Friday, June 3, 2011
Because of our trip, it’s been quite a while since I posted the details from our checkbook register. I’ve been waiting to make sure all of the debits cleared, and to tally the damage to our balance. Surprisingly, we have a decent balance left in the account, almost enough to pay off the Visa card, which we used for our hotel bill and many of our other travel expenses. I am hoping to pay off the charge card when the bill arrives (for the third month in a row, I think?), and very pleased that we estimated our travel expenses so accurately.
Anyway, here are the details:
Carryover balance: $205.98
Expenses: $120.00 graduation gifts (friends and family)
127.63 gasoline
227.49 groceries/petfood
14.00 haircut
100.00 cash for travel
37.51 household misc.
286.23 travel (food, entertainment, etc.)
Income: $1885.74 full-time paycheck
169.54 part-time paycheck
42.38 part-time paycheck (reduced hours due to travel)
Current balance: $1387.02
Hopefully, that adds up. I didn’t want to take the time to enter each individual transaction, since there were so many while we were traveling.
I noticed the food and gasoline expenses were up dramatically this month. The food budget will be higher throughout the summer, due to both kids being home from college. I am trying to compensate by serving cheaper foods, more vegetarian fare and lots of pasta, beans and rice. I also am trying to make sure we eat all leftovers and perishables, so as not to toss anything due to spoilage.
The gasoline is another matter, and will hopefully be lower this month. Not only is the price coming down at the pump, but we don’t have any traveling to do that I know of, unlike the last few months, when we drove out-of-town on several occasions. Still, I totaled it up, and realized that for the past two months we have spent nearly $100 more in gasoline each month than was in our budget! We will have to scrimp in other areas, such as saving or paying off debt, in order to pay for gas. I'm sure this is affecting many middle-class families in today's economy. Unfortunately, we live in a very rural area and have no other form of transportation available to us except our own automobiles.
So, I’m trying to decide what to do with the $1387.02 remaining in the checking account. As you’ll remember, I had transferred $1500 from our savings to help pay for our trip to see our daughter’s graduation. That left our savings account at only $300, well below the recommended $1000 balance recommended by Dave Ramsey for your starter emergency fund recommended in Baby Step 1. I would love the security of having this money back in savings, at least part of it, but it is extremely tempting to send it all to Visa and pay that off in one fell swoop, not to mention avoid the interest that would otherwise accure. What's your opinion? Which would you do?
No comments:
Post a Comment