Well...long story short....I ended up just adding an "actual" column to my budget spreadsheet. And in my checkbook register, which I write in at least once a day, I will just be more detailed. Then at the end of the month, I can just add my actual in and see how I did. I was just trying to make it too difficult. Oh, and cash I will continue to do in the "jars" but will have a sheet in each jar. Put the receipt in the jar so I know what I spent. That really is how I was supposed to be doing it this whole time (Gail Vaz Oxlade way).


I feel very aware right now. And still overwhelmed by what I was doing. So November 1 will start the new way of tracking.


What I am reallly thinking about is....what do people that don't think about their expenses do? I worry about my finances and work to try to keep them somewhat on track. So how do they get through? How do they not worry?

I feel like I am trying to make this overly complicated. I started writing everything in a little book. Then I created a spreadsheet...but now I don't know what to do. So, I need suggestions.


I need a way to track my spending that I do through debit card/checks/ach and a way to track my cash. For my variable expenses, I use cash. Sooo....What is the best way to track this? Should I do a spreadsheet for my non cash spending and maybe have a log for each "jar" of cash spending? I think I have thought about this so much I am not sure what kind of spreadsheet to use for my non cash spending. I would really love some help/ suggestions/ words of wisdom/ etc. Or some screen shots of what yall do? And then what you do with it. Add up categories at the end of the month and compare it to what you budgeted? I've lost my financial brain apparently.

I have a budget. It is broken down into weekly - based on my pay. Today....I realized that even though I have a budget, I'm not following. I am to a point. But, I am spending money on random crap and not even realizing it. Which means I am not following it. I have been tracking my spending for October. This is not something I usually do. Sometimes I will pay attention to my cash spending, but when I looked at all my entries of what I am spending.... wow. 1.29 for itunes, 2.86 for a snack, 14.36 in out to eat lunches in 2 days....and I didn't "BUDGET" for those. So, my eyes are open. A budget doesn't matter if there are small (or even big) purchases made without acknowledging the budget. When I wonder where my extra $32 a month is going - well the answer is itunes, car wash, snack, lunch, etc. I made a spreadsheet to actually compare what I spent to what I budgeted. This out to be disgustingly interesting.


And I realized that I am a shifter. I will shift money off of something to cover something I did. So I will never get anywhere if I am just moving the money around instead of not spending the money.


(I feel like Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation when he just starts going off and calling his boss all those names....and he ends in Hallelujah, Holy Sh*t. Where's the tylenol..... Only I am yelling at myself

Its my husband's birthday Wednesday. I have set aside $80 for us to go to dinner on Friday. Its more than I would like, but I want him to have a nice dinner and really enjoy himself. We are going to a steakhouse. In my mind that should cover an appetizer, cocktail, his meal, and whatever I eat. Hopefully me being vegetarian saves us a little. My family will be joining us - everyone will pay for their own bills. I also have to drive to pickup his gift that is finally out of layaway. I paid for it over the past month so I didn't have to borrow from savings or put it on a credit card. So I will be driving more than normal this week. We also have a wedding on Thursday night. So we will have to drive to that. And the reception is afterwards at a Mexican food restaurant. Unfortunately and fortunately. Unfortunately it is a restaurant that I cannot eat at....at all. Even their chips are made with lard....so it is not vegetarian friendly. I guess fortunately...I won't be able to eat anything so the bill should be cheap. So lots of driving and more going out to eat than normal.

Productive....sending it all away. I set aside my utility money. Paid what was due. Paid over the minimum on all 3 credit cards. And in 2 weeks I will be able to pay towards them again. After that payment, my CC3 will be under $100. Whew! I also set aside money for our termite annual renewal and put a little bit of money back in savings.


I ended up with 2216 Swagbucks when I logged in today! Cashed them in for 2 $10 Target cards for Christmas. Super excited about that. I did my Christmas budget and I am a little off-track on my Savings for it. I am going to have to be frugal! Even MORE frugal than normal.


I am cooking free steaks for dinner tonight...a customer gave them to my husband for all his help. (Customer is a butcher). So between finishing the cleaning and cooking that - my Friday will be over. And I can work all day on business stuff tomorrow. Oh I hope I can get it all done.

So....Swagbucks. I have managed to get 434. But I did a task that paid 500! It says it could take 7 days for me to get credit. So I am just hopefully it posts. Nothing as of today. And I really don't want to try to fix it.


