Since incomes are relative, my recaps are in percentages instead of dollar amounts.

Income

I received an income tax refund but also had to pay some taxes, however the refund did make for some nice extra income this month. This is fortunate since I forgot to factor it into April’s budget.

Fixed Expenses

I am still adjusting to the new apartment utility expenses which are, thankfully, much cheaper than at the last apartment.

Total April Fixed Expenses: Budgeted – 44%; Actual – 35%

Variable Expenses

I became a bit too excited about updating my summer wardrobe and spent far too much on clothes. Also, I did my annual hair highlights and should have factored that into my budget from the beginning. Thankfully my tax refund helped to balance out this over spending.

This was the first month I tracked my alcohol expenses individually. My estimate wasn’t too far off but I was surprised by just how much I spent on alcohol alone. Really, it is more the cost of socializing with friends, but I would like to cut this down next month.

This was also my first full month of commuting from Jersey City into Manhattan. The commute was far less than I expected with a total of $63 for the entire month! I separate MTA (nyc subway) because that is for my own leisure purposes and is not related to my commute.

Total April Variable Expenses: Budgeted – 32%; Actual – 22%

Savings

Last month, I took money from my emergency savings to cover the security deposit of my new apartment. I made sure to replace that this month.

Total April Savings: Budgeted – 17%; Actual – 15%

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Since incomes are relative, my recaps are in percentages instead of dollar amounts.

Moved!

This was a weird month because I unexpectedly moved to a new apartment. Throughout the month, I incorporated moving expenses (and profits) into my budget and made decreases in other categories to offset the unplanned spending.

Income

I sold my car, received my apt security deposit, received an auto insurance credit and sold various pieces of furniture this month. This resulted in an additional $2,000 to my monthly income. For this reason, the percentages are not a direct comparison but still useful to know.

Fixed Expenses

I cancelled my auto insurance when I sold my car and received a refund for what I had already paid. I went over on my texting again, however, I have decided to increase my monthly plan by $5. I have the room in my budget to do this and it makes more sense than paying the overcharges every month.

Total January Fixed Expenses: Budgeted – 62%; Actual – 35%

Variable Expenses

When I learned I was moving, I immediately added an “apt/move” category to my budget and made adjustments in other categories accordingly. Thankfully, I over-estimated my moving expenses!

Total January Variable Expenses: Budgeted – 62%; Actual – 50%

Savings

This month I set-up categories for multiple saving funds in my budget. Instead of only adding to my emergency savings, I want to be able to add a little bit to an entertainment fund (races, concerts, etc) and a travel fund each month I included them in my budget to start a routine of adding to them.

I took money from my emergency savings to cover the security deposit of the new apartment. When I receive the check from the old place, it will immediately go into the emergency fund.

Total January Savings: Budgeted – 8%; Actual – 5%

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Since incomes are relative, my recaps are in percentages instead of dollar amounts.

Fixed Expenses

All good this month! I ended up skipping two therapy sessions due to scheduling conflicts this month, so I did not spend as much on that as predicted

Total January Fixed Expenses: Budgeted – 62%; Actual – 59%

Variable Expenses

I am embarrassed – I did terrible this month. I went waaaaay over my entertainment budget. However, most of the purchases are for shows/races/events that are occurring later in the year. I need to decide if I should spread these purchases out better or just get them all out of the way at once, as I did this month.

I caved in and finally bought a winter coat (on clearance!) after living in NJ for four years without one. Unfortunately, I did not budget for that.

Every month I budget low for groceries with the good intentions of buying less, but it is so difficult for me to do this. I need to be more realistic about this. To balance it out, however, I was under budget for eating out, which always makes me happy.

Total January Variable Expenses: Budgeted – 22%; Actual – 40% (eeeeeeek!)

Savings

Again, I did not put as much into my savings as I would have liked to. I need to better enforce this.

Total January Savings: Budgeted – 14%; Actual – 11%

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Since incomes are relative, my recaps are in percentages instead of dollar amounts.

Fixed Expenses

Once again, I went over my texting plan. This happens from time to time but still not often enough for me to up my plan to unlimited.

However, other utility bills were under budget this month, bringing my total fixed expenses under budget.

Total January Fixed Expenses: Budgeted – 63%; Actual – 62%

Variable Expenses

This was the first budget where I broke “entertainment” out into three separate categories: miscellaneous, clothing and entertainment.

I also made the new category “misc transportation”.

Creating these additional categories really helped me to gain a better idea of my spending, without over-complicating the budget.

By breaking “entertainment” out into other categories, it’s noticeable that I really don’t spend that much on actual entertainment at all.

I really over-budgeted that this month since I was not sure of my actual “entertainment” expenses. For February, I will adjust accordingly.

I did realize that I spend more on “misc” than I had thought, since I was previously including this into “entertainment.” I went over budget in this category, but not enough for a percentage change. I will increase my budget in this for February.

Total January Variable Expenses: Budgeted – 25%; Actual – 20%

Savings

Confession, I poorly planned a lack of paycheck this month and had to emergency withdrawal from the savings. I put all of it back and then some, but not enough to make up the 10%. I plan to make up for this in February.

