Financial Friday - Epic Fail

I anticipated it last week, and as suspected we've gone over budget in all the categories I'm posting here.  Apparently I really need the accountability!

Let's just skip right to it shall we?

Brooke Personal Spending: $125 budgeted - $144 actuals

I have plenty of excuses for this.  I purchased an audio book for the Mountain Man Memorial March.  I found the perfect Halloween costume on eBay.  I had to eat breakfast out on the way to my volunteer gig Friday/Saturday morning because I had to get up too early as it was.

The bottom line is that $125 is plenty of money, and had I used it wisely earlier in the month I could have done all of those things and stayed in budget.  As usual, it all comes back to my fast food habit.  One of these days I'll break it, or just throw my hands up and give up.

I'm helping a friend move tomorrow, so I'm not sure if they'll be anything added to this one or not.  Whatever I go over this month, will be deducted from my starting total next month.  Although I was under last month, and that extra money didn't get credited to this month.  Hmmm.

Jay Personal spending: $100 budgeted - $124.65 actuals

He typically spends about $80 a month on dip, so I'm guessing the rest of this is beer.  Looks like we definitely need to discuss repercussions of going over.  We're both spending willy-nilly and obviously not caring that we're going over.  This must change.

Groceries: $150 budgeted - $154.04 actuals

I did pretty good on this one if I do say so myself!  This will be the monthly total so we're good on it.  I went on one big shopping trip at the first of the month, then did weekly fruit/veggie/can't pass up sale runs the rest of the month.  That also takes a load off of me time wise, because it means I'm only doing the "my night is screwed" trip once monthly.

Eating out: $75 budget - $81.86 actuals

The volunteer event put this one over too.  Friday and Saturday I woke up at 5, drove for an hour each way to volunteer 12 hours daily of my time for a benefit sporting clays tournament put on by my boss's charity. 

Since my husband is unwilling to prepare dinner for us, that meant either I had to get home at 8 in the evening and start dinner or else snag fast food on the way home.  My choice is obvious, although the situation frustrates me.

I suppose I should plan better and have frozen meals on standby, but if I can be honest it just irritates me that I'm the sole provider of meals for us.  Sure he'll fix himself a frozen pizza or pizza rolls if I'm having dinner elsewhere, but beyond that its all on my shoulders.  I know this has nothing to do with money but I'm putting it out there any way. 

So there.

Moving right along...I'm looking forward to the fresh start of May.  I really think that knowing that I'm reporting in to yall is going to help me stay on track. 

How are you doing moving toward your financial goals?  If you want post then I'd love for you to leave your link in the comments! 

Praise Him Through the Storm

All is well here.  We weathered the storm last night and came through unscathed.  The most I can complain about this morning is being tired because I wasn't able to go upstairs and go to bed when I would have liked. 

Given the property damage people in nearby towns experienced, I'm not going to complain.  Given the loss of life in our neighbors in Alabama and Georgia have suffered, I'm am thankful to have woken up to the sun shining in my window this morning.




I am thankful for a sturdy home.  It always breaks my heart to hear the Emergency Alert System tell people in cars or mobile homes to abandon them and seek "sturdy shelter" or else lie in a ditch.  How scary/sad must it be knowing a ditch is safer than staying in your home?

I am thankful for a husband with a level head.  He doesn't get all bent out of shape about storms.  He doesn't let a little thunder or lightning get to him.  We even sat out on the front porch for part of the storm.  I also know that when he gets concerned, there is cause for it.  It scared me a little to see that part of him, but I know I can trust him to keep me safe (or as safe as he can).

I'm thankful for a God who is with me through it all.  Bad things happen.  To Christians.  To non-believers.  To good people.  To bad people.   He's promised to stick with us through it all.

What are you thankful for today?

Oops

I did so well last challenge with stick with my goals, I decided to stop tracking them.  Surely they had become habit and I would keep them up right?

Wrong.

I even started slacking on my Bible reading.  I decided to reinstate the weekly goal checklist because I want to stay on top of these.  I don't know that I ever hit any of the goals all 7 days, so I need to focus on doing just that.  Also, I'm going to rotate goals off and replace them with something new as I succeed in doing the goal for 7 straight days.

It'll probably take a few weeks, but when the time comes I'll need some ideas from yall as to what I new goals I should set for myself.

So far I've done well with not weighing, its been 2 weeks since I've stepped onto the scale.

