April 2010 Budget Recap

Tags

budget, budgeting, Money, monthly budget recap, personal finance

*NOTE:  This budget is for shopping/food/gas only, or expense that I can control fully.  I’m not including fixed expenses (rent, utilities, medical bills) because they’re fixed and honestly pretty boring to talk about.  My TOTAL spending is not reflected in this budget *

Blown Budgets:

Pretty much everything except toiletries and home decor.  Cue the sad faces.

Overall budget:

+$2

The Verdict?

Just like I predicted, my shopping bug came back.  I used up all of my Crossroads store credit and bought a few things from Loehmann’s and Asos.com.  I did do a ton of cooking this month, which skyrocketed my groceries spending.  I’ve adjusted the Grocery budget to $150 from now on.  (Food & Dining = Groceries + Dining Out, so that’s why this category was in the red as well)

But I guess it could have been worse…  Clothing and accessories were only over budget by $2 each.

This is the first full month I’ve had at the new apartment.  I just got my utility bill so I’ll be calculating how much to put into my long term savings/emergency fund today.  Also, April is one of those wonderful 3 paycheck months for me.  I’ve already deposited the third “extra” paycheck into that high interest savings account.

Next months plans?

• Continue to cook new recipes, but I’m running out of ideas!  Must get to the library soon.
• Get rid of more clutter! (always on my list)
• Relax and perhaps read more

-E&I

March 2010 Budget Recap

Tags

budget, budgeting, Money, monthly budget recap, net worth, personal finance

*NOTE:  This budget is for shopping/food/gas only, or expense that I can control fully.  I’m not including fixed expenses (rent, utilities, medical bills) because they’re fixed and honestly pretty boring to talk about.  My TOTAL spending is not reflected in this budget *

Blown Budgets:

NONE!

Notable items I bought this month:

1.  Clothes

• Light denim J Brand skinnies from Loehmman’s – $13
• Theory navy blue city shorts from Loehmann’s – $24
• N.E.O. LA black silk jacket from Goodwill – $8.99

2.  Toiletries/Cosmetics

• Lioele BB Cream from Ebay – $17

3.  Decor

• Pretty milk bottle soap dispenser from Target – $14

BUT… I did buy a $500 Nikon EOS Rebel XS.

This money will come from my ~$2500 work bonus, so I won’t include this.

Overall budget:

+$212

The Verdict?

I did wonderfully this month in terms of spending..especially with clothes and shoes!  With all of the hustle and bustle of moving I’ve been too pre-occupied to shop.  But now that the townhouse is out of the question, I predict I won’t be so ‘good’ in the future.  Let’s hope it doesn’t get too out of hand, shall we?  I’m doing so well with closet purging!

(Well if I do have the urge to shop I have a $40 credit at Crossroads.  I love clothes recycling!)

Next months plans?

• Cook more, since I have my own kitchen and fridge now.  No more sharing with terrible roommates.
• Taking some recreational taiko classes this spring;  I did it for 3 years in college and it’s been far too long since I’ve touched a drum.
• Maintaining my nice clean apartment.  I bought Real Simple’s Cleaning book via Amazon after I read most of it at my local Barnes and Noble.
• Get rid of more clutter!
• Fiddle with my new SLR and take some wonderful pictures of family and friends.

-E&I

February 2010 Budget Recap

Tags

budget, budgeting, Money, monthly budget recap, personal finance, spending

*NOTE:  This budget is for shopping/food/gas only, or expense that I can control fully.  I’m not including fixed expenses (rent, utilities, medical bills) because they’re fixed and honestly pretty boring to talk about.  My TOTAL spending is not reflected in this budget *

Blown Budgets:

1.  Shoes and Accessories

• Black Suede Minnetonkas $24 from Ebay
• Converse Elastic Lace Ups $15 from Loehmann’s
• Steve Madden Rusttik Suede boots $30 from Loehmann’s
• Vince Camuto Gordon Lace Up Shooties $15 from Loehmann’s

2.  Clothing

• Forever 21 Silk Pants $32
• Romeo and Juliet Couture blue tank $6 from Loehmanns’
• RVCA Sleeveless White Button-down $5 from Loehmann’s
• Breton Striped Top from Asos.com $31
• French Connection Starlight sequin woven top $15 from Loehmann’s
• Sequin Max Studio Tank $10 from Loehmann’s
• Romeo and Juliet Couture sequin blazer $15 from Loehmann’s

Overall budget:

+$63

The Verdict?

So-so.   I thought February would also be a NO-CLOTHES-SHOPPING month but…. that was a big fat failure.  Haha.