Total January Savings: Budgeted – 10%; Actual – 7%

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Since incomes are relative, I have decided to go over my budget recaps in percentages instead of dollar amounts.

Fixed Expenses

My electric bill decreased and car insurance increased just enough to balance each other out.

Total May Fixed Expenses: Budgeted – 50%; Actual – 51%

Variable Expenses

I went over in groceries! This happens time to time but I really need to get better on watching it. I certainly do not need more than $115 worth of food a month for myself.

Thanks to my Lipsy dress debacle, my entertainment expenses came in way under budget. I was credited $165 for the dress, which means my entertainment expenses were practically negative this month!

Total March Variable Expenses: Budgeted – 42%; Actual – 41%

Savings

I helped my father out with some car issues he was having. Unfortunately, I had to take that money out of savings, so I challenged myself to replace it by the end of the month. And I did! I saved 19% more than I had planned to. This certainly teaches me that I definitely can be putting more money into savings. I like the idea of learning my financial limits. What starts out as a sacrifice, soon turns into you realizing you don’t miss it at all.

Total Savings: Budgeted – 5%; Actual – 24%

Readers, how did your July budget turn out? I would love to hear!

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I did much better on my March budget than most people did with their tournament brackets! It was an odd month because I only received two paychecks due to starting the new job. I am looking forward to April being a normal month so I can adjust to my new commuting expenses and weekly paycheck.

Fixed Expenses

I was under or even with all of my monthly bills (yes, even my cell phone). I was very happy to see my gas/electric bill come to only $63.95/each this month. I had $90 budgeted because I was not quite sure what to anticipate for wacky March weather.

Total March Fixed Expenses: $1,105.58

Variable Expenses

I came in under for three categories, but overspent in two.
Here’s the breakdown:

Car Gas: $166/$80. I took am unplanned trip to visit friends.
Entertainment: $192/$175. Close, but I still need some restraint.
Health/Beauty: $10/$25.
House: $22/$35.
Eating Out: $52/75. Not bad considering it is so tempting to eat yummy nyc lunches every day.
Groceries: $168/$175. Too close for comfort. I would rather keep my spending closer to $150 so I definitely need to work on this.

Total March Variable Expenses: $611.53

New Commuting Costs

I have a new fixed monthly cost now that I am commuting from central NJ to NYC every day. I did not include this in the fixed expenses total above. My monthly train pass is $279. Yes, that blows. That is the reason I reduced my car gas budget down to $80 because I really do not want to spend any more in transportation costs than I already have to. Now, I might try to see if there are any alternative public transportation methods that are cheaper, but what I use now is very convenient. So I am going to have to find the balance there.

Savings

I did not put as much into savings as I had budgeted because of the lack of paychecks this month. Again, once I adjust to the new pay schedule, I will hopefully get everything back into check.

March Total

Total March Expenses: $1,996.11

Readers, how did your March budget turn out? I would love to hear!

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If you are just beginning a savings plan, take a look at my comprehensive
Guide To Managing A Savings Account. There you will find a defined planning system, goal calculator and bank information.

When starting to get your finances in check, everyone will tell you to create a budget. Budgets are key to tracking your spending. Included in your budget, should be a category for savings. However, if you do not track your savings any other way, it is easy to lose sight of your savings goals!

Tracking savings allows you to see financial improvement; to see how successful your budgeting actually is!

Savings Tracker

I have created a separate worksheet just for savings within my budget spreadsheet. Savings and spending go hand-in-hand, so it really is important to keep these together.

My monthly budget & savings worksheet can be downloaded here: http://www.27andfrugal.com/files/easy_peasy_2010_budget.xls

If you already have a budget that works for you, simply copy/paste the Savings worksheet and use it on it’s own.

Ideally, the worksheet should mimic your savings account, so start with your beginning of the year balance. This sheet will be filled in automatically once you input your savings into the monthly budget sheets. Or simply manually enter in how much you are transferring to savings each month.

The interest does need to be entered manually from your monthly bank statement. Seeing exactly how much or how little interest you are earning every month may make you want to look into alternative saving account options.

The box on the right is the most important part of the whole sheet… your goal! Do everything you can to keep this goal in the back of your mind each time you make a purchase. When you are over 50% of the way to your goal, you will have incentive to put more into your savings every month.

Set a Savings Goal

It is important to have a savings goal. This will help curb your spending and help prioritize your spending habits. If you make a special “vacation fund”, then next time you are tempted to spend $12 on a movie ticket, you might stop and think that the $12 could be better used while onvacation. Or that you would rather eat out on vacation, rather than the same old restaurants around home.

To create a realistic savings goal, use the savings goal calculator to help you determine a goal you can reach within a reasonable amount time.

You are on Your Way…

Tracking your spending is just one step in getting your finances in order. Being able to use this worksheet to track your spending will bring you even closer to seeing the balances you want to see. The idea of this worksheet is to be more aware of your savings account in general, especially if you make monthly automatic transfers. It is easy to forget about your balance and goal when you are not looking at it every month. You could make a similar worksheet to track a credit card. Just jot down your balance, each monthly payment and how much you have left to pay it off.

