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: $289.63
Expenses for the month to date: $1604.79
Net effect: -$1315.16
Since the last posting I paid my living expenses which included rents, insurance and water at a cost of $748.70 which went straight on a credit card so that I can earn points. I am not sure what I am getting off this because I have put some other minor things on that card as well and the cash back just keeps adding up. I also paid $29.96 to renew the subscriptions on two magazines that are delivered to my home. Yes I know that one of the things that frugal people do is to not have magazine subscriptions but I enjoy my magazines and they are part of my budget and I can afford them.
I also paid $180 on my debts and put $81 in savings for the month. $30.76 went towards household items, including the newspaper so I could restock my coupons for the month. I spent $16.42 on fruits and bread for the week.
Income for the week was $275 advertising and $14.63 from Lending Club, which makes week one not look too shabby at all.
I paid $442.95 in school fees, which included the tuition for the FINAL class and my graduation fees as well. I am happy that I will be done with this program as it gives me a boost in my career and sets up the path for my next step. I will be graduating in December so starting in January I will not have to deal with the nightmare of online classes and tons of assignments. More importantly, I will be freeing up about $400 a month that I can put towards savings of some kind because I will also be done with all my debts by that time. Woo hoo!!!!!!
I will see you guys and gals later as I continue my journey to save money and become debt free!!!!
I wish good luck with the tracking. Know how hard it is, because I just started it myself. Have you ever looked at the Millionaire Mindset jar system? Check it out, its good and easy.
Happy for you that you will soon be done with the classes. $400 more, that’s a good sum!