That's something I suppose.  With all the wallowing in self pity I've been doing here lately I'm sure the scale would have provided excellent fodder.

Also?  Its allergy season here in the allergy capital of the world. Thankfully my allergy shots and OTC pills help me ward off a stuffy nose and sneezing.  I do, however, suffer from anxiety during allergy season.  My allergist insists that its not possible and the two aren't connected.  Anxiety comes in the spring and leaves in the summer, not sure how that can't be connected.  But other than deal with it what's left for me to do?



So far my workouts this week have felt really good.  I got up early (not on purpose I promise!) to get my run in Monday morning as well as restarting the 100 push ups challenge.  I did week 5 column 2, but wasn't able to complete my last set - I'm dropping to column 1 today for day 2. 

Yesterday I switched back to high weight/low rep in the weight room on my own, choosing not to go to the total body class (high rep) that the gym holds every Tuesday/Thursday.  I even took on the squat rack and my quads are feeling it this morning!

I hope to check in next week with at least one 7/7 goal met.  How'd you do this past week?

Meal Plan Mon...Tuesday

So I'm a little late to the game.  Typically I like to plan out my meals for the coming week on Saturday, but this was a crazy busy weekend.  When I finally got home on Friday and Saturday nights I just wanted to fall into bed.  Sunday wasn't much better.

Yesterday I sorta winged it, which resulted in waffles with peanut butter and honey for breakfast, Pizza Hut buffet with the girls for lunch, and spaghetti for dinner.  (I had defrosted the sauce some time last week.  I couldn't remember when so the fact that it didn't smell/taste bad went it was good enough for me.  Jay thought it was heavenly.)

Here is my plan for the coming week.  In posting it, I hope that you keep me accountable.  My temptation to run out and grab a burger wins too often.

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Waffles with peanut butter & honey
Lunch: shells & cheese, rotel, and black beans
Dinner: ??? 
I don't have any meat thawed, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  I'd love to borrow a meatless recipe from you!

Wednesday:
Oatmeal
Sketti leftovers
Chicken Fajitas

Thursday:
Waffles, PB & honey
shells & cheese, Rotel, and black beans

Ham & cheese sandwiches

Friday:
Oatmeal
Lunch out w/mom
Leftovers

What other suggestions do you have for using up white bread?  I purchased it for the race a couple weeks ago and we're not big bread eaters.  I still have half a loaf left.

Mantra Monday - Accept Nothing Less Than The Best

Okay before you think I've died and gone to perfectionist hell, let me clarify my mantra this week.





I will accept nothing less than my best effort for house work.

Right or wrong, a dirty house stresses me out.  However when I get in that cleaning superstar mood?  I'm able to clean the house thoroughly in almost no time.  10 minutes spent properly sorting the mail is well worth it in the long run.  Also?  Clean sheets are their own reward.

I will accept nothing less than my best in workouts.

I took last week off.  Well unless you count walking, which I don't.  If I can do it and not workup a sweat it hardly seems like exercise.  I needed a few days to let my blisters heal, but then I took a few extra because my pride was hurt. 

As a result I carried around extra stress and sadness that I didn't deserve.  A quick run or a good weights class would have fixed that quickly, yet I chose to wallow.  Nothing good ever comes from wallowing.

This morning I got up early and got my first run in over a week marked in the books.  It felt great.  I may crash come 8:30 tonight but emotionally I feel great.  Also?  My pace wasn't too far off my 5K PR.  I think I've finally taken the "I'm just slow" stamp off my forehead.

I hope that means great things for the upcoming 5K I'm registered for, but since my training hasn't been what I would have liked I'm fairly certain I won't be getting the sub 30 min time I wanted.  I'm okay with that because quite frankly I haven't earned it.

I will feed my body nothing but the best.

This is not a call for strict calorie counting.  I'm not in a place to deal with that right now, and I'm honestly glad that's the case.  This weekend was a hard one, busy every moment practically with very little time to consider good food options.  My energy has suffered as a result, as well as just overall giving me a blah feeling.

Does that mean I won't enjoy the bag of twizzlers I bought this weekend that my sister promised me she'd help me eat then left w/o her fair share?  Of course I'm going to partake and enjoy, but I'm not downing the whole bag.  In one day at least.  :P

I will give my family nothing but the best of time I can spend with them.

