June In Review

Here's a quick review of my June budget and goals for the month:

I was able to trim some extra dollars out of my budget this month, but I also had some expected, and some unexpected expenses, that essentially wiped those out. I admit, I am a bit disappointed in this month, but these things do happen, I guess. It meant, however, that I didn't hit my goal for the month.

First, lets look at some wins - my electric bill was only $23.29 this month, which was my lowest bill to date! I was quite happy when I saw this come through. My auto fuel bill was also well under budget, so that was good, although I expect it will be higher for the next couple of months as we get further into summer. As mentioned earlier this week, I also did well in groceries and in home improvement. Finally, I also came in well under budget for dining out and entertainment - on both of which I spent less than half of my allocated money!

Other wins were in the income side. I made money this month through some book and CD sales, a paycheck from my part time job, mystery shopping and from surveys. I was pleased with the income I was able to get, though it wasn't nearly as much as I have been able to do in past months. Most of that is due to the fact that the majority of my part time income has dried up for the summer. In June I got a few shifts, but there won't be any in July. That just means I need to get creative!

Now, let's look at the downside...

June is a strange month for me. Not only is it when I really began my little Fighting Foreclosure blog, but it is my fiscal year end on a number of things. Some of it is coincidence and some of it is due to the fact that this is when I was divorced and I put certain bills in my name. For example, one of these "year end" expenses is that this is when my budget utility plans reset. My budget plans mean that I pay the same amount each month on my gas and electric bills for the cabin. It really helps even out the costs. The price of my electric service up there really went up this year and it turned out that what I was paying each month wasn't enough. I have had shortfalls before, but usually I caught them in time and made up the amount a little bit over a few months - this time I missed it. The year end wrap up bill showed I owed $116.00 over what I normally pay. I wasn't expecting that!

The other expense was a yearly trip I go on each June with some very special friends. It is just a two day jaunt and I had budgeted for it, but it still took a bite out of this month's excess income.

So the final number I get to add to my $900 goal is $42.65 that I was able to save out of my planned budget. Add that to the income that I earned and my total is $352.17. Better than nothing, but not nearly as good as I thought it would be!

The important thing is that the bills were all paid on time and in full. The credit card is still paid off and unused. My fund to paint the house is growing, slowly, but still growing. I also have some ideas for July, including a garage sale, so here's to a better month in July!



Photo by: gari.baldi