STEF Total = 363.69
March Budget Meeting
Reconciling Quicken with bank statements: Done.
Reconciling last month’s budget: Okay, back to acknowledging where I did good and bad.
- Problem categories:
- Bank charges is the worst because I wasn’t keeping a good enough eye on the balances.
- Eating Out had way too much money spent in it mainly because I do not want to face my kitchen.
- Did-good-with categories:I don’t see anything that qualifies as “good” spending for the month of March.
- Verdict:Stop giving the bank so much money and restrict how much eating out I’m doing.
- Leftover amount = -35.06
Creating next month’s budget: Done. It’s going to be a tight month as I try to scale to live under my two paychecks.
How much cash can I have: 39.00 and that’s essential shopping and fun money. Planning meals is going to be fun this month.
Automatic payments: Everything has been set up and the bills have been divided into what falls under which paycheck.
Reviewing short-term savings goals: Still trying to reach the STEF goal mark. I ended up having to use a good chunk of what I had put back to plug the hole I had at the beginning of the month, but I’m hoping I can put it back with each paycheck.
Update NetworthIQ statements:
Update NCN Savings Chart:
Overview and plans:
Update the Bills List with all current accounts and passwords. Found out that Chase Student Loans, Nationstar, Mozy.com, and Netflix are not on it.Tweak the NetworthIQ Jan. and Feb. statements once I have verified the balances for- Sallie Mae
- Chase Student Loans
- Republic Finance Citifinancial
- Nationstar Mortgage
Change Federal tax withholding amount in Quicken.- Handover the budgeted contributions for Linda’s retirement party
- Move cap and gown savings to where I can’t spend it.
- For the love of all that is holy, FINISH DOING TAXES
- Try out cooking for the month
Read Free!
The BookWorm
3 comments:
Except for special occasions, I have a rule that a meal shouldn't cost more than about $5. So, I can get Chinese take out because I eat a $10 platter two or three times (i.e. that many meals out of it). There's also a take out buffet near me that usually is about $4 (sells by weight). Yes I eat a lot of Chinese. I also eat a lot of "chicken" burgers made of mushroom protein, which average to $1.25 per patty, but you might be on some diet that excludes the breading. There's probably other ways I keep my food cost down that I can't think of right now.
My meals are cheaper when I cook. However going out for steak and fish adds up. I don't go out as much for Chinese because I can cook it at home.
Most of what I'm complaining about last month was due to stopping for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at fast food. Not only did it badly add up, I can't do it any longer for health.
I didn't even think about breakfast. Going out for that would definitely bring my food bill up...Generally, I probably spend more that I could otherwise, but I get tired of my own cooking and other people cook vegetables a lot better than I do.
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