A new month...

A new budget. Our budget month runs on my pay schedule since hubby gets paid weekly and that has the potential to screw me all up.

December was a nightmare - I wasn't allowed to look at the bank account for about three weeks, so I wouldn't ruin any Christmas surprises (yeah, because everything was SUCH a surprise by the time hubby got done with it!). So I gave up, and we spent WAAAAAAAAY too much money.

So, in anticipation of having a really good budget month this time, I went out and spent what felt like a bazillion dollars at Winco on Saturday. At a regular grocery store, I'm sure it would have been an actual bazillion dollars! I love Winco...

Bugs me to no end that the only way I can keep on top of the budget is to update it every day. Or sometimes every other day, if I'm careful. You'd think we'd have "no spend" days, but for some reason it just doesn't happen. I have to track everything by category in an Excel spreadsheet. I don't even use Microsoft Money anymore, since just about everything goes on our Visa card and we pay it off every week. I just download the bank statements and save them in case there's ever a problem.

Tonight's task is to transfer all the monthly savings pots into their respective ING accounts (clothes, doctor bills, pets, home improvement).

I guess it's worth it in the long run, though, because, while we never stay exactly in budget (though we would I'm sure if I could just restrain myself at the grocery store and not be so freaking lazy when it comes to cooking), it does help us considerably in our quest to save a large chunk of change every month. With hubby's uncertain job situation, and all the projects we want to do around here (like actually putting some landscaping in the front yard, or fixing the Blazer YET AGAIN), it's a big goal of ours to sock away as much as we can. Hubby's raise should help with that, too - I'd like to up the savings amounts in certain categories, plus overall.

Another pay period, another budget! Happy payday!