Sick Savings

Sigh... I am taking a week off of work due to sick leave. It's nothing serious. The doctor just told me to lay low for a bit. So I have decided to use this time off as an opportunity to save. 

Biweekly on payday I set aside:

- $120 for gas for the car  (yep... 1that is 122 km per day folks)

- $90 for miscellaneous spending (toiletries, coffee, entertainment, etc)

- $100 for groceries

I return to work next week. So with this pay, I spent:

- only $55 for gas. Nice! That's a savings of $65!

- only $70 miscellaneous spending. (I treated the Hubby to breakfast and dessert this past weekend). I will save $20

- I will save about $45 from the grocery bill since I did not have to pack a lunch, and I eat considerably less when I am not at work.

My savings amounts to $130!

Ideally, I should use this total towards debt repayment.  Instead I will put this towards my Christmas gift spending.  I have a short list of one. The Hubby.  I am looking forward to purchasing his present by using cash only.

I was able to come up with this plan once I created my first Budget Spreadsheet in Excel.  In a notebook, I write down what I spent and on what. Every couple of days I take the total spent and apply it into my spreadsheet.  These amounts are subtracted from my monthly net income. I will let you know the final tally of what was (hopefully) left over this month.

This will be the first time that I have kept such detailed notes about my finances, but I am really liking this process.  If anything, it will definitely keep me out of overdraft.

Most importantly, Hubby will not be sporting a new jacket that has VISA as the true owner.

So, what are you doing to ensure that you are shopping with cash only this Christmas?