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.
Income for the month to date: $253
Expenses for the month to date: $981.62
Net effect: -$728.62
Since the last posting I paid rent, with the water bill coming in at $52 for the month, which is below the $60 that I set aside in the budget. I got my birth control prescription filled at $101.06 which is significantly more than it was in the past. My doctor had to change my prescription because I started having problems again and he wanted me to try a new pill. I bought the newspaper to get my first set of coupons for the year, as there are three sets of inserts in this week’s paper.
I only had a half tank of gas after celebrating the New Year so I filled up at a cost of $16.99 so that I will be basically starting the month off with a full tank.
I bought the newspaper to get my stash of coupons replenished since the majority of them expired in December last year. I was a bit disappointed with the selection of coupons as I was not able to get as many that I actually use this time but I hope that as the year progresses I will get some more high value coupons to add to my book so that I can really save some money and maximize my CVS goal for the year.
I paid a medical bill at a total of $2.56, which came out of my Health Savings Account so I am really getting to see how that decision to get the High Deductible Health Plan is going to work out.
I will see you guys and gals later as I continue my journey to save money and become debt free!!!!
hey Lulugirl , wish you a very happy new year 2011 and i wish you can save a lot this year and spend wisely …. i’ll keep a track from time to time 🙂
Sourish
Thank you!!!!!
Hello and I wish you a great year ahead as well. What I figure out after reading your points is that you focus on all details of the jobs, spending and the tasks to be done and never leave your notebook for a moment, the one containing your essential points which need to be on your mind always and this is great.
I definitely believe in the near future, you will be taking about how you’d be spending your extra income earned while remaining debt-free for ever.
Good luck for 2011! I think this is a really exciting journey you are writing about. More than any other generation before we really have to learn how to make our dollars go further; but this generation we have the internet – you say you were disappointed with the coupons – have you thought about searching online for them?
Actually I am not going to look for the coupons online. I am not a hardcore coupon user so I just take whatever I get in the first paper of the month and forget abut the rest. I like to use coupons if I have them but I will not go out of my way to find them.