February 2012 Canadian Budget Binder Budget Update
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- How much did you spend this month?
Well here we are again folks at the end of another challenging month for us. We have worked hard at making changes to our budget as we had found some flaws in our 2011 budget.
We also went ahead and simplified the budget so we are putting away money each month for purchases we KNOW will happen this year. That way the money is saved bit by bit monthly and no surprises when it comes time to pay it. We also don’t want to use our emergency savings for bills that are not an emergency.
So here are our last figures for February 2012. I thought we would be over budget after the 20x points event at SDM but we are on track. These darn events are amazing but can put a dent in our grocery budget. The good thing though is we only buy items we WILL need and WILL use so our future grocery bill will be less. You can’t deny that Shoppers Optimum Points is the best loyalty program out there.
One reader asked about our grocery budget and what it includes. My answer was all household cleaning products, pet food, health and beauty not including prescriptions. Thanks for the questions fans keep them coming in. 🙂
I also had a bonus for 2k this month so our monthly income has been inflated. My salary has gone up as I was given a raise as of end of February but I am waiting for actual figures.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to ask. This is a new budget for us. We are working through it in March to fix any glitches we find and to get used to it. So if it seems a bit wonky to you, have no fear the spreadsheet on our end is much more detailed. This is just a snapshot.
We now have 3 accounts now so our January Net Worth and Budget figures have all changed. We realized we shouldn’t be saving money for items we know we will have to pay for in our emergency fund so we separated it. This way we have a true figure for savings.
- Chequing– This is where all the money comes and goes
- Emergency Savings– This is where we keep our spare money for the time being
- Savings– This is where we put all the money for items we know we will have to pay for at some point in the year ie: Christmas, Income Tax, Vehicle Sticker. That way the money is ready to pay for the bill.
Cheers!
Mr. CBB 🙂
THE BREAKDOWN
Monthly Budget Total $5000.00
Total Coupons Used: $164.61
Needs To Go To Savings For Budgeted Expenses: $528.83- These are expenses we know we will pay for throughout year and save monthly for.
Total Expenses Actually Paid Out= $3498.68 Calculated is $4027.51-$528.83= $3498.68
Total Needed to Cover Expenses Actually Paid Out and Budgeted Expenses: $4027.51- Calculated is $3498.68+$528.83=$4027.51
Actual Cash Savings Going Into Emergency Savings Funds:$3275.62 This is what is left after paying all the above $7303.13- $4027.51=$3275.62
Total Net Income: $7303.13
Explanation of Numbers in Budget Below:
- First number is :Total Budgeted Cost
- Second Number is: Actual Spent
- Remarks- Saved in Account for Future-means it will be put in a Savings account to accumulate to pay bill or future expense when/if due.
- If no remark then the money just stays in chequing account to cover future overage so we don’t need to pull from emergency savings.
Budget:
- Allowance $15-Spent $0
- Car Repair/Maintenance $11- Saved $11-Saved in account for future.
- Christmas $25 Spent $25- Saved in account for future
- Clothing $10 Spent $21.92-overspent this month
- Dentist/Prescriptions $5- Spent $51.15- overspent this month
- Electricity/Water $153.05- Saved $153.05- Saved in account for future
- Entertainment-$7-Spent $0
- E-test-$4- Saved $4-Saved in account for future
- Furnace/Hot Water Rental-$37.46-Spent $112.38
- Union Gas (domestic) -$59.19-Spent $76.64 This is averaged out based on past 2 years bills.
- Gasoline/Diesel (vehicle)-$192-Spent $178.93
- Grocery- $190- Spent $181.49
- Home Maintenance-$50-Spent $19.75-Saved $30.25 -Saved in account for future.
- Car/Home Insurance-$189.46-Spent $189.46
- Income Tax Filing-$6-Saved $6 for when we pay for our 2011 filing- Saved in account for future.
- Investment-$767-Spent $767
- Licence Renewal Fees-$11.84-Saved $11.84 in account for future.
