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Fell off the wagon.

April 7th, 2013 at 05:47 pm

March, and so far April as well, we have not done very well in the way of finances. Mind you, we have no troubles paying bills and all, but I have not been mindful about setting anything aside.
I am still paying bills on set days of the month, and have a month's worth of expenses in checking, but we have dipped below that a bit, and haven't made any deposits in savings.
Since March 1st, we have spent $304 in unbudgeted purchases.
$45 of that was for my wife's blog (which has the potential to have an income in the future).
$85 to dining out (no excuse).
$122 was for outdoor adventuring gear (all on clearance - $272 worth).
$26 was for coffee gear ($72 worth - $46 came from credit card rewards).
$22 for photography gear (potential to make money in future).
$4 for audio equipment (trying to fix record player).
Not sure how we got so off-target. The outdoor gear was foresee, but I did not set a savings goal for it when I foresaw the expense last year.
It has to stop. Almost two months of bad financial behaviour. Well, no more! Back on the right path!

Posted in Budgeting, Personal Finance, Saving Money | 5 Comments »

5 Responses to “Fell off the wagon. ”

  1. laura Says:
    April 7th, 2013 at 06:01 pm 1365357669
    1365357669


    You know what, life is rather short when you think about it. And while the unbudgeted purchases weren't planned for, I don't think there is anything there that is really way out of line. Investing in your marriage: yes! If you like to spend time outdoors (which is of minimal cost compared to other things), you should have gear so that you are prepared for what might come up. I wouldn't beat myself other this. Get you pre-month expenses back up, then prioritize your savings, and enjoy life!

  2. rob62521 Says:
    April 7th, 2013 at 07:18 pm 1365362294
    1365362294

    Sometimes you have to spend money. OK, maybe not have to, but life gets pretty dull when you only save and never enjoy it a little when you are meeting all your expenses. We have a friend that we think it must be painful when he spends money on anything...he wears shoes with holes in the soles and puts cardboard in them...he has had those shoes over 30 years. Most of his clothes are pretty ratty. He doesn't like to receive gifts because then he might have to give a gift in return...when he told me that I told him that if I gave himself, I gave it because I wanted to, not because I expected anything in return and he wasn't being very polite. He doesn't want to ever eat out, spend money, or buy anything. His whole life is his job. He is finding it getting lonely because his interests are so limited. I'm not implying that you should spend foolishly to find friendship or to be interesting, but there are extremes, and my friend has taken it to an extreme where he works and that is it and he's not truly happy in his job.

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    April 7th, 2013 at 08:55 pm 1365368113
    1365368113

    I agree with the above that it doesn't seem so bad. I know your finances are super-tight, so you wouldn't want to spend like that every month. But with the exception of the eating out, it's all stuff that you can now use to have cheap and/or free fun, right? So hopefully that will make it easier to buckle down while still enjoying yourselves.

  4. Frügal Says:
    April 8th, 2013 at 05:46 am 1365400006
    1365400006

    Okay, so maybe my excuses were actually rational after all.

    Thank you guys and gals. Smile

    And yes, we do now own all of the big purchases needed for camping and backpacking (last year I got a tent, backpack, child carrier, sleeping bags, shoes. This year I got lantern, proper first aid kit, sleeping mats, thermal mugs, water bottles, etc.). Definitely ready for the backwoods now!

    Oh! And the coffee gear was an AeroPress, stainless steel filter, and a Hario hand-powered grinder so we can enjoy coffee without electricity. Wink

  5. BuckyBadger Says:
    April 8th, 2013 at 12:31 pm 1365424306
    1365424306

    I tend to agree with the previous posters. It wasn't too terribly damaging and most of us will be put to good use.

    My only comment is this: You tend to tell us that you bought something for so many dollars, but quickly follow it with "but it was worth so much more."

    now maybe you're just adding this for our benefit or to make yourself feel better after the fact, but try to make sure that those thoughts aren't running through your head before you're making the purchase.

    There's a great quote I saw somewhere, but I can't remember to whom it should be attributed. It went something like this: "An elephant for a dime is only a good deal if you need an elephant and you have a dime."

    Nothing's a good deal if you don't have the money for it.

    Good luck!

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