My November expense tracking was too messy of a spreadsheet, so I didn't take the time to go back through it and tally up by category, though I know I was about $200 over on groceries, $50 on misc household stuff/repairs, and $85 over on take out meals. The meal did include a $36 dinner out to a Mexican restaurant for the 4 of us. I didn't budget for it and we do try to go out like that about once every 2 months.
This month I have revised the spreadsheet to keep a running total of each category. This is a big improvement and let's me quickly know if I'm going over or getting near my budget. I did up my grocery budget some for this month, knowing I have obviously been underestimating. But, I think I'm still going to go over! I budgeted $375 for this pay period (1-15th) and have already spent $209 and still have groceries to buy for the next week. I budgeted $35 for take out and have already spent $62. I do have a menu plan through next Friday, which does not include take out, so hopefully I can keep dh from wanting take out before payday next Thursday or me from being too tired to cook. I would have actually been under on my gas (auto) estimate by $40, but I had to take a business trip yesterday that was almost 300 miles round trip. I'm out the money now, but will be reimbursed for it at the end of the month. I'm on track for my xmas spending too, so that makes me happy.
Sometimes you just have to shuffle some $$ around and I find menu planning can save lots of $$! Good luck with the rest of the month!
ReplyDeleteI do plan out a dinner menu each week, but cooking is one of my least favorite things to do, so I am easily persuaded to get take out. But, I know we have to change, for our finances and our diets (well, not my diet - I rarely eat fast food) but definitely for dh and his cholesterol.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I’ve used a spreadsheet since before the days of apps, and I’m happy to stick with it for the meantime.
ReplyDeleteexpense management software