Here’s the skinny on our incoming and outgoing money for June 17th to June 23rd:
Friday
+ $1213.61 Honey’s Paycheck
-/+ $56.80 (transfer to savings = New Goal 50% of amount over Root Income)
– $49.17 (Groceries)
– $97.34 (Cigarettes)
– $44.21 (Gas @ 3.839 per gallon)
– $20.95 (Whiskey for Honey)
– $11.96 (Pet Smart- puppy treats and such)
– $660.00 (Rent & Bills)
– /+ $1.00 (transfer to ING savings)
-/+ $2.00 (transfer to ING to save for Car insurance)
Saturday
No spend day 
Sunday
No spend day
Monday
No real spending today 
– /+ $1.00 (transfer to ING savings)
-/+ $2.00 (transfer to ING to save for Car insurance)
Tuesday
No real spending today
-/+ $20.00 (Operation SUV)
– /+ $1.00 (transfer to ING savings)
-/+ $2.00 (transfer to ING to save for Car insurance)
Wednesday
– $1.59 (ice)
– /+ $1.00 (transfer to ING savings)
-/+ $2.00 (transfer to ING to save for Car insurance)
Thursday
No real spending today
– /+ $1.00 (transfer to ING savings)
-/+ $2.00 (transfer to ING to save for Car insurance)
Total Weekly Spending: $977.02
Pre-tax 401K Contributions $100.87
Categorized:
Savings $81.80
Rent & Bills $660.00
Groceries $50.76
Gas $44.21
Alcohol $20.95
Cigarettes $97.34
Puppy Stuff $11.96
Save 4 Car insurance $10.00
Left-over for remaining week $236.59
Notes: Now this is more like it. I’m totally lovin’ this whole “not eating out thing” we’re doing—we’re saving a ton of money that we used to just waste. My being sick probably contributed to us spending less, but it’s still cool.
Here’s to hoping next week goes as well. Next Thursday is my last chance to add some dough to our savings before I do another monthly review. We’re so close to filling up our 2nd account (out of 4) for our 2011 Financial Goals, but I doubt we’ll be able to fill the 2nd one up before July 1st. Now by August 1st, we should definitely have filled up that 2nd one and started plumping up #3.
How did your budget go this week?
Yeah !!!!!!!
@Paul- 😀
Sometime, can we see your grocery list and also a list of your meals? You seem to eat on so little. I spend much, much, much more than that. Granted, I have a teenage son in the house…
@Harriet- I actually kinda suck at making good grocery lists as well as meal planning. Right now, we’re kinda going for quick & easy to make stuff, but as I learn more about cooking we’ll probably spend a little more. Usually my grocery list looks like this:
eggs
milk
breads
lunchmeats
carrots
onions or peppers?
bag of salad
bananas
berries if on sale
cheese
pound of beef
yogurt
Then I usually let the stores sales, my coupons and ideas take it from there. I’m not one of those “Extreme Couponers” like on TLC or anything, but more of a “Why not save when I can” kinda girl. In the past few years, I have built-up a decent stockpile of household, health & beauty, small gifts and food items. That in itself helps us save a ton of money, it takes some work now and then but is so worth it. I’ve actually been thinking about putting something together here about saving on groceries; let me know if you’re interested.
Also, I forgot to mention that you probably feed your family better than I do.
For the most part, we all like fruit and veggies and healthy things so it’s not that bad; probably not a well-rounded meal like most families might have. It also helps that I don’t really eat much (barely any at all) meat, poultry or seafood; but my husband and kid love everything animal.