The people I love most in this world deserve to get more than my crankiness and hatefulness.  Although I maintain I was right when I told Mother she needed Jesus.  She'd obviously left Him at home the day we met for lunch.

God gave up The Best (Jesus) for sad little sinful people like me - He deserves my best daily.

Despite my rotten mood last week, I was able to read and glean knowledge from a book I was reading.  While my best is like filthy rags compared to the righteousness of the Lord, Easter proves that He can take the worst scenario possible and turn it into something beautiful.

Financial Friday

I get that its not Friday, but tomorrow's gonna be a bit crazy for me so I figured I might as well get this habit started.  Today is going to be a bit painful, as we're not doing too well at all on the budget, but here we go...

Eating Out: Budgeted $75 - Actuals to date $60.31

This has been a lot of casual dining. I wish we would go on one or two really nice out to eat excursions, but we that tends not to be our style.  With the Easter holiday this weekend and nothing else planned, we should come in under budget on this item.

Groceries: Budgeted $150 - Actuals to date $123.18

Yesterday I spent $18 on strawberries, feta cheese, orange juice, and laundry detergent.  Two tiny little bags. It made me sick to my stomach, but also very thankful that I have a pretty good size food stockpile.  I like keeping a good base of meats and staples, then shop the sales as they come around.  The food budget is so low because I do stock up on those months that ground beef or another commonly used items are on sale.

Jay and I have discussed buying an organic/grass fed cow from my boss, but I don't think we could use that much meat before it went bad in our freezer.  We also can't find anyone here locally willing to split it with us.

Personal spending (Brooke): Budgeted $125* - Actuals to date $123.14

So it looks like I'll be going over budget this month.  Oops.  Personal spending includes clothing, lunches (or fast food purchased when alone), race registrations (if not to a charitable cause, when its for a charity it goes in the "giving" category), books, fitness equipment - pretty much anything that's not a necessity that doesn't benefit the whole family.

*If I decide upon an IPhone, this will come down to $100 so that our phone budget can be increase by the $25 monthly service plan it requires.

Personal spending (Jay): Budgeted $100 - Actuals to date $99.59

I've offered to let him bump his spending up to $125 but he likes to keep it at $100.  That won't stop him from going over this month.  He mostly purchases beer and tobacco with his money and I know that he won't go the rest of the month without buying more dip, so he'll be over by at least $20.

Checking (and Savings) Wednesday

Since I've decide to give the scale a break for a bit, I've decide to shift gears a bit.  I don't plan on complete abandoning the healthy life.  Yall know I wouldn't be happy without my training schedule and races.  I have grown a bit bored with it though.  I mean does me eating a snack sized piece of chocolate really worth a blog devoted to beating myself up?

I promise to continue with race reports, training updates,  and "on the horizon" race information.  For now though, the best way I can live healthy is to do it more and think about it less.

In that gear shifting, another aspect of my life gets my OCD attention.  I've let my financial life sorta cruise by this last little bit.  Jay and I built up a decent sized cushion and were enjoying living a little more relaxed than normal.

Then our tax bill came.  Followed by a cabin (to be put on a nightly rental program) that was too good of a deal to pass up.

Our savings has taken a major hit these past couple of weeks.  Goals that seemed to be in sight feel like they are slipping away.  Its time to buckle down and I'd like for you to help keep me accountable.  Hopefully we can trade ideas for smart financial living - something I'm sure most of us need as we watch the prices of gas and groceries rise before our eyes.

The first Friday of each month I'm going to share our budget with you.  Not our entire budget.  I'm not as open as a lot of personal finance bloggers who don't care to put all of the income/out go out there for the world to see.  But I do think it would be helpful for certain categories to be out there like personal spending, eating out, and groceries.  Then I can weekly post a recap of our spending in those areas for the week and really take a moment to review them.

What do ya think?  Is this something that you'd like to read about?  Be a part of?  Or would you rather me lament having to pass up that chocolate?  (If "no thanks" is your answer to both - I'm open to other ideas too.  Just share them with me!)

I want to end each post with a review of my goals.  As Dave Ramsey often says the "how" isn't anywhere near as important as the "why" - the why is the driver behind all hows.

• Fully fund Roth IRA for 2011
• Pay off the house
• Start college savings for Princess (niece) & Little Man (nephew)
• Give to those in need

Talk to me!  What are you financial goals?  How do you plan on reaching them?