July Budget SET!

I love budgets.  love, love, love, love, LOVE them.  I seriously make one every month (down to about the dollar), and get giddy as I fill it in/check it off/see I'm underspending over the month (or frustrated if I overspend in a certain category).  Like I said earlier, I was misjudging the amount I was actually bringing in by a couple hundred dollars, which tightens things up REALQUICK when you're not paying attention.  Now that I've got my ducks in a row, I've readjusted a few things accordingly, but overall am really satisfied with how things are looking....

And obviously, with my commitment to get out of credit card debt by December, I needed to rearrange my budget to suit THAT goal. 

But first things first.  I made a point to check into what exactly I have to pay off and therefore have been able to give myself a more realistic picture of what's up.  I said 3k in credit card debt and 15k in car debt + 2.5k in lawyer fees...

Here's the reality:
credit card: 2,933.77
car: 14,183.00
lawyer: 2,500.00
school loans: 14,000 and counting (I have another 18 months to go on my degree...)

oh, and I also agreed to pay my last month's rent when I signed my lease, but my landlord said he'd give me time to do that...so I have 300 more to go on that (and for ease, I'm going to count it as a debt, even though it will be credited to me whenever I have my last month of rent...)

Here's the order I'm paying off the debt, then::
Rent (because it's the lowest 'debt' and will just feel good to get it taken care of!)
Credit Card (because while it has 0% APR right now, that's not forever...)
Lawyer (because it's my next smallest debt and DOES have 0% forever)
Car (my larger debt with 0%)
School loans (because it will be my largest debt, but I don't expect to be paying on these for a couple of years, and I should receive forgiveness on about half of them if I go to teach at a Title 1 school, etc. etc..)

BOOM (and ay yai yai....)

So I obviously needed to change my budget on that basis as well (in addition to the fact that I was not earning as much as I was spending!).  I looked at it and realized there are certain things that cannot be changed (rent, car insurance, health insurance, etc...), but there were definitely a few extras in there that needed to be cut out...
For instance, I got rid of the data plan on my phone, taking my payment each month from 70$ (+ taxes/fees) to 50$ (+ taxes and fees)-- I have a ghettofabulous phone as it is, so all I really can do on it easily anyway is call and text.  So that's what's happening.  I even had data blocked completely so there can be no accidental access to internet (Seth loves playing with my phone, and goes exploring...)

I also made the bummer decision to cut out guitar lessons.  I wasn't putting in the practice time I needed to in order to get better faster, so it seemed a poor choice for me financially, plus a huge waste of my guitar teacher's time.  So I cut it out for July and will be using that to go toward debt.  Ultimately, I plan on starting to work again on Wednesdays, which will give me even more money to pay down that stupid debt.

So that's what I cut OUT.  I also cut BACK.

Groceries (and all household needs such as pet food, toiletries, diapers, etc.) in June were budgeted at $380.  I cut that back to $300, which gives me $80 to put elsewhere.  It also means not as much organic food (booo, but I figure it's a short term sacrifice I'm willing to make) or as much excess food (which is super tough when you're shopping hungry!!).  We'll see.  I'm a big fan of budgeting challenges, and feeding me and Seth (HEALTHY) + taking care of our pets and house on that much money will certainly be a challenge (for me, anyway).

I did have to budget in for Seth's birthday, but this is the year of $30 birthdays, I tell ya.  From beginning to end (including cake, presents and decorations).  I'll have fun blogging about that one FOR SURE (I've already got some great tricks for making it awesome and "wow, really, only $30!?!" worthy...).  And don't worry, I'm holding it to myself as well....

Everything else is pretty much set for the month, but I'm expecting some changes as fall rolls around (Seth will be in pre-k so his daycare expenses will drop DRAMATICALLY).  And I'm really excited to keep you guys in the loop for how it's coming with my little debt snowball!!

For the month of July, I am paying minimum on my credit card (30$) and paying the agreed amount on my car ($300, which was a comfortable amount for me to agree to paying).  Skipping the student loans since nothing is due on them yet, and putting all of my 'extra' money toward fixing that last month's rent.

That extra money actually amounts to $130, and I plan to pay the remainder of that 'debt' in August. So here's the bottom line:: I adjusted my budget to live on $200+ LESS than what I have been the past few months, yet still found over $100 that I could put toward paying down some debt next month.  woot woot!!  that makes me stinkin' EXCITED!!!!!