I am a little discouraged about my money right now. The last almost 2 months have been sketchy. I have not been on top of things. I have spent more than needed. Today I was trying to figure out where my money went. Where is my raise money? I should have extra. Then I remembered my pet store and Bath & Body excursions. That is where my raise money went. This week is going to be tight. Mortgage, grocery store, Insurance, cell phone, and time for my vehicle registration. I will have $1 left. YIKES. But I need to start to get up and dust myself off. Yes, I'm sad....on pretty much a daily basis. I miss my brother, my friend, and my dog. But I don't want my finances to be depressed too. I need to remember what I am working towards. I can still miss them and take steps to get back on track.

I had been wanting to get a NeatDesk or NeatReceipt for our business paperwork. But...I didn't want to spend the money on it. Well... my mom had 2 NeatReceipts, so now I have one! I haven't tried it out yet, but it seems pretty cool. I have a system for our household paperwork....but if I ever get caught up, maybe I can look into that. I really need to get my butt in gear on the business paperwork. I am a little behind, and that is never good.

I know I'm kind of going off on a tangent here....but am I the only person that feels like they are constantly behind? I see these people that are super organized, with a super clean house, and perfect paperwork, and a nice financial outlook...and I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong. I've tried major overhauls. I've tried doing little goals. I've tried checklists for each day and detailed budgets. I just feel like I am always trying to catch up. And not with other people...just with how I want my life to be. (Which is kind of similar to those people with the super clean houses, perfect paperwork, and nice financial outlook.)


Ok...I'm done. I guess I just needed to let that out. Goodnight everybody!

Well, Friday I did Swagbucks again. None Sat or Sun. And earned 31 points this morning. I'm actually up to 271. Pretty good for me.


I'm sure not everyone wants to hear that I had to buy a bra.....BUT I had to buy a bra. My new puppy has chewed up 2 of mine. And bras are expensive. So unfortunately I had to shell out $40 for one. Wasn't exactly planned, but I think I can limp the budget through until Friday. Just not as much into savings. I also put my husband's birthday present on layaway. (With money I had set aside) I like layaway because I am saving a little each week to pay for this gift, and since I am getting him a BBQ grill, I was worried that they would all be gone by the time I saved the money. I will sell our current grill and recoup some money. And I didn't go with the extreme, super grill. But it was on sale and it will be big enough for us.


I had coffee with my sister on Saturday. She paid (with gift cards I had given her) and she also brought me a pair of jeans, a shirt, and 2 little shell sweaters. Awesome surprise and MUCH APPRECIATED. And I was just thinking about how I needed to buy some jeans.


Besides that, I really didn't accomplish much. I have a hectic week ahead. Hopefully its as productive as I want it to be.

I don't have much to report right now. Hopefully there is some activity on Friday when I get paid.


Since I got my new phone I have had nothing but problems. The store rep told me to do something that was wrong, so I had to do an 11 hour restore, make a trip to the store, and make 4 separate calls to customer service. My phone is still not right, but hopefully I am almost there. Hopefully I won't have to get another phone for a while. I am keeping my old one, just in case.


I think my husband and I have decided to have a garage sale in about a month. We have a lot of random junk in our storage loft. So I have started going through things in the house too. Clearing out: almost new bottles of nail polish, hair color, hair accessories, office supplies we will never use, etc. Hopefully in a month, the weather is a lot cooler and I can get it all priced. Texas and Summer garage sales just don't mix.

I am definitely ready for this month to be over. Ready for a clean start.... at least for the month.


Today is payday. I paid all of the due bills. I also bought a cell phone today. I paid 0.01 for it. The contract isn't a huge deal because we don't plan on changing companies and we can still downgrade plans if we need to. I set aside $20 to save for my husband's birthday, $20 for Christmas. I sent my nephew $20 for his birthday (which I planned for). And I should have $10 to move to savings. Its not much, but at least its something. Hopefully next week I can apply my pay difference toward CC #3. It is so close to being gone. An extra $30 a week will be nice. Especially if I do like I said and pretend its not there. (Put it towards debt.)


I also called Dish Network yesterday. My bill seems so high, but my husband only watches one channel and I can't lower my package anymore or I lose that channel. So I managed to get a $10/ month discount. At least its something?

My life feels anything but normal. I kind of feel like I'm just floating through the days....does that make sense? I don't have the thoughts and interests that I had a few weeks ago. I'm sure it will get better. I went to a benefit for my husband's friend on Sunday. They are trying to raise as much money as possible for his daughter who is in her late teens. Unfortunately, I think I caught some sort of stomach bug while I was there. So I missed work yesterday because I was too sick at my stomach to even leave my bedroom. But today is better. And the benefit raised some good money.


