I’m DEBT FREEEEEEEE!

After 7 years, over $17,000 on credit cards, and a tragic loss of a pet granting me another $2,000 vet bill……IT’S. ALL. OVER.

Next exit – Financial Freedom….Excuse me, that would be me!

Chase Credit Card Balance = $0

Care Credit Balance(from vet bill) = $0

MasterCard Balance = $0

Added bonus – My car is paid off so that balance also = $0!

I can say it and mean it.  Now if only I had hill tops to go scream it!

I’M DEBT FREE!

**I’m not counting my mortgage. Who does?*

That’s all.  Have a great day 🙂

 

2012 Budget in Review

So although I haven’t been posting, I didn’t stop my budgeting!  Just like my mid-month and end-month Quality Time with my money, I have a BIG FAT date in January every year.  This is the real big one.  It’s not like a Friday night date to the movies or a quick dinner. This is like an anniversary. A big date to reflect, enjoy, and remember what my money and I have achieved, where we have slipped up and made mistakes, and how to make the upcoming year even better! It takes planning, preparation, and quite a bit of time should be set aside. No interruptions.

For anyone that’s new to my blog or you too need a reminder feel free to play a little catch up, then come back here 🙂

“Budgeting. Learning from our past before we can move forward.”

and

“Drafting your budget”

and

“Making my money last all year….mid-year review.”

So here we go….

STEP 1 – Get your data together.
Pull up your budget data you have collected for the whole year. Whether you use Microsoft Money, Mint, or your own little Excel spreadsheet like I do, make sure you have your full 12 months in front of you. For those of you that may have started tracking your finances mid-year, ITS OKAY.  You don’t have to have YOUR calendar follow the traditional Calendar Year.  Many businesses out there set their own calendar to meet their needs, so you can too.  Mine is Jan-Dec, but yours can be whatever you like. June-May?   August-July? If you don’t have a full 12 months of data, come back and read this post later when you are ready. For those of you that do….. Now that 12 months has gone by you can see exactly what you earned AND spent in each one of your categories.

STEP 2. REFLECT

Sit and stare at it for awhile.  What do you see? What do you notice?  Do you notice some months are quite different than others?  Did you have events occur in your life that you didn’t foresee coming that messed up your planning a little bit and set you way off? i.e. Emergency expenses, unplanned vacations, or just simple lack of self restraint?   I know I did and it’s okay! It’s expected and we aren’t perfect so don’t beat yourself up. No matter how much we plan, we cannot predict the future. We can however, learn from our past in order to do our best to prepare for the unforeseen future….

STEP 3.  WHAT WAS YOUR REAL INCOME OR EXPENSE EACH MONTH (compared to what you budgeted)?

Get an average for what you ACTUALLY spent and earned in every single line item in your previous years budget. This will give you a more precise estimate on what you need to budget for each category next year.  You will notice some of your data IS the same no matter what each month so it’s easy to get the average and you were likely spot on last year. Those fluctuating categories however, GRRRRRR…..

Take every line item in. Add them up. Divide it by 12.  That my dear readers is what you should plan to budget for EVERY month in 2013.

STEP 3. PLUG YOUR NEW DATA IN AND SEE IF IT WORKS

Now that you have your averages for every single line item from last year, plug it into your budget for 2013.  Got it?  Okay your all set. Here’s your new budget and it’s perfectly set to your last years habits so there should be no mistakes this year!  You are all ready for a new year!

Right?

Wait….  Just a second?

If you take your new budgeted income (taken from the average you earned last year) and minus all your totals for your new budgeted expenses (taken from the average of what you spent last year) does it equal zero?  If so your pretty freaking amazing, but I bet it doesn’t!

STEP 4.  INCOME – EXPENSES MUST = $0.

MY POSITIVE PEOPLE. If you have a positive number that is awesome, but I don’t believe in anything but $0 at the bottom. That extra money needs to go somewhere.  That number is an extra amount you can spend or save each month.  Assign it to something. Give it a reason.  Would you like to be able to spend more money in a category you already have?  Boost a category allowing yourself a higher expense each month with that money.  i.e clothes, vacations, etc.  OR do you need to add a whole new category you didn’t have last year. Add something new to your life. Perhaps you thought you couldn’t afford it, but now you can?  A new pet perhaps?  A hot tub in the backyard?  Have you been wanting to be able to go back to school?

