Tonight is our November money chat. We generally break open a couple bottles of beer and sit down with our budgets. Since we moved almost entirely to credit and check cards and we use an electronic monitoring program, it's been very easy for us to see where we're spending our money. In these monthly talks we discuss upcoming additional or non-budgeted expenses like toys or kids activities, new primer for the shutters Hawk made last year, Punch Brothers concerts, weddings or showers, and we look over the last month to see where we over/underspend.
My biggest temptation is our grocery budget. I haven't stayed on budget yet, though I think our budget is too low for the size and needs of our family. So we're looking into how to change things, where to shop differently, and what to cut out.
What area do you struggle with the most? I bet for someone it has to be clothes!
Happy Wednesday!
icj,
~j
Uh.Yeah. It's clothes for me. We did our budget when we got married, but then Eva needed all new fall clothes, so September was pretty much Eva. And I got irrationally irritated for a second. Yes, you read that right. I got mad I had to buy clothes for my child instead of me. But only for a second. :)
ReplyDeleteHa! I get it. We spend the majority of our clothes budget on our kids because they're growing so quickly! Sometimes I miss the ease of buying clothes for myself whenever I wanted to. But we keep thinking that most of these purchases will last a few kids since they outgrow them before they wear them out. And it's teaching me to make wiser, longer-lasting, classic clothes purchases. Now I'd rather spend more money on more sophisticated clothes that last through different seasons.
DeleteHello coupons and double coupon days! ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, I def struggle with clothes but I justify it...hee hee. It's cool that you guys do a monthly talk. I'm engaged and I might suggest that to my sweetie. Sounds smart.
ReplyDelete