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Last week, I made the last and final payment on my car loan. Now that I officially own the car, I decided to make some adjustments to my car insurance policy.

I called Progressive and let them know that I am now the full owner of the car. Immediately, they were able to remove protection for financed cars decreasing my rate!

I was also interested in removing collision and changing some other aspects of my policy to get my payments down to ~$100/month. When telling the customer representative this, she asked me a few questions to check if I was eligible for certain discounts. She asked if I am a homeowner; I am not. She asked my highest level of education. When I said I have a Bachelor’s Degree, she said that qualified me for a deduction. Just that alone saved me $8/month!

So after removing the loan protection, collision, rental service and applying the education deduction, my monthly car insurance rate dropped to $95/mo! I saved $32 just by paying off my car and making a phone call.

That makes for a total of $250/mo savings now that my car is paid off!

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Being laid off from work is like being dumped. Only worse. Not only do you emotionally feel rejected, alone, and abandoned; but you also have to deal with losing your entire means of financial support. Below are some tips to deal with the emotional and monetary woes that go along with being unemployed.

1. Develop a routine

Keep a weekly routine just as though you’re still working. Wake up in the morning (no sleeping past noon), eat some breakfast, search and apply for jobs, fix lunch, work out, make dinner then relax. Yes, there will be gaps in there and you need to be self-disciplined to use them wisely. In general, stick to a normal day-time schedule. Go to bed at a normal time and get up at a normal time.

Sure, you can stay in your pj’s for a while but the more you keep a real-world schedule the easier it’ll be to keep a healthy mentality. The easier it will also be to re-adjust to a work schedule when you find another job.

2. Set a goal

Set a goal in something else in your life that you enjoy doing. Now is a good time to spend more time with those hobbies that are often ignored. The idea is to keep yourself busy but still focused on something productive.

One example is to set a workout goal. Have you always wanted to run a 5k but didn’t feel prepared? Simply, budget out $25 and sign up for one. Schedule this training into your day and stick with it. Since being unemployed can cause you to feel down, meeting this goal will provide a nice boost to your self esteem.

3. Keep applying

Keep applying for jobs! Always always always be applying for jobs. Have one resume and cover letter template that you can quickly modify to apply for specific jobs. Applying is always free and won’t take you more than 10 minutes per position. You could have the-best-resume-ever-written but if you never send it out, you’re not going anywhere. Try applying to at least one job a day.

Be patient! Employers will contact you anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after you applied. Take note of the job posting date. Being one of the first to apply will definitely increase your chances of having your resume seen.

4. Learn

Spend some time during the week to learn more in your field. Perhaps your knowledge is slightly outdated due to previous work limitations. Maybe you have always wanted to learn a new technology in your field but didn’t have the time.

Read up on your industry to find out what you need to know to be a marketable candidate. You might want to take a class, earn a certification or just sit in on some lectures. Meetup.com is a great reference for learning and networking with others in your field.

5. Restructure your budget

If you’re going to be on U.S. Federal Unemployment, chances are your income will be greatly decreased from what you are used to. You will need to restructure your budget to account for this. It is incredibly difficult to balance having lots of free time but little money to spend. Stay aware of your budget and spending. Be sure to factor in job hunting expenses as well (specifically travel).

You will have to sacrifice. This will suck. You will have to eat out less. You will have to tell your friends that you can’t go out this weekend. Unemployment will cover all your bills but not much else. This means that your entertainment budget especially will take a big hit. While it’s enticing to go out on a weeknight, you really need some discipline here. This is also why keeping a normal-routine is important.

6. Save your receipts

Job hunting expenses are tax deductible, so save all your receipts!

7. Change It up

If you’re not getting any call backs after applying to jobs you know you qualify for, try changing your resume. Even something as simple as a layout re-design can make you stand-out more. If you’re not hearing anything after interviews, change up your prepared answers and find different ways to describe your past work history.

While it is easy to blame the economy, it really is up to you to market yourself better than your competition.

Have your own suggestions of how to survive being out of work? Leave them below!

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How’d I do this month?

Bars: $0/$20
Bills & Utilities: $114/$200
Car Payment: $0/$300
Cell: $77/$80
Entertainment: $49/$50
Gas: $156.36/$190
Gifts: $39/$300
Groceries: $15/$200
Personal Care: $0/$20
Restaurants: $18/$70
Shopping: $11/$100
Student Loan: $0/$162

The Good

In the beginning of December, I learned that my income was going to be considerably less stable come January so I severely curbed my spending. As you can see, I ditched my entire gift budget and just postponed the holidays completely. I used the opportunity to only eat out of my kitchen rather than purchase groceries. Also, since I was paid ahead on my car and student loan, I decided the money was more important in my savings account for the month. I did not spend money on any health/beauty or alcohol purchases.

The Bad

Nada!

Adjustments

Now that I know the bare minimum I can get by, I will decrease my shopping and grocery budget. I will also reduce my personal care budget as well, since I received some of these items as gifts.

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