It’s August 1 and I have only 3 weeks before I start my final semester. Yea! It’s also time to put up my monthly review. It was painful to look at this month, but sometimes you have to just stare the monster down.

My July 2007 Budget

Income $ 1046.82

Expenses
Bank Fees         29.75
Car                    235
Household         54.31
Joint                 360
Pet                         7.09
Transcript          20
7-11                    57.63
Savings              40
Doctor                75
Gasoline          114.49
Credit Card      25.9
1019.17

Monthly Budget Category Review

• Bank Fees: My credit Union charges 75 cents for every debit transaction that I use.  That’s very frustrating.  I bounced a check (forgot about the 75 cent charges) and that dinged me really bad.
• Household: Just the basics of cleaning supplies and what not. I expect this to be smaller next month.
• Joint: We have individual account and then we have our ‘family’ bills like rent, groceries, etc. We calculated the amount as based on how many hours we work, we put a percentage into the joint account.
• Pet: My cat needs to eat.
• Transcript: My university was missing some test scores that I need to graduate, so I went ahead and paid for the transcript.
• 7-11: A load of unnecessary stuff like coffee, snacks, and magazines. I’m most upset with myself on this expense.
• Credit Card: I am happy with the account because that means that my balance on that is still $0.

Summary: If I cut out 7-11 and just use credit on my credit union card, then I would’ve had $87.38 more to keep in my checking account.

Goals for August:

1. Stop buying magazines from stores. Just read it online.

2. Use my credit union card wisely. I’ll keep better track of my finances, so I would need to use the debit feature.

3. Drink the coffee in the break room. Sure it doesn’t have the international flavors, but it’s free.

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