Bi-monthly budget update (10/1-10/14)

I got paid today, so as promised, here is a recap of how my bi-monthly budget is going so far...
On October 1st, I paid bills...
                                      
Bill                      Budget                   Actual              Overage
Rent                     $418                       $418
Student Loan #1   $50                         $50
Credit Card #2     $100                       $100
Student Loan #2   $130.11                  $130.11
Water                   $35                         $38.09              $3.09
Carpool                $100                       $101.76            $1.76
Natural Gas          $20                         $11.83
Credit Card #1     $150                       $207.68            $57.68
Phone                   $78                         $77.42
Groceries             $100                        $143.59            $143.59           
Discretionary        $80                          $178.92            $98.92
Savings                 $10                         $110                  $100
Vet Bill                 $0                            $71.93              $71.93

While overages on budgets aren't a good thing, the overages on my credit card and savings is awesome!  It's due to my BF paying his share of purchases that I put on my credit card before I started this journey. Also, I sold an item on Craigslist that netted me an extra $100.

 Unfortunately, the overage on my discretionary spending also cut into this money as it could've been extra I sent to the card instead.  Blast it.  I must be more diligent about this in the future.  That way I can be assured that I'm sending every penny extra to my credit cards.  However, a lot of the overage on discretionary spending was making improvements to our house, and making it more of a home.  So it wasn't completely wasted money.

Also, the vet bill was not planned, so that came out of any extra that could have gone to the credit card.  This amount was just my portion, so really, it was in the $145 range, but included all of our boy's shots, a checkup, some tests, flea and tick treatment for next month, and heartworm prevention.  Having the new expense of a dog requires me to revamp my budget a bit for next month to include dog food and his monthly prevention meds.  When we moved into our new place, it was infested with fleas from the previous tenants.  There weren't a ton of fleas so maybe "infestation" is the wrong word but still, any fleas is too many.  Our landlord was very helpful in paying for an exterminator multiple times, but it was a pain for us trying to get rid those disgusting creatures.  So that being said, I was adamant that any dog we got would not step foot in the house without a flea prevention treatment.  I was concerned that bringing a dog into our home would stir up any dormant fleas that weren't yet dead.  But anyway, we've had our boy for a few weeks now and so far, I haven't seen any fleas in the house and he doesn't scratch a lot.  (He is a dog though and scratches occasionally, so I have to remember not to freak out when he does!!)

As I said in a previous post, I've also decided (for the time being) that any money from my very small side job will go towards a Christmas fund so that I don't have to put any gifts on my card. 

So that's it...some good points and some bad points.  I'm trying not to be too hard on myself and know that I will make progress as I get better at budgeting and overspending.  This debt payoff journey is a marathon...not a sprint.  :)

Rocky start?

I'm starting to get confused about my budget...the problem is, for our shared expenses, I usually pay up front and then my sweet BF pays me back.  We get paid on opposite Fridays so it works out that he pays me back on weeks where I don't get paid.  I guess the problem I have is that by the time I get money for him for groceries and stuff, that money is already out of my account - do I add it back to my account in the same budget category for the next time I buy groceries or do I just add it to my debt payments? 

Blerg.  I'm so confused right now.  Perhaps I just need to sit down with my budget, my accounts, my spending diary and figure...this...out. 

I've also considered opening a joint account that we each add a set amount of money to and all bills and groceries get paid from that account.  That certainly would ease some of my stress when it comes to paying our bills and buying groceries, and keeping my separate bills completely separate!  I've talked to BF about this and he's happy to do whatever it takes to get this sorted out.  I think we need to discuss it further...however, any suggestions would be welcomed and appreciated!

