Monday, April 28, 2014

May 2014 Budget Plans

May Budget 2014Here is my planned budget for May:

Category
Monthly Total
Giving
$10.00
Saving
$20.00
Mortgage
$852.28
House Repairs
$15.00
City Bill
$110.00
Gas
$51.12
Cable
$77.88
Internet
$51.87
Phone
$102.20
Food
$110.00
Transportation – Gas
$50.00
Car Repairs
$15.00
Car Insurance
$93.44
Clothes and Hair
$40.00
Pets
$40.00
Household
$20.00
Personal
$20.00
Crossfit
$80.00
Cleaning
$72.00
Debt
$596.91
TOTAL
$2,427.70
TOTAL INCOME
$2,428.46
DIFFERENCE
$0.76



You'll see that the debt category went down again this month. Since I paid off my first debt in March, I moved some the money from that payment up into other categories, mainly to off-set the increase in my monthly mortgage payment. I also had to offset an increase in my tax with holdings. While increasing my tax with holdings means less money coming in for me each month, it will prevent me having to pay a large lump sum of money next year during tax time. Most of my credit card minimum payments have gone down as well.

While last month was pretty tight, May should be considerably better. I am giving myself a little more money to spend in several of my categories. I know that I'm going to have to give myself some leeway now and then to keep on track with my goals and not go crazy from being a hermit and saving money. Although, I am also going to be trying to payoff my credit card charges from my mistake in April. Stay tuned to see if that works out.

As always, holler if you have any questions about my budget :)

Note: If you are interested in guest-posting at Shoeaholicnomore, email me at shoeaholicnomore[at]gmail[dot]com!

6 Comments:

At April 28, 2014 at 2:22 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Looks good overall! It's great that you're minimum payments are going down so more of you payment is going towards the principal. And yes, there needs to be a balance where you are aggressively paying down debt, while still allowing yourself to enjoy life too. Otherwise it can be hard to sustain that level and too often I see people go crazy and make a big purchase, then feel bad and give-up. Allowing yourself a little fun money and looking for cheap low cost/no-cost activities is key to keeping yourself sane and focused.

 
At April 28, 2014 at 3:08 PM , Blogger shoeaholicnomore said...

Thanks Shannon! I am really needing some balance. I know I haven't been working at getting out of debt nearly as long as some people, but I'm pretty sure my mistake last week, where I charged about $130 to my credit card, happened because April was so tight and I was really feeling like I needed a break. I'm still a "shopaholic" inside, but I'm working hard to change that.

 
At April 28, 2014 at 4:01 PM , Anonymous Laurie @thefrugalfarmer said...

I think you've got a great balance, SHNM. You've assigned a place for every dollar, and you're working on debt while still giving yourself some breathing room for some fun stuff. Keep it up!

 
At April 28, 2014 at 4:04 PM , Blogger shoeaholicnomore said...

Thanks Laurie! It's certainly a work in progress. As time goes on it will get easier. I am really looking forward to October. I will pay off my furniture loan in September and that alone will free up $149 in my monthly budget. I am planning on using the majority of it to continue paying off debt, but a bit of it will be used for other things too. Such as, right now I have no money put aside for my monthly RX. It costs about $10 and I pay it out of my "extra" money from my side job because I forgot to set up a budget category for it. I'd like to have a separate medical category which I will build up a bit to cover any extra appointments, co-pays, etc.

 
At April 30, 2014 at 11:00 AM , Anonymous Maria said...

I find that I ALWAYS go over budget whenever I drastically limit my discretionary fund. For me, the hardest part is staying within that amount!

Your spreadsheet looks great and well done allocating those extra funds towards your mortgage payment :)

 
At April 30, 2014 at 11:49 AM , Blogger shoeaholicnomore said...

Thanks Maria! I had to move some money around for my mortgage payment went up about $60 a couple months ago due to an error on my escrow account. How frustrating!

The "personal" spending money that I use for fun nights out, eating out, etc is the hardest category for me. After I get some debt paid down, I'm going to increase the amount I let myself spend for this category. It is the hardest one to abide by each month.

 

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