September 2023 Budget Update CBB Family
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Welcome to the September 2023 Budget Update edition for the CBB family.
Today, I will detail how our month of expenses went and explain where the money went.
Why Do I Share Our Monthly Budget?
I look forward to putting this post together as it lets us see where our money was spent.
A budget also acts as a diary for your expenses so you can look back to see success and failure.
After all, we can only be successful if we learn from the mistakes we make along the way.
Our budget update also lets readers know that we are NOT perfect and must make changes like everyone else.
We use the tools (Free budget Binder), and I hope you have downloaded your free copy.
If there’s any information that you’d like to know or explain about our budget, please share your comments below.
Alright, let’s get into this.
Discussion September 2023 Budget
We’ve got a massive increase in expenses for September, which I will explain.
Overall, there continues to be a strain on our grocery budget as we take advantage of Flashfood sales, Amazon deals, and in-store specials.
Often, we have to outweigh the good with the ugly, and since we have the extra splash money, we opt for the savings.
With no debt, this does make spending extra on grocery deals easier, but it’s not something we do without consideration.
Percentages For the September 2023 Budget
As you can see, our housing ratio for 2023 has been high due to the amount of renovations we’ve been tackling.
Otherwise, we seem balanced and focused on our yearly financial goals.
Budget Month Comparison
We had a 180% change in net worth due to renovations, investment fluctuations, and other category overages.
Due to union negotiations, I received a 3.5% raise at work in August and retro pay in September, artificially increasing our net income by 56.64%.
September 2023 Household Budget Percentages
Savings of 17.28 % in September include investments, and savings are based on our net income.
The housing ratio stands out the most at 135.02% because our siding and garage door project costs nearly $25,000.
These renovation expenses were budgeted over the last 15 years of owning our home.
Our Life Ratio is 22.14%, lower than August, which is fantastic.
Life contains everything from groceries, entertainment, miscellaneous, health/beauty, clothing, etc.
It’s always lovely to see our transportation costs low as they can be costly for many people.
Our truck has no loan, and only one of us goes to work, making things cheaper even though gas prices are exponentially high.
Equally important is saving money for our projected expenses due throughout the year.
All categories took 100% of our income, showing we accounted for all the revenue in September 2023.
Both housing and transportation stay below the monthly percentage points.
We have zero debt, which helps fund other budget categories to maximize investments and savings.
Grocery Food Savings Jar September Update
Soon, I will be writing a detailed blog post about why we will track our grocery discounts.
Update: Tracking Our Grocery Discounts For One Year + Free Printable
I will tally it at the end of the year to see how much we saved buying reduced food products.
For September 2023, we saved $100.17 by purchasing food that was reduced in price.
Also, we received free food from the Flashfood app using rewards points that I don’t calculate into our grocery expenses.
So far, in 2023, purchasing discounted food has saved us $947.27.
That’s Awesome!!
September 2023 Budget and Actual Budget
Below are two tables: Our September 2023 Budget and our Actual Budget.
Our September 2023 monthly budget represents two adults and a 9-year-old boy.
Budget Colour Key: It is a projected expense when highlighted in blue.
Since May 2014, we’ve been mortgage-free, redirecting our money into investments and home improvement projects.
Spending less than we earn and budgeting has been the easiest way to pay off our debt and save money.
This type of budget is a zero-based budget where all the money has a home.
Estimated September 2023 Budget
Actual September 2023 Budget
Canadian Banks, We Use
- Chequing– This is the bank account from which we pay our household bills. We use Simplii Financial, TD Canada Trust, and Tangerine Bank. Join Simplii Financial today! Read more about the best Canadian online virtual banks.
- Emergency Savings Account– This money is in a high-interest savings account (HISA)
- Regular Savings Account– This savings account holds our projected expenses.
Breakdown Of Our September 2023 Budget
Below are some of our variable expenses from September, apart from investments.
In September, we spent $20,596.91 over budget of $6,840.26, so let’s look at where the extra cash went.