MY NEGATIVE PEOPLE.  It’s okay! You just need to make some adjustments. INCOME 1st.  Did you do okay on income last year?  If you didn’t make as much as you budgeted for, maybe it’s time for a new job? I helped boost my income one year by getting a roommate. If you can’t adjust your income at all, then we need to look at EXPENSES.  Figure out where you went way over. Where can you cut back?  I had to do this when my income went way down and it was hard, but doable.  Here are some ideas on where you can cut back.  It’ may be hard but if I can do it, so can you. I can go into more detail on this in another post.

1. Eating out. It’s FAR less expensive to eat at home.

2. Gifts.  One year I was so excited to buy everyone gifts at Christmas time, but it turned out I couldn’t really afford it because I hadn’t budgeted for gifts throughout the year (weddings, birthdays, Mothers and Fathers Day, baby showers) and it cost me in the end. Make sure you budget properly for it all year and stick to your budget.

3. Groceries.  This is a whole other post for later.  Read some of my other grocery posts already up!

4. D.I.Y.  What are some items in your life you can do yourself rather than paying someone else. Can you paint your own nails for awhile? How about scrubbing your toilet and getting rid of the house keeper for a bit?  Mow your own lawn?? Do you really need to valet every time you go to the mall?

STEP 5. CHECK EVERY SINGLE LINE ITEM ONE LAST TIME.

Life changes and therefore your budget this year may not need to be set based on your lifestyle last year. The first 4 listed above are great to get you started for the new year, but now lets get detailed.  It’s time to go line item by line item and ask yourself the following questions for every item.

1. Was I happy with this amount last year?

2. If nothing changes, do I need to budget more in this category? (Did you go over last years budgeted amount?)

3. If nothing changes, should I try to live off less in this category? (Did you always stay under last years budgeted amount?)

4. This year I foresee changes someone or something else is causing and therefore I will need (less or more).  (i.e. Is your car getting older and may need more service?  Did you finally pay off your student loans or credit card debt?

5. This I intend to make a change and therefore I will need (less or more).  Do you want to go on an extra vacation? Do you want to buy a new car. Did you get a new job and the commute is further so you have to up your gas expense?

6. This year I cannot foresee changes occurring, but just to be safe I will feel more secure with (less, more, or the same). One last chance to give yourself peace of mind.  Even a brand new car can get smashed by a tree in a storm, or a job that feels so secure can be taken away. I don’t mean to be a pessimist here, but it’s reality and we should all be ready for the worst.

7. Based on the answering the above questions, as what amount should I set my budget for this item?

Remember after you make these changes….Does your INCOME-EXPENSES=$0?

So Cheers to 2013 and Happy Budgeting. Would love your feedback on how you have done so far and any other tips you yourself use for your own budgeting techniques.

Shopping Semi-healthy to stay Semi-wealthy and wise….

I haven’t posted on my grocery store savings in a while.  I’m not quite as nutty as some of those people you see on that TLC show, Extreme Couponers, but I must say I do my fair share of clipping, researching, and list making, to make sure I get the best bang for my buck. AS for the picture to the left, maybe I am a wee bit obsessed.  But I promise some out there are worse!

Yesterday was my first big savings in a while. I spent most of my summer focusing my savings within my garden. I was eating all the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers I could. I simply love knowing I’m saving money on fresh and healthy food, and it stinks that the one thing that is so hard to coupon for are items in the produce section. Nevertheless, there is still a way to save.  As I have mentioned in the past, I try to focus on savings when I shop, but not so much that I’m eating processed crap 24/7. There is a fine balance!

The items that are healthy and good for our bodies are typically found around the perimeter of the store.  If you want to shop as healthy as possible, stay away from the lanes! Next time you go to the store stay on the outside the WHOLE trip and only buy from there. I try to do this once a week to make sure I’m still buying things that are wholesome and nutritious. Think about it, in my store the main areas are Produce, Meat, Dairy, and Deli.  You will hardly find a coupon for zucchini, salmon, or a dozen eggs, but these types of food are good for us, and unprocessed for the most part. If it were easier for me I would go to a farmers market every week for these items, but I just can’t do it all!  SO how do I save?

1)  SALES!  I look for whats on sale. Many items in the produce department are seasonal and therefore will go on sale throughout different times of the year. Have you ever noticed how strawberries are sometimes $5 and then other times only $2? Instead of making a list for what I want, I grab what is marked down for the week.  This week I grabbed some bananas and cherry tomatoes. The first batch of tomatoes I bought in 4 months, <SIGH> bye bye gardening season.

