July Round-Up

This month is sort of transitional because I'm working on a new budget but haven't finalized it yet. Now that we've sold our house, money isn't quite so tight, so I've upped the miscellaneous spending (we always went over in that category anyway). Plus, our new house is within walking distance of most things we need, so presumably we'll need less for transportation. And I changed the grocery amount to reflect our green grocery spending.

I haven't quite figured out how much to budget for electricity/gas and water since we still haven't received a full month's bill for either of those and we're still adjusting to the new house. I should have the new official budget by next month.

Transportation is high this month because we took a trip to Kentucky/Tennessee to see family. We have another long trip coming up later this month. I didn't realize how much we travel until I started this blog!

Monthly Spending (budgeted amount in parentheses)

• Groceries: $644.73 ($650)

• Transportation: $260.47 ($150)
  

• Energy: $59.10 ($150)

• Water/Sewer: $16.96 ($50)

• Entertainment/Miscellaneous: $322.38 ($400)
  

• Clothes: $56.95 (no set budget)

• TOTAL: $1,360.59 ($1,400)

Trash Report: 6 bags of trash (13 gallon bags); 1 recycling bin with plastic, metal, and glass; 1 paper grocery sack of paper


Changes I Made This Month:

• In some areas, I've had to start all over again because of the move. I just barely got all 21 60-watt incandescent bulbs switched to CFLs. And the former resident of our house sure gets a lot of catalogs that I now have to cancel!
  

Goals for Next Month:

• Time to address my water use.
• Look for less toxic bug spray and sunscreen.