February Recap and March Goals

At the beginning of February I set two specific goals for the month:

- Increase EF fund by $200 - FAIL
- Increase savings by $100 - FAIL

Any extra money that we had was spent so most likely unnecessary spending.  Lesson learned, pay ourselves first.  I have to make it a habit to move the money into our EF fund and savings accounts as soon as the money comes in.  Because truth is, if the money isn't there, we don't spend it.  There are times when we have $20 to last us 4 days til the next pay day and we can do it.

So moving onto March...

Here's what the month looks like so far:

Fixed Expenses:
Mortgage & Property Tax - $1844
Automobile (Payment, insurance and gas) - $876
House Alarm & Insurance - $81
Life Insurance - $300
Bank fees - $14

Variable Expenses:
Utilities (Cable, phone, internet) - $200
Cell phones - $100
Food - $500
Debt repayment - $1100
Other (Nursery school, gifts, entertainment) - $300

TOTAL:  $5215

Monthly Income:
$5600

This would leave us with $335 to put away into our EF and savings accounts.  It seems so simple and straightforward when I have it typed out, but for some reason I still struggle to stay on top of things.

Financial goals for March are (same as February):

- Increase EF fund by $200
- Increase savings by $100



Non-financial goals for March are:
- finish reading The China Study book
- pick up craft supplies to make myself a bracelet (idea I got from Pinterest!)
- finish filling up care package for DH's parents and have the package picked up by the delivery service


We will be filing our taxes in March and I really don't know what to expect.  I'm hoping we get a small refund, and if not, I hope we're not paying back a huge amount of money either.  March and April will be expensive months for us as there are a few big birthdays coming up.

Good news is that in terms of my cafeteria and mall food court purchases, these are pretty much non-existent.  I've stuck to my plan to have breakfast at home each morning and to pack a lunch and snacks every day.  Every now and then I'm very tempted to pick up something extra for lunch or as a snack but then I just dig into my lunch bag and eat something that I brought with me. 

Exercising is still going very well, the last week wasn't the greatest, but I'm still motivated to keep going.  Month 2 progress pictures should be posted in the next week or so.  So on the exercise and healthy eating side of things, I would say I'm doing very well and will keep going.

 Work is kicking my butt, but I don't mind the OT.  Just need to be very careful and ensure that the OT paycheque goes towards debt.

How much for a 3rd birthday?!!

I hate to admit it, but we went overboard with J's 3rd birthday celebration this past Sunday.  We had 2 separate parties, one for friends and kids and one for family.  The first one cost me a bit more than I had expected, due to additional guests that I did not anticipate.  The second party didn't cost much but because we were doing a party earlier in the day, I had no time to cook so all the food was ordered.

I went over the birthday budget by double the set amount.  Also, this past Saturday we were invited to a birthday dinner at Red Lobster, which set us back $65.  I would consider this our family meal out for the week, but it's still much more than we normally spent.

This week work has been kicking my butt.  I've been putting in a couple hours of OT each night and J decided he wants to give me a very hard time when it comes to finishing his dinner.  On top of catching up from the extremely busy weekend, the busy work days I feel low on energy and today I missed my work out which really sucks.

I could have done a work out and put in maybe 50% effort but I decided to perhaps try to get to bed early and catch up on reading some blog posts and to even update my own blog.

I'm definitely looking forward to March and trying to get back on track.  I don't feel like I've made much progress financially, but I just need to look at the numbers again and figure out what my plan of attack is.

Can't wait for March!

What Was Your Money Situation Like Growing Up?

The inspiration of this post came from Hanging By A Thread

I am the younger of 2 kids.  It was just my older sister and I.  We lived in a small 1 1/2 storey house, total sq footage?  Around 600 sq ft.  Both of my parents made very small salaries, but they were very good with managing their money.  I would have considered us "mid-class".  I never felt that I was behind in terms of school supplies or clothing, when compared to my classmates and friends.  They always made sure we put money in our piggy banks and always gave us a little extra to spend.  My parents took us on what I would consider a big family vacation every 4 years.  And in between those vacations, there were trips to Chicago every couple of years to visit family.  I remember when I was in college and had to quit my part time job due to my school work load, my mom insisted on giving me an allowance of $50/week.  I was very lucky.  Every time my sister and I think back to how well the household finances were managed, we are amazed.  And a part of me is confused as to how I didn't pick up a single budgeting practice or behavior.

It's very important for me to teach my kids the value of money and the importance of saving.  It's often difficult because at the same time I want them to have everything that they want and everything I didn't have when I was growing up.  And there's always the thought that they're only kids for so long and that they grow up so fast.

This weekend will be a busy one with J's birthday, so I hope by Monday things have settled and I can start focusing on our finances.