2)Manager Mark Downs – My store marks items down as they near their expiration date. Some people might get a little freaked out by this, but if it’s not expired yet, it’s ok! I just know I either need to eat it ASAP, or throw it in the freezer. This week I snagged up a bag of salad (please note bright orange and yellow sticker on bag in picture below), more tomatoes, and some stuffed peppers made in the meat department.

3)Coupons. They do happen! Kroger will send me coupons every now and then. Inside I will find “Best Customer Coupons”! Once a month they will send me a FREE coupon for something in this “perimeter area” of the store amongst other coupons as well. Last month I got a coupon for a free dozen eggs!

So never fear! Savings is possible in a healthy way, it may just not be as great when you shop like this…

How do you say no to Toaster Strudels when they are only 5 cents a box?? Ahh, the childhood memories 🙂

The breakdown?

Total before coupons = $83

Total after coupons = $52

BONUS!

$10.75 received in Kroger Dollars for buying participating items!

I saved about  $40. That’s nearly 50% off! I’m always happy when I hit that 50% off mark 🙂 Now I’m going to have a toaster strudel for breakfast….and YES….  WITH the icing! Don’t judge me….. 😉 I’m off to reward myself!

Fall Budgeting (Part 1) Are you ready for some football?!

I sat down last week to do my monthly budget review. September was officially the transition from Summer to Fall for me.  The pools have closed, school is back in, the closets have started to transition from the summer to winter wardrobe, and I am watching football 4 -5 nights a week!   With all these changes due to a new season, our budgets must prepare as well. Let the new spending habits begin….

I started to think about how my lifestyle changes in the Fall and as we approach the Holidays.  I decided to make a list to make sure my budget was ready.  I know it won’t be exact, but it should help me be prepared! As I looked at my budget and thought about my own personal lifestyle changes, one huge thing popped into my head immediately….

FOOTBALL

I may be female but I still have a heart for the game.  I’m a southern girl, so I grew up learning to love the college game and now I can say that I have learned to fall in love with the NFL as well. This means that 4-5 days a week my extracurricular activities involve something to do with this sport; gathering with friends for cook outs and game watching, joining football “pick -em” leagues, and hoping each week I can win some extra money, and going to games local and afar! Here’s how I need to map out my next 3-4 months.

Vacation – I have already traveled across several states for 1 game and in a month I plan to drive south for another.  I better make sure my vacation budget is order… This means more gas than usual, hotel rooms, (or even an RV??), extra dining out expenses, and perhaps some memorabilia will be purchased as well.

Dining out – It saves more money to gather with friends to watch the games because everyone can chip in on the menu for the day or you can take turns hosting. However, every now and then it’s a must to go to a sports bar to take in all the games. Especially since the NFL wont air all the games unless you have Direct TV (which I refuse to do, but that’s another story). When you chose to dine out for game day that means you are committing to a restaurant visit for 4 hours at minimum. Over that period of time, your tab can really rack up! I need to make sure my dining out budget is ready.

Entertainment – This probably wont change much.  It’s a seasonal category.  I spent more of my money on concerts and festivals over the summer, and now I will spend more of my money on football tickets and internet leagues. Just like Ticketmaster is complete highway robbery with their prices and hidden fees, so is the NCAA and NFL ticket pricing, so I should be ready. Nevertheless, I may up it just a bit.

Important clothing and accessories –  One can not be a true fan without gear and what better way to be a true fan AND girl, than go shopping! Is my budget ready?

So for now I think I am ready for the season of football!  Now if I can just keep my southern class in check 🙂

Next for my Fall Budget Preparations, gearing up for the Holidays. What changes in your life when new seasons approach. Are you ready?

Making my money last all year….mid-year review.

So I have no excuse other than summer was finally able to wrap it’s arms around me and completely kidnap me from the world for a few weeks. I’ve been so busy enjoying the outdoors and being active, I haven’t thought twice about sitting down to blog in awhile. (Well, I felt a bit of remorse now and again but brushed it off quite easily)  School is now back in, my schedule has slowed, and for the first time in awhile I have missed writing. So here I am….

