October 2015 Budget & Savings

Income & Expenses
My income is pretty consistent now however I wish I could say the same for my expenses.  A few more bills trickled in from the birth of my daughter.  Only another 1100 dollars for general hospital services.  I ranted about the healthcare industry last month so I will not do it again.  So what else was over or under?  Let's take a look.



Auto K
Both the minivan and car are doing great.  Just fuel expenses and the cost of gas is low in my area.  I saw it for $1.89 just yesterday.

Personal J
Over budget in several sub-categories this month.  The first one being healthcare which includes my son's braces.  I pray this goes back to normal in November as the Christmas season is upon me and anything I had saved went to pay hospital bills. 

We continue to go over in childcare because of unbudgeted diapers and just buying clothes for my ever growing children.  So far we are $2000 over budget in this sub-category.  This will definitely need to be revisited next year.

Surprising we were over budget in the food category.  This doesn't include dining out.  My guess without doing too much research would be fast type meals and junk food.

Lastly my Wants was over budget.  We took the kids out to see fall colors and did some shopping in country stores.  The day trip and eating out 11 times over the course of the month was too much for the 'ol budget.  Having a baby and getting home late from work is not a good combination for saving money.  You can only do canned soup and frozen meals so much before you break down.  I do cook on the weekends but the weekday I have to plan easy things for my wife.  It will get better so I am hanging in there.

Utilities K
No surprises here.  Our phones are almost paid off (I think in November) so the phone bill will drop big time.  This will be a welcome change as I have been paying them off for 2 years.  After that all our phones are ours and I plan on getting at least 4 years out of them.

Loans & Mortgages K
Nothing new here.  Just keep on paying the mortgage down.

Savings & Summary



So it was a break even month.  Actually I had a few dollars to spare thus giving me a positive savings rate for the month.  I am pretty Ok with that considering the bills I had to pay and being over budget in more categories than I should be.  I did invest some this month on a few dips so that is a positive note.  The capital came from some previous savings which gives me some pleasure in knowing my income from dividends is still slowly increasing.

I hope your October fared better than me.  If it didn't don't give up and try again in November.  No one is perfect.  What makes the difference is your actions going forward. 

Happy saving,

DFG

Comments

  1. Dividend LifeNovember 29, 2015 at 11:08 AM

    Hi DFG,

    I'm glad you were able to put some money aside this month; I guess November and December are two of the most expensive months with all the holidays. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

    Best wishes,
    -DL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dividend Family GuyJanuary 3, 2016 at 9:11 AM

      Thanks DL. Just posted those 2 months :-( It was a good holiday season though!

      Delete

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