New Month Same Attitude

Hard to believe that its October! Instead of dwelling on the past three month's spending spree I am now focusing on keeping within the confines of a monthly budget. I am also going to reflect on the accomplishments of September to include paying off that Walmart Credit Card and setting up a direct deposit into my money market savings account. The budget that I have established for October goes like this:

• Rent, Utilities: $650.00
• Auto Expense $720.00
• Groceries $160.00
• Phone and Cable $200.00
• Family Trip Exp. $150.00
• Debt Min $165.00
• Child School Fund $ 60.00
• Child Allow $ 68.00
• Personal Fund $ 60.00
• Halloween Fund $ 40.00
• Christmas Fund $150.00

My first financial goal of this month is to stick to this budget! Using the free budgeting software on Mint.com is the best way I can do this. I have been using this software for a while now and it really has opened my eyes to the areas that need the most improvement. I highly recommend this website its very easy to use and the best part its free. Just click on the title of this entry or use the link on right side of my blog to take a look. My next financial goal is to pay down as much as possible on the debt. I have included a personal fund and child allowance. My daughter does have certain chores that she will receive payment for; I am not saying she ever reaches the monthly limit of $68, but maybe one she will! I will do the snoopy dance if that happens. As for my personal fund, well lets face it we all need a little pocket money to play with and I am no different. I am hoping to come under the grocery budget and I will write more about my Christmas Fund later this week. The Halloween fund is for my daughter's costume and for the candy, I usually do not have to purchase much candy as we do not get a lot of trick or treaters. Thats right we will be taking a day trip this month with the kiddies and we will all have a great time getting away and just having fun.

I also have a personal goal to lose five pounds this month. Weight gain can also raise your expense, new clothes to fit the widening body, trip to the doctor due to weakened immune system and the last one I will mention eating more food and eating out more. With that said, my next personal goal is to continue participating in my pantry and freezer challenge, and only buying what is necessary. I am still working on decluttering my home and have found three more pairs of never-worn shoes to sell on eBay. There you have it. These will be my goals that I will be working on this month, what are yours?

Consequences of dining out

Since I started my new job, I have gained five pounds. At first I couldn't understand why, I work-out regularly, and eat pretty healthy. Then the reality of it hit me like a ton of bricks, I was eating out for lunch 3-5 days a week. I was chowing down on Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Applebys, and other restaurants. To make matters worse, the people I have lunch with are all men and they eat twice as much as I do and I know unconsciously I was trying keep up with their food intake. As silly as that last statement sounds, it made perfect sense to me. So in addition to all the money I spent in the last three months on lunch, I gained five pounds! How's that for a consequence of dining out and spending money. I am now "brown bagging" my lunch, increasing my work-out to five to six days a week, to include 2-3 strength training sessions and 4-5 cardio sessions. Wish me luck!