FPU Update- The Budget

The budget is going okay, but not perfectly.

We somehow forgot to include our HELOC (home equity line of credit) payment in the budget.  The HELOC was used to build our garage and nothing else, so technically it's our garage loan.  It would be nice if the garage was part of our mortgage, but since it isn't, we'll have it paid of a lot sooner.  We won't forget to include it next month!

I had to get a new inhaler which we didn't budget for.
One of our dogs may have to go to the vet as there is something going with one of his paws.
Our fuel bill was more than we expected.
I broke a coil spring in my car, and now they both need to be replaced.  The springs can only come from Toyota, so we're expecting a hefty repair bill.  Again, "car repair" was not in the budget.

All of the above items can be budgeted for, but you have to be expecting a certain income in order to fit them in.  We couldn't fit them in this month.  

On the bright side, we were able to sell a few things that should cover any costs that we didn't budget for, and JD's first bi-weekly check of the month was more than we had included in the budget.  (Because his checks have a huge range, we based our budget at the lower end of the range.)

I'm still trying to get the hang of using the envelopes.  I've had to "borrow" from an envelope and then remember which envelope "owed" which.  It gets tricky. Also, for groceries I buy gift cards from school that give a percentage back to the school and help out our tuition a little bit.  I bought too large of a gift card for the grocery store for this month and didn't leave myself enough cash for using everywhere else that I get food/milk.

We had a lot going on last week, and JD worked late a couple of nights, so we haven't watched the next FPU lesson.  That will be on the schedule for this week as they definitely help keep us motivated!