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October Budget


Today's Growth Quote: "There's only one growth strategy: work hard." - William Hague

Budgeting. To many I know, this is a “dirty word.” To me, however, it’s a word that represents freedom. If you have gone through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, you will have learned that he categorizes people as savers or spenders. Many of those in the FI community say that they are natural-born savers. They’ve been saving 50%+ of their income because it’s always made sense to them. I am not your typical FI community member. I am a natural born spender. I had never thought about socking away money to grow since I always had something I needed (wanted) to spend it on.

This, my friends, is why I love budgets. What? Not making sense yet? Let me explain. I love to spend money on things that provide value to me. However, since I married my husband, I also always felt like there was no money for me to spend. Every single dollar was required to cover our basic living expenses and debts. If I spent, as I’m naturally inclined to do, I always felt guilty. Like I was cheating or doing something wrong.

THEN, like Dave Ramsey also says, we got on a budget and felt as though we got a pay raise! Every one of our dollars still has a name, but since we are being very careful with our budget to avoid overspending, some of those dollars are named “Entertainment” and “Pocket Money” and “Eating Out.” I now have given myself permission to spend money in those frivolous sections because I manage our budget in a way that makes doing so feasible. No more worrying if I’m overspending. No more guilty feelings about my dear Chick-fil-A fries or going to a museum with my kids or buying myself a long-awaited planner. It’s a beautiful thing!

Now, I’m about to do something a little crazy. I’m going to share our October budget with the world to give a little glimpse into our spending practices. Some numbers may seem wacky, but they all work out! This is the beautiful budget that we are using to dig ourselves out of debt!

Housing: $0!!! This line item is included in my husband’s benefits package, tax free.

Utilities: $0. Same.

Tithe: 10%. This item varies based on how much side income I bring in per month.

Mr. Sim Roth IRA: $10. This is a tiny number. I agree. We opened it to figure out how to work the website and configured it to put a drop in the bucket every month until we are debt free and able to fill it up.

Minionette #1: $10. Same as with the Roth IRA.

Pocket Money: $40. $10/paycheck/adult

Travel: $250. Saving for Disneyland! More on that in a later post.

Renter’s Insurance: $14

Water: $10. This is for 5-gallon water jug refills. I’m a water snob.

Phone and iPad: $113

Car Savings: $150. This goes towards maintenance and hopefully savings in case the van completely dies.

Gas: $160

Van Insurance: $0. We pay this biannually

Life Insurance: $43 for our two policies.

Toiletries: $40

Entertainment: $60

Groceries: $340

Eating Out: $80

Debt: $1468 ($500 from a weight loss challenge)  

Tech Subscriptions: $20

Presents: $100 (It was my birthday and Minionette #1’s birthday this month)

Boom. Simple! As you can see, we are able to keep our expenses low, but we definitely are living a life we love <3 I plan to share our monthly budget every month to show how we are keeping up.

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