I won't know how much my new pay rate will be until tomorrow. I am anxious to see. And I don't see myself spending any money in the next few days. So that should be good. Honestly I don't feel like doing much.

My life feels anything but normal. I kind of feel like I'm just floating through the days....does that make sense? I went to a benefit for my husband's friend on Sunday. They are trying to raise as much money as possible for his daughter who is in her late teens. Unfortunately, I think I caught some sort of stomach bug while I was there. So I missed work yesterday because I was too sick at my stomach to even leave my bedroom. But today is better. And the benefit raised some good money.


I won't know how much my new pay rate will be until tomorrow. I am anxious to see. And I don't see myself spending any money in the next few days. So that should be good. Honestly I don't feel like doing much.

I am so ready for the weekend. More than anything...I need a getaway. But that will probably have to wait.


Good news is...I got a review and a raise. I think it will be about $30 a week. My plan is to just act like I didn't get one at all. At least for now. I did manage to pay bills today and balance my checkbook. I know I need to buy laundry supplies... hopefully I can find some coupons. I allowed myself $15 cash for the week, but that may have to be used for the laundry stuff. I am just glad everything balanced out after all the spending I have done. Zero is better than negative.

Well, I'm here. Back at work - normal days. Tomorrow would have been my brother's 26th birthday, so I am trying to figure out how to deal with that. I am having a hard time concentrating, but I know it will get better. I did manage to balance my checkbook. And I looked at my budget...and how out of whack it is. But I know it will get better too. I have overspent by about $180, between eating out and gas and everything else. I think I have rearranged enough so it will balance out on Friday. I won't be able to save anything this week, but getting through the week is an accomplishment in itself.


Thank you all for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers. The support is wonderful.


I will continue to take it one day at a time.

I have an Ebates check coming! $18 that I can send to CC#3. Plus $25 more that I was going to send. I am going to look everywhere I can to find some more money I can send. If I could find $30 more, I could get it under $100! But my budget for this week is pretty tight. Actually its at zero remaining. But I can check my jars and see if there is any surplus in there.

I'm off on Friday, so I am hoping to use that day to take care of some things. Both dogs need their nails trimmed - so that is first on the list (Cash set aside). And I will need to go to the grocery store. Hopefully between the rest of the day Friday and all day Saturday I can clean the house and get some paperwork done. I am really thinking about getting a Neat Desk....maybe that would help with the business paperwork?


Payday is tomorrow - so here is my budget

Gas - 60
Groceries - 80
Cell Phones - 177 (Really need to lower this!!)
Insurance on Truck - 49
Dining Out - 20
Cash for Wallet - 10
Savings - 25
Rx - 60
Loan - 50
Pet - 10
Christmas Sav - 20
Hold for next week - 30
_________________________

Leaves me $11

I have got to save every way I can this month. So let's go August!!!

I went to look in my jars, and I was surprised that I had $40 in my Food jar and $20 in Entertainment (which is usually dining out). Friday is payday and I have $80 to spend on food. (Not including the jar money.) So if I can spend less than $80, then that is just more for the jar. I may actually be able to apply that money to something. But its nice to have it there.


My grocery shopping has to last us for almost 2 weeks (Except for milk and some fresh veggies). I know I will have to cook 9 meals. My husband works late on Tuesdays, so I don't cook. And we usually eat out once a week. And I send leftovers with him for lunches. I came up with 8 meals so we may just have to have cereal one night. My list comes to $69.25 before coupons and store savings. I am curious to see what it comes out to. I'm guessing with wrong pricing or list errors it will still be $65. I am still shopping at Kroger so I can get double fuel points. I have 201 points which means $0.20 off a gallon for this week. And since I will be shopping in August I can start earning points for it.

My intention was to not do any spending this week until Thursday. Well I was doing really great yesterday until my oldest dog got stung by a yellow jacket. Unfortunately I did not have enough children's benadryl or any children's aspirin, so I had to run to the dollar store. I spent $7. I had the cash in a jar to use, but I was so worried about her, that I ran out the door without it. But the rest of the week should be ok. My work took us out to eat today and I still have a half tank of gas.


Last week I bought some magazine subscriptions as Christmas Gifts. I went through Ebates, and Magazines.com has $5.00 subscriptions right now. So I bought 2 at $5.00 each and I will get 40% back on Ebates. Just a word of caution if anyone ever buys from Magazines.com. If you do not go in and change the renewal, it will automatically charge your card for the renewal. So I went in right after buying it and changed it so I wouldn't have to remember!! But it was a good deal.

