Our February Monthly Financial Budget Meeting

Hearing other people talk about money can be so weird to some people, but I am on the other end of the spectrum where I think that hearing others talk about their financial situations gives us a better sense of what is really happening in the world.  We realize that our friends are making the same mistakes that we are making.  We learn what works for others and we adapt what we are doing.  We get new ideas and propel ourselves forward.  A monthly budget meeting is essential in our family.

About Us

Read Our January Monthly Financial Meeting Agenda for the whole overview.  In a nutshell we are in our early 30’s, we have 2 children, and we are learning to make our money meet our financial goals.  We had debt, we paid it off, and now we are looking at the future.

Our Financial Goal

I have mentioned that I felt lost in 2012 because we didn’t have a financial goal.  We sat down at our meeting yesterday and asked ourselves “What is our BIG goal”?  The answer to that was “To save money for a house with a basement” (we do live in an area where there are tornadoes and they get scarier and scarier year after year).  Then we looked at what needed for a down payment on a house with a basement that fits other criteria as well.  So super scary!  We want to put 20% down to avoid having a big mortgage and a small mortgage like we have now.  We need to save a lot of money.  We took that amount and divided it by 36 months, to give us time to achieve our goal  We recorded the amount that we need to save per month.  It’s finally real.  We have a goal.  We need some gazelle like intensity to reach that goal now!

Our January Finances

The Good News

Without having an established monthly goal set in advance, we were very close of reaching the saving goal we set in February.  That money was moved to savings.

The Bad News

With a birthday party and two out of state visitors we spent more money than we had allotted in the budget.  In the end it wasn’t a big deal, but we need to be better about saving money before guests come so that it doesn’t affect us in other areas.

Our February Budget Meeting Accomplishments

During our February Budget Meeting we had several big accomplishments that included:

• Compared January’s spending to the January Budget.  Overall we did a good job.
• Fixed the clothing budget
• Fixed the Pets budget
• Added an Auto budget for repairs and maintenance
• Added a Home Improvement budget
• Added an Kids Allowance budget for the girls (more on that later)
• Added a Family Fund for Eating Out and Entertainment as well as other Family Misc events

Our February Monthly Financial Meeting Goals/Action Plan Items

• Establish 529 Plans for both girls
• Find the dog’s food for cheaper.  Taking advice from 5 Ways to Save Money on Pet Food we found that Amazon is $4.00 cheaper.  By ordering from Amazon we will save at least $32 per year ($4/month x 8 Months)
• Close the girls old savings accounts.
• Open the girls new savings accounts at the credit union.
• Consistently tag items that we purchase with credit cards in Mint (pet food, family fund, clothing).
• Update January 2012 credit card purchases in Mint.
• Close Bank of America account by the end of February.
• Create a list of chores for the girls that includes paid chores as well as nonpaid chores.

Let’s Talk: Do your kids have chores that are paid versus unpaid?  I would love to know what works in your house!

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