OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD 2012

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Impulse Shopping

I admit it. I am an impulse shopper and I always have been. As I have been more accountable to myself about my spending b using a checkbook register and YNAB I have seen where the money has been going and HOW much of it is going. For Example, I budgeted about 450.00 per month for groceries and to date I have spent 627.00.

Lord have mercy,,, I am out of control! Now part of that amount is for the family dinner at thanksgiving ( more impulse buying) and the rest is just stuff. So I have to decide is it where I shop that I am spending the money or is it what I buy? Probably both. We are five adults and one child, so I do have to spend a little money. But this month I have really spent too much. I have to make changes for next month.

Also by keeping track of my money I discovered that I was going to make a tithe payment to the church that would have been in excess of 300 dollars of what I budgeted for the month. ( I tithe approximately 14% of my gross). So, that is a good thing about keeping a written ledger, I "found" 300 dollars that I was going to spend that I did not need to.

Another task that keeping a budget presents is that I have to remember all the expenses I will incur during the year so I can catorogize and plan ahead for the expected doctor or dental appointment. Oh yeah, I had to remember the newspaper subscription, the hair cuts and occasional pedicure, the professional dues, the catagory for entertainment, just to name a few. The budget is definitely a work in progress and adjustments are going to continue.

2 comments:

Maria said...

Tracking your expenses through a budget is only the first step, so dont be too hard on yourself. Also, just try to see how things go the next month or so, dont be too strict, especially around the holidays or the budget will backfire. I didnt start YNAB until January of this year and I didnt start my blog until August. I've had some time to tweak a few things but it's far from perfect.
Good luck!

Lisa said...

Maria, you are right about not being too hard on myself. I want the budget to be "perfect" right now and it definitely will take time and lots of adjustments.
Thanks

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