Our Family Spending Plan: September 2015
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Last month I ran our budget through EveryDollar to see if I could improve our spending and save some more.
I'll get into it more in my review post, but we did save some money which is always a plus.
The not so good news is that an unscheduled expense came up and we ended up using it.
While I'm not thrilled about the money that went out, I'm happy we had the cash to cover it.
New Month, New Spending Plan
New month means it's time to plan our budget for the month.
Encouraged with how things went in August, I'm posting up our spending plan in hopes of keeping our expenses in check.
Accountability can be a powerful motivator and with travel and a business conference scheduled, I'd love to have some extra motivation to watch our money.
Family Spending Plan for September
- Mortgage & More: $1,060
- Utilities & Internet: $230
- Cell Phones: $115
- Life Insurance: $120
- Car (Insurance & Gasoline): $200
- Household Goods: $200
- Food: $400
Examining Our September Budget
Before we break down all of categories, you may notice that there is no giving category here.
We do set aside a portion of money towards giving. While I think it's important, I'd rather keep those numbers private for this review.
Mortgage & More
Besides our mortgage payments, we also have to take care of HOA fees, property tax, and insurance.
Utilities & Internet
Our water and sewer is included in our home association fees and we have electric heating and gas for our stove. Our electric bill has been much higher than normal – part of it is the higher A/C use with this humid heat.
The showings haven't helped either as we have to leave the lights on and keep the house cooler than we're used to.
Our internet is through Time Warner Cable. I called a few months back and shaved off some of bill.
Cell Phones
My two phones (work and personal) are on Republic Wireless. My husband uses T-Mobile for his service.
Life Insurance
We have our semi-annual premium due this month for my term life policy. We want to leave something for our kids should something happen to one or both of us.
Car Insurance
We have full coverage on our two cars. We use Amerprise and get a discount by being Costco members.
Since we're driving to Charlotte for FINCON later this month, we've set aside extra for gasoline.
Household Goods
This area covers regular expenses like diapers, pet stuff, and cleaning supplies. We're also allocating some money towards sprucing up the townhouse.
Since the flooring has already been paid for this month will be mostly paint. We have some touch-up work to do.
Food
My favorite part of the budget 😉
We're back to meal planning to keep expenses down AND to make sure we're not wasting any of the weekly produce deliveries.
Thoughts on Our Budget
Now you see our plans – do you see anything we could improve on?
What does your budget look like?
