Wednesday, January 1, 2014

December and 2013 Year End Budget Results

December Grocery Budget $450 per month
Actual Spent was $441.78.  Success!   $7 in coupons  usedand did a $60 grocery redemption at Shoppers Drug Mart.  This category includes all over the counter medications, personal grooming items, soaps, cleaners and household items for two adults who eat at home 99% of the time.

This was the first month on the new higher grocery budget of $450  - after months of fighting with my lower $425 goal I gave in to the fact that prices have increased so I needed to be realistic to maintain our way of doing things.  Fortunately, we have decent income from our Company and my part-time job so we can easily afford this.  If anything adverse happened to our income the budget could be dropped to roll with the punches.  Although we eat well - things like salmon, shrimp, and steak, they are always bought on sale.  This month I managed to stock up on beef as the expensive grocery store nearby kept having steaks reduced by 40%.

Previous 2013 year to date overage $447.58 less this month underage of $8.82 for a total year overage of $438.76.

I need to pull up my frugal britches and try and live within our grocery budget for 2014.  The last three months of 2013 were busy, with work, travel, downsizing and packing with my Mom and preparing for Christmas.  There were times when I actually went to a more expensive store to avoid crowds(*I get claustrophobic).  We don't meal plan as we eat whatever is on sale or left-over but I need to explore bulk buying more and get  back on the coupon bandwagon for non-food items.  We saved a lot of money stocking up on over the counter medications in Oregon in September and we plan to go to the USA at least once this year to do the same.

Hair Budget $250 per year
One haircut for $19 including tip the first week of December was all that was spent but I did not color my hair this month as am trying to get to a more natural color.  $131.32 was all that was spent in all of 2013!  This is my biggest budgeting success in 2013.  In 2012 I spent $295.99 so I managed to decrease the actual spending by over half from one year to the next!  To be perfectly honest I do not know how places get away with charging so much for a haircut or color when you can get a really decent haircut for less than $20 and home coloring kits are easy and inexpensive now.  My 2014 annual hair budget is now going to decrease to $175.

Clothing Budget $200 per year
Spent this month?  zero.  $223.94 spent year to date.  I was too busy to even think about it shopping for clothes this month but did receive a fabulously decadent bathrobe as a Christmas present as my old one was way past its toss date.  I will need to buy some good travel clothes this year so am increasing the clothing budget to $275 in 2014.  The money saved on the hair budget will be going to buy a better wardrobe.  As always, I continue to shop used, rarely buying new items.  The only new items bought this year were some undergarments and a purse as accessories go into the clothing category as well.  If you haven't tried a thrift store for clothing lately, you should.  January is a great time to find goodies there as people are cleaning out their closets.  I intend to do a closet overhaul this month and will be both dropping off and picking up some new-to-me items at the thrift stores.

Buy No More Christmas Crap Campaign
Several years ago I started a campaign where the goal was never to buy any more Christmas decorations or wrapping paper/decorations new and to save all that money for actual gifts and food.  See the guidelines here. In the past we had spent anywhere from $50 to $150 each December on new doodads and wrap.  For the first several years of the campaign I had a good stock of existing wrapping paper and each year I recycled and gathered bows, ribbons and boxes from packaging all year long.  This year we used most of the larger pieces of paper up.  No, the rules were not broken as I purchased all of the items below for a grand total of $1.30:


-some Christmas glass ornaments from Poland to add to my vintage collection - .75 found at a flea market
-unopened Christmas muffin papers found at thrift store - .25 for 50.  I usually spend $1 for 100 at the dollar store for plain ones so this was a no-brainer.  I make tons of muffins and use these all the time.
-two rolls wrapping paper purchased after Christmas for .30 for both at the thrift store.  One is unopened and is 36 square feet.  I had no intention of buying wrapping paper this year but this was too good a deal to pass up, as as they were purchased at the thrift store fall within the guidelines of the No More Christmas Crap Campaign rules.

Losing Weight Challenge

I am not really sure what I weighed at the beginning of 2013 as started keeping track to lose some weight at the beginning of summer.

