First off, as I mentioned the other day, I'm hosting the Finance Fiesta this week, so get your submissions in by Wednesday at 5! The Fiesta goes live on Thursday morning.
I was reviewing my July budget this weekend, and realized that in July, things kind of went off the rails. Nothing too terrible, but being sick and then having family and friends come visit really threw things off quite a bit. Before this month, many of my budget categories had a bit of padding in them, thanks to YNAB, but July really depleted those stores.
I've decided to do a 30 day plan. Why 30 days and not an entire month? So that it runs concurrently with my 30 day "get back into a healthy routine" plan. Because July wasn't just bad for my budget. I fell off the fitness wagon, both in workouts and in healthy eating. So the next 30 days are going to be about getting back into shape, both physically and financially.
Conveniently, in many ways, these two things can work together. No excessive eating out. Only getting one drink at happy hour, and a light one at that. Not going overboard at the grocery store (though unfortunately, it seems like healthy, fresh foods are the ones that break the budget).
I'm sticking to my plan of not getting a gym membership. At this point, while I find myself drawn to the shiny gyms with all their fancy equipment, I do fine on my own. I have hand weights and a number of great dvd workouts (Those of you with Exercise TV OnDemand - look for 30 Day Shred - it's a killer!), plus my apartment complex has a small gym. Nothing fancy, but it's more than enough.
Of course, a number of things are working against me on the financial side of this plan. My cats are going in for shots on Friday. I've got some money budgeted for that, but since it's a new vet, I'm not sure what it's going to cost. I also have a dentist appointment on Monday to fix the "repair" work that another dentist did earlier this summer. Insurance will cover some of that, but I'm not sure how much.
But those are things that I can't control, as they are necessary expenses. One thing I've learned is to not worry about the expenses that I can't control. All I can do is try to balance those expenses with what I can control.
So that's the 30 day plan. Wish me luck!