Where the money goes!

Hi everyone!

Do you ever wander where the money goes after it comes into your life? It may seem like there is a lot but then all the little things in life that need to be bought in order to survive, and occasionally those things we decide we just want, truly add up. My husband and I both grew up in homes where money was always an issue. In his home, starting with nothing, his mom and dad really struggled and couldn't seem to find a way to get a head of the game. I love them to pieces but I often wondered if some of the beliefs they had stopped them in their tracks. Attitude can make such a difference! My mom and dad also started with nothing but chose a path that brought them to a standard of living that was much more comfortable. However, they also fell into the trap of spending more as they brought in more. I'm not sure in the end that they were any better off. But they had fun along the way! No stress around what needed to be paid.

We decided before we got married that we would strive to live a life that was as comfortable as possible, doing the kind of work we wanted to do, not just work to survive. It's taken a lot of sacrifice and our kids grew up knowing that they couldn't just have everything they wanted. We saved pennies (literally!), bought with intention and after much investigation, did without when the needs were more important than the wants, and learned how to live frugally but with style! It's truly paid off and although we are now at a point that we could just go out and buy what ever we want, we have embraced our thriftiness so much that it's now fun. My husband often says if we ever won the lottery, I'd still be the "deal queen". And he's right! I'd still look for the best savings.

So where does the money go? As we're building now, we thought we'd take some time to really track it. To make this work, I'll do what Carla over at My 1/2 Dozen Daily does each week ~ tracks her spending, then shows the world where the money went. I love this and will start today. Thanks Carla!

Here's our total for this "Budget Thursday" on a bright, sunny, hot and muggy July morning:

• We paid $349.03 for our property taxes. This is paid monthly and covers both our current residence, as well as our acreage. Once the new house is built, we'll go down to one tax bill each month but I do anticipate it will be about this amount or a bit higher. No savings there but our utilities will be less as we're going off the grid for water. And no home phone, just our cells. A savings of about $150 a month for both.
• We paid $125 for our cable/internet/phone bill. Standard amount, no increases, no extra charges. It was actually $121 but I like to "round" things up when I pay bills and we often end up with a credit along the way.
• We paid $125 for our cell phone plan for two phones, all inclusive. A bit higher this month as dh had a few long distance calls, which he will be reimbursed for. Again, paid out higher than the actual bill of $118.
• We paid $24.58 for groceries so far this week. Our fridge is pretty full and our cupboards as well but we needed some fresh meat and our big bag of rice was at the end.
• We paid $17.41 to our AMEX account. We only use our credit cards (MasterCard for gas and groceries and AMEX for Costco purchases) for convenience and never carry a balance. MasterCard has never been able to charge us interest and we've had our cards since 1982 ~ I'm sure they hate us but then they raise our limits so we can't be too bad in their books! AMEX once charged us because of a computer glitch that showed our payment being late on their end. They fixed it and then credited us the interest they charged. Then raised our limit! This amount paid yesterday was an odd amount but I like to keep our bank account even and each night, go in and move money either to savings or shoot little amounts to our cc's. I can sleep better cause the accounts are in "even" mode and the cc's are constantly getting little payments so that by the time we get our statement, it's small to pay off.
• We transferred $2.59 to our one savings to again, even it out! In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm just a bit OCD!!
• I bought a cranberry juice last night at the cafe across from  my office when I was meeting a client and needed a cold drink. With tip, my tab came to $2.50 altogether.

To recap, for the month of July, we have spent a total of $646.11. Seems like all those amounts aren't too bad, until you add them together. But nothing there to cut back on. Other than the juice and evening out our accounts, all of this was obligations in the form of utility payments, food and property taxes.

Do you keep a frugal budget?

Where does your money go?