Saturday, January 17, 2009

Mid-Month Progress

This year my main goal(s) is/are geared toward making some progress in my spending and debt reduction. Primarily I am keying on making sure my current necessities (ie. rent, utilities, and defaulted student loan) are paid. As for reducing debt the only one I will focus on at this point in time is the rent I am past due on. My other debts (except for 2 medical bills which arrangements have been made) are past the 7 yr SOL, therefore I will not focus on them as of yet.

I'm not doing well with tracking my daily spending, but having only a savings account without a debit card has helped immensely. In order to get money I have to physically go to the bank and make a withdrawal. The benefit of this, no NSF fees, better documentation of what funds are available in my handy-dandy register, thinking about why I want to withdrawal money, and actually seeing a positive balance in my account. I would like to try and track daily spending but am finding it a bit "difficult". My days are very hectic with 2 jobs and the daily tasks in running our household. I will re-evaluate as the month progresses and see how close I stay on budget.

At the beginning of the month I had the following balances in various monetary accounts:

  • Sharebuilders--$177.17
  • PayPal--$.20
  • Savings--$87.12
  • 401k--$250 (approximately)
Income so far for the month:
  • Paycheck--$98
  • Paycheck--$171 (earmarked for meat order received in December & January not included in this months budget)
  • UEC--$175
  • Paycheck--$350
  • TOTAL--$794
Money Spent & Bills Paid:
  • Sharebuilders Commission--$12
  • Rent (current)--$100
  • Meat Order--$133
  • Phone & DSL--$103 (will receive $50 rebate--$46 normal bill)
  • Satellite TV--$73
  • Dial-up Internet--$22 (temporary till I upgrade my puter)
  • Heat--$136
  • Loan--$95--Paid in Full
  • TOTAL--$674
So far so good A-B should equal approximately $120, my savings account balance is $224.

For the remainder of the month I have the following:

  • Paychecks totaling $858 + $120 (from above) = $978
  • Water Bill--$120
  • Sharebuilders--$17
  • Student Loan Payment-$405
  • Personal Loan--$50
  • Old Checking Account--$330
  • Garbage Bill--$15
  • Sewer Bill--$32
  • Sharebuilders Commission--$12
  • TOTAL BILLS--$981
Dag nab-bit I'm $3 short. Hopefully my partner will make an attempt to give me money for the utilities (not counting on it tho). If by chance she does I will then have spending money. Groceries are not an issue other than bread, milk , and cereal.

Overall not too shabby--all bills will be paid!!

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