Weekly Spending Update

After my first week of tracking my spending, I would say that this was a fairly average week of spending for me, although next week I'll have to do better because I'm pretty much out of discretionary funds.  I had some extra unexpected money come in but I think I'm going to add that to my (newly formed) Christmas fund.  After complaining about not having any luck on Craigslist selling some jewelry, I finally sold a necklace for $100!  Perhaps I put those vibes out in the universe - haha!   Now if only I could sell a gown I put on consignment - hint, hint, universe!
Anyway, here is the my weekly spending update, (this only includes my portion of groceries, since BF and I split that expense):

Saturday
Groceries $53.78
Target $12.07
Bills and Rent - I'll detail those in my bi-monthly budget update.
*I did quite a bit of spending for our new place, but I used gift cards so I didn't track those purchases.

Sunday
Dog grooming $19.59

Monday
Gas $14.00

Tuesday
Lunch + tip $5.49
Groceries $3.66

Wednesday
Vending $.60

Thursday
Groceries $5.19
Liquor store $5.94

Friday
Lunch $6.81

Hopefully, next week will be another successful week of spending!  Or at least tracking it... :)

Conscious spending

It's been less than a week of tracking my spending and I have to say I've already become very aware of what I'm spending.  I keep a little notebook with me to jot down as I spend, and everytime I have to write something down it really makes me think about that purchase.  I know we're still in the first few days of this challenge, but I believe this will become a habit.  And this habit will definitely help my discretionary spending, which in turn will help my debt reduction. 

The only unplanned expense (and really the only unplanned part of it would be if the bill is enormous) coming up is a vet appointment this Saturday - just a checkup & look-over of our new dog.  A coworker recommended a reasonably priced vet that she likes, so here's hoping our boy doesn't need anything major!
He really is the sweetest, most well-behaved dog - we looked for his previous owners but no one turned up.  I just can't believe that there is no one out there missing him.  He's a sweetheart!

Well, time to get back to work!  These days it's difficult to focus on my work when there's all this budgeting, tracking, tallying, debt-reduction and blog posting to have fun with!  Haha!

Selling items...

Many bloggers in the PF world recommend selling things on Craigslist or Ebay to help pay down debt...
Having just recently moved, I cleaned out a bunch of old stuff that I didn't want to take with us, and I listed a few things online to sell.  But here's the thing, I don't really have that much to sell. 

Maybe there are some other bloggers that can relate, but a lot of my credit card debt comes from eating out, travel, car repairs, and mostly just...experiences.  Getting my hair done, other beauty treatments, buying plane tickets, buying Christmas, birthday, anniversary presents, you get the point.  So, what do I have to sell then?  I have a bunch of CDs (do people still buy those?) - although, nothing is really current music, since I stopped buying CDs when iTunes came out.  I have a bunch of DVDs, but many I bought for only $5 a piece at Target or Wal-Mart...I'm sure that's where other people would buy them too, if they had the chance. 
I do have some jewelry that an ex gave me, but so far, I've had no luck selling those on Craigslist...

Anyway, does anyone out there have suggestions for items that I might have overlooked when it comes to selling things online?  I would love suggestions...and perhaps the most helpful advice would be to confirm that not everyone is cut out to sell their personal items on Ebay.  :)

October Goals

As this is my first month with this blog, and with my newfound sense of stick-to-it-ness regarding paying down debt, I have only two goals this month (they're pretty big ones though):

1.  Track spending...that is, any and all spending.
2.  Stick to my budget. 

I use my debit card almost exclusively and don't carry cash, so hopefully tracking spending won't be terribly difficult.  Sticking to my budget could be more difficult, but I think I can do it.  :)

Each week I'll update on spending and no-spend days.  At the end of each two week pay cycle, I will update my budget to get an idea of how well I'm sticking to it.  And finally, at the end of the month, I'll do a quick overview and update my debt numbers.  Hopefully, as I get more comfortable with all this blogging, budgeting and paying down debt, I can add other fun little goals to keep me going!!

I got paid today, but I'll start these goals tomorrow, October 1st (I like starting things on Mondays or at the beginning of a month.  Maybe that's just me).  Wish me luck! 

