Home About Me Privacy Policy

Overwhelmed with the Budget!

Jackson's birthday party is coming up this weekend, so I've been really busy planning that, on top of starting back full time at work for the school year. I can't wait to share details of his Cowboy party; I'm really excited about it!


It's been awhile since I've posted about out budget. There's a reason for that! We were doing pretty well with the budget in the aspect that we at least weren't overspending. We previously paid off any debt with the exception of our mortgages (our house and a rental that we couldn't sell). We were getting pretty comfortable with our cash envelopes and tracking our money. Then we decided we could go back to the credit card that earns us money with our spending. Big mistake! Don't do it!!

This decision came right around the beginning of summer, which was not the best timing anyway. I was switching from salary to hourly pay, and I wouldn't be bringing in the same amount of money. We started pretty well and continued to track our spending. Then around the middle of the summer, we just got too comfortable pulling that card out. I was afraid to check online statements. Before I knew it, we were way up to where we couldn't comfortably pay off the entire amount when it was due. This is what we try to avoid at all costs.

The biggest thing I keep telling myself is not to give up. I think it's the same thing when you're trying to lose weight. You're going to have those moments of weakness, and you just have to get back on track. So that's exactly what I'm doing now. And we're starting our cash envelopes back up for August!

Please share any advice you have on budgeting and staying on track.

2 comments:

  1. Congratulations on catching this so quickly, Erin! If you want to be able to take advantage of credit card rebates, one thing you can do is, when charging something on the card, immediately enter it into your checkbook and deduct it from your balance, so you know the true amount of money you have left. That way, there are no surprises when the bill comes in.
    Keep up the good work, and good luck back at school!
    Pat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great idea, Pat! We are able to bring up our card through USAA, and it shows what our balance is. I just kept avoiding looking at our account online knowing that it probably wasn't pretty!
      ~Erin

      Delete

PDF Print