The last 2 weeks for me have been ridiculous. Closing at my real job. Working at our shop. Surprise visit from my nephews and sister that live out of state. And other things. I have spent way too much money. I haven't seen my nephews in 7 months....so is it good, no, but its justifiable to me. So needless to say, my numbers haven't changed from my sidebar. Although we did manage to increase our savings $124 and my retirement is up to $3141. But no debt reduction. Tonight we are having our last get-together, which luckily I do not have to pay for. And everyone leaves tomorrow.


July has just been a very off month for me. I haven't been able to accomplish the goals I have set. Think I need to make smaller goals but I need to focus more. I will look over the finances this weekend and see where I am at.

So after looking at our statement for the county, I realized that it was wrong. They have it listed that we live in a mobile home....but there is no mobile home on our property. This is actually something they were supposed to fix when we bought the house in January of last year. So at the end of the day, our taxes are going up to the tune of $869.00/ year. I thought they might go up if I ever got this fixed so I have been putting extra in escrow, along with the surplus from the escrow account last year. I am guess that I will have to get with the mortgage company and have our payment adjusted so our escrow account will be right? Not real excited about it, but I would rather fix it now then have to do it later and them retro it back years.


Today is payday. I have every single penny accounted for. So, since we were invited to a short notice dinner tonight with friends, I may have to raid the coin jar to pay for it. Yes, I do have $20 in the budget for dining out. But with it being so hot here (100 - 103 degrees) I sometimes don't want to cook! And I want to have some money in case I need to buy dinner out during the week. I would like to come up with $20 - $30. But we will see.

I super cleaned my house and did a lot of organizing. Then I did a lot of paperwork, so it looks a little crazy now. But when I am done with the paperwork, hopefully it will look even better. We also had some employees over for the 4th (with their kids) so I am still straigtening up. My husband will probably be home later tonight, so I should have some time to focus on a few things.


I find that I do better when I have things written down. I do better with our finances when I write them down and blog about them. And when I keep notes. I also have a whole binder dedicated to our finances. With cleaning, I do better if I have a list. Then I know what I have to do. And I have a sense of accomplishment when I can see things marked off. And even taking care of myself - I almost need to have a checklist just to remember to moisturize my face. Then I probably need a checklist for our business. Ugh...maybe that's too much!

I still have debt. But after my next payment, CC#1 will be under $300! And CC#3 is almost to $150. No...they aren't paid off. But there is just something about hitting certain numbers that make you feel good.


We have an event tonight for our shop. Then tomorrow I work my regular job and then have to do some pet sitting overnight. I hope that I can get some serious cleaning done Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. I have been working hard to "organize my life." Its a process, but its getting better. When my life is organized and everything is on track, its easier for me to keep the money on track!

Not that it is a whole lot, but I sent the extra $20 from my food jar to credit card #3 today. I wanted to go ahead and send it before it got used on something else.


I am feeling better today. I was starving so I splurged and spent $7 on pasta for lunch. I am sure I could have found something cheaper....but it was good and I still have $15 in cash.

Well, I had to go to the dr yesterday. I've been fighting some sinus stuff for about a month....just couldn't get rid of it. And of course it is a sinus infection. Antibiotic, nose spray, steroid shot, and $125.00 later....I hope I start to feel better. I'm sitting here a work today...and I can feel that I have a blazing fever. But luckily I can go home in a couple of hours. And as much I would like to work on housework or paperwork, I may just have to get some bedrest.


I did my checkbook and paid all the bills. I can't spend anything else since I had to pay for the dr. But here is what I have in the jars:

Fuel: 0
Food/Groceries: 48.00
Dining Out: 23.00
Other/Gifts: 10.00
Cash: 28.00

Hoping to take $20.00 from the Food jar and send it to a credit card.

I was doing really well with my planning and accountability until I stopped paying attention to where every dollar was going. So, I will be starting the tracking again starting tomorrow when I get paid. I am sure my spending plans and notes about what I buy are not the most interesting things to read, but they really help me be accountable. So... tomorrow.


Kroger has a deal right now that they will double fuel points, so I am going to grocery shop there tomorrow. I have 63 points and for every 100 you get 0.10 off a gallon. I should be 27 points off from getting 0.30 off a gallon, but .20 off will be great. My list currently adds up to 57.50 before coupons. My goal is to spend 50.00 (I have a 5.00 off coupon plus several little ones so I should make it.) I also have to buy some household items, which I have 20.00 and 40.00 for dog food. So $110.00 for the whole trip. Kind of scary, but I think I can do it. I have actually planned out 2 weeks worth of meals and my grocery budget is actually 80.00 so I am cutting it by 30.00. Plus I still have 20.00 from 2 weeks ago. If I can pull this off...I will be super happy. And I can finally send the extra 20.00 to a credit card!

