It is soon the start of another month… Budget Time. Today was a holiday and I thought that I
would spend some time working on the budget.
I laid it all out, thinking of all the events that will be happening
this month. This will be a more spending
money budget then normal: oldest daughter’s birthday party, 2 days in the city
for performances (tickets are paid for but meals and Costco…) and registration
for Spring and Summer kid activities.
Once I had the budget done, I thought I would go through and
find the average I am spending on items within the budget. I found a leak….I am
spending a lot more money than I thought on used clothing items at Frenchy’s
and Value Village…oops. Now that I am
aware of this, I am going to cut down on my visits. For those that know me I am going to TRY to
do one visit a week.
We go through and plan where every dollar goes. A great app of Dave Ramsey’s for Apple Products is Every Dollar or online at EveryDollar.com
We started 7 years ago with this site.
http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/resources/interactive_budget_worksheet.html
Everyone has different categories in their budget. A great
place to start is to go through your credit card and average out how much money
you have spent in 3 months on each category. Some items are fixed and pay separate
from your cards, so don’t get fooled. Example: if you have a car lease or a
monthly payment to a furniture store. Don’t
worry, it takes a few months to work this out.
Write down every source of income you have, salary, child tax benefits,
and kijiji or online sales.
Mortgage
Insurance (house, car, health and life)
Property Taxes ( this bill comes every 6 months, we put
monthly amount aside)
Internet
Cell Phone
Power Bill
Lottery
Gifts
Clothes
Groceries
Restaurants
Stockpile
Kid Activities
RRSP
RESP
Gas
Car Payment
Entertainment
