Its that time again. Here is how I did in October:
I did ok this month. I still exceeded my budget by $4.24 which is better than last month. I'm on a learning curve and I am sure I will start coming up under my budget.....shoot I might even do that this month. :-D
Income: I brought in an extra $135.14. A combination of income from my blog, Pinecone, ACOP, and Ebay.
Miscellaneous: I have officially awarded this category my Budget Buster. Damn! damn! damn! Over by $166.36. Key things that contributed to busting this budget was my trip to get an oil change that resulted in me paying $64.93 for an oil change, air filter change, and fuel injection cleaning. I am glad I had all that done because I saw a huge difference in my gas mileage. I also had two doctors visits this month, one for me and one for my daughter. The copay was $15 for each visits. And to think I increased my Misc budget by $18 like that was gonna help. LOL. Anyways......I need to get a handle on this. Am I not budgeting myself enough or am I spending to much?? I dunno. I know I need to separate some specific categories from the Misc category and create a budget for those (Car maintenance and Medical).
Gas: I supersoaked this ish right here!!! Under budget by $71.37!! Yuhhhhh! I give props to taking advice of that cute mechanic and getting the necessary maintenance done. It may have cost me an extra $35 but it saved me $71. And that's just counting this month. :-D
Rent & Utilities: I went over in this category by $62.20. Not much to say there.
Groceries: I went over my grocery budget by $5.37. I bought some items for a party my daughter's class was having and I bought some groceries for my parent's place when I went down to see my dad. If you subtract those, I actually was under budget by $25 bucks or so.
Car Note & Insurance: Hit the nail on the head in this category.
Daughter's School: Under budget by $5.
Gym: Still haven't signed up for the gym yet. Should I even bother listing this on my budget? Yeah I should.......I need to get it together yall.
Debt: Went over my budget by $12.48. I winded up paying for my Target card twice this month. I had a payment due date of Oct 1 and when I checked earlier this week my next due date was Oct. 31. Does that sound at all right?? How can I have two due dates in the same month.
CC Debt Snowball: I paid off my Old Navy credit card. Came under budget my $.66.
Overall I went over my $4.24. That extra income saved my tail big time. I need to shape it up.
I did ok this month. I still exceeded my budget by $4.24 which is better than last month. I'm on a learning curve and I am sure I will start coming up under my budget.....shoot I might even do that this month. :-D
Income: I brought in an extra $135.14. A combination of income from my blog, Pinecone, ACOP, and Ebay.
Miscellaneous: I have officially awarded this category my Budget Buster. Damn! damn! damn! Over by $166.36. Key things that contributed to busting this budget was my trip to get an oil change that resulted in me paying $64.93 for an oil change, air filter change, and fuel injection cleaning. I am glad I had all that done because I saw a huge difference in my gas mileage. I also had two doctors visits this month, one for me and one for my daughter. The copay was $15 for each visits. And to think I increased my Misc budget by $18 like that was gonna help. LOL. Anyways......I need to get a handle on this. Am I not budgeting myself enough or am I spending to much?? I dunno. I know I need to separate some specific categories from the Misc category and create a budget for those (Car maintenance and Medical).
Gas: I supersoaked this ish right here!!! Under budget by $71.37!! Yuhhhhh! I give props to taking advice of that cute mechanic and getting the necessary maintenance done. It may have cost me an extra $35 but it saved me $71. And that's just counting this month. :-D
Rent & Utilities: I went over in this category by $62.20. Not much to say there.
Groceries: I went over my grocery budget by $5.37. I bought some items for a party my daughter's class was having and I bought some groceries for my parent's place when I went down to see my dad. If you subtract those, I actually was under budget by $25 bucks or so.
Car Note & Insurance: Hit the nail on the head in this category.
Daughter's School: Under budget by $5.
Gym: Still haven't signed up for the gym yet. Should I even bother listing this on my budget? Yeah I should.......I need to get it together yall.
Debt: Went over my budget by $12.48. I winded up paying for my Target card twice this month. I had a payment due date of Oct 1 and when I checked earlier this week my next due date was Oct. 31. Does that sound at all right?? How can I have two due dates in the same month.
CC Debt Snowball: I paid off my Old Navy credit card. Came under budget my $.66.
Overall I went over my $4.24. That extra income saved my tail big time. I need to shape it up.
PERSONAL FINANCE GOALS
UPDATE
My total credit card debt decreased by $277. Ugh! I am happy that it is decreasing but it is a lil depressing to see $700 go in and then only a $277 deduction. Grrr! Lawd just let me win the lotto one good time. I would chop da neck off this mess.
I entered an incorrect value for my credit limit-to-credit balance ratio. So I'll fix that later
Credit score went up 9 points. Not much of an increase but at least it is something.
My net worth increased by $1422.74. Nice. I am still in the negative tho. Swimming in the red sea. I can't wait till I see the blue waters. Its coming soon.....I can feel it.
I didn't post any. Dag nabbit! Well I will give you a list of things I accomplished and we will work with those.
October has been a very good month. I have been on my grind and keep finding out more and more ways to defeat my "I can't right nows". Like I can't invest right now or I can't possibly think of creating business right now or I can't buy a home right now. I know it sounds like a lot of talk but trust when I say things are working out so well for me right now.
Keep trucking yall.
UPDATE
My total credit card debt decreased by $277. Ugh! I am happy that it is decreasing but it is a lil depressing to see $700 go in and then only a $277 deduction. Grrr! Lawd just let me win the lotto one good time. I would chop da neck off this mess.
I entered an incorrect value for my credit limit-to-credit balance ratio. So I'll fix that later
Credit score went up 9 points. Not much of an increase but at least it is something.
NET WORTH UPDATE
My net worth increased by $1422.74. Nice. I am still in the negative tho. Swimming in the red sea. I can't wait till I see the blue waters. Its coming soon.....I can feel it.
OCTOBER GOALS
I didn't post any. Dag nabbit! Well I will give you a list of things I accomplished and we will work with those.
- Started my own online travel agency: Travels Dazzle.
- I started looking into investment properties in the form of leasebacks.
- I recently found about a down payment assistance program for single mothers. It will pay and down payment on the house and cove3r closing costs. I am looking more into it and if it turns out to be as good as it seems I believe that I may be purchasing my first home by February the latest.
- I have been looking into homes. Seems like the state of the housing market at this time has results in a significant decrease in the asking price of homes currently on the market. One town home I saw back in February has now been decreased by $40K. So I am seeing an abundant amount of beautiful 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom single family homes for under $160K. The town homes and condos are getting as low as $130K.
- I am planning a birthday trip for me and some of my friends for the weekend before New Years. I am planning on using the $500 cash bonus my employer gives us at the annual Holiday Party. My one friend works for the Hilton so she gets great deals. I am a licensed Travel Agent so I also get great rates on airline tickets and other stuff. Together I know we will be able to plan a wonderful yet inexpensive trip.
- I begin my business plan for my first business. I hope to get things going on it within the next few months. I'll go more into detail with that later.
October has been a very good month. I have been on my grind and keep finding out more and more ways to defeat my "I can't right nows". Like I can't invest right now or I can't possibly think of creating business right now or I can't buy a home right now. I know it sounds like a lot of talk but trust when I say things are working out so well for me right now.
Keep trucking yall.
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