- Life Insurance-$135.05-Spent $135.05
- Lottery-$12 -Spent-$12
- Membership/Club/Sports-$6-Saved $6 in account for future.
- Miscellaneous-$294.50-Spent $199.61
- Mortgage-$1470.30 -Spent $1389.12-Saved $81.01 in account for future- extra payments 2 months of the year-5 week mortgage payments. This also includes an extra payment of $417 a month towards the principal.
- Parking-$5 -Spent $4.50
- Pet-$2.08-Saved $2.08 in account for future.
- Property Tax-$287.45-Saved $287.45 in account for future.
- Emergency Savings-$829.11-Saved $3804.45-$528.83 budgeted costs we put away each month= $3275.62
- Vehicle Sticker-$16-Saved $16 in account for future.
- Cable/Internet/Cell/Home Phone-$159.68 -Spent $159.68
- Work Tools-$50 Saved $50 in account for future.
Picture compliments of:Copyright (c) <a href=’http://www.123rf.com’>123RF Stock Photos</a>
Thank you very much for the detailed response- I really appreciate it!
No problem any time Ellen. I appreciate your comments.
Do you have a spreadsheet template that I could use? That would simplify things for me and I could get my hubby in on it so we can work on it together (he pays the bills I do the shopping).
Hi Shelley, We are just finalizing it as we speak and am not sure how we are rolling it out. We may offer it for free to all subscribers to the blog. We have been working on it like mad the past couple months. So far we are thrilled with it’s ease. If I can be of any help let me know in the meantime. I can answer only of what we do but no financial advice as I’m not qualified for that stuff! Mr.CBB!
This seems like a great, very detailed budget (guess I shouldn’t expect anything less considering your blog title! :)). Would you mind providing more information about this? Total Coupons Used: $164.61
What kind of coupons and where did you get them? Thanks!
Hi Ellen,
Total Coupons Used simply means this is the total of coupons we used in the month. So for example in February we used $164.61 worth of coupons towards our shopping. Coupons come from many sources in Canada.
– you can order them on the internet- save.ca, websaver, go coupons, brandsaver
– you can email companies and they will send them to you
– you can call companies and they will send them to you
– you win them on Facebook or various other blogs and websites-giveaways
– you find them in grocery stores, bus stations, go stations, magazines
– you have them mailed to you from filling out surveys ie; Shoppers Voice
-You get them in the newspaper,monthly Inserts- Smart Source
-You can print them from the internet
– Some buy them on ebay-Oh yes they do!
– you can trade coupons on various coupon trade forums. Ie: http://www.savebiglivebetter.com has a coupon trade forum as does http://www.smartcanucks.ca and many other sites
I’m sure I’m missing something but as you can see there are various outlets to get coupons from and they come in handy.
I hope that helps. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
Thanks for your post.
Mr.CBB
We really really and I emphasize really need to get back to budgeting…….although I track everything via quicken we have way to many generalized categories. I really love how you set aside expense money for items you know are coming up but you do not need to pay out yet and I am really jealous that you had the will power not to spend your allowance…..I am frugal but I love a good bargain 😉
Thanks for your comment. Some months I don’t spend my allowance but other months I will buy a round of coffee for my mates at work as we take turns. I also bank my allowance for summer so I can buy a few cases of beer. The wife and I like a cold beer pretty much every day in the summer but only get it if it’s saved allowance.
It’s truly been the only way to save money with a budget. We have been able to do a great deal of fun things with friends in the summer, excursions that you only pay parking for, etc. You don’t need to spend alot of money to have fun.
We started putting the money aside for expenses we knew we would spend throughout the year. We felt it’s better to budget a few dollars every month and set it aside rather than pull out the full cost all at once. We had to go back and pull enough money to cover Jan and Feb worth of these expenses and open a separate savings account. Now it’s easier when we look at our Emergency Savings and know the number is true rather than going up and down because of not budgeting these known expenses.
I hope that all makes sense, if not I’ll be more than happy to explain further.
Cheers,
Mr.CBB