I met my savings goal for August, but that doesn’t absolve me of all my spending sins…
If you couldn’t guess, I’m really disappointed in my restaurant spending. I did take David out to celebrate his undergraduate graduation with his grandmother, which accounted for a little over a quarter of spending. It’s not just this month though. Here’s a month by month comparison of my restaurant spending in 2013:
May was the month I came off the painkillers I had been taking for migraines, which is why spending was only $25. I don’t think I left the house at all that month. Withdrawal migraines: Great for the budget, bad for everything else.
I’ll get more into my restaurant spending plans when I write up September goals.
Other than restaurant spending, it was a pretty quiet month. I’d like our utility bill to be lower. ($95.57 was my half of the bill, so utilities cost $191.14 this month.) An increase in utilities is probably the hardest thing to adjust to when you live in a house, besides doing yard work. Our bill was also high in our last rental house, but the summers were less because we only cooled rooms as we used them (no central heat/air).
I honestly can’t tell you what’s happening with my grocery spending. Though I spent more on restaurants than I’d like this month, spending only accounted for seven meals. I’ve gotten into the horrible habit of snacking at my desk for lunch instead of taking my lunch break and eating a meal. Hopefully that will stop once work quiets down a little.
Taking out seven days for restaurant meals and calculating based on grocery spending, I spent $1.28 per day for food in August. If I had kept a food journal like I was supposed to, I’d know what I’ve really been doing for food every day, but without that, I’m just going to celebrate getting through the month with so little spending.
Health spending should slow in September since I’m no longer taking any prescription medications and only have one appointment scheduled. I will say… I am super stoked my IUD only cost a $25 copay. $25 for 10 years of birth control? Yes please! Even if I’m one of the unlucky 5-10% who expel it, as long as it lasts three months it was cheaper than my birth control pills. Woo!
Goals
1) Go to Orlando with the family and have a great time.
2) Put $1,600 in savings.
3) Finish reading Sick and Tired of Feeling Sick and Tired by Paul Donoghue and Mary Siegel and The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko before the trip to Florida. Pick out two fun fictions for the trip and read them before the end of the month.
How was your spending in August? Did you meet your goals?