 
Don’t worry.  Although my blogging may have been on vacation, I have still been on top of things with my budgeting. Twice a month as always (the 1st and the 15th), I have still managed to sit down and have some quality time with my money and make sure things are going as planned.

One of the things I did in the past few weeks was have a mid-YEAR review. I have talked about my mid-month and monthly QT time. However, expenses and needs can vary from month to month and season to season. It’s hard to budget for an entire year if you only have one or two months data in front of you.  Especially if any of you out there are brand new at this budget thing and have no past data of your spending habits.  If you have been budgeting long enough to have 6 months in front of you this can help big time!   I suggest looking at the average of your expense totals in each category from the past 6 months.  Here is an example of one of my categories. I chose a category that changes a lot from month to month.

Car maintenance

Expense total month to month

January – $0

February – $40 (oil change)

March – 301.16 ( I had some major work done)

April – $0

May – -$45 (oil change reimbursement from a secret shop)

June – $0

As you can see my expenses varied greatly. If I only look at March the assumption is I should budget $300 a month. On the flip side, if I only look at June, the assumption is I need to budget nothing!  Neither is correct. Now that I have 6 months of data I can better see that my needs change, and therefore I should take an average to decide my monthly budget. The average expense over a 6 month period for me is $50 a month, so this is how I decide the amount for the remainder of the year  in this category. Prior to this review I was only budgeting $40 a month ,so I was glad I did this review.  My car is getting a little older and is starting to require more maintenance so I wasn’t surprised by this number.

I did this review for each and every category.

Areas I was right on and needed no change were found to be my constant expenses that never changed. i.e. Mortgage, HOA dues, health insurance, etc.

Areas that change from month to month (gas, gifts)  needed some adjusting however. After averaging the past 6 months, I looked at categories with a major difference in my actual spending vs. my budget amount.  If I saw more than a 10% difference, I made an adjustment. If I was only off a few dollars, I left it alone. Here was where I had to make some changes.

I had to raise my car maintenance, medical and health expenses (ugh I’m aging), dining out, miscellaneous entertainment (concerts/festivals/movies), and gift budgets.  However, I also got to LOWER my debt pay off,  personal care (make-up and toiletries), cat, and hair budgets.

Overall I have been doing ok and if anything, I’m still able to tuck money away each month  towards an emergency fund and future car purchase.
As soon as I’m fully out of my credit card debt (previous goal August, new goal October) I plan to open an IRA… I know I know….budget girl doesn’t have one???? I’m working on it!

 

 

Budget Review – Financial Freedom is Awesome!

It’s been a little hectic for me his summer, so I apologize for not blogging as often.  My summer hours are a little crazy at work and when I’m not working, I’m outside. Gardening, swimming, playing outdoor games, BBQ-ing, sunbathing, etc…..I do love my Vitamin D and fresh air. I have a feeling I will be much more of a winter blogger 🙂

Nevertheless, it is not only time for my “first-of-the-month” update, but we are also halfway through the year! Can you believe it?   I sat down this morning and had my Financial QT.  June was a pretty decent month for me.  I raked in the hours at work and got a pretty nice looking paycheck on July 1!  It was way on up there compared to most. However, I have mentioned before my money fluctuates with each paycheck.  Whenever I get a big one, I know a smaller one may be just around the corner. For instance,  my job closes for an entire week during the 4th of July Holiday.  Nice vacation right?! Well……………. I don’t get paid when I’m not working.  That means my next paycheck is going to have a whole week of hours missing.  So what do I do? Plan ahead!  Instead of getting all  “irresponsible” and going on a shopping spree with my recent “fat daddy – how you doing? – holla at ya”, July paycheck #1; I instead will use that extra moolah as a way to compensate for what I know will be a shortfall on my “I hope you enjoyed that week long vacation, but you didn’t earn a dime” July paycheck #2.

Ok so let’s get down to it.

JUNE MONEY REVIEW FOR YOU

In my last few posts I have given you a quick overview on only a few items in my budget, but I haven’t really let you see a true line by line copy of what I look at each month when I have my QT.   I thought I would show you a snapshot of where I stand on every single line item of my budget for expenses only. Perhaps this will make you feel more comfortable and confident about your budget, and maybe give you more ideas on how to edit or update it as well.  Keep in mind this does not show you how much I budget or actually spend. That’s none of your business 😉

What this DOES show you however, is how well I am staying on track for each of my expense line items in my budget.  My excel sheet is built to roll over each month keeping track of everything since January.  What you are looking at is how I stand YTD (year to date) The red numbers are where I am over budget and the black numbers, I am under! Go black!

