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Archive for January, 2009

New Budget Results

January 28th, 2009 at 05:40 pm

I set myself the goal of saving $828 a month this month. I indeed put the money in the bank, but had emergency vet bills for my elderly dog that made for some unexpected purchases.

But I noticed something. Because I saved that money and had it available, I didn't worry about putting it on a credit card and not being able to pay it. Instead, I have the money available. While that won't be true if I end up paying that much alimony, right now it still is a very worthy exercise and has had benefit.

I got remarkably lovely stuff at the Goodwill, and great deals on food and health items at the local 99 Cent store. I cooked ahead, and try to cook ahead each weekend and freeze lunch or meal size portions for later. I keep a journal of expenses. I know how I'm spending my money. I've already reduced some bills by renegotiating my cable by signing for a 2 year contract, that saves me $50 a month for cable, phone, long distance and internet), or by paying some bills ahead (6 months instead of monthly).

I was frugal before, but this is testing me my limits, and while in some respects I am afraid, in others, I feel empowered.

Miz Pat

anniversary

January 13th, 2009 at 06:36 pm

Its been a year since my husband left me. He's claiming to be totally disabled and I understand I would have to pay him $828 a month in alimony (this is a worse case scenario).

So my new goal is to save $828 a month. While I'm fighting his claim that he's totally disabled, I want to see if I can live on so little. If I lose my case badly, I'll have acclimated myself to the new budget and I'll have a nest egg. If I win, I'll have a nest egg, and have hopefully been even more thrifty.

So far I'm two weeks into my new budget. I'm counting every penny I spend. I write both cash and credit card purchases in my check book. The credit card purchases go against my check book total, so when the bill comes, I can immediately pay it. The cash purchases get noted, with a 0 in the balance line.

I cleaned out my standup freezer, found a lot of meat and had a big barbecue on the weekend and made myself up a bunch of freezer lunches in advance. Next weekend, I'll cook up something else and do the same thing until I have a nice stockpile of meals. I'm still trying low carb, or at least complex carb along with high protein. And I'm buying fresh veggies too as they come on sale.

I'm also cleaning out my cupboard and organizing the food. Some things I donated at church for the local food bank because they are white flour/sugar items I can't eat. The rest are organized so I can see what I have by category.

So far I haven't gone over budget yet. I have plenty to eat, I have the library for entertainment, and the internet. So far, so good.