The good news -- I met my mini goals for January. I kept to a list at Target, and I stayed away from Amazon Deals. The bad news -- see for yourself! Here's our variable spending for January. We *way* overspent what I had roughly budgeted. It's not pretty at all. But one of my goals was to track this and post it on here to hold myself accountable. So that's what I'm doing.
Let me premise this by saying that I would like to keep this variable spending under $2600 a month. If I can do that, then I have about $900 extra a month that is undesignated. We didn't have to borrow to cover this overspending. But, if I don't spend it then I can use it to cash-flow things like medical expenses, or send it to my different savings goals. This month, we basically used almost all of this "extra" on variable spending.
I guess this means there is a lot of room for improvement! It also means that maybe my $2600 isn't realistic for us right now? But I can definitely try to do better.
Here are the spending details. In a later post I will focus on my plan of attack for February.
Automobile $62.84
-- Gasoline $43.84
-- Parking $19
This is by far the least we've spent on gas lately because of the low prices. We filled up each car once.
Cash $40
DH withdrew this. Maybe lunches at work? We rarely use cash for anything.
Clothing $167.36
Underwear for our potty-training DS1. And for his dad 
New pants for DS1, since his are all getting holes in the knees. And holes in the knees are COLD in winter. Two sleep sacks for DS2 in the next size up. He is growing like a weed.
Food $1680.81
-- Groceries $1051.10
-- Dining out $629.71
I usually budget $1000 for groceries, so we weren't too bad there. DH and I often buy lunch at work, and we plan to get take-out/delivery once a week for dinner. We also usually meet friends with kids for breakfast once on the weekend. We try to keep dining out to $400 a month. We went way over. Being tired with poor meal planning is to blame. Even with food in the fridge, we have been turning to take-out when we're tired. Not an excuse, but an explanation.
Gifts $13.72
Books for a baby shower gift.
Household $393.15
A new dual stroller to make it easier to wrangle both boys at the same time. Supplies to set up a pumping station for me in my office, since I'm not going near the community fridge for that. A bottle warmer (probably not a need.) Rest is household supplies like laundry detergent, dish soap, batteries, ice melt, etc.
Leisure $74.11
TV episodes of our favorite shows, movie rentals, a few Candy Crush in-app purchases while up with DS2 in the middle of the night. DH's subscription to Google Play Music.
Miscellaneous $110.58
Not really sure what this all us. Some of it is from a Target trip where I lost the receipt and so couldn't categorize the expenditures.
Personal care $807.06
Ok, this is huge! To be fair, $400 of it was for a new breast pump when I discovered the motor on my old one had gone kaput. A large chunk of the rest of it is diapers. I did stock up when Target was having a spend $100 get a $20 gift card offer. It also includes some toiletries. But probably mostly diapers. Boy do we need to get DS1 potty trained!
Total $3349.63
So, yes, we spent a lot of money this month. When I look at any one category, I don't feel like it's too unreasonable, but when I see the total I definitely do! If you're curious, here's what my rough budget looks like for these categories:
Automobile $130
-- Gas $100
-- Parking/tolls $30
Cash $20
Clothing $150
Food $1450
-- Alcohol $50
-- Groceries $1000
-- Dining out $400
Gifts $100
Household $300
Leisure $100
Miscellaneous $100
Personal Care $250
Total $2600
I'm open to thoughts and suggestions, although I'm slightly terrified to hear them. Please be nice. Please don't rant at me for spending $1000 on groceries. Although I'm not happy to be spending almost $3400 a month in these categories, I am comfortable with spending $2600 a month and still being able to meet our other financial goals.
January recap: good news and bad news
February 3rd, 2015 at 07:37 pm
February 3rd, 2015 at 08:07 pm 1422994053
February 3rd, 2015 at 10:20 pm 1423002057
Well, I think that spending is unique to the spender and depending what their plans and goals are. My goal for January was to simply honestly track the spending. I was surprised how high it actually was, and see clear areas for improvement.
Track for February and see the variance, modify from there.
February 4th, 2015 at 03:12 am 1423019540
I have 30 minutes for lunch. 2-3 minutes of it is spent warming up my veggies, ten - 15 minutes spent eating, and then the remainder I like to walk around reading on my phone. Sometimes I'll spend time on Duolingo, or make a phone call ...
IOW by bringing my lunch I am able to utilize almost ALL of my time for eating and/or pleasure/relaxation.
It is only a side benefit that I'm also saving money. But it is a pretty good side benefit.
Just something I thought I'd throw out there.
February 4th, 2015 at 03:21 am 1423020085
February 4th, 2015 at 04:37 am 1423024629
WotD: Thanks, I appreciate hearing that. I, too, will track in February and see how my spending varies (with a few goals.) Maybe this was just a really bad month.
FrugalTexan: If I could pack my lunch, I think that would be a huge benefit. Both health wise and financially. I think I'll aim one of my February goals at this. Thanks for your comment!
CCF: So far this week we have manage to make and keep to a meal plan. Tonight we just ate tortillas spread with refried beans, cheese, and salsa, with a side of apples. But it was fast, easy, tasted good, and my three-year-old actually ate it! I think we will have to eat more of these easy meals like you suggest.
February 4th, 2015 at 06:50 am 1423032616
February 4th, 2015 at 01:54 pm 1423058046