It's that time of the month once again. Time to get to the nitty gritty.
September Budget
I did pretty good on my first official budgeted month.
Income: I brought in an extra $272. I received a payment from Cash Duck for $80, my $150 Toshiba rebate for my laptop, and $40 from Pinecone, ACOP, and Ebay.
Rent & Utilities: I went over in this category by $57.73. September was a hot month so electric and water went up some.
Groceries: I went over my grocery budget by $20.77. I decided to go on the Lemon Cleanse to jump start my body and get it ready for the extensive exercise and diet I will be on for the next few months or so. So I had to pick up a few extra items.
E-fund: I reached my $3K goal this month. Yay for me!!!
Car Note & Insurance: Went over $.76. I rounded down when I should have rounded up when I initially did the budget.
Daughter's School: Under budget by $18.21. I pay my daughter's tuition via paypal. I got padi for a couple of surveys and made a sale on Ebay so that money went towards a week's tuition payment
Gym: I didn't use of the $30 I had set aside for this. My lazy azz was too tired to go to the gym. *sigh* Gotta get on da ball with that area tho. I can't use the term baby fat any more.......I have a 5 year old!!
Debt: came under budget by $13.71. I paid of two credit cards so I their minimum payments that I had incorporated into my budget didn't really apply.
CC Debt Snowball: The extra income I brought in allowed me to put $120.08 more towards my snowball and I paid off 2 credit cards.
Overall I went over my $14.23. Not bad for a rookie. Not bad at all!
Income: I brought in an extra $272. I received a payment from Cash Duck for $80, my $150 Toshiba rebate for my laptop, and $40 from Pinecone, ACOP, and Ebay.
Rent & Utilities: I went over in this category by $57.73. September was a hot month so electric and water went up some.
Groceries: I went over my grocery budget by $20.77. I decided to go on the Lemon Cleanse to jump start my body and get it ready for the extensive exercise and diet I will be on for the next few months or so. So I had to pick up a few extra items.
E-fund: I reached my $3K goal this month. Yay for me!!!
Car Note & Insurance: Went over $.76. I rounded down when I should have rounded up when I initially did the budget.
Daughter's School: Under budget by $18.21. I pay my daughter's tuition via paypal. I got padi for a couple of surveys and made a sale on Ebay so that money went towards a week's tuition payment
Gym: I didn't use of the $30 I had set aside for this. My lazy azz was too tired to go to the gym. *sigh* Gotta get on da ball with that area tho. I can't use the term baby fat any more.......I have a 5 year old!!
Debt: came under budget by $13.71. I paid of two credit cards so I their minimum payments that I had incorporated into my budget didn't really apply.
CC Debt Snowball: The extra income I brought in allowed me to put $120.08 more towards my snowball and I paid off 2 credit cards.
Overall I went over my $14.23. Not bad for a rookie. Not bad at all!
PERSONAL FINANCE GOALS
UPDATE
I moved my credit score goal of 700 from January to July 2008. I know when I start closing these credit cards and paying off this debt, my score will be fluctuating to much to make that steady climb to 700. I will reach the ideal credit balance-to-credit limit ratio of 35% by February 2008. That alone should boost my score up by a considerable amount. I am going with July just in case closing the cards counteracts with that.UPDATE
NET WORTH UPDATE
I am happy to announce that my net worth increased by $2140. I am also happy to announce that I have passed the $10K mark for my 401K. Happy times, happy times. My current net worth goal is $1. A sistah is in the negative and I needs to get out now!! I hate red. No more damn red! I yearn to see some blue in my life. LOL. So I hope to reach that by January of 2009.
Overall September was a good month. I am starting to finally see progress. I can't wait till I see blue ever way.
Coming up next: October budget, goals, and other stuff.........
I am happy to announce that my net worth increased by $2140. I am also happy to announce that I have passed the $10K mark for my 401K. Happy times, happy times. My current net worth goal is $1. A sistah is in the negative and I needs to get out now!! I hate red. No more damn red! I yearn to see some blue in my life. LOL. So I hope to reach that by January of 2009.
SEPTEMBER GOALS
- Find more avenues for bringing in extra money - I did a lil eBay but thats it. Need to work on this in October.
- Create blog geared towards single moms in the Orlando area - Done. I just need to start doing regular post.
- Use coupons when purchasing groceries - Uhhhh I ain't even try on this one. *sigh*
- Always shop with a list - I have been sticking to this and it works.
- Detailed tracking of spending - This post is evidence enough. Score!!!
- Start and stick to exercise routine - *cough* Did you see the comment on the budget section? Yeah.
- Create and stick to schedule for myself and daughter (school/work week) - Nope.
- Read my personal finance books - I got in 4 pages........4!
- Prepare food in advance on Sundays to help out with time during the school/work week - I have been doing this and it is why I keep my grocery bill under $125 a month. Seriously.
Overall September was a good month. I am starting to finally see progress. I can't wait till I see blue ever way.
Coming up next: October budget, goals, and other stuff.........
Comments
This is just me being nosy, so ignore it if you wish. I noticed your cell phone bill looked high. You should see if your company offers any percentage off for cell phone service. I have sprint (and still have another year of my contract), and I found out that my company gives a discount for Sprint contracts...so I get 18% off every month. I just had to send an e-mail to Sprint. It was really easy...