Budget Report--October

I went over on my October budget. : ( I attribute it to our trip to Utah (stocking up on hot chocolate and buying lots more milk for the babies than they would normally need) and some poor planning at the end of the month.

Even though Thanksgiving is this month, I'm trimming my budget by $20. (This is the first month I won't be buying any formula.) I'm also deducting the amount that I went over in October. (Harsh!) I know, I know, but I'm really trying to keep things in check. I'm trying to plan for November in it's entirety instead of just week by week. I figure that will help me to get a better view of my spending.

...And we are headed to Hawaii this month for a long overdue vacation (and to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary), so I know that will eat up some of my grocery budget.

I read an article recently (of course now I can't remember where) but the author was talking about budgeting and she said that even though she had a party planned for that month, she was not going to veer from her budget and make excuses because stuff like that always comes up. She's right: we always have someone's birthday or other celebration or someone gets sick or we just don't feel like cooking...things come up that we don't plan for and we can't throw our budget out the window because of it.

So yes, even though Thanksgiving is coming up, now is not the time to lose hold of your budget. I'm going to take a deep breath and do the best with what I've got!

What are your plans for keeping your budget on track with the holidays coming up?




{image via Country Living}