Oh, how I love thriftiness! I made myself a new “toy” this month; a spreadsheet to track my expenses. Instead of using my old method of pen-and-envelope tracking, I now have a calculate-as-I-go miracle machine! I made several columns with places I usually spend; gas, grocery, etc. Each row on my spreadsheet is a single expense. So, if groceries cost $25 on the third, I would make a row, “3- Fareway” and enter “25″ under the grocery column. At the end of the month I hit auto-sum for each column and tra-la! Itemized expenses. Want to know how I did? Here’s my results for my first month.
Totals for the Month of February, 2010
- Rent, $250
- Car Payment, $250
- Utilities, $23.78
- Groceries, $132.60
- Gas, $79.83
- Dining Out, $35.38
- Entertainment, $20
- Business, $87
- Clothing/Personal, $36.22
- Other, $5 (Library Fines!)
Total Expenses: $919.81
Goals for March, 2010
- Rent, $250. Can’t change this, unfortunately. In fact, it may be more next semester!
- Car Payment, $350. I hope to pay extra on principal this month.
- Utilities, $15. I double-paid last month.
- Groceries, $100, which equates to $25 each week.
- Gas, $20, thanks to a gas gift card from my sweetheart!
- Dining Out, $40, because it’s Spring Break and I’ll be visiting friends for lunch, having a special date with Spenc, etc.
- Entertainment, $20. This used to be where I justified my crafting habits, but we all know I don’t buy those anymore! I will probably treat myself for Spring Break… see a movie in the theater…. can’t think of much else to spend money on. Last month’s $20 figure had to do with a bill that was lost to drinks and fried food, which could have been a “dining out” expense.
- Business, $0. Last month I splurged on the new theme for my blog (pretty, huh?) to better accommodate advertising. I can’t see anything else that I would need…
- Clothing/Personal, $20. So excited to visit the Depot with Mom!
- Other, $0. Last month was paying library fines. Blah! Not this month!
Total Anticipated Expenses: $815
I would like to get my spending whittled down to $800 each month. This just sounds like a good number to me. I’ll track in March and make some goals for April.
Wish me luck!
You May Also Enjoy:
- Saving Money on Textbooks, and, How I Planted a Tree in Guatemala
- 10 Thrifty Ways I Plan to Save $100 in 2010
- 10 Reasons to Love Your Library
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Impressive! I’m jealous of the $250 rent–I think the least I’ve ever paid was $300, and then I shared a room with a friend!
Hey…When are you coming to spend the $20 at the Depot?
I cut my library fines by renewing on line even if I was going to take them back only a day or 2 late.
Hmmm.. Why would you pay for a blog template? There are so many free ones online. It’s annoying to go through them and find something you like, but you will eventually if you stick to it.