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?



Just Look At It Already

I emailed a Budget Chart to the Hubby. He pissed me off. He didn't even look at it. One day he told me how at lunchtime he downloaded a bunch of cool apps on his phone. Really? Are you kidding me? I was in tears (of anger). Seeing my reaction, he promised me that he would look at the budget and savings I had created for him. No go. I know he didn't view the file I had sent to him.

This past weekend though, he joined me on the couch as I worked on out December budget. I was also watching a Til' Debt Do Us Part marathon. There was a couple that was spending more than what they brought in by over $2400 per month. According to Gail Vaz-Oxlade's Budget Worksheet, 25% of your income should be spent on life (incl misc. spending). The husband spent 34%.

Hubby started talking about what he probably spent on life. I took this as an opportunity. I had the laptop out, so I pulled up his Budget Chart and showed him what he. Spent on Life. I then showed him that he could save an Emergency Fund AND Savings Fund. Also, what he should pay towards his debt.

He bought into it.

My goal is to add his Emergency and Savings to the monthly budget. That way when he drops his share of the payments into our joint account, I will be able to direct his personal funds into his ING Direct account.

The journey continues....