monthly expenses

Greetings readers, I hope that you all had a good weekend, and are ready for BUDGETING!!!!!

This is part of a 5 day series.  Today is goal setting and initial analysis.  Tomorrow will be Banking basics.

I hope that you were able to collect all your monthly bills last month, and are ready to get them under control.

Here is my monthly expense list:

• Rent = $375 – yes, it’s cheap to live where I do (wyoming)
• Verizon = $52 – This covers my cell phone for the month
• Bresnan (Tv/Internet) = $83 – This covers internet, cable tv with far more channels than I can watch, and HD service, as well as 2 movie channels.  Typically, I dont get this fancy with my tv service, my former pacakge included HD channels and basic cable, and that’s all.  However, when I went to set up my new account, this was the special, and it gave 12 months worth of prices, as opposed to the typical 6.  I jumped on it, and will re-evaluate when the time comes to see what can be trimmed from this package.
• Water = $60 –  This I think may be high, however I have not had to water a lawn for a while, so Im not too sure.
• Electricity = $50
• Auto Insurance = $33.  I have an old car, and I own it outright.
• Southwest Airlines Card = 40, total balance ~ 1,000.  - I opened this card as a balance transfer, and it has worked great, however I have not paid it off.  This is my top priority for cards.
• WaMu Card = 120, Total Balance = ~2200.  Im paying interest on this and am tired of it.  This one is going to get transferred to a 0% interest card this week.
• Citi Card = 40, Balance = ~2300.  This is 0% interest until May 2010.  This is the lowest priority in my payback schedule.

These are all my constant monthly expenses.  These dont change, until I pay them off, in the case of the credit cards, or if I move, in all the other cases.

Just like everyone else, I have to eat and cant sit at home all the time while Im not working or I will go crazy.  Typically, I like to go out to dinners and movies with the girlfriend, eat a meal out, or cook something at my house.

• Dining Out – $60 – Meals out here are cheap, I typically come in under budget on this item.  This however does not include fast food.  Sometimes I go to lunch with coworkers when I forget to bring one for myself.  Due to the stark difference in the quality and cost of the food, I break them apart
• Fast Food  - $25 – This is typically spent at qudoba or chipotle.
• Entertainment – $40 –  This is typically movies or plays.  We dont get much else up here.
• Gas – ?? – I have not set an amount for this category, as it drastically changes.  I have gone 2 months without filling up, and I’ve done it two times in a week before.  With the change in employment, I believe that Ill be able to pin a number to this soon.

That’s all for my budget this month, and It wasnt that painful, was it?

You: No, it could have been worse.

If you need another budget article, here’s one from Punch Debt in The Face, a favorite Personal Finance Blogger of mine.  Punch’s Budget

So, now that you’ve got your monthly expenses, here comes the fun part.  Setting your goals.  There are 5 months left in 2009, and I suggest you do your goals for 3 months, end of year, and a final category called long term.  The long term goals are things that are far on the horizon, but can be prepared for.  This can include things like retirement, sending children (or grandchildren) to college, or a first or second home.  Make sure to make your goals attainable, if not, you most likely will not succeed and will

Here are mine:

3 Months:

• Have southwest credit card paid off.  - I know this is ambitious, but Im hoping that I can get it done.

End – of – year:

• Have my remaining credit card debt reduced by 1/2 from the point the southwest card was paid off.
• Increase my savings.  This wasnt mentioned in my budget because I’ve already built a comfortable emergency fund, and am now focusing on my debt.

Longer Term:

• I would like some land in a secluded area to build a small weekend or vacation home on.
• Travel more, specifically South America and Australia/New Zeland.

With all the commotion surrounding the current state of the economy, I think that many people are starting to look at their finances and begin to budget based off of their income, and not the potential cash they had on hand, which included credit cards, homes, and other financing methods.  While the high savings rate is currently hampering the economic recovery, in my opinion it will be a good thing for the long term.

To the readers:

1. How does setting goals help you budget?
2. What other expenses do you have that you may be able to cut back on?

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