Comments on: Day 6) First Spending Report and Observations

By: DIYJoe

DIYJoe — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:51:14 +0000

@mb
My extra category is actually called “buffer”. lol. If I make more than I expect, it goes here. Refunds and reimbursements? They go here. I collect all the little savings into a pile and apply it to my credit card. (and occasionally splurge on some really tasty, but bad for me food.)

By: Diane

Diane — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:58:45 +0000

Congratulations on paying off the car! Huge event to me! Mine is paid off, so I have no car payment & it is wonderful. I don’t drive a luxury car (2006 Chrysler Town & Country – not the fancy one) but I’m totally satisfied with it!

I had several No Spend Days this week, but I know why so it’s not surprising. We work at home, so I don’t need to go out every day. When gas prices were high I made a real effort to combine trips to the post office, gas, grocery, etc. & I have continued that, so some days are No Spend & some are High Spend when I finally do errands.

I paid the mortgage $525 & the water bill $108 (unbelievable but this is a regular water bill here!), $50 for groceries. The most unusual expense was $60 for prescriptions & OTC medication because my son had the flu.

I paid 1/2 of my son’s senior ring $200 (money already saved for that purpose, so it did not come out of the monthly budget).

I’ve written down every expense on a tablet by date, then moved it into a spreadsheet to track categories.

Amazing how I can almost forget cash payments – just remembered the $14 last night for tickets to the Varsity Soccer play off game to watch my son’s team.

By: Andrea

Andrea — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:46:16 +0000

I always keep track, but this week was a little unexpected in the “entertainment/dining” category. Between the Superbowl and a friend’s birthday, we’ve spent $100 already(of $260/month). Only $46 on groceries so far, but we haven’t really done a big trip yet either. That will be tomorrow. I got a somewhat unexpected cheque in the mail (as in, I knew i was getting it sometime, just didn’t know when) so that went immediately to my credit card (only $400 left!). Other than that it was just rent so far.

By: mb

mb — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:23:53 +0000

Someone else with a stated misc catagory
Surprisingly rare, nice to know of someone else with a “buffer” fund.

And I got hit with a $50 extra myself for school suplies… a calculator and a thumbdrive.

Have fun when the inlaws visit. Buying ahead like that never really occured to me, must put a note somewhere.

By: Mrs. Accountability

Mrs. Accountability — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:13:13 +0000

I am intrigued by this experiment… it would be interesting to see just how much money is spent every day. I personally don’t spend much money at all, since I am not the primary grocery shopper. Thanks for sharing this insight into your finances, Mrs. Micah.