Budget Update: October 2019

Our monthly budget update does not change much. 

It is primarily fixed expenses, like rent, phone bills and car insurance, which remain the same month after month.  Even the amount budgeted to our miscellaneous line (more on that here) stays the same most months. 

So instead of giving a line-by-line breakdown for our monthly budget update, I do something a little different.  Each month, I share five highlights from our budget, along with three goals for the month to come.

Here is the update for October 2019.

Monthly budget update: October 2019

In October, we…

• Paid $1,930 toward the student loan!

My extra pay period for the fall happened in October this year, which means we put an extra $1.5K on the loan along with the minimum payment!

Balance remaining: $31,627.76

• Took care of routine (and not-so-routine) car maintenance

Like I mentioned in this post, we had the car in for an oil change and to fix repair work done at a garage we don’t usually go to. Thankfully, we had money set aside in our sinking fund that covered this whole bill.

• Jeff got a new smartphone (and a new phone plan)

Jeff has been using an iPhone 4s for the last several months after his phone met an unfortunate demise. Over the course of those months, the phone has basically been shutting down one app at a time. Since Jeff had a work trip at the end of the month that involved an eight-ish hour drive, we wanted to make sure he had a working phone.

So we got him a new one. And, despite our best efforts to avoid it, it resulted in his phone bill going up by about $18 a month.

• Booked a semi-spur-of-the-moment trip to Ontario

Technically happened on the last day of September, but…I’m going to Ontario in November to see the Jonas Brothers again with my best friend! I’m so excited!

• Made minimal progress replenishing our emergency fund

Right now, it’s sitting at about $3K. Which is fine, but not where I wanted it to be after using some of it toward our Newfoundland trip. Oh well. We’ll get there.

November 2019 Goals

Looking ahead, in November, we will…

• Finish most of our Christmas shopping!

Lists are made, the account will be fully funded by the end of the month — ideally, this is the time I would like to get the shopping finished.

• Make another big student loan payment!

October was three pay month for me — and November is three pay month for Jeff! Can’t complain about that.

• Make a list of essentials that need to be purchased or replaced

One of the things I did not too long ago was replace all my underwear. And maybe it’s silly, but it’s been so awesome that I’m thinking it might be a worthwhile exercise in other areas, too. So in November, I’m going to think about what every day items I don’t have that I should or that I should consider replacing. Once I have the list, I can make a plan to work away at it. Does anyone else do this from time to time?

Your turn! How did October turn out for you? What are your goals for November?

Photo by Shopify Partners from Burst