i am really proud of myself. i know we are only two weeks into the new year, but that is halfway through the month, and 4% of the way through the year. and i am totally sticking to the budget! here are some interesting parts of the budget (ie- not rent/gas/insurance/etc):
-$47.50 per week for eating out (2 dinners and 1 lunch)
-$100 per week for groceries
-$50 per month to the emergency fund
-$40 per week for entertainment (drinking/movies/etc.)
there is more but i figure it's boring to list it all out. anyway, if i stick to this budget, i will get my credit card debt all paid off by june 2012. i am very lucky because my awesome excel genius friend bryan helped me make up my budget and made me this amazing monthly spreadsheet that calculates how much i have spent, how much i have left to spend, and even has a page showing how i am doing for the year. it's keeping me super motivated and it's making it very easy to stick to the budget. all i have to do is go in every day and enter what i have spent.
i can't believe that i am still so motivated about this. i know, i know, it has only been 14 days, but that is about 13.5 more days than i have ever stuck to a budget before in my life. i am really keeping my finances in mind at all times. i am learning to compare prices in the grocery store and buy cheaper when i can (certain things i can't compromise on though... and if i hate the foods i buy at the store, it will be much harder for me to resist the temptation to go out to eat). but i think it's ok to spend a little more on some things if i go cheap on others.
i'm also getting creative in order to maintain my social life. for example, one night some friends invited me over to hang out with them and order food in. i wanted to see them but had not planned on spending money on dinner that night. so i went over to visit them but brought a salad to eat while they ordered thai food. i also have been sticking to ordering beer rather than mixed drinks or wine at the bar. it's so much cheaper and i like beer anyway so it doesn't even feel like a sacrifice.
yay for a good start to the new year!
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Hi Liz, this blog is great. I'm curious, do you actually spend a full $100 on groceries per week and do you shop at Kroger? Ciara.
ReplyDeletehey ciara! no, i do not actually spend that much. so far this month i have spent only $123. when i made the budget, i was approximating. i had never paid attention to how much money i spent on groceries so i had no idea.
ReplyDeletemy friend bryan who was helping me make the budget thought we should approximate on the high end and then cut it down over the coming months if it turned out i did not spend that much.
however, we only approximated $50 for toiletries/household products, which i have already gone over this month. so in the end, if you count all the target-type stuff i buy, i probably will spend $100/mo in all that.
i don't shop at kroger. i went once and i don't like it. i shop at bigg's in hyde park normally, and also i get things at trader joe's about once a month. i also occasionally stop at whole foods, fresh market, findlay market, CAM, etc. for random things.