Debt (loans, Credit card)	(517.03)	I have way overspent here, but that’s just b/c I want to be done with my debt!
Mortgage	0.00
car maintenance and tag	(21.16)	I am still catching up from major work done back in April and a recent oil change. I foresee no expenses in July so I’m ok.
car insurance	(9.40)	I am budgeting about 3 dollars short each month. I plan to shop around in August.
HOA Dues	0.00
Home Insurance	80.00	This is a good example of a time when someone might look at their overall account balance and think they have an extra $80 to spend. However, since I know every dollar has a “home” I know I can’t spend this money. It’s for my insurance bill that will be coming up in a few months.
Home Improvements/Maint	27.22	This is a good budget expense to have if you own your home.  Savings for when you need to re-caulk that tub, have a leaky faucet, or want to paint a room.  I only use this for when the cost is under $50.  If it’s a big expense like a new dishwasher, I have a savings account.
Home Supplies	3.51
Cable	(169.11)	This is from my first bill with my new internet provider. I blogged about it awhile back.  Since my bill will go down in the following months I will be back on track by September and then saving money!
Cell phone	(28.68)	I got a smart phone and went over my data plan.  Ooops!
Health and Personal Care	2.02
Health Insurance	27.00	I pay for my own insurance. Let’s not talk about Obama healthcare today…
Clothes	124.56	Sweet, I can go shopping…..I need new tennis shoes…..
Gas	5.50	So glad gas prices have gone down!
Groceries	37.12
Lunch Out	(23.99)	See how I saved money above on regular groceries but I over spent here.  It all evens out 🙂
Dinner Out	3.36
Cat	68.73	It’s time to buy new flea medication. Glad I saved up for it!
Other Entertainment	(17.87)	For me this is miscellaneous fun.  Movies, bowling, arcades, concerts, festivals, etc
Fees/Fines	(14.99)	I gotta stupid parking ticking. I didn’t feed the meter.  😦
Gifts	79.72	I might need to beef this up to get ready by Christmas.
Cash Withdrawels	40.00	Just a nice buffer to have when I need some cash.
Fitness	40.00	I don’t have a gym membership, but this is for when I want to enter a race or need my new equipment, new videos, etc.
Hair	34.00
spoil me	66.50	This is kinda my reward line item. A way to do just what it says each month. Everyone should and deserves to treat themselves from time to time. What’s your weakness?  I enjoy spa days, a fun piece of jewelry, getting my car washed, etc!
buffer in checking	945.14	I like to have a buffer in my account for emergencies and to keep me safe when I do have those months that I might go over in a few categories at once.

This is where I was with each category at the end of June.  Now starting in July, I get to take the numbers you see and add my new July budget on top of that as well.  i.e. I budget $20 a month in my “spoil me” category, so in July I will have $86.50 to spend.

Hopefully this helps everyone see why budgeting is important. It’s nice to know where your money is truly going each month, what it’s for, and if you are truly ready for almost anything.  While we would like to be certain of our expenses and I wish they were consistent, that is not the way it works.  Be prepared… spend wise, save wise, live happy.  Happy 4th of July week everyone! I’m off to the lake!

I splurged on my money cake, but ran off the extra pounds in no time!

Ironic how my last post was about not crashing on a money diet!  I myself felt like I had a bit of a fall back the past few weeks.  Not too big. I used my credit card a few times this month when my expenses seemed to be happening juuuuuust a bit ahead of my income.  My check didn’t come in until today, but I prematurely splurged on a few items.  Of course these items were budgeted, but just because it’s in the budget doesn’t mean you can just spend the money if you don’t have it!  I didn’t go buy a $300 pair of shoes or anything, I just went out to eat a few more times than normal, splurged on my mom for her birthday, got a pedicure, etc…..But  I needed to “borrow” some money,  a.k.a. swipe the old credit card, since I didn’t have the cash yet to pay for these things….Swiping my credit card is like nails on a chalkboard.  I cringe when I have to do it, and slightly beat up on myself.

