It’s time for the October budget!

October 2018 Budget

I’ve planned out out our October budget in my Happy Planner and I’m ready to tackle this month! Budgeting is something I’m working on making a calming, self-care activity instead of something that stresses me out when we feel broke. It’s obviously a work in progress, but writing everything down is both soothing and a good reminder as we begin each month!

This month I’m anticipating $5,100 in income, which includes $200 of online income that will be moved over from business savings. I’m willing to move more over if needed as we have agreed to spend as much as needed on therapy right now as I work on  my postpartum anxiety problems and overcoming past trauma. I’m considering sharing more about this process since I’ve written about anxiety before, if anyone is interested.

Here’s the budget so far for October:

• Mortgage – $1200
• Daycare – $600
• Therapy – $520
• Utilities- $275
• Phone – $160
• Cable/Internet – $85
• Gym – $87
• College Fund – $25
• Auto Insurance – $160
• Gas – $150 (can’t believe I forgot to write it down!)
• Groceries – $500
• Dining Out – $150
• Shopping – $100
• Fun/Dates – $100
• Personal – $150
• Pets – $100
• Medical $100
• Gifts – $50
• Zoo Boo – $50
• Other – $200
• Sinking Funds – $200
• Unbudgeted – $138

Personal Spending 

Variable spending categories are where we have the tendency to overspend so I’ve been trying different tactics to keep us on track there. Honestly I think the only thing that seems to work is cash envelopes so I may try to do that for October!

I completely blew my $100 personal spending budget last month due to buying several books for Bible studies and a couple recommended by my therapist. I’ll be reading/using these for the next few months so I’ve lowered my personal spending budget for the month of October.

Therapy & Self-Care Spending

Self-care is going to be HUGE in my recovery and dealing with past trauma, so I’m trying to find ways to practice self-care in less expensive ways. I’ll post about this soon but I’m practicing self-care in many different ways that are free. I also hope to eventually add in things that have been recommended like massages.

Therapy has taken over the budget and in some ways, my life. I settled on seeing one therapist who has helped me make huge gains since the first 15 minutes of seeing her. I’m a bit bummed she stopped accepting my insurance but honestly the amount of insight and changes I’ve gained each session are totally worth the expense. It is most definitely an investment in my life and the rest of it.

I’ve tried therapy before but it seems like I was trying to treat specific symptoms whereas this is getting to the root of the problem. I’m both terrified and excited to be uprooting myself in this kind of way. I have no idea where this journey is leading me but I know that God is in control and this is most definitely for my good despite all the tears along the way.

Christmas Is Coming

Our sinking funds this month are quite simple and include our car fund and Christmas savings. Christmas is definitely sneaking up on us this year and we only have three months to save! That means we will probably have about $300 saved up and will use part of any year end bonuses we receive for Christmas.

I plan to start working on our Christmas gift lists soon and better plan out what we will be buying for all our loved ones this year. Better planning will help make Christmas less overwhelming.

Hopefully sharing our budget and plans inspires others or at least motivates you to pay more attention to your money. Living with less debt and a plan each month makes things a little bit less stressful and that is what we all need!

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!