September has been a very long hard and stressful month. We have had multiple small things that have required extra time, money and attention. I am hoping that October is less eventful and expensive. I have had to do some major adjusting to the budget to minimize the impact and I am honestly not sure if I will be successful or not. What I am sure of is that I have a decent plan.
Groceries- Goal $800 per month. We spent $213.33 for the month of September. This met my goal for the month of staying below $300. We have lost 2 of our freezers recently so I am really starting to look at the food budget and using up everything and anything on hand. October will be more expensive due to needing to restock on paper products. I am going to set that goal at $600. I will be making a trip to Costco to restock these items. Other than the Costco trip, I am going to plan to do a Walmart order every 2 weeks at around $40 for perishable items that we need to replace. If we are able to complete this in October than I will reduce the November and December budgets as well accordingly.
Gas- Goal is $400. Total spent was $607.21 for gas this month. This amount does include the trip to Florida. Considering that the price of gas continues to rise we are doing all we can to keep this amount as low as possible. I am likely going to have to increase this to $500 a month for next year.
Blogging-The goal will be 15 posts per month. This is post 12 for me. I am very proud of this number based on my stress level alone.
Debit- The goal for 2026 will be to pay off the Home Depot Credit card without interest. We failed at this. September has been one of the most expensive months I can remember. At this point I am struggling with the budget. My new goal to to make minimal payments and to be able to come up with a solid budget starting in January. God has and does provide.
No Spend Days- Goal for 10 no spend days a month. Total honesty I was able to keep up with this for the first fifteen days of the month. 1 of which was a no spend day. I will try to make this a propriety in the month of October but so far it has not worked.
Health/Exercise-I am a stress eater. September was stressful. Enough said
Foster Care- Our next court date is set for October 20th. For the first time in 9 months, both parents have showed up for 3 visits in a row. This is progress on their part. E is struggling with visits with more aggression after each visit.