You see I got into $15,000 of credit card debt about 6 years ago and I have been climbing out of it ever since. I have been really strict, made a plan, and had to eat peanut butter and jelly and hard boiled eggs for awhile. I swore I would never ever swipe my credit card unless it was an absolute emergency and IF I have to swipe that card I better be able to pay it off when the bill comes. My last post I talked about not crashing and this was by no means a “crash”.  I allowed myself a slice of cake, if you will, but now I intend to run a few extra miles 🙂 It’s not crashing as long as you are completely aware of what is going on and you stick to the plan to reverse any “damage” that may have been done.

I got paid today. I immediately pulled my credit card statement and paid every single “recent charge” listed. No interest charged. No harm done. Still right on track.  Savings up! Credit card debt still going down. 2 months to go and I will be debt free! (P.S. I don’t count my mortgage)

Don’t crash on a money diet. Make it a lifetsyle change.

On the 1st of the month I like to update everyone on how I am doing with my budget and whether or not I’m staying on track. 1) It’s nice to hold myself accountable by writing about it. 2) Hopefully I will inspire some others to pick up the healthy habit as well.

Overall, my past few months have been great. I have had a surplus in my clothing, spa, groceries, dining out, and many other budget categories several months in a row. Basically this means I haven’t been spending. I have been so focused on saving, saving, saving, and paying off my credit card debt, that I have almost been too strict on myself. I realized I was close to falling into the same trap many people trying to lose weight often fall into.

How many dieters do you know that restrict themselves from candy and chocolate and soda for months while trying to lose weight? Yet the minute they hit their goal weight, they go right back to their unhealthy eating pattern. For me, I don’t want to restrict myself during my money diet so much so that when I’m debt free I fall back into the same trap of overspending.

That’s why looking at this as a lifestyle change and NOT a diet is so important. I’m a firm believer in moderation. Whether its cutting back on sweets or spending, you have to be sensible. It’s a balancing act. I finally decided to let loose in May and actually spend some of the money I have allotted myself. I knew if I didn’t, eventually I would do something I would regret. I would throw down my credit card and go nuts. I would be right back where I started… a credit card debt nightmare.

As always, savings first. This month I managed to put $100 into my car savings account. I also put $100 into my emergency savings account. Finally, I put $300 down on my credit card debt. After all this “money fasting” I decided to spoil myself. It’s time to actually spend!

After savings, spending. After the mandatory bills, I decided to spend money on some “wishes and wants”. My chocolate 🙂 I went shopping and bought some clothes. I got a fresh haircut. I allowed myself to go to a few lunch and dinner outings as well. I even splurged and bought a few gifts for people.

When looking back at my finances I did manage to go slightly over in a few categories, but nothing more than $20. I think I deserved that new dress and delightful dinner with friends. Besides I’m right back on track for June and it was worth it!

Point being, make sure you don’t go too extreme if your trying to budget, climb out of debt, or save money. Allow yourself some pleasures now and again. After all, you work hard for your money and you cant take it with you when your gone.

Mid Month May Update

I had my mid-month money date last night and boy oh boy was I pleased!

For my new readers, my mid month review is pretty much the same as my 1st of the month, but not quite as detailed. I just like to check in and make sure I’m staying on track and give myself a quick heads up if I’m about to be in trouble anywhere.

Step 1 -Get your records. Bank statements, credit cards statements, etc.

Step 2 – Plug in all transactions into your budget. Don’t have a budget? Stop and make one please!

Whether you use excel, mint.com, or quicken, make sure you have allocated all your money transactions into the correct category of your budget.

 

Step 3 – How did you do?

Budget column (you predetermine) – Actual Column (you just finished plugging in the numbers) = Variance (how you are doing)

Wherever you see a negative in your variance column is where you need to make some adjustments.

Here is my groceries so you can see an example. I budget $225 a month. So far I have only spent $79.93.  That leaves me with $195.09.  Why?  Because last month I was under budget too!  This month I have $147.07 left and last month I was left with $50.02. I make sure to roll over any savings or losses each month so I can stay on track each month.  A savings of $50 last month plus my current savings of $147 this month means I still have $195.

Budget                                Actual                                              Variance

-225.00

-79.93

195.09

Step 4 – Make changes necessary to stay safe through the rest of the month.

Here are my categories where I went over budget or it looks like I might go over budget before the month is over.

• NONE – Woo hoo! Go me! So far I’m on track 🙂 It looks like no changes are necessary!

