Alright! Time for a savings update.
As of this moment in time, I have...
$2100 in the checking account and we are waiting on $530 worth of reimbursements from DH's work--that means we are $70 short of what my goal was for this month, but we had a couple of expenses go over budget, which explains the shortfall. I am happy with this progress and hope to make up the $70 somehow between December and January (if at all possible).
$600.02 in the savings account--yes, we earned a mere two cents in interest last month.
This is the emergency account. Goal was to get to $1000 ASAP, so this is pretty good for only a few months in.
$200.00 in the murphy money account--this is like an emergency account but more for expenses that I know will come up sooner or later, so therefore not REALLY emergencies in the strictest sense of the word (car repairs for example or replacing appliances and furniture). I wanted to separate this money from the actual emergency fund so that I can keep the emergency money for TRUE emergencies, like job loss or a medical emergency or whatnot. I just called it murphy money to keep things straight. It is NOT an invitation for him to come to my house for Christmas. Just sayin'! (We have some car repairs coming up which will likely wipe this out as well as some, maybe all
of the emergency account, so I may be back to square one come January.)
$165 in the vacation account--there isn't a single dollar from our budget actually going to this account. This is from doing surveys, collecting credit card rewards, the change jar, and any extra little bits I can scrounge up. I haven't yet cashed in all my sources, so I actually have more going towards our vacation savings, but this is the current balance in the bank account. This is quite disappointing. I had hoped to have accumulated twice as much as this by this point. I'm trying to step it up for December.
My Christmas shopping is nearly done!! I have to get the candy and chocolate part of the stocking stuffers as well as the gifts for the kids' teachers/bus driver/crossing guard. And that is IT!! And the money for that is set aside. And we stayed ON BUDGET this year! Woot!!
I am holding back some money to cover extra gasoline, extra groceries, and any miscellaneous expenses for the month. I'm hoping that I can stay within my regular budget and keep this money where it is...but it's nice to know it's here if I need it.
We also should have had to pay the landlord for our water usage for the last year. The housing corporation gets the bills, then they send them to the landlord and THEN they make their way to us. The bills are generated bi monthly, so I don't know why we only pay once a year. it's weird. We paid for a year's worth of water at the end of November last year. I was expecting the same for this year and put some money aside each month accordingly. But the bill hasn't come yet. So, that's steadily building. My plan was to zero out that line in the budget when the bill came (we should have saved a bit more than we need) and then start fresh for the next year with December's money. For now, it's all together but if/when the bill DOES come, I'll separate out December (more months if it comes more than a month from now) and follow my original plan.
I'm following the No Buy thread and the Eat at Home thread to help me maintain my savings goals and so far...so good!