I’m happy I that ended up in the black, at least.  After a month of not shopping for clothes I guess I started to binge at Loehmann’s.  :(  I’m the type that wears a newly purchased item the very next day… So I wear everything I buy at least one time.   (Isn’t it easy to see that I’m trying to convince myself to feel better about my clothing binge??? Haha.)

I feel like I know my style well enough to know what items I will actually wear.  And according to this month, it seems to be everything black.  50% of my wardrobe is either black or white or gray.  You can’t go wrong with those colors.  Pops of color are meant for playful accessories, IMHO.

Oh and yes, I did indeed buy a breton top (the exact one above, from ASOS.com) that I was obsessing about earlier this month.

Next months plans?

• No more roommate/apartment-mate!!!  I’m finally living on my own in a cute little one bedroom apartment.  My 2 bedroom lease ends at the end of March, but the 1 bedroom lease starts March 14th.  (I wasn’t able to push it forward, so I’m stuck with mid-March)  That means moving in will be a long and hopefully easy process.  And I’ll be able to ‘escape’ from my hellish apartment-mate way before our 2 bedroom lease ends.  
• The short sale townhouse is still waiting for approval.
• I opted for a 4 month lease for the 1 bedroom apartment just in case the approval comes early.  This means rent will be MUCH more expensive compared to what I pay right now.  I can’t afford to shop as much as I usually do in the coming months.   I really don’t want to be spending more than I’m bringing in.  This is really going to be crunch time in terms of my spending.

-E&I

January 2010 Budget Recap

Tags

budget, Money, monthly budget recap, personal finance

*NOTE:  This budget is for shopping/food/gas only, or expense that I can control fully.  I’m not including fixed expenses (rent, utilities, medical bills) because they’re fixed and honestly pretty boring to talk about.  My TOTAL spending is not reflected in this budget *

Blown Budgets:

1.  Shoes and Accessories

• $64 Sam Edelman Krosby boots

Woo!  I only have 1 category I overspent in this month.  What a great start to the new year.  :)

Overall budget:

+$204

The Verdict?

Superb.  I havn’t bought any clothing.  Zip.  Zilch.  And surprisingly, I have window shopped a couple times at the thrift store and at Target, and nothing caught my eye.  I have a $20something giftcard for Forever 21 and a $20 Nordstrom note so perhaps if I cave next month I’ll be okay.

Other than buying boots from Nordstrom Rack, I bought $30 worth of Pop Beauty eyeshadows from the Editor’s Closet sample sale site and a $23 Etsy print to frame at a later date.

Next months plans?

• A cute little townhouse now has my name on it!  It’s pending and not available via MLS anymore but we’re still waiting on the bank to get back to us.  My lease ends in March so I’m contemplating whether or not to extend my lease a few months to wait for this house.
• January was fabulous for my budget, so February will also be a NO-CLOTHES-SHOPPING month!  I’m confident that I can pull this off again.  Being picky is the best way to stay on track.

-E&I

August 2009 Budget Recap

Tags

budget, budgeting, Money, monthly budget recap, personal finance, spending

My birthday month was chock FULL of spending!!!  Ugh.  At least I got some birthday money to offset it.

Here is the (massive) damage for August:

Blown Budgets:

1.  Food & Dining (groceries and eating out, in total)

I did a lot of eating out this month, especially from a buffet in Vegas and all sorts of fast foods.  I’ll try to get back on track with cooking for September, as I don’t have any vacation plans.

2.   Toiletries/Cosmetics

AUG 1

Mitsuwa Mrkt Pl

Toiletries/Cosme…

–$25.00

$25 out of $35 of my toiletries/cosmetics budget was for a Japanese skin cream.  I still have to write a review for this, so watch for it!

Cash expenses for this month:

• $14 – Farmer’s market groceries
• Roughly $600 overall for Vegas vacation money!  Agh.  But I did get $400 for birthday money.  But I don’t feel too bad about spending that much.  I only go to Vegas roughly once every 2 years!  So I won’t be too hard on myself for this.  Save a lot, then play!

Overall budget:

$38 left out of $500 for the allotted categories!  Keep in mind this number is only for credit/debit spending only.

The Verdict?

I’m just happy to be under budget!  I think $38 is easy to spend quickly, so I’m giving myself a pat on the back!  The $600 in vacation money is a lot, but I think it was completely worth it.  I had a great birthday.

Next months plans?

Next month, I can’t buy any more toiletries/cosmetics. None!  Zero!  Zilch!!! Lately I’ve been having a difficult time staying under my $35 budget.  Here’s to hoping!

Also, I’m going to put in some money into my Roth IRA very soon.  I’m also going to start investing my money in the stock market.  I’ve been doing research for a few weeks and I’m still looking into what funds I want.

-E&I