The Basics

So...budgeting.  I receive a paycheck every two weeks, about $1,280 after taxes, health insurance, and the state's retirement plan.  Two months out of the year, I receive three paychecks.  But basically, I budget my bills for every two weeks.  I have some side income but that is very sporadic and I don't like to depend on it in my budgeting - any extra will just have to go towards debt.  I do share living expenses with my BF - but here is an idea of what the budget is for my portion of bills in a month:

Paycheck #1
Rent  $418
Student Loan #1 $50
Credit card #2   $100
Student Loan #2   $130.11
Savings  $10
Groceries  $100
Water  $35 est.
Carpool  $100 est.
Natural Gas  $20 est.
Credit card #1  $150 est.
Misc. Living Expenses  $80
Phone $78  (I forgot to include this expense the first time around, however, it's always been in my budget!)

Paycheck #2
Credit card #3   $50
Insurance (Car, renters)  $60
Credit card #4  $320 est.
Electricity  $35 est.
Cable/Internet  $40 est.
Student Loan #3  $216.61
Student Loan #2  $130.11
Savings  $10
Gym  $21.77
Groceries  $100
Credit card #1  $215 est.
Misc. Living Expenses  $80

I know it's probably really confusing with all the student loans and credit cards but this has worked for me for quite a while.  But here are some explanations anyway...
Student Loans:
One of my student loans is large enough that I have to break it up between the paychecks.  It just changed to a higher amount because its calculated using the amount of my income, and since my income increased when I got my permanent job, so did my student loan payment.  However, if I make that payment amount for ten years (seems like forever), the government will forgive the remainder of my loan because I work in a public service field.
Misc. Living Expenses
This amount is very small, but sadly it will have to cover gas for my car, and any entertainment or eating out. 
But...if I take my carpool as much as possible and bring my lunch as much as possible, it should work.  Speaking of my carpool, it's a van that goes from my town to the next town over and I pay a monthly fee, depending on the gas prices, the amount of miles it ran that month and however many permanent riders we happen to have that month to split the cost.  It's very cost-effective...if you use it - otherwise, you're paying for the van AND paying gas for your car and tolls on the highway.  Then...transporation expenses are out of control.
Estimations
Some of my budgeted amounts are just estimations, and any extra I have leftover will go towards debt (or fun, depending on how burnt out I'm getting).
And finally, in the next couple of weeks, I'll have some extra money coming in from the BF for his half of purchases we made for our new dog (a stray we just couldn't leave all by himself), and that money will be applied towards debt since I made those purchases on my dang credit card before I decided to stop using my card.  (Oopsies!)
So there you have it, my budget.  I think I've made the explanation way more complicated that it needed to be..haha!. :)

Introductions are in order...

Here I am...I've been a long time creeper on other personal finance blogs, but never had the courage to create one for myself.  I've struggled with my debt, having good months, weeks, days and bad ones.  But it seems I don't make any progress.  I hear over and over again about how having a blog holds you accountable to yourself and others in the PF community, and gives you the incentive to stick to your budget, pay down debt and make actual, honest-to-God progress.  Yes!  Sign me up!

Here I am...I'm thirty-two, and in a whole heap of debt.  I went to law school a bit later in life, so I'm still new in my legal career, working in a public service field.  Translation:  I don't make a lot of money.  The good news is I went into the law school completely debt-free.  No credit cards, no car loan, no student loans from my undergrad degree. I had minimal savings at that point, but I figured, heck, that's what student loans are for!  And oh my, did I rack up student loans....and credit card debt.  I should've been smarter.  I should've lived within my measly student means.  But I didn't.

Next came graduation, and the bar exam, and no job right off the bat.  Then came a crappy job that paid very little.  When I finally got a decently paying (for my field), steady job that I loved, my credit card debt was crazy.   I would pay some down and then Bam!  Something would come up that would cause me to say, "What the heck, I'll just put it on my credit card." 

Well....that stops NOW.  My debt is so out of control, I think I've developed a bit of debt madness....kinda like "cabin fever," but more like the absolutely frustrating feeling you get when you're working really hard but not making ANY progress. 

Here I am...this blog will be dedicated to breaking free of those (debt) shackles and doing what I want with my money...not sending it all to those stupid credit cards.