Tell all Tuesday

Well I usually work from home on Mondays. This week my daughter needed some Mom transportation so we arranged for my day to be switched. I LOVE work from home days.

I spent some time computing my spending for January. I was feeling very happy that I was very close to my food budget. Then I looked at a few other categories and I feel that I have some improvement to do.

Here are a few expenses....

Rent $ 850
Cell phone $ 80
Groceries $ 631 ($ 6.00 over)
Eating out $ 168.70 ($ 170 over)
Gas $ 138.59
Credit Cards $1160 ($ 160 additional :-) )
Cable $ 187 ($ 17 over)
Cash $ 154
Misc $ 69.77
Bank Fees $ 4


So you can see I did very well on my grocery budget. We went over my usual payment for the cable because I have no allowance for renting movies. January is a cold month and I can accept spending money on inside entertainment. Eating out to lunch is something I need to improve. Also the Bank fees have to stop. I would also like to take out less cash. Most of that money is for my daughter. It goes to a meal while she is working or for an outing with friends. She has started working on her own so I should be able to cut that to about $100.00.

Overall for January I feel we have made a lot of positive changes. I want to work on making a little more progress on the eating out and bringing my lunch phase. I would also like to cut the grocery budget because I think it is high for three people. We could do better in that area. We have some challenges there but I just read "
How Would You Like to Spend Only $100 per Month on Groceries?" from Single Ma and I think it time to try a few of those suggestions myself. Anything I save can be gathered to the debt.

I am also listening to different podcasts online. I think when you are trying to work towards a goal it is important to surround yourself with people who share the same goals. So.... I am reading blogs every day and I listen to others for some inspiration. I am getting my website up to snuff so I can take in some additional income and I have decided to study for the GMAT in order to apply for my MBA to begin Fall of 2009. I think we can do it. it is ambitious but all I have is today.


I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......