Well one of my goals for 2010 was to become more financially responsible...so last night I crunched some numbers and came up with a budget for the month of January! It is scary how close we are to using up all of our income without any savings, but that is why I really want to get our debt paid down if at all possible. Bill does not want to give up eating out at all...so I am budgeting $100 for eating out for the month. This will be a HUGE improvement on last years eating out. We spent on average $250 a month last year on eating out! EEEKKKK!!!!! At the end of the month then I will see what we have left over and that will be applied to the next month's debt...hopefully we can get a snowball payoff system rolling soon!
So our budget:
Rent---$720
Water and Sewage---$65
Insurance---$45
Student Loan 1---$43
Electric--$ 105
Credit Card 1---$165
Gas---$150
Directv--$150
Credit Card 2---$60
Phone/Internet/Cell phones---$140
Student Loan 2--$122
Ambulance---$100
Medical---$50
Eating out---$100
All other expenses/ grocery, etc. ---$400
-------------------------
Total $2415
I think this is doable and will make us more accountable for how we are spending the extra money that is not going directly to bills. It is amazing to me how much we spent on eating out last year and not cutting back at the grocery store. I am hoping to keep our grocery expenses below $300 for the month that would give $100 for other expenses. I think this should be doable if I keep up with the coupons and eating from what we have here.
Monday, January 4, 2010
This week will be kind of weird with Bill's work schedule, doctors appointments and Jacob's surgery on Wednesday (which I am very anxious about!!)...but here is the tentative plan....MONDAY:: Grilled cheese and soup (it is so cold and snowy here!)
TUESDAY:: Spaghettios and leftovers
WEDNESDAY:: Jacob's surgery is at some point today so will be whatever we can find.
THURSDAY:: Fish, rice, broccoli, salad
FRIDAY:: lasagna and salad
SATURDAY:: hot dogs and green beans
SUNDAY:: Grilled chicken and Pad Thai
Thanks to the Orgjunkie for hosting this wonderful feature! http://orgjunkie.com/2010/01/menu-plan-monday-january-4th.html
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