2014 Budget Summary

2014 was a CRAZY year!  I started working almost full time.  Joe and I added a new member to the family, Howard, and with the addition came an increase in the grocery budget from $200 to $300 a month.  This number includes diapers, wipes, and baby food, as well as TP, and health and beauty aides.  Since we did so well with this increase in 2014, we are going to keep our budget the same for 2015!  I would like to increase our earnings some, which means more listing on Amazon, earning more Swag Bucks, and searching for more ECB deals and MIR's!  Overall this was an amazing year for the Rogers family, budget included!

• January: $159.34 oop (out of $160), Earned $96.94
• February: $194.58 (out of $200), Earned $204.33
• March: $263.58 (out of $262.35), Earned $433.79
• April: $315.76 (out of $300), Earned $147.55
• May: $289.67 oop (out of $300), Earned $158.06
• June: $264.78 (out of $300). Earned $77.38
• July: $333.35 (out of $300), Earned $57.99
• August: $218.34 (out of $300), Earned $49.67
• September: $241.68 (out of $300), Earned $31
• October: $288.89 (out of $300), Earned $42.09
• November: $288.00 (out of $300), Earned $134.92
• December: $300.33 (out of $300), Earned $106.49

Total OOP: $3158.30 (out of $3322.35)
Under Budget by: $164.05!!!!
Total Earned: $1540.21

December Budget Update

 Well, December was a whirl-wind kind of month!  I worked up until 3 days before Christmas, so I had 3 days to thoroughly clean the house, do all of my baking and the baking for the few orders I had to fill, run my errands, finish the Christmas present wrapping, go to Christmas eve service at church, and do all the prep work for our family Christmas dinner, which I was hosting.  But I worked my butt off all three days, while Joe graciously watched Howard for me, and I was able to rest, and enjoy Christmas with both of our families!  Since December means a LOT of cookie baking and splurging of good things for Christmas dinner, I was pleasantly surprised to have only gone $0.33 over budget this month!  Here's the breakdown...

• Week #1: $1.25 oop, Earned $3 ECB's
• Week #2: $96.68 oop, Earned $14 ECB's, and 2 - $5 Amazon Gift Cards from Swag Bucks
• Week #3: $129.43 oop, Earned $22.99 ECB's
• Week #4: $50.82 oop, Earned $22.50 ECB's
• Week #5: $22.15 oop, Earned $34 ECB's

Total OOP: $300.33
Total Earned: $106.49
Total Remaining: - $0.33

Weekly Spending Report: 12/28/2014-01/03/2015

Since we didn't need much this week, and we're living off of Christmas leftovers, I decided to just roll my rewards at CVS and drop into Target and see what clearance they had left, which wasn't much.  Here's what I ended up with...

• Monday's CVS Trip (picture is missing 1 box Ziploc freezer bags): $22.15 oop, Earned $34 ECB's (includes $5 Beauty Reward from body wash and lotion, and $5 CVS Reward wyb $30 for the diapers and previous purchases)

• Monday's Target Trip (Sorry for the crappy picture, but there are 2 boxes of tissues, 2 bottles rubbing alcohol, 3 bottles of witch hazel, a block of cheese, 3-3 ct K cups which were on clearance with the cheese, and 1 cup of cat food I used a free item coupon on, I also used some Target coupons): Zero oop - used a gift card to pay 

Total OOP: $22.15
Total Earned: $34
Total Remaining: - $0.33

Weekly Spending Report: 12/21-27/2014

 

Joe, Howard, and I spent a lovely Christmas with both of our families.  We hosted Christmas dinner this year, which I thought was going to be stressful with a baby under 1 in the house, but I was able to do a lot of things ahead of time, so I was able to relax and enjoy Christmas day.  We all got loads of wonderful presents, including Howard, who is now inundated with toys ;-)  We did a LOT of shopping on the 26th for next years Christmas - we're about 65% done already!  I didn't post those purchases here because they come out of a different budget, and include Christmas presents -- you never know who may be reading!  Any way, here's how the week went down...

• Tuesday's ALDI Trip (stevia packets, heavy cream, organic 2% milk, granola bars, sour cream, squeeze applesauce pouches, and canned green beans): $21.56 oop
• Wednesday's Giant Trip: $16.09 oop

• Wednesday's CVS Trip: $9.99, Earned $22.50 ECB's

• Saturday's Dollar Tree Trip (2 newspapers, 1 pair of clearance Christmas camo socks for Howard, and a clearance snowflake nightlight for Howard's room): $3.18 oop

Total OOP: $50.82
Total Earned: $22.50
Total Remaining for December: $21.82