february finances update (day 6)

This is harder than I had anticipated…and we’re only 6 days in. What we didn’t account for in our budget was all the unexpected spending that comes with being an grown up. For example, today we had to pay $45 for an Air Care inspection for our car. Something that wasn’t a luxury, something that HAD to be done, but something that also wasn’t in our budget. It was no big deal because we’re just pretending this month – but if this was not just a pretend exercise, but real life, I really don’t know where that $45 would have come from. But I can tell you where it would have ended up: on our credit card.

Ugh. I understand that credit can be a very useful and necessary tool, however, I just really hate it. I’ve learned my lesson on being fun and fancy free with credit and that’s a lesson that I don’t NOT want to have to learn again.

So, I guess it’s back to the spreadsheet to figure out how to incorporate an “unexpected expenses” category for each month. This is a good thing though, and just another reason why it’s such a good idea to test this new budget while we still have a safety net. I’m going to say it once: Hubby, you were right (that almost killed me).