I have decided to post my weekly spending for the previous week on Fridays so you know how my cash has been flowing for the week. Please note that I get paid on the last day of the month so my cash flow net effect will usually be negative until the last day of the month.

This does not mean that I am adding to my debt, it just means that the money coming in is less than the money going out because bills are due starting on the first but I don’t get paid until the last day.

So again to clarify (since I get so many questions), this shows the cash FLOW for the month. On Day 2 of every month I will have a negative FLOW because I have paid rent etc so money has LEFT my checking account. I have not had any money come in on Day 2 of the current month since I got paid on day 27 or 30 or 31 of the previous month so that income is counted for LAST month.

twentyIncome for the month to date: $2.71

Expenses for the month to date: $971.45

Net effect: -$968.74

Since the last posting I paid the household expenses of rent etc. and paid the phone bill. I paid my personal loans and spent $31.04 on food, including fruits for the week. I spent  $24.03 on household and personal items and used $4.09 in coupons even though I have not spent any money this month on getting the newspaper.

We did get paid on January 29th so that was good to see my bank balance go back up from very low levels. I got paid about $9 less than I usually get (due to the Tax Credit?) and so I adjusted my zero based budget down by $10 to make up for that.

The electric bill is due next week and while it is not as scandalous as the last one it is still too high for my liking. I am taking steps to see that the bill goes down even more next month and I think I may start a sinking fund for electricity. This fund will be a sub account in ING where I send the same amount for electricity every month and if the bill is less then the money will remain in there….but if it is more (mid summer and winter) then I can draw from that reserve without having a heart attack.

I will see you guys and gals later as I continue my journey to save money and become debt free!!!!