JULY : A NO SPENDING MONTH + MY BUDGETING

well, here I am! The overall response in my last post, asking you guys if you wanted a post on my no spending challenge in july was

“YES DO A POST ON YOUR BUDGETING!!!”

lol let me tell you, suddenly I felt very incompetent on my skills and how to explain what I did this last month but here I am anyways..lets see how this goes >.<

first off GRAB YOUR PLANNER. hopefully you have a weekly section that you use heavily, because that’s what I did lol. I’ve always wanted to learn how to budget plan but everything I used that was a legit budget planner NEVER WORKED and I found out why – because it was in a separate place/book. For me, to have something work, I need it to be in plain sight and easily accessible. Maybe I’m lazy?? Lololol

(btw I’m still using the happy planner I did a post on HERE I’ve bought extension packs, etc and I kid you not, this is what I’ve been looking for my entire life. I panicked at the price but I’ve been using it for over a year now which has totally evened it all out)

My #1 tip is to avoid stores. it sounds sooo lame but idk...its worked for me. I decided to be very cautious with what I spent in July, but I also when fun shopping with friends, bought ice cream, gifts, etc. I feel like this is a lot like when I went off sugar two years ago – I learned how to avoid certain things/places and the fact that I didn’t need everything that I thought I did. BUT ALSO TO STILL SPLURGE otherwise, keeping firm later on would be impossible. Everything in moderation, please. xD

Throughout the month,  I kept track of everything I bought/where I bought it / how much was spent in the side of my planner.  It was easiest for me to do this weekly. so usually Saturday I would compile the list, unless I had been able to stay on top of it during the week. I also wrote down how much money I earned, how much I had in my savings + bank account each week.

ANOTHER TIP : use cash for your fun purchases. Like I would keep a $5 in my purse so when a friend was like “LETS GO GET ICE CREAM” I knew that this was my fun money and it was totally a-okay. (also yes, ice cream is still a big thing in my life...) 

I couldn’t wait for yesterday when I was finally able to tally up everything from the month of July. I was astonished to find that I had been able to curve my spending even thought I had felt otherwise. I spent nearly $200 in gas...which once again isn’t as bad as I thought lol! In the end, I noticed that I am growing my savings and now I know exactly where my money is going but I also know that budgeting isn’t impossible! 

Perhaps this isn’t true budgeting? But it truly works for me.  Now I have these spending patterns to look back on and go “okay Julia, spend a little less on your ice cream and put that into savings” or I can say “hey julia, the amount you are spending on ice cream is 100% cool.”

Sometimes when you work and work and work (#me) you lose sight of what you’re actually doing. For a while I was like “LOL I WORK HARD I CAN SPEND WHAT I WANT” and while that’s true, it’s not really the smartest thing for me to do.  Also we are to be good stewards of what we are given xxx

LEMME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. Totally willing to explain things more if I failed to above XD