We did well in April despite a car repair. Since I am saving for when my big medical bill arrives, I will try to do even better next month, particularly on the food budget. This is for a family of three people, one dog, one cat, two birds.
House (mortgage, utilities, etc) = $1558
Food = $664 (I budget $800)
Auto = $739 (yes, way high! And I need tires this month!)
Pets = $60
Medical = $74
Personal = $285 (but this includes D's new shirts, $90)
F = $883 (includes private school tuition)
Gifts = $119 (over budget)
Family Entertainment = $33
Household (includes all furniture, supplies, remodeling) = $54
Travel = ($487) this is a deposit, not an expense (came from credit card statement credits)
Total spending = $3981
Total savings = $1260
Total incoming = $6983 (some of this will go to fill "once a year" categories)
My analysis:
- continue working on the food category (this can be sort of hard since I have dietary restrictions, but I've been consistently lower than the budget amount; new goal: stay below $700)
- save some money for the tires I need
- we now have plenty of pet food, but it's time for Colin's annual cat vet visit, so this should be at budget in May
- personal category should be low in May
- gifts may be high since F's birthday is coming up - I'll make a list and determine what can be be from grandparents (they always send checks and say "buy something")
- no travel planned, and in fact just found out that over Memorial Weekend F will be in a soccer tournament, so that'll be a frugal weekend
April Recap
May 1st, 2014 at 09:07 pm