October Update

Our finances from September have been posted here, and it was a bit of a tough month financially. It seems that every month we do great in most of our budget categories, but invariably we go over in one or two, making it difficult to have any money left over to save. In September, however, we went over in almost everything (food, gas, clothing, car maintenance, etc…). I suspect we are fighting a slight case of lifestyle inflation, since we have previously lived on far less income for long periods of time. So, how to fix it? Well, we’ve started by spending more!

Actually, for the first time in a few years, we paid our six-month car insurance premium up front instead of paying it monthly. This saves us a $1/month fee, and now we can put our “monthly payment” in savings each month for next April when insurance is due again, giving us a little extra interest income. In addition, we will probably not renew the “NFL Package” we currently have allowing us to see every televised game throughout the season – this will save approximately $20/month. These are small changes, but hopefully a good start as well.