Tracking My Finances In May: Day 26
Welcome to How I Save Money and tracking of income and expenses for the month.
Income for the month to date: $806.20
Expenses for the month to date: $2601.78
Net effect: -$1795.58
Now that we are in the final week of the month and I get paid on Saturday I can take a look at the budget once again. I am pleased to report that I am still within the budget for the month so overall I am happy with the performance of my money this month.
I spent a total of $55.58 for gas, out of a budget of $65 for the month. With only one more week of work, which uses less than a quarter tank of gas I will be under the budget for the month. I was thinking of increasing the gas budget with the rising price of gas but since school will be closed and I only have a few workshops to attend for professional development over the summer I think I will be okay for at least June with a budget of $65 monthly for gas.
I also spent $121.93 so far on food out of a budget of $145 for food for the month. I am trying to see if I can cut $10 out of that food budget over the summer, in case I need to transfer that to the gas account.
I will see you guys and gals later as I continue my journey to save money and become debt free!!!!
Related Posts
- Tracking my Finances in February: Day 2
- Tracking My Finances In August: Day 31
- How I Save Money Montly Update: May 2008
- Tracking my Finances in November: Day 14
- Tracking My Finances In July: Day 4
Wow! I can’t believe how well you’re doing! My budget categories for food ($200) and gas ($125) are much higher than yours and I’m going to go over!
LuLuGal – Is your monthly food budget of $145.00 just for one person? Sorry if I missed some history here as I am new to your site. We budget $650 for a family of 4 right now for groceries and entertainment. Mostly, it is used for groceries and we don’t really spend much on entertainment. I am just trying to compare my numbers with what yours are. We also budget $200 in gas for two vehicles per month. We recently had to bump it up from $150 to $200 with the $50 coming out of our investment fund.
Yes my budget is for one person.
@ Passive:
If your gas budget is $100 per vehicle then you might still be doing well. I live 7 miles from work (going left) and one mile from the grocery store (going right) so I don’t need to do much driving.
Apart from work and the grocery store I make a trip out of town twice a month….so that is where the gas goes.
@ Saving Diva:
I don’t think you can cut the gas now but take a closer look at your pantry.
Are you using everything up by the time you buy new food?
Do you throw food away?
Very inspiring, only one more week!
$145 for food is tight, congrats! My best has been right at $200, but that was really pushing it… too close for comfort really. I need about $240 or so to make it comfortably for a month. That included groceries, household stuff (soap, tooth paste, prilosec otc (A LIFE SAVER!)) and fast food for when I go back to my hometown to visit friends.
@ Moneytummy:
Thanks. I think I can still cut some off that budget because I did end up wasting some food this month. I threw away eggs and some bagged salad and some applesauce. I let all those things go past the expiry date and it was old by the time I noticed.
@ Shawn:
I am sure I eat less than you, I have very simple tastes. Plus I don’t eat meat.
Well I eat salmon, scallops and shrimp..and those are expensive so I guess it evens out.
I hope you use coupons for the toothpaste etc. that you buy all the time as that helps to ‘cut’ the budget.