Happy hump day everyone! It’s time for me to be accountable and review my monthly budget. While the month isn’t quite over yet, I’ve already finished paying my bills and other expenses and I don’t really plan on spending any more money this week. Last week was pretty rough for me so *fingers crossed* I hope the rest of this week will be pretty mellow.
If you haven’t yet, feel free to check out my debt updates that I post at the end of each month. I just can’t wait to see my debt total drop down and then be eliminated all together 🙂
Before I get to the nitty gritty, I always like to check in on how my month went so I’d like to mention my ‘highs’ to highlight the good and my ‘ lows’ to acknowledge the not so good so hopefully I can make improvements for future months.
My Highs
My Lows
After everything that happened this month I’m proud of myself for remaining positive. Positivity and gratitude have always been an issue for me in the past but I’ve been slowly getting better. I realized that life isn’t perfect and stuff happens.
It’s important to remain optimistic and keep moving forward no matter what. Michelle from Making Sense of Cents wrote about how being positive can improve your life and your financial situation and that really hit home with me. By being positive, I was able to think clearer and didn’t stress myself out. I even decided to ramp up my goal of paying off $8000 in debt this year and try to pay off my car completely if possible. You see, positivity 🙂
Anywho, I think I’ve blabbed enough.
Onto the Budget
Living Expenses/Utilities/Other Bills
Rent: $315
Fuel: $129 –Hooray for lower gas prices!
Car Repairs: $328
Groceries: $150
Household Toiletries: $15
ComEd: $75
Sister’s Phone: $50
My Phone: $12
Car Insurance: $107
Daycare: $151
Gym: $14
Bed Payment: $25
Credit Cards: $100
American Express: $140
Entertainment/Misc.
Jordan’s Birthday: $160 –party and tablet
My Birthday: $20
Dining Out: $25
Clothes: $13 -birthday dress; last article of clothing I allowed myself to purchase for a while
Debt Payments/Savings
Car Note: $300
Student Loans: $200
Emergency Fund: $150
Car Savings: $120
Professional Development
$182
Total: $2,781 Eeek!
This was definitely a little more than I usually planned on spending monthly but it was a pretty expensive month for me. I’m really liking this accountability gig and I hope my readers will hold me to it each month.
Sometimes I’m shocked when I count everything up at the end of the month, but it’s a good thing. I need to see where my money is going and track my debt payoff progress. Paying off this debt is so important to me and I hope you all will hold me accountable for this major goal and join in on this journey with me. Overall I’m just thankful to come out on top this month.
How did your month go?
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Tonya@Budget and the Beach says
Yikes I’m glad that fire wasn’t worse! That’s scary! Yes life can throw us curveballs but I’m glad you are working on staying positive through it all. I’m trying to do the same thing. Isn’t always easy!
Chonce says
It’s not always easy but it’s worth it in the end. I’m very thankful the fire was small and contained. We learned a good lesson from that experience.
Sarah says
Yikes! I’m glad the fire was contained only to your stove. I had a friend who’s stove caught on fire, but because she had curtains near it, it caught the curtains her whole kitchen went up. Glad you’re looking at the positive. I’ve haven’t tallied our spending numbers for January yet, but I know they are going to be higher than I want them to be.
Chonce says
Yeah I’m thankful we were safe and nothing in our home got damaged. I actually forgot to mention how important renter’s insurance is in this post because a week after our mini-fire, my friend’s home caught on fire and it created $100,000 in damages for her landlord to take care of. She and her son are okay, but the community really had to rally together to do all they could to help and I know she didn’t have any renter’s insurance so I’m not sure how everything will play out.
Emily @ Simple Cheap Mom says
Wow, that was a pretty exciting month! It’s great that you still managed to make debt payments with all of those lows.
Happy Birthday! (my daughter and I are one day apart. Close birthdays!)
Chonce says
Thanks Emily! I’m super happy I was able to make debt payments amidst all the chaos haha. And that’s pretty cool you and your daughter’s birthdays are so close it becomes a hassle for me though around this time of year. I usually don’t do a ton for myself because I’m so hung up on making sure he has a great time and I’ve pretty much give up on allowing people to order a cake for me since our days are so close. So I just deal with which ever character cake my son is into each year and that seems to work out fine 🙂
Christine says
So scary! Glad you got the fire under control in the nick of time.
I haven’t read How to Blog for Profit Without Selling Your Soul before. Sounds interesting! I’ve read Blogging for Creatives but could definitely use a refresher.
Chonce says
Yeah we were pretty lucky. I just started reading it and it’s really good. Some times a refresher can really go a long way 🙂
kay ~ lifestylevoices.com says
I’ve always found that whenever we’ve set out to make a financial plan, this kind of stuff happens. Keeping the gratitude going is definitely the key to making it to the other side. You’re doing awesome, Chonce! We can all learn from your example. 🙂
Chonce says
Thanks Kay!
Jason @ TheButlerJournal.com says
Hopefully next month will be less exciting. That way you can save more and spend less.
Chonce says
Exactly! That’s always the plan I just have to stay focused. Thanks for stopping by!
C@thesingledollar says
What a nutty month! I’m really glad the fire wasn’t worse (and also that you figured out what was wrong with your car — hopefully that’s all the repairs for a while.) Good for you for still making debt payments. I had a very good month; nothing went really wrong so I was able to do exactly what I planned. That doesn’t happen a whole lot! I’m grateful.
Chonce says
Yeah there were definitely some rough patches but I’m pleased overall with the outcome of this busy month. I think there will always be something needed as far as my car goes but the best thing I can do is prepare for it. Like I know I’m going to need new tires and brakes in the coming months so I’m beginning to save up for that. Glad to hear your month went so smooth. I’m hoping for that in February.
Jessica says
Even with the little surprises you did a great job this month! I agree that having the right attitude can do wonders and this is something I am working on myself. Best of luck with February!
Chonce says
Thanks Jessica!
Dear Debt says
Congrats on your debt repayment! That’s awesome. So glad things weren’t worse with the fire. Yikes! Also, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book about blogging. It’s on my list of things to read!
Chonce says
Yeah I’m so grateful things weren’t worse and nothing got seriously damaged. I’m a few chapters in and the book is really good so far and I’ve already received plenty of helpful ideas to help improve my blog. It’s a lot of information so I’m trying to go slow and take notes after each chapter. But I like how Ruth uses tons of examples when she introduces each concept.