January 2012 - Budget Review

Hi

One of the reasons we've decided to keep a blog about our finances is to have a place to be accountable and a place where we can analyse.  We are hoping that by recording monthly we can better react more promptly to any trends in our spending.

So how did we do in January, this 1st month of our new budget?  Well I would have to say pretty good.

• Groceries came in under budget (budget $606/month - result $47 under)
• We managed to have 9 "No Spend Days"
• We spent under budget on clothing for the 3 of us (Budget $164 - Spent $83)
• We allow ourselves a small amount of spending money in a month. We spent under that amount (Budget $162.50 - Spent $16.86)
• We run 2 cars with 1 being a small Getz for Mr BB to travel to work. The main family car is a RAV4.  For petrol we have $238.33/month for the RAV and $130/month for the Getz.  Last month was school holidays and there were are few days where Mr BB had time off so our spend for petrol came in well under budget.  RAV spend - $92.53     Getz spend  - $81.12    I'm keeping our budget for this area the same because I really feel that $55 and $30 per week for petrol is a reasonable amount as petrol prices seem to be staying at around the 145-150c/litre now.                                        
• Entertainment was the only area of concern last month.  We have a budget of $86/month.  Last month we had a spend of $130.50.  I would probably put this down to school holidays as Miss BB didn't go back to school until the 23rd.  A couple of trips to the movies and a McDonalds visit pushed us over.  I don't expect to go over this month but it is something to keep an eye on.
• The only cost that caught us be surprise was Mr BB's dental bills.  Two trips to the dentist and antibiotics cost $854.60! There is still one more appointment booked so I expect it to head closer to the $1k mark.  We will be using some of our saved money and some of the extra mortgage money to pay this bill.  It makes me glad we do have this buffer.

So that was the expenses. On the income front I earned $153.88 from my little job of junk mail delivery and an extra $15 from selling some old school uniforms of Miss BB.  The $15 has been earmarked to offset the cost of a new school sport house shirt.  I was going to add the money I earned to the holiday savings but we have now decided to use it for the dental bills.

So overall a good month.  Lets hope February brings more of the same.

Mrs BB