Skip to main content

December Budget and

And it is here.

The long over due December Budget of Mz Dimples Divine:

DECEMBER BUDGET


December is a month full of financial goodies. At least for me anywayz.

GROCERIES: This month I set the budget to $75 again. My daughter will only be home 3 out of the 4 weeks this month. Her school closes down for winter break starting Dec 21. We are going down the weekend before Christmas and I am leaving her down there for the following two weeks. And I have also been preparing food a week at a time on Sunday which allows to to streatch my groceries out big time.

MISC: I lowered this category to $135 from the $150 in November. I am planning on using that budget for littles things I plan on getting throughout the month (like the foot spa I bought today at Biglots for $12).

GAS: I upped the budget in this category to incorporate the travel to my parents and back. Due to the upcoming holiday and break, majority of our clients will be unavailable so it is pointless to drive all the way to NASA. So I set myself up to work from home for the majority of this month adn should only need to fill up once a week. And as far as driving to South Florida; I use almost half a tank of gas to get there and during my stay I use one of the 4 cars at my parents place while mine stays in the garage. The other half tank then will take me back to Orlando.

UTILITIES: Nothing major in this department. As the weather cools down, my electricity bill comes down. Though my cell phone bill has a tendency to sky rocket during the holidays and I only have about 135 overage minutes left.

INSURANCE: My new life insurance policy kicked in this month and I am paying $16 more. I am considering looking into increasing the deductible on my car insurance like Single Ma did. Only thing is that my E-fund is not as chunky as hers. A $1000 hit will be pretty major to me. I plan on looking into how much I would save if I did the increase and go from there. If I don't do it now I definitely will make a note to look into it once my E-fund hits $5K.

DAUGHTER'S SCHOOL: My daughter's private school will be closed for the last week of December and the first week of January which means that I don't have to pay them.

FCU LOAN: My personal loan with FCU. I explained today about signing up for the Skip-A-Payment program and I got approved.

CREDIT CARDS: I am going to be paying double the minimum on all my cards this month except for one.

CREDIT CARD DEBT (AKA DEBT SNOWBALL): I am using the money that freed up from my personal loan payment towards my credit card debt.

KMAS GIFTS: I have budgeted $500 total for my Xmas list. $250 from November and another froom December.


That is my budget for December. And here is my to-do list:

  • Create a career plan for 2008.

  • Make a list of all things I will need in order to do my taxes.

  • Look into lowering my monthly expenses.

  • Create a more detailed budget for 2008.
    • Add new categories
      • Car Maintenance
      • Gym
      • Dimples (investing in myself)

  • Work on better time management.

  • Winter cleaning the apartment (as new things move in, old and unused things move out).

  • Finish all 4 books I am currently reading (look at the right side bar under amazon to get a listing).

  • Change over to a paperless billing system with all bills.

  • Shred all old bills and unneeded papers with sensitive info (hence the need for a shredder).

  • Feng Shui Dimples style (I rearrange the furniture in my apartment ever 4 months or so. I don't know how to explain it but it gives the apartment more energy which makes me more energized)

  • Create 2008 goals.

  • Make plans for upcoming birthday.

I got a lot of things I want to get done this month. Luckily for me we have a week of vacation between the 21st until January 2. So they will definitely get done.

I watched 40-year Old Virgin this past weekend. OMG that was some funny ish. Just thought I would share.

:-D

Comments

fandd said…
The $75 per month budgeted for groceries is a real inspiration for me. I tried to cut my groceries down to $120 a month for one person and was not happy.
Dimples said…
@ fandd

LOL

Read my post on how I keep my grocery budget under $120 and you will see how I do it. It's all about where you shop and how to make your food last.

Popular posts from this blog

Home Purchase Plan - How I faired

Back in January I developed my Home Purchase Plan (HPP for short). I listed exactly what I was looking for in my new home including my needs and wants. I printed up my HPP and carried it will me everywhere. I especially took it with me when I went house hunting with my agent. I had a momentary relapse (I'll explain more on that on another post) but got back on track and stuck to my guns. I ended up with a beautiful house that fits all my needs and wants. HOME PURCHASE PLAN The home I want: Price: $0 -> $190,000 $180,000 Ideal Monthly Mortgage (including taxes, PMI, HOA, & hazard) : $1200 (max $1300) $1310 Location: Surrounding Orlando Area Check Bedrooms: 3+ 4 Bathrooms: 2+ 2 Square footage: 1700 s.f. + 1810 sf Year Built: 2000+ 1998 HOA: $100/month max $150/yr NEEDS: * A-rated school district Check * Quick access to major highways Check * Good daycare Check * Nice

My $100 grocery budget and tips for saving on your grocery bill

I did a post back in October on how I kept my grocery budget under $120. In that post, I had pictures of the grocery shopping I had done earlier in the day for a total of $29.76. I also listed a number of ways I keep my grocery budget so low. Today I did some grocery shopping for meat and some other misc items. Here is what I bought: - 2 packages of chicken breasts - 2 packages of drumsticks - 2 whole hens - 2 packages of chicken wings - 1 bag of roma tomatoes - 1 bag of onions - 1 bag of organic baby carrots - 2 gallons of water (not shown) - 1 bottle of bbq sauce Total = $24.90 One big way to save on groceries each month is to package the food you buy into servings sizes. Your serving size depends on how many people are in your family. I separate out my sizes based on how much food my daughter and I consume in one meal. Take for instance drumsticks: My daughter will eat one drumstick while I will eat two. So I package those in threes. I know some folks are visual so here is wh