Monday, February 20, 2012

Monday/Thursday Budget Recap 2/16/12 (Belated)

Here's my budget covering days from 2/3/12 to 2/16/12.

(7 of 14 days were no-spend days.)

Category: Spent / Scheduled
Groceries: $27.19 / $60
Personal: $84.09 / $40
Gasoline: $43.05 /$50

Grand total: $156.33 / $150.00. Yup, slightly overbudget, but that's alright. Clothes are heck expensive! Could've been a lot worse, considering I am now spending more money going back and forth to my parents' house to cook and clean and do all of that fun stuff. At least I am not getting involved with their bills. Yet. I can assure you I will have to pay for more stuff than I want to, once they return...

But on the bright side, did I mention that March is a THREE paycheck month? Since I'm paid biweekly, I'll receive a paycheck on 3/2, 3/16 and 3/30. I am so very excited about this. In theory, that extra paycheck could pay for the full vacation budget!

Purchasing airfare has always made me nervous. Cancellation sometimes costs more than half the actual airfare. It’s kind of a take it or leave it, and you can lose a lot by booking at the wrong times. I had budgeted $350 for airfare for my vacation, since this is the low-average for the particular trip. I got REALLY lucky and was able to book it for $300. The price was only up for like 2 hours on Friday, and I managed to catch it. Needless to say, I’m proud of myself. Only $50 down, but that’s $50 back in my pockets.

Are you the type of person that would wait and risk having a better/worse deal or someone that'd just take it at a value that you're comfortable with?

These images make me happy. For anyone looking for airfare, Yapta is a great tracker, and Bing.com/travel is a decent predictor. Good tools when combined.



6 comments:

  1. Good Job! It looks as if you're doing pretty well!
    Sadly, I don't really worry about money at all. Years ago, Fred took over this chore. I just trust he knows what he's doing with it. So far, so good!
    Happy Monday!
    m.

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  2. Looks like you're doing good. And I'm jealous, my next 3 pay check month isn't until June!

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    1. Yeah, that's my dad's as well... but it means your other 3-check month is also close to Christmas!

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  3. I never get months with 3 pays - you're fortunate! Yes, I would wait and hope for a lower price - it's a risk, I know, but worth it I think!

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  4. I think I would have done the same, looks like fuel prices are going to go up fast, now you have time to get even more $$ put back for your trip.

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