My favorite day of the week: Payday!
Here’s an outline of where my money will be headed in the next 2 weeks:
Couple of notes:
- Everything with payroll finally seems to be settled. I logged in this morning and was all set to through a fit because my paycheck looked too low, but then realized that my $200 direct deposit to ING for allowance and Freedom Fund, had kicked in.
- My paycheck wasn’t exactly $1,600, but my new plan is to just develop a mini-budget or “Upcoming” for each pay period, and round the paycheck to $1,600. Of that, $200 immediately goes to ING, leaving $1,400. Rounding it will make it easier for me to recognize what’s surplus when the next paycheck comes. For example, if at the end of next payday I have $1531 in my account, I would know I have $131 that could be snowballed immediately.
Not sure if I’m explaining this well, but it makes sense in my mind.
- This pay period I’ll have $220.84 as surplus; unfortunately, most of that is going to be spoken for right away. I need to get my mom a belated birthday present and get The Boy an upcoming birthday present.
- I added in $50 for miscellaneous stuff I need to pick up. I have a $5 of $25 purchase coupon at Target, so I’ll probably try and purchase there.
- T-Mobile bill is higher than usual, because of a few roaming charges I racked up when I had to use my phone in Europe.
I’ve got my cash flow sketched out til the end of the year, preliminary budgets, and I’m starting to get the “The holidays make me sick, I’d rather pay down debt” blues. It’s a little frustrating to see the surplus money that’s left over that, on any other month, could immediately go to the credit card debt, but it’s the holidays, and I need to get presents, plane ticket, etc. My one consolation is that I won’t have to charge anything this year. All cash baby!
As I was working out my budget, I realized I’m really proud of myself for how I’m handling my Emergency Fund. I haven’t been looking at it as “extra” or “backup” money at all. Instead, I’ve been just ignoring it; it’s truly their for an emergency or unexpected and justifiable expense, and nothing else. No “borrowing” it so I can buy something I want early.
