September 2015 Budget Update
I can’t believe September has come and gone. It seems like only 6 months ago we were finding out Mrs. SSC may get laid off this week. We’re still waiting to find out, as they are dragging it out thru the later part of this week, maybe even into next week. Huge eyeroll… I think lack of efficiency may be a key factor in needing to have so many layoffs to begin with, but since I’m no corporate analyst, I’ll just leave that alone.
September positives, daycare was down last month, even though it all evens out since we’re just paying “per week”. Also, health, gifts, entertainment, pets, and cash were all lower than usual. Mrs. SSC even crocheted a pair of Minion hats for a set of twins, whose birthday party our oldest was invited to. That saved us from buying any birthday presents, so YEAH for small wins!
September Negatives include utilities, which were slightly higher, probably due to that 3 weeks of 100+ degree weather in early September. Car repair/gas/tolls came in a little higher than previous months, no clue why there, maybe more toll usage? I’ll monitor that closer for next month. Groceries, though… BUST! Not sure why this jumped up so much, but we will be doing a grocery curtailing this month and monitor purchases and receipts to get it reigned in. We would analyze September’s receipts, but we don’t always keep every receipt. Looking at overall purchases from credit card statements, there doesn’t seem to be anything out of whack, so we will monitor and report back for October! SO exciting, you probably are giddy with anticipation! 🙂
Well, except for waiting for the sword of Damocles to fall later this week, there haven’t been too many changes in the SSC household. We have made multiple budget and savings scenarios, and lifestyle changes regarding this upcoming layoff cycle and we will report all that out to you as soon as we know something. I have to say, as stressful as it has been lately, it has been pretty darn encouraging to review all of our income, savings, FFLC timelines and more and realize that we are still sitting in a pretty good position. It does alleviate some stressful aspects of this situation. However, the anticipation and dragging out of this announcement and decision is just ridiculous though. Talk about adding more undo stress to an already stressful time. Aye yi yi!!
Hope everyone has a great week!
