Monday, April 8, 2013

March Results


March turned out to be a strange month, as mentioned in my previous post. I ended up going over budget--- mostly on groceries, but also because I had forgotten to factor in one expense in my annual budget plan: homeowners' insurance. Fortunately, my tax return will cover it. I was hoping my full tax return would go into savings to replenish the chunk of my nest-egg spent refinancing my home, but my deposit will just have to be smaller than anticipated. From now on, I'll have to factor in an average of $65 per month to offset the annual bill. I really don't know how that one got past me.

I also went to Target for the first time in many months. I was visiting the family at the end of March for Easter, and stopped at the store to pick up a few necessary items. I ended up leaving with much more. I spent over $400, and had buyer's remorse the moment my feet hit the parking lot. Buying it didn't make me feel fulfilled or excited; it made me feel stressed and impulsive. How had this happened? I ended up leaving all of the unnecessary merchandise in the trunk of my car over the weekend and returned it a few days later, reclaiming over $200 of my initial purchase. Phew.

Also, I only posted and sold one item on eBay in March, and the buyer still hasn't paid me for it. eBay is currently filing a claim against them. I'm not broken up about it, as the total in question was for under $20, and the item is still in my possession.

So, in the month of March, I'd managed to overlook a massive recurring expenditure and spontaneously bought a bunch of stuff at a mega store that I didn't even need. And I didn't bother to post my existing unwanted items for sale online. My brain was clearly not operating well! Perhaps it was family-related; my grandmother was admitted to hospice and is not doing well. I went to visit her over Easter weekend, perhaps for the last time

One thing was for certain: in April, I need to get my groove back!

I restructured my 2013 budget plan to include home insurance. This made my "flex money" pool smaller, but that's nothing I can't handle. I need to be more disciplined about my grocery spending. I'm good about writing a shopping list and sticking to it, but I'm not always discerning about what I write on the list. I'll find a new recipe and want to try it, so then I'll add all of the ingredients for it to my grocery list. As much as I enjoy culinary experimentation, methinks I need to rope it in a bit or I'll ruin my budget.

1 comment:

  1. I think the important way to encourage yourself here is to look at the positive: you identified the needless items purchased and were able to return them. Also, while an oversight of what appears to be a significant amount of money owed(at 65/month), you were able to pay for it without having to utilize credit cards. As much as these mishaps sting, the important thing to remember is these things will happen whether it be a bill or a car repair...the best part about living minimally and having a savings plan is that these bumps are merely annoyances and not financial devestation. I had paid off all of my debt before christmas, and due to my cousins death I had a lot of traveling and expenses arise I wasnt' anticipating which put my savings for going back to school off track. However, I still have no debt and I have recovered some of that ground. My favorite part of decreasing my debt burden and minimalizing my absolute waste of money is that the amount of stress I feel from one minor crisis to another is marginal compared to a year ago. Keep up the good work...you are ROCKING it!---AMANDA from west tower ;)

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