Thursday, June 17, 2010

Starting Fresh….


I am starting fresh next month. I did not track all of my spending this month which is why you haven’t seen any of my fancy little charts. I still think I will be able to put together a monthly recap.

Below is my budget based on my new part-time job. July will be a little different since I have to pay my annual home insurance premium and quarterly water bill. The budget above factors in an accrued amount for that going forward so I won't get hit with it all at once. With 12 hours per week, I should net approximately $400/month. I also think I have some ability to pick up additional hours but I don’t want to burn out too quickly. I am coming up on reporting month at work and we usually already work a least 50 hours per week.

I am going to focus again on bringing my lunch and/or keeping purchased meals under $10/day. I keep realizing that buying groceries is not relating to any reduction in dining expenses so I am going to minimize grocery/household shopping to pretty much just necessities.

I built in higher transportation. I assumed the need to purchase 10 discounted parking passes each month since I will be working until 9pm-10pm some nights at the part-time job.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks!

5 comments:

Kas said...

How many hours do you have to work at your part time job to pay for that extra parking pass? Just something to think about.. I don't know your whole situation with the parking. The way I got myself to stop going out to lunch is reminding myself that if I stay in I only have to tske a 30 min lunch vs a 60 min one thus letting me get out of work sooner.

Eve said...

just wanted to let you know I am so proud of your growth within these past couple months!!!

Delirious after work said...

This is serious progress !
You are really getting there.

The food drive sounds a good idea. Taking on a second job has to be respected as this is a major commitment.

Your budget looks like it is evolving to reflect your true costs more and at same time getting closer to breaking even.
Raising income and cutting expenses, it really does work amazingly although hard to believe it sometimes even if logically true.

Keep going !

DreamChaser57 said...

I am new to this blog; I encountered your profile on the NetworthIQ website. I recently graduated from law school and have six figures worth of debt as well. One thing that helped me on my journey to a less chaotic fiscal life is reading the classic Personal Finance books. (Total Money Makeover, Women & Money, The Richest Man in Babylon, The Automatic Millionaire, The Millionaire Next Door, Rich Dad, Poor Dad) I read a variety of authors because I like to get a variety of perspectives and insight. All of this personal finance stuff is not necessarily intuitive. Also, television has so much advertising and so many doctors and lawyers fall victim to lifestyle inflation. Last point - for so many households in America living from paycheck to paycheck is a way of life - you have to combat all the pressure to consume, make different choices, the type of choices that enable you to retire early and leave the rat race. Best of luck on your journey, I’ll keep an eye on your blog.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back and Congrats on your progress!!!!!

For non-montly recurring bills (ex. home insurance premium and quarterly water bill) I would like to recommend putting the a portion of the money into a "sinking fund" each month so that you have it when it is due and the budget doesn't take a big hit.

For example if your insurance is $1200. You would divide it by 12 and $100 would appear on each monthly budget. I do this for my car insurance and I divide by the number of paychecks to get my per budget amount. When the payment is due I pull it from my ING savings account and pay it in full.

A site to check out on sinking funds. http://simplemom.net/sinking-funds/