Welcome to tracking of income and expenses for the month. Please note thatI get paid on the last day of the month so my cash flow net effect will usually be negative until the last day of the month.
This does not mean that I am adding to my debt, it just means that the money coming in is less than the money going out because bills are due starting on the first but I don’t get paid until the last day.
So again to clarify (since I get so many questions), this shows the cash FLOW for the month. On Day 2 of every month I will have a negative FLOW because I have paid rent etc so money has LEFT my checking account. I have not had any money come in on Day 2 of the current month since I got paid on day 27 or 30 or 31 of the previous month so that income is counted for LAST month.
Income for the month to date: $ Woo hoo payday!
Expenses for the month to date: $ Ugly
Net effect: $121.87 In the Black!
Since the last posting I got a deposit from Google Adsense for ads that run on this blog.
I also got a $25 gift card to Walmart from my Blue Cross Blue Shield lifestyle tracking system. (If you have BCBS in Texas remember to sign up for the online program. You get points for tracking your weight and exercising and doing other things and you can cash these in for gift cards.)
I must admit that I went over budget in some areas, namely food. I spent $236.15 on food in various forms, which was $51.15 OVER my budget of $185 for the month. Some of this included buying meals for students according to bets I made with them but the rest of it I really have no idea. I cannot even say that it was because I stocked up because I will still have to buy some gorceries in a few days. I only have 5 cans of milk left and I am out of bread and fruit for snacks for work.
The good thing is that I only spent $15.20 out of a $75 budget for gas and I still have a half tank left. I will be going out of town this weekend so I will need to fill up but this means the new tank of gas will be going to next month’s budget.
Graduation is coming up in a few days I need to get some money out of the fun budget to spend that weekend. This will include meals and quite possibly hotel for the weekend.
I got a CD from ING that matured this week and I transferred the money to the Emergency Fund so it is now at $500 exactly. The St. Lucia fund is now at $250 and I need to add some more in to cover the rest of the Visa fees and also to get spending money.
I will see you guys and gals later as I continue my journey to save money and become debt free!!!!
Congrats on staying in the black!
SavingDiva’s last blog post..Home Improvement Projects
Better than last month. Congrats
Good work! I used to hate budgets. But I also hated spending money I didn’t have. I dumped my credit cards except for one for EMERGENCIES. Cash or debit card only now.
I also looked carefully at “regular” expenses and decided to dump my AT&T phone for a prepaid phone. Got a Tracfone for 30 bucks but it was kinda-sorta free since it came with 30 bucks worth of air time.
Now I budget my phone use by buying the amount of time I want, up front. I also got a double minutes card which makes it an even better value.
There are some expenses that can be “managed” and those are the ones to budget.
I’m proud of you. Staying in the black is a difficult thing to do especially when you are on a tight budget. Food seems to be where I go overboard as well.
I guess my food budget explains why I am putting on weight. 🙂
Check out my video on how to save on online shopping, it’s easy and free!