Thursday, April 5, 2012

Budget Babe

To all Budget Babe's fans out there:  get lost!  I am the anti-babe this month! I'm so sad.  I suck.  I thought I was going along just fine.  But then I glanced down at the dashboard for a split second, and my progress skidded to a halt. 

I guess I should just be grateful that neither my metaphorical nor my actual airbags deployed.

The good news was that I came in under or spot-on my budget for utilities, food and gasoline.  A miracle, since I spent most of the month driving any other car but my own:  my friend Cliff's Toyota Sienna mini-van (I learned when I went to gas it, that it has a 250 gallon tank); Chuck's Franken Audi; and a rental car (which I rather enjoyed not least of all because the Enterprise rental car guy was cute and flirted outrageously with me.)

I budgeted $600 for the trip to Mexico, and ended up spending $540.  And NO!  I don't have to feel guilty about Mexico, because I paid for it from the special savings account named "Fun!".  I have another named "Oh, Shit". It has money in it for me to live off in case of disaster.  Mom said I should have enough in there to get me through 6 months without an income.  Now that I have been crunching the numbers for almost a year, I realize that this account holds enough to support me for...more like... three months.  I need to sock some more away there!  But not this month.  Then I have an account called "Serious".  This is where I put the money Si gives me every month as he gradually buys me out of my share of the house.  With it, I will buy my own house one of these days.

He has managed to refinance the mortgage, and I am no longer on it.  While I was, I was unable to get credit, because it appeared on paper that my expenditures far outstripped my earnings.  I tried to explain to my bank that I was on the mortgage, but not paying it; they clucked sympathetically, and told me to come back for a credit card after Si's refi.  I'm fortunate  that I have a credit card from my married days.

I digress.  This month, it is all about the smooshed up Fiat.  $718.74.  Oh, I am grateful to that little gecko with the pratty Essex accent.  (Sorry, friends from Essex...)  Geico has been perfect:  the total cost of repair was $6,900, and I paid $500.  Yes, I know that when it is time to renew in July, I will be singing a different tune.  But for now, I will pay my $500 and sing the praises of that little lizard.  $500 deductible on my insurance; then $218.74 for 9 days of rental car. 

There really weren't any other unbudgeted expenses, except renewal of my little blog widget that shows me who has visited me. 

I spent more than I earned by $400.  Sad.  If I hadn't crashed the Fiat, I would have had about $300 to put in my "Fun!" account.  Instead, I will be tightening my belt.  Two notches, because I already know that next month's edition of Budget Babe will be called, "Uncle Sam gets so much of my ass that my tax preparer is afraid to call me".  I hope you tune in for that one.  Same bat-time; same bat-station.

4 comments:

  1. Damn Fiat!!

    Still, glad you enjoyed Mexico. And glad you have your accounts in order. Someday, I will start a vacation fund instead of relying on filling the five-gallon water bottle with spare change.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was lamenting once to my sister-in-law that every time I saved up a significant (to me) amount of money, something came up: an illness, a car repair, whatever, and it used up my savings. She said, "At least you have savings." So many people don't, either because there is no money to save, or they've made other choices. You're doing great. Three months of expenses saved up is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your naming reasons for the accounts! I think you've done remarkably well. Saving is one of the hardest things to do. Sorry to hear the fiat has set you back.
    And what's wrong with Essex accents?! Ha, ha. To be honest, I agree with you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I come in as a fan of Budget Babe, of course. She is my hero(ine)! I made a sort-of second budget last week called "savings", in which I categorized all the ridiculous things I have to pay for and which I really should save up for so that I don't have too many sudden, big expenses. It. Is. Scary. I should blog about this but it's much easier to just comment here. ;)

    Late comment: the Mexico trip looks like so much fun. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete