Overall, during the month, we went over budget (besides savings, which I don't count, because more money is good!) in the following areas:
Household improvement and repair: I used money that was supposed to be for the shed we've had money laid aside for. Now we'll have to save up again.
Cell phone: my husband finally cancelled the phone insurance that I think is a waste of money this month, so that number should be better next time.
Groceries: this number looks high, but my weekly allotment is $80, and we had 5 Fridays (grocery day) this month, so I actually came in under budget.
Gas: we made a family trip up to Maryland last weekend, so our gas spending is higher than normal. This should even out over the year. We still have extra in our gas fund.
Car repair: we blew this one way out of the water- our van needed new tires and brakes this month. I should be more careful about laying more money aside for car repair- we did not have enough in our car fund to cover the repairs. We have enough to "borrow" from our other savings funds, but I'll have to "pay" them back later, or we'll end up in the same boat as now, only under a different category.
Clothing, me: I needed some new pants- I had money in my fund for it.
Medical: we had more than the usual trips to the doctor this month, from a mutant wart that needed surgery, to a nursemaid's elbow with accompanying x-rays. Hopefully the kids will be less crazy next month!
Health insurance: extra paycheck= extra health insurance payment- we didn't really go over here.
Personal, me: again- I had the money in my fund.
Work: still waiting on my husband to submit his expense report...
Entertainment: we had money in our fund.
Vacation: we took the trip to Maryland, so the hotel came out of this- we had money in our fund, though I will have to get creative when we're planning our vacation this summer- KOA anyone?
From this point forward, I am just going to state that we went over budget if the money is not there in its associated category fund and we have to "borrow" from our other funds, or from the overage when my husband works overtime. My goal is to only ever spend money that we have dedicated and saved in each category. I am exceptionally undisciplined in this, thinking it will all even out eventually, and usually it does, but sometimes it doesn't and we have to make more than the usual sacrifices to keep from having to carry a balance on our credit card, or I sit and worry while we are racing checks, hoping nothing bounces.
The thing that bothers me the most is that the money that is borrowed from other funds sometimes never gets paid back, and it's usually out of our more personal funds, like entertainment, or money I got for Christmas, clothing, or vacation, and I hate to cheat these funds, considering how little money we have in them anyway.
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