Okay, I’ve put off looking at the second half of the month for as long as I can, but I have to go ahead and do it. Avoidance will not make this go away. You should not do this either when looking at your own finances.
Let me start by saying, I already know it’s bad. Black Friday came around (you hear that excuse? It’s not like I didn’t know it was coming up) and there were just a few traditional things I got. I did not do as bad as I have in previous years (yay for that baby step!), but there were some a lot of things (mostly planner-related. Okay, mostly planner stickers) that I didn’t have to get then. I could have waited.
Another thing that helped feed my shopping splurge was having access to credit cards and lines of credit, meaning I did not have to pay the full amount of my purchased items immediately. This is TERRIBLE rationalization, and is how I’ve contributed to my current debt amount.
Knowing all of these things (and a few more), I submit my final numbers for the November 15th paycheck:
The first thing to note is there is an almost $100 difference between my budgeted amount and actual amount for this period. I will need to keep an eye on this, as I may be underbudgeting in a couple of areas, and if I continue to do so, will only lead to me not being able to meet the numbers.
Reflections on these numbers:
- My amount paid for fixed expenses was only lower because I didn’t pay Verizon in full, and I moved an ENTIRE bill to the next check (water). While on paper this is because it is due on the last day of the month, in actuality it is because I was “robbing Peter to pay Paul” so I could spend money I didn’t really have. 🙁
- Food and grocery was not too bad this check, together at a little less than $100. Yay!! But as I’d only budgeted $60….Stevie Wonder can see how this goes.
- I expected my gas budget to be higher than normal, as I had to drive out of town, but gifts! I can’t even rationalize. It’s self-explanatory, and most of these were put onto credit cards.
- Medical was lower than expected because I did not make three appointments, not because I overbudgeted. That money instead went into….
- Hobby. It’s a problem, but I hope to turn it around and allocate to another category fairly soon. Stay tuned for more details.
I never promised this journey would be easy or pretty. I clearly have a lot of work to do myself, and this highlights the purpose of this blog: getting it together is hard, and not necessarily something that you can snap your fingers and get a handle on.
Also, in order for things to be sustainable you have to make changes you can keep up. While some may beg to differ, I am not at the point where I feel I need to hole up in the house and only eat beans and grass leaves so I can pay off my debt.
I’ll have to work until I am dead or dying anyway. Social security whaaaat?