Starting weight June 1, 2013 - 150 lbs.  Weight July 1 -  145.6 lbs.  August 1 - 144.4 lbs.  Sept 1 -  143.0 lbs.  Oct 1  - 144 lbs. Nov 1  - 140.8 pounds.  Dec 1 -  142.7.  Jan 1, 2014 - 140.7 lbs!

I managed to lose 9.3 lbs since June and keep it off!  During stressful or holiday times a pound or two crept back on but I managed to get back on track.  My number one secret for losing weight was giving up bread.  I am not allergic, or gluten intolerant but those calories just go straight to my butt.  I still eat bread occasionally when travelling or on holidays but try not to bring it into the house and was actively working out before I started my part-time job in July, but since then have found it hard to find the time as  I still work half-time for our company as well.  In 2014 I hope to get more physically active to get heart healthy.  The  goal for 2014 is to try and lose an additional five pounds - goal weight of 135lbs.

Sometimes just keeping track of things like budgets and weight are all that is necessary to keep you on track.  How did you do in 2013?





20 comments:

  1. Cripes -- we even spend the same amount on our haircuts! Well, my $19 includes a tip.

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  2. I think that you did really well on all of your goals. I can't wait to see what you will accomplish in 2014. I too, am going to try to save a bit more but like you said we may need to roll with punches here and there.

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    1. You never know what is around the corner. We are in an odd spot this year with one kid graduating college (no more child support there) and one kid graduating high school but not sure if he is going to college (child support or no child support?). The company is doing well but I got the part-time job to relieve the pressure of having all of our income come from one place. Cheers!

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  3. Its hard for me to save on groceries, have too many dietary restrictions around our house. Our food bill is pretty high. We are a vegetarian family, and my son is deathly allergic to all nuts, all legumes, peas and lentils. So I am very brand particular. I only use coupons when its a product I buy anyhow. However, I am able to save $40-$60 a week with buy one get one frees, and with the coupons I do have. Haircuts (for me)....I admit that I do pay a lot...way to much, But I practically spend next to nothing on clothing....maybe $100 a year, if that. And I am really coupon savvy with pet products and drugstore items, so maybe it kind of balances out. My goals are to expand my online stores and hopefully increase my sales, finally get a business facebook page up and running, ride my bike more, and try to get more organized. Something like that.....

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    1. We are pretty brand specific too, I like my Heinz Ketchup etc but here and there we find the odd bargain. The easiest way is to cherry pick the deals at each store. We have five major stores within a 3 mile radius so easier for us. Saving money on anything pays!

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  4. You got some great deals on the Christmas wrap and ornaments. I've never considered that some months are way better to shop at thrift stores but it completely makes sense. Good luck with your 2014 goals.

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    1. Sometimes linens can be found in January as well - people are cleaning their linen closets as well.

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  5. Congratulations on the weight loss... and all that other stuff. But I've never been able find that word "budget" in my dictionary. I wonder if I'm missing something...

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  6. So inspiring to see your numbers and how you hit them! I accomplished numbers, lost and kept off another 10lbs this year, and I'm looking forward to really innovating and setting some harder goals this year. ALWAYS room for improvement. Congratulation on your progress and success!

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    1. You are the incredible shrinking woman and one of the inspirations for my weight loss. Cheers!

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  7. You have done so well CC and provide a constant source of inspiration to me.

    Sft x

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    1. We hope to travel more like you this year with one big trip and some smaller ones. Yay for the SFT sealed pot challenge!

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  8. Ten pounds woot woot!! That's about what I'd like to lose. I love how your being frugal in one area benefits another area that needs a bit more padding:) Overall you had a great (and busy) year!

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    1. It was a good busy year, I hope we do more fun things this year though. I can't seem to get below 140 lbs so more improvement is needed!

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  9. I'm always impessed how you keep you goals. I should start and write everything I spend and set limits for everything.

    Can wait to see how you save in 2014!

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    1. The first step is writing things down before you set budgets. Mine is very low tech, a little dollar store notebook. When I am busy I just throw receipts in there and tally it up every week or so. Cheers!

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  10. Hi CC

    You did really well! I'm not sure how well I would have done in 2013 but I'm tracking our income/expenses at least for Jan - Mar to see how much we really spend!!

    I scored on some Christmas wrapping paper for this coming Christmas as daughter was staying here and left her leftover paper for us to use next time, woo hoo!

    xx

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