Well technically my budget week/month started last Friday but it's never too late to get the facts out there.
I've tinkered it a bit in terms of the jars and savings but a lot of the bills and such remain the same. Darn bills only change for the worse.
For those who are newer to my world, I'm in smalltown Saskatchewan. There are four of us in our home: 2 adults and 2 teenage boys who eat like horses.
I have 5 categories for my jars:
1) Food and Household - $680 a month ($170 a week)
2) Spending Money - $80 a month ($20 a week)
3) Gas/Transportation - $200 a month ($50 a week)
4) Entertainment - $160 a month ($40 a week)
5) Clothing and Gifts - $100 a month ($25 a week)
I still need to make up new labels for the jars. I have got my budget binder all ready to go and I will give recording every expense (almost) another shot.
Food and Household - This is everything from Groceries to Take out, cat food and toiletries to household cleaning supplies. This one will need some saving up if money is leftover because I like to buy in bulk at Costco if I am in the city. Those kinds of trips cost more
Spending Money - I technically don't keep this in a jar and I won't keep track of this. It will live in my wallet for whatever lil things come across my path: A cup of Tim Hortons coffee, the odd lunch out. Whatever works.
Gas/Transportation - Right now I spend about $40 a week on gas running back and forth to work and running the boys here and there. If I head out of town it will cost more. This actually will live in a special spot in my vehicle so it's there when I need it. There isn't enough leftover that I have to worry about leaving money in the car.
Entertainment - We don't do a whole lot entertainment-wise. In winter this might serve for entry fee to hockey games or the odd rink fries. In summer it may be a trip to get icecream. If we save it up and we're in the city we use it there, and it goes fast.
Clothing and Gifts - This is new and honestly, woefully underfunded. But it's what I choose to put in there for right now. I could always reallocate money in my extra debt repayment for the clothing category if I feel it really needs it. We shall see how it goes. I will withdraw the whole $100 at the beginning of the month. Just more logical this way.
I will try these amounts for July through to September. The summer is really a hard time to judge as spending is different. September will help balance what a 'regular' month is like.
Tuesday, Nice weekend!
1 day ago
7 comments:
Will you have any back-to-school expenses at the end of August for the boys? School supplies? New sneakers? Clean socks? :)
I trust you'll be letting the transportation jar build on any savings, for vehicle repair and maintenance?
Jolie,
This sounds like a great plan. I love the jars, and I will be pulling mine out again for my July No Spend month.
LOVE the idea about keeping the gas money in the car. I never thought of that, but how convenient!
What do your boys do for fun on summer break? I'm looking for "free" things to do with my kids this summer, as we are not taking a vacation. Any ideas?
Middleclass - oh heck yeah there are back to school expenses. Between school fees and supplies,signing them up for band and hockey, instrument rental etc it is usually around $1500. That comes under a different targetted savings. Yup I build up the maintenance portion.
Sharon - I have one going to Bible Camp for a week this summer. The other has several 2-3 day hockey camps. Those aren't free unfortunately. We do a lot of camping. Tent style.
WOW! You definitely have it under control. I love the car idea - constantly forgetting that money.
We use envelopes, but we have so many categories - something like 20 or more.
Back to school expenses are saved all year for us. They have to be because with band, athletics and other extra curricula - it runs almost $3,000 a year.
I've been living on the jars for over a year and a half. Would never have been able to accomplish what we are doing without "Gail"
It's hard to plan ahead and budget for thing like Christmas which is only 5 Months away.
I car pool so the actually no spend or drive days really help, plus I have to menu plan for the week. This has become a win win situation for us.
Though I miss shopping for those little white powder sugar donuts.
My waist line thanks me!
Stick to the jars they will pay off in the long end.
I have enjoyed your post.
that's cute! To put them in jars =) I would put things in high interest savings account...so you can at least earn some interest while you are saving?
A lot of the high interest savings account banks allow you to make as many savings accounts as you want, and then you can automatically deduct money from your chequeing account to the savings account.
Young and thrify - thanks for your comment and for visiting. The savings/planned spending amounts are in a savings account gaining wee bits of interest.
The jar system is for the variable expenses and it lets me live on cash. I save far more money when I can see the $bills leaving my hands rather than swiping with debit.
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