Step 5 – Life Changes = Budget Changes

1) I haven’t yet talked about the fact the I have a credit card debt I am trying to pay off.  This isn’t exactly a life change I foresee in the future, but one I have been working on for the past five years. I have been putting $300 a month towards the payments for over a year now to pay off my final card.  Whenever I look like I am saving money and “ahead of the game” I will use that savings to go towards this debt. This month I am looking so good I decided to throw $500 at the debt. My goal is to have this card paid off August 1st.  If I achieve this goal of August 1, it means it will have taken me 5 years to pay off $15,000 in debt 🙂  I know the number is nothing to be proud of, but being able to put it behind me makes me smile! So August 1st I’m hoping that my only debt is my mortgage!  Cheer for me would ya?

STEP 6 – REWARD TIME!

I always leave the best for last. I like to check out the categories where I actually did better than I planned.  These are the categories where I have positive numbers staring back at me. Now I get to decide what to do with this extra moolah within these categories! You treat yourself too!

• My reward – I already showed you my grocery savings. 🙂 For once I decided to say forget the couponing and the time I spend doing it.  I headed to Trader Joe’s to stock pile on the healthy stuff I for so long felt like I couldn’t afford, but really wanted.  The closer I get to my debt free goal the more I am able to eat healthier. I still love to coupon, but some things I love just never go on sale (which is why I started my garden) and I wish I could splurge on all the time.  Being debt free will help me 🙂

Do you actually read and review your bills before you pay them?

About a month ago I wrote about changing internet providers. I have since been able to get my new service up and running and said goodbye to the old. Yesterday I sat down to pay a set of bills I usually take care of mid month. It was time to pay that final Comcast bill and most likely time to think about my new bill from AT&T. Because I made the switch mid-month in April I knew I was going to have to pay a portion of April and all of May for both so these bills were likely to be a bit higher than normal.

When I cancelled Comcast back in April I never paid the final bill. Why?  Because when I cancelled middle of the month they told me they would need to prorate my bill amount. I cancelled internet with them, but not cable so I needed a new bill with a new amount. With Comcast you pay in advance for your monthly service. I was now cancelling service halfway through the month, yet I had already paid for it.  They let me know they would need to generate a new bill for me showing a credit and a new amount due for cable only. So I waited…..and waited…..and waited.  Yesterday I was curious why I hadn’t received a new bill so I checked into it. Imagine my surprise when I pulled up my “online bill pay” feature provided from my bank and it showed me that I owed $184!  This was not a lesser amount, but rather double in price!

I went to Comcast’s website and looked at a pdf version of my bill with details. It turns out, not only had they not prorated my amount, but they also never cancelled my service and were still billing me for it!

So I picked up the phone and made the call. I sat on hold for a good 15 minutes. Thank goodness I have speaker phone and could multitask while I waited. After the wait was over I explained my situation and the person on the other end apologized and gave me a new amount due. $83.56

That’s quite a jump from $184! It took me 20 minutes to save myself $100 that I didn’t actually owe!

Then came ATT&T.  I got an email from them later in the day with my first bill.(Nice timing!)  Once again, sticker shock!

Service	Account ending in	Member ID	Bill Amount	Due Date
U-verse	9555		$318.91	05/31/2012

$300+ plus for my first internet bill.  WHAAAAAAT!  Does anyone have common sense anymore. ARGH!  I was a bit frustrated at this point. I looked up my bill online and it turns out they too made a mistake. They billed me for a technician coming out to my house to install the service when in fact, I had opted for a self install. I once again got on the phone and made a call. This wait time was far shorter and after another apology and adjustment in my account, my bill dropped to $150.

So what is my over all savings here?

Comcast – Original amount $184 – Correct amount = $83 (This includes part of April and May cable)

AT&T – Original amount $300 – Correct amount = $150 (This includes part of April and May internet and $100 fee for the wireless device)

Thanks to a little research and two phone calls, I spent yesterday saving myself $250.

I understand people and computers these days make mistakes, but this is QUITE a big mistake.  My worry is how many people out there just blindly or automatically pay their bills each month and never ever look at them.  You might be surprised at how much money you can save.

I challenge you to start looking at your bills.  Maybe you don’t need to pull out a magnifying glass every month on all your bills, but on occasion you should be auditing your bills.  I actually pick a new bill each month to go over and make sure I’m paying the best and correct price each month. Last month was internet and cable and it somehow carried over to this month as well.  Next month I plan to review my car and home owners insurance.

Anyone else have a billing error story they discovered?