Here's my weekly update, courtesy of My Pretty Pennies :)1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on our Christmas Tree. We got an 8 foot one and spent about $60 on it. It was a bit pricey but it's so beautiful! A tree really makes the season come alive for me :)
2. Today I feel beaten by money. I'm fairly new to zero based budgeting and I'm doing the best I can to stay on track, but to be honest, I'm feeling a bit beaten lately. There have been items that I didn't think to budget (ah, um, the aforementioned tree up above). I know I don't have much money for Christmas and I've been toying with the idea of changing my tax with-holdings for the next few pay periods, in hopes to get a little more money to make up for the budget shortcomings. Probably not the best idea, but one that I'm considering...
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was finishing the Christmas decorating! I had started it last week but finally finished it this week and the house looks amazing. I'm thinking of keeping it up through January :)
4. I will consider this week a success if I get back on track with my healthy eating. I was pretty committed to Atkins before the wedding and upon coming home, we've strayed. I'm hoping we can finish this week off on track. There are so many tempting treats around this time of year, but I just can't indulge in everything!
5. My favorite holiday drink is peppermint hot chocolate! I just love it :) I had one while decorating the tree this weekend and it just made it perfect.
Do you usually get a tax refund? If so, I think it's a great idea to change the deductions. Zero-based budgeting is suppose to take at least 90 days before it gets a bit easier..I say it takes a whole year, because you will finally figure out all of the expenses that creep up!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sharon that it at month three I felt so much better about our budget, weird right? I am sure something will trip me at some point, but you just gotta plow through.
ReplyDeleteIs your tree artificial or real? I have no idea about real tree prices, but if that's an artificial tree, you got a steal! Ours was $70 on clearance about a week after Christmas. Mom just bought a pre-lit one for $250! So they're definitely not cheap.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sharon, if you get a tax refund you should definitely change your withholdings. You're definitely giving the gov't an interest free loan.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to budget for the tree too and that put us over budget. I agree with Sharon - you really need a year to factor in ALL the expenses.
ReplyDeleteI,m following with interest as I intend to implement a zero based budget for myself, now I need to get my head round how it works.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to get back to healthy eating too - it's so hard at this time of year (sounds like a great excuse eh?) My daughter wants to make cookies today (we are on another snow day today) and warm cookies right out of the oven are pretty hard to resist!
ReplyDeleteYou will always forget a few things when zero budgeting. I'm getting better at it but there are always things that pop up that I've totally forgotten about. It could be a year before you've got it right - and then there are things that change seasonally too, like utilities. But it's definitely worth it in the end!