budgeting,  mom

Budget Review: September and October

October 30, 2020 /

I like to write these posts because they make me accountable and help me brainstorm what I need to work on for the following month!

Spending on Clothes

As I mentioned before, at the end of August I made of goal to not spend money on clothes till the end of the year! Well, that was a pretty lofty goal and while I did fail miserably, I also did succeed for 50 days which is a pretty nice accomplisment for me. I did spend and buy several things since then including:

  • set of 4 belts (Amazon)
  • tunic (Amazon)
  • 2 skirts (Amazon)
  • a dress on clearance (Target)
  • sweater dress (Target)
  • hat (Target)
  • 2 pairs of shoes (Target)

More than I should! :Even thought several of these things were on sale and good deals, that is way too much in 20 days: kind of ruining my no shopping 50 days! My goal for November is to only spend the amount set for a blog “project” for Ada (from Elegance and Mommyhood) and I and less than $20 thrifting with my mom.

Groceries

Averaging about $800 on groceries for our family of 6. While it is not terrible (we had several birthdays and get together in there), I need to try to cut that by about $50: going to make homemade yogurts next month to see if that helps! I love my fancy Oui vanilla yogurts and kids have some favorites too and they add up quickly! My mother in law buys a lot of the kids’ snacks so that helps. We have also been buying more meat as my husband has been loving the Traeger grill he got for his birthday.

Savings

While I did spend more on the clothing category, and especially myself more than I should (and yes, I also bought shoes for one of the kids, pants for 2 and long sleeve tops for 2) I also did meet my saving goals for both months :

  • savings account
  • Christmas and car maintenance account
  • vacation account

I also started a new savings account to go towards a down payment for a car in 2022.

It is all about balance! I need to exercise some restraint in some categories so I can increase the savings. A lot of the Christmas gifts have now been bought and I still have some funds in that little savings envelope. Goal one is the clothing goal and two the grocery goal. I will take time this weekend to be more concrete about it and keep track. Improving is possible so is restraint!

A bientôt!

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