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.  :)