For the past couple months I have just felt so unmotivated. Keeping the house looking half decent and putting dinner on the table are pretty much all I’ve been able to accomplish. But about two weeks ago, something just hit me. Like a ton of bricks. All of sudden, I realized I was just wasting my time. I was wasting all the opportunity that was presented to me. Not even just considering the fact that I have been lucky enough to stay home full-time with my children instead of going into work, I am an able-bodied human being with a creative mind and a good amount of privilege. Why am I not taking advantage of everything that is just sitting right in front of me? And when I say, it hit me like a ton of bricks, I mean, I physically felt it. When the realization came to me, I just started weeping. I was completely alone, but I felt embarassed and disappointed in myself for allowing such a long period of stagnation to go on.

I decided in that moment that I needed to turn things around. I didn’t want to waste another minute being mindless. And since then I have been proud of every day that has passed, proud of what I have accomplished, and the goals I have set for myself. I’m not CEO of a Fortune 500 company…yet. Well probably never because that’s just not my jam, but the confidence I have in myself is enough for me to know that great things can and will be happening.

So what does this have to do with my monthly budget review? Not much. But I just wanted to let y’all know where my head is at right now. And maybe in a couple months, this will mean some big changes to the budget, but for now, let’s review the past so we can have a better future.

Essentials (76% of income)
With this month’s higher than average essential expenses, it definitely feels like my goal of reducing our costs to 50% of our income is not going to be attainable. But a little over 23% our total income went towards medical bills from Emma’s ER visit and James’ after hours doctor visit in the months of May and June. That being said, at least these weren’t all repeating essential expenses. All of our other essential categories came in below budget except Groceries. There were 11 separate grocery visits during the month of July, not counting 2 online grocery purchases and a quick run to The Juicery to stock up on fresh vegetable juice and ginger juice. Being better prepared for grocery trips and stocking up all at once would definitely help prevent these little trips that add up to huge expenses. I’m playing around with the idea of meal planning for at least an entire month in advance. I would then buy all my frozen and pantry goods for the month in one big trip. Fresh goods would be purchased once a week. Thoughts?

Lifestyle (19% of income)
July’s lifestyle expenses were pretty high because we spent a big junk of change on parts for the truck and a pressure washer. These were planned purchases, but they still hurt a bit. There were also the usual monthly non-essentials: Netflix, HBO, more PF Changs than I care to admit, and Pure Barre. I also bought a new swim suit (FINALLY, first new suit since 2011) and a new eyelash curler (my old curler met an untimely death when the metal literally snapped apart mid-use).

Goals (5% of income)
All of the normal long term savings goals were met, but because we had to take money from savings to cover the medical expenses, this category is looking so sad. I had originally projected we would have $500 additional to put towards savings, but some of the medical bills were highly than expected 😦

August 2016 Budget Projections
We’re doing some pretty major projects for August. Well, as major as it gets without just calling it a reno. We’ve already replaced the garage door and opener so that’s $1530 right off the bat. We also had the chimney cleaned ($110), and we have to replace the chimney damper ($325), but that’s not happening until next week. One time lifestyle costs that are also expected to hit in August are new running shoes for me (I just ordered these!), a new video game for Ryan , and I also bought a documentary….and proceeded to watch it twice in less than 8 hours 🙂

Thanks for reading, and I hope you had a great July and your August is off to a good start!