Budgeting Check In 1

It's the end of the month, so it's time for my first check in on my budgeting/saving money series for the year.  January was complicated.  My two youngest children celebrated their 5th birthday, which cut into our budget a bit.  I also had to buy a few new pairs of shoes as I was having foot pain only to discover my feet had grown.  That's right ladies, be warned.  For some of us, our feet will continue growing throughout life, about 1 size every 10 years.  Some of you will be luckier.  But it was a bit of a shock for me.  So, we'll say my plan of only spending $300 dollars for the month was slightly off.

The good news is that I managed to only put a little bit on my credit card and I will be able to pay it off this time, giving me a little more room to wiggle for next month.  And I'm going to really clamp down on my spending in February as we have decided to take advantage of the Disneyland southern California 3-day $180 deal in late March.  You know what that means...more money needs saving. So, I'm shooting for $300 total spending, again not including bills or household expenses (groceries, medications, etc.).  I think it's possible this time.  I do have my car registry to pay, but otherwise it shouldn't be a bad month.  Unless, of course, I just jinxed myself...

So,  haven't been able to put money in savings this month, but I did manage to get the credit card paid off.  Here's hoping the end of February will yield more positive results.  I have several free activities planned in February for my family including L.A. museum free-for-all this coming weekend and a final trip to the zoo on our season passes from last year. If we bring our own food, we may just be okay.  And the rest of the time, there's always meal prep and cleaning to keep us busy.  But, more on that next month maybe.

It's that Time Again...Saving Money for Trips

Last year, I wrote about a challenge where I tried to find only free activities to do on weekends for 10 weeks in order to save money for trips.  It was mostly successful and helped me pay off some of my debt from the holidays so I could save up for my trips to Legoland, Santa Cruz, and New York.  I didn't quite reach my $6000, but I got close enough that I wasn't hurting at all and was even able to take an extra smaller trip with my oldest son.

This year, I once again find myself in a similar predicament.  I spent too much during the holidays and I have trips I want to take.  We will be going to Disneyland in November for Thanksgiving and staying onsite, which is no cheap date for 6 people, but we haven't stayed onsite in a long time.  I'm also hoping to take a short day or 2-day trip in June to see Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge...but I'm not sure if I'm crazy enough for that one.  We'll see.  Also in June, we're taking a trip Gold Country and the Sierra Nevada mountains for a week.  Most of that one is already paid, but I still have to rent a car, consider gas prices, and include money for food, excursions, and souvenirs.  And, there's that ever-present plan to hopefully go to Walt Disney World in 2021...I need $15,000 for that one alone and, well, let's just say I'm nowhere near close right now.  So, with that in mind, it's time to save again.

This year, in addition to doing my 10-week "free stuff" challenge once again, which won't begin until Martin Luther King Day weekend since we have to celebrate my twins' 5th birthday before that, I am also setting myself a budget to follow for at least the next 6 months.  I've realized looking at my credit card bills that I spend a lot of money on things that I don't really need.  New shoes, new clothes, extra toys for the kids...it adds up.  I won't disclose how much I spend on average, but my new budget for personal expenses and extras every month is going to be $300 per month.  This does not include my monthly bills, gym membership,  payments on my Knott's season passes, gas, car payments, or student loan payments.  But it does include eating out, clothing for my kids and myself, and fun activities/extras.  My goal in all of this is to keep my credit card payments down (and pay off Christmas) and start some heavy duty saving.

I'm going to try to update monthly with how my vacation savings is going and tips I've found along the way.  Here's hoping for some positive results.