I don't think that I have mentioned it on here, but the day before my birthday (back in April) I found a puppy in a ditch out where I live. It was cool and rainy and I knew if I left him, he would die. So we rescued him. My sister paid for him to go to the vet and for him to stay there a week. She also helped with the vet bills since the puppy had mange. Severe mange! So, instead of paying as much on our mortgage, I have had to take $50-$75 from it and put it towards this dog. And I also did some pet sitting to help pay. But now...I have 2 dogs to feed. 2 sets of vet bills. Double the treats. I don't regret saving him...but he has been expensive. Hopefully now that he is feeling better and the mange is gone, the vet bills will be REDUCED. He is 7 months old, so we will have to neuter him. So my husband and I are working on a way to pay for that. Should be about $200.

But I guess this is where I get confused. I can squeeze out money to pay for a special event or something that comes up. Why can't I just pretend I have a special event and put $200 towards a credit card and pay them off? Its not the lack of "want to." Ugh...I get so frustrated with myself.

I have not made any extra progress on debt the last few weeks. I feel like I have been in a funky haze. I didn't even look at my checkbook for a week. Not for any particular reason....so no desire to do anything. But, I did look at it today. And I paid all the bills.


I did order my husband and 2nd step father something for fathers day. I ordered them clam chower with bread bowls from the Boudin Bakery in San Fran. My husband and I loved that place, so I thought it might be meaningful. It came with 4 bowls and 2 things of soup, so I'm splitting it. Its about $20 a piece..so that seems reasonable. And I am making my husband breakfast that morning. We are celebrating my sisters birthday that day too....at a baseball game. I really do not like baseball...neither does my husband. But it is free and its for my sister...and the food will be free.


So I am just muddling through right now. Not off track...just the super slow track.

Well...my step daughter is officially a high school graduate. Yeah. We took the "suggested item" list from the college and split it up over my family. Between everyone, she managed to get almost everything on the list!! It included everything from laundry detergent and an ironing board to power strips and a microwave. She has also gotten over $1000 so she should be able to cover what is left.


I went to get my car inspected yesterday and it FAILED. The mechanic at my work looked at a couple of things before I went, and so we think the system got reset. So I will have to drive a little bit before I can take it again. I have 15 days. I also had to buy windshield wiper blades. I budgeted for the inspection but not for wiper blades. They were $20!! But I should be able to scrape by.


Tuesday was a horrible day at work. Had a person that was not my boss "get on to me" and basically tell me all the things I was doing wrong. It was insulting and done in a very unprofessional way. So my boss called me today to talk about it. I explained how I felt about it and he made me feel better about the situation. He also said he would address it with the jerk bag. The whole thing has really had me in a funk the last few days. I have been in a negative mood. I have been short with my husband and distant to others. And I have surely neglected my house. It looks like a disaster...which will only make it harder for me the next few days. But I am glad that it was addressed and hopefully I can start to feel a little more positive.

Thank you all for your comments yesterday. Luckily we only got heavy rain. The hail and winds fizzled out, which is just fine with me. We have no rain in our forcast for at least a week. For that I am grateful!


Some of my numbers changed. CC #3 is finally under $200! Its at 193.92. And my student loan is finally under $3000 (barely). Its at 2988.88.


Here is my money plan for Friday:

Gas - $60
Groceries - $70
Household Account - $50 (Putting back for mtg pmt)
Dining Out - $20 (Jar Money)
Cash - $20
Pet - $10 (Jar Money)
House - $20 (Jar Money)
Holding for bills - $110
Savings - $30
Other - $10 (Jar Money)
Step Daughter Graduation Money - $20
Loan - $40
Car Inspection - $40

Leaves me with $6.
________________________________________________

Cash Left:

Dining Out - $30
Rx - $20 (Jar Money)
Grocery - $15 (Jar Money)
Wallet Cash - $8

I'm hoping if I still have money at the end of the week I can apply it to something.

The tornadoes that just hit Texas were about 15 miles from my house. We were slammed with large hail and high winds, but luckily we are all safe and we did not have any damage. As for our neighboring cities....they have been devastated by this horrible storm. Situations like this make me scared. Sure, I am scared of the weather itself. But I am more scared of the financial turmoil. We have $1000 in savings. I am overwhelmed with the thought of how quickly that can be blown away.


I am just left with the thought of how do I save and pay off debt and prepare for the future when there is only so much money coming in. Maybe its all just too much food for thought right now.