly budget so I’m in good shape especially since mortgage and health insurance have already been deducted. $891.78 left to go with just Property Tax, Cellphone, Utilites, and general keeping myself alive costs.
Week two check-in
Goal: $75 on eating out total, only $25 of that in fast food
So far: $43.61 total, $18.89 in fast food
I’m outpacing myself here. I think I’m going to use my RECAST!!! wand and bump this budget up to $100 total, still with only $25 for fast food because I shouldn’t be spending money on that stuff, anyway, but just a little more buffer given some upcoming social events.
So week 2
Snacks at work - total for the month $23
Eating out - $38.40
Finally decided – I gotta do a budget recast.
