stick to a budget

I have been doing HORRIBLY at sticking to a budget and using the envelope system this month :(

S – specific
– Is this goal specific? No, this goal is not specific. By stick to a budget I mean be able to get through the month spending no more than what is allotted for each month in each category, and having no expenses that are not in a preplanned category.

M – measurable
– Is this goal measurable? This is measurable on a month by month basis, if good records are kept.

A – attainable
– Is this goal attainable? Yes, this is attainable.

R – realistic
– Is this goal realistic? A less definite yes, this is realistic.

T – timeline
– What is the timeline for finishing this goal? Within six months I would like to have this goal obtained easily on a monthly basis. Every quarter I would like to review the budget to make sure it is still realistic. Once I have consistently obtained this goal on a monthly basis for six consecutive months, I will count this goal as completed.

I sent in my W-2 over a month ago, and expected to see the tax changes in the paycheck I got today. No luck. They haven’t changed the withholdings yet. This is disappointing because I can’t see how much my paycheck will be, and thus I can’t get an accurate picture of how much we will have coming in.

At least I did disburse the funds promptly now, so we haven’t dribbled away anything! I feel like we’re really starting to make progress on this goal.

I’ve been rather lax about money in the different categories in my budget. Because I’ve been afraid of unexpected expenses hitting my bank account, I’ve been waiting until our mid-month round of checks to take out all the budget categories. That leaves money in the bank to spend in places we haven’t budgeted. Now I have taken $100 from our $1k emergency fund and put it in the checking account, and that is our new zero. When we get a check I will promptly disburse the funds and zero out the account even if that means filling only parts of the budget envelopes. Having the account at zero will allow me to feel and more convincingly say “We don’t have money for that.”

The credit card was nowhere near our main problem with debt—we had some miscellaneous expenses on there totally 552.32. That is now paid off! We will have to put a slightly smaller payment on one of the student loans this month to do this, but it’s worth it to get something crossed off the list.

We had a slightly larger influx of cash these last two months, so we’ve been able to refund the emergency fund (had to take out gas money for DH’s new job) and we will be paying off the CC this month or next.

Total net income: 2400

Mortgage (+insurance/taxes): 625
SL1: 155
SL2: 315
SL3: 90
Gas+Electric: 100
Water: 25
Tuition: 100
Telephone+Internet: 85 (this is necessary for my work-at-home job)
Pets: 75
Groceries: 160
Gas+Oil: 50
Entertainment/Blow: 25 (DH works at theatre, so we get first run movies free)
Gifts: 30
Hygeine (personal & house): 20 (includes haircuts)
Clothing+Shoes: 35
Misc.+Special: 55 (includes money for BIL’s wedding)
Car Insurance: 35
Intervarsity: 25

Total expenses: 2005

Leftover: 395

The leftover amount will for now be applied to SL1.
Medical expenses are taken out pre-tax and not included here.