My review of our August budget and how we did with our actual numbers compared to the estimated is now on YouTube!

It is still incredibly strange to be talking about my income and expenses online but I also love it! I’ve learned so much about personal finance in the last few years after making a ton of mistakes. It’s one of my favorite topics to talk about in real life and I listen to at least one personal finance podcast a day. I’m a money nerd!

If this can help just one person get more organized and on a better financial track then I’ve done something I’m proud of.

Money can be such a drag on people’s lives and brings huge amounts of fear and negative emotions. Money has ruined the lives of people I love dearly.

I hope I can inspire someone, anyone, to take control of their money and let the negative emotions go.

August 2018 Budget Review

You can see my August 2018 budget here and in the video I share the specifics of how our budget turned out. You can watch for the nitty gritty of how each category turned out and how the categories all fit into the income.

A few highlights:

Income: We anticipated $4,900 in income and ended up making $504.59 more than that. I used $200 in online income to supplement our monthly spending since I’ve been working less hours at work.

Gas & Oil: I ended up needing my oil changed sooner than expected so we were over $52.48 in this category. My oil change was done by my awesome father-in-law so I only paid for the oil, but it was still an unexpected expense.

Pest Control: We went over by $60 in this category and spent $260 total to get our account caught up due to their weird billing practices. It’s $60 per spray per month and I don’t think we will be doing it next summer when DIY options are as effective (which is not very).

Hot Water Heater: We bought a new hot water heater! The joys of home ownership know no bounds! We came in right under what we expected it to cost which was a great budgeting feat considering we upgraded to a bigger and better tank.

Groceries: Over in this category by $79…. we are always over in this category and eating out! While we are doing better than we once were, this is still a category where I would like to make improvements since it is still a high expense every month.

Shopping: August was not a big month for shopping and we had $72 left in our shopping budget for the month, woohoo! That helped cover some of the overages in other categories.

Unbudgeted: Our main unbudgeted expense this month was car tags for Jason’s car, which I always forget. I think my car tags are due in August but they aren’t so I talk myself out of it and then forget his actually are due in August. It’s a strange cycle that has happened two years in a row now. Budgeting can be hard y’all!

Sinking Funds

• Car Fund – $200
• Travel – $50
• Roth IRA – $50

These were all funded as planned! We will be started our Christmas sinking fund soon since Christmas is sneaking up on us fast. I want to also up the car fund sinking fund soon since we anticipate upgrading cars in 2019.

There are several travel opportunities on the horizon but I haven’t fully planned anything yet. We’ve got a good amount of airline points and would love to go on a trip soon, but of course with a baby that makes things more complicated. So right now I’m saving for travel just to save.

Overall I’d like to save more in the coming months. After finishing our emergency fund we let the gas off the pedal and have been spending more while also earning less. I’m not sure it’s a sustainable practice, but it has been nice to just breathe for a while!

What I Use To Budget

Below are some of the items I use to budget with! I get a lot of questions about what I use with my planners and the apps I use to keep my budget on track every month so I want to share the budgeting tools I use to make budgeting both functional and fun.

Happy Planner – I use my Happy Planner for everything including budgeting! I find writing down my budget and checking in on paper helps me to better remember and makes it feel more real.

Budget Stickers – I use a variety of budget stickers in my videos from Me And My Big Ideas, Erin Condren and various Etsy shops. I’ve linked my favorite budget sticker Etsy shops I use all the time below (affiliate links):

• Elaine Michelle Studio (youtuber & budget stickers)
• Planner Kate (matte budget stickers)
• A Happy Blue Tree (kawaii budget stickers)
• HoneyInked Planner Paperie (clear budget stickers)
• Planner Envy (bright budget stickers)

Every Dollar – My husband and I both use a shared Every Dollar app account where we actively track our spending. This works best for us since my husband doesn’t use a planner and we have joint bank accounts and expenses.

Mint.com – I’ve used Mint for over years as a passive net worth tracker. It’s a more passive option and I don’t actively update it except for once or twice a year when I want to gauge my net worth progress.

Hopefully these tools will help you with your budget whether you love pen and paper or technology!