Since my mother's been out of the country for the past 2-3 months, I've been spending more time at my dad' house. This past weekend, I decided to do a tally of Jul-Sept of my expenses vs what I've been spending at my parents' house. The results aren't pretty.
I've spent an average $168/mo ( vs $0 budgeted) for my parents' house expenses since July 1st. In contrast, I've spent $142/mo ( vs $200 budgeted) on myself for food, misc./personal items. It's been a $100/mo setback. Numbers are approximate, not including gas or rare expenses.
So what did I spend almost $500 on at my parents'? Mostly food. Impulse, bulk buying food for a household of ~3.5 adults, some family-size toiletries here and there because the younger siblings refuse to buy it for the household and my dad doesn't really go shopping for stuff.
My goal for October is to get that under control... and start spending my grocery/misc/personal budget where it belongs. Any wonder I don't eat a whole lot?
All that said, bear in mind most of the overage ends up coming from my part time job's checks, which have not been allocated to any other expense or accounted for in any other way. So while I am not moving backwards, I could be moving forward with some more speed.
You have a great heart, with your family spending, but you're right that you need to get your own spending under control in order to meet your personal goals. You can do it - October is going to be a great month for you!
ReplyDeleteTanner, if you feel it needs to change, then I wish you good luck. I just wrote a post about the personal portion of PF. You should check it out.
ReplyDeleteI think you've got your heart in the right place. It's hard to argue that buying stuff for family as long as it's not coerced is a good thing!
ReplyDeleteHowever, buying the stuff for siblings' failures may not be the best thing. You don't say with it is they don't buy, but you can limit yourself to buying what you need, what you eat. I doubt they'll go hungry if you don't buy it for them, right?
BTW, is the raise going to the IRA?! Better be! HAHAHAHA
Peace <3
Jay
Uff, you're twisting my hands. I'll send some of it to the IRA. I need to be bumping that anyway!
DeleteGood on you for helping the family out. Just be careful it doesn't turn into a perpetual cycle of financial aid. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Your siblings shouldn't become too reliant on you. Your money, your life :)
ReplyDeleteYou have a couple of choices...
ReplyDelete1) Knowing you are going to keep helping the family....just budget for it; or
2) Try and cut it back; or
3) Figure out what this is actually costing you.
In #3...have you figured out where you would be on debt, savings, whereever....if you had used that $500 toward yourself? Maybe by seeing how much LESS traction you are making will make it easier to say NO.
I've wondered about budgeting, but I can't budget with money I don't yet have. And I honestly can't find that much room to budget it in my regular schedule. I am definitely going to focus on cutting back... a lot.
DeleteI struggle with spending too much on gifts and "other things" for my family too... It always seems to be more than I think it is (when I add it all up). But it's family so you need to do what feels right in your heart. Mysti has some good advice to help put everything in perspective too...
ReplyDeleteIndeed, it's a struggle. Especially when it hits close to home!
DeleteI understand what a struggle it can be to stay under budget when you take care about your Dad. When I went home, I spent way more money than I wanted to just because I had to buy food and other necessities for him. Dads can be so helpless :)
ReplyDeleteOur September budget flew out the window... wayyy out. lol! I'm sure you'll get it back under control! :)
ReplyDelete