November was a difficult month for me in terms of keeping to my budget. I had two unexpected expenses totaling $265, but adjustments to other categories kept me at only $115 over my projected budget.
I expect December to be a good month for me. The only expenses I expect are new sneakers ($41) and getting my suit jacket tailored (~$30), and miscellaneous expenses, which includes snacks, laundry and dry cleaning, and pharmacy items, should be well under my projected budget. I adjusted my miscellaneous expenses down to $160 for the month. That still sounds high, but while I expect the best but plan for the worst. However, I am paying the cable bill 2 months early as a favor to my roommate. That will even out later. Also, Lauren, my fantastic girlfriend, has a birthday at the end of the month. Any suggestions about what to get her?
In terms of the blog, it’s been an exciting month for Sweating The Big Stuff and I’m excited to say that readership has been increasing. I’ve committed to posting more regularly and think I have found a groove that allows me to present new information while giving my insight as well. Of course, any help you provide by promoting the blog (to facebook, twitter, word of mouth) is much appreciated. At the bottom of each post are links to various social networking sites.
Let’s take a look back at my favorite posts from November
These should help you with you get started with your budgeting as well as some ideas about planning:
Planning for Unforeseen Expenses
Winning The World Series…Now What?
These two articles show how you can save a lot of money in both the short run and the long run:
These articles explain a financial idea and tool and gives you a little of my perspective on the current market:
I’m curious, since you lumped it in with “Miscellaneous” spending, how much do you spend on dry cleaning a month?
Less than $10. The other constant is $15 haircuts. The reason it was so high is that I chipped a tooth and it was $125 to fix. Well worth the money, though. I looked like a hockey player for a few days.
There always seem to be something to make miscellaneous expenses increase, but not always. I’ve had a hard time figuring out a reasonable number. Maybe a rolling budget (if I don’t use it one month, it rolls over to the next month) would help?
I’m also thinking about increasing my shopping budget. This time it was a present, but I see myself shopping more often, at least for a few months.
I think you already got her a camera… :-)
love your blogs, they’re even talking about mandating a business school class to teach the kids here about loans, mortages, credit cards and the like
That’s a really good idea. Instead of wasting time talking about best business practices for CEOs, it would help a lot more people if they taught about budgeting and making money. Having some recent graduates come in to talk about what what life is like and some common mistakes would be a nice perspective.