September $27,437.17(Actual Expenses) – $6,840.26 (Budgeted Amount) = $20,596.91 over budget
September 2023 Budget Category Changes
We did not have any budget changes for September.
I will increase our birthday, pet, grocery, and now our telecommunications categories as Spotify increased in price in September.
Thankfully, my Freedom Mobile is still at $19 monthly for 5G of data! 🙂
Subscribe using my link in the blog post linked above and get a discount if you go with Freedom Mobile.
Come 2024, we will make the appropriate changes since our projected expenses are insufficient.
Household Bills
Below is an explanation of the budget categories from September 2023 that were over budget or need clarification.
Bills such as hydro, water, electricity, water heater, home, and auto insurance were billed around what we expected.
There were no surprises. I use the timer on our washing machine to reduce expenses and hang clothes that don’t need to be put in the dryer.
We also don’t have a dishwasher and are mindful of the lights, heating, and A/C.
Pet Expenses
Again, our pet expenses were over the budget of $50 monthly because Mrs. CBB couldn’t stop finding deals on food and snacks.
I estimate that in 2024, we will see our monthly pet expenses near the $250 mark, including vet visits.
When Amazon has a deal or coupons, she buys extra cases of cat food and snacks.
We know they must eat, so we take advantage of the sales instead of paying full price.
Perhaps we need a pet stockpile budget? It’s not every month, but it might be something to consider for 2024.
Our cats love Fancy Feast wet cat food, and we can’t find coupons.
If anyone has any tips, please message me or comment below.
Clothing
Mrs. CBB went to the thrift store and spent around $100 on clothing for our son, a top, and a Canada winter jacket for herself.
It was a discount day, so she took advantage and did quite well.
We also ordered new running shoes for our son and some other clothing from Puma from the sales category.
Using Rakuten and our credit card also gave us cash back with the purchase. 🙂
Kid Expenses
In September, we purchased several educational materials on Amazon to help our son with math and language.
- Flare Calser Kids Ear Plugs For anyone with ADHD or who needs a calmer environment.
- Aizweb Sentence Building
- Edxeducation Student Place Value Flip Charts
Prescriptions
Our prescription expenses were higher this month because they all came due simultaneously.
All prescriptions are run through my benefits at 85% and still leave a balance of $200.
For 2024, I will change this category and adjust it based on current medication costs.
Birthday Expenses
Our son has three birthday parties to attend in October, so Mrs. CBB purchased gifts on Amazon.
I think for 2024, we will have to increase the amount to include approximately five birthday parties for kids at school.
FlashFood App
We spent $ FlashFood App in September but have saved $395 in 2023.
Mrs. CBB and I both have Flashfood accounts, and she saved $15 in September.
In September, we found some fantastic deals on the Flashfood App.
Typically, we look for milk, yogurt, specialty bread, and meats and produce boxes.
Recently, I’ve noticed that some Loblaws stores are beginning to include health and beauty products.
Health and Beauty
Anything purchased in this category is all Mrs. CBB’s doing. Haha!
Items include iron pills, CeraVe hydrating cream, bathroom cleaner, paper towels, toilet paper, and a jug of Palmolive dish soap.
Those are just some items on the list, as there were more but just general needs.
PC Optimum Points
Over the last 45 days between our PC World Elite MasterCard, Zehrs, and No Frills, we’ve earned 35,560 PC Optimum points or $35.
Our current PC Optimum Points amount is close to $7000.
TD Visa Cash Back Amount
Our TD Visa has a cashback balance of $351.69.
Canadian Tire Triangle Rewards September 2023
Typically, my expenses are put on my Canadian Tire MasterCard apart from Costco CIBC MasterCard for gas and groceries and PC World Elite MasterCard for groceries.
Grocery Budget September 2023 Budget
Our monthly grocery budget is $900 plus a $25 stockpile budget.
In September, we spent $321.48 over budget on groceries, much higher than most months.
We’ve been buying lots of fruit the last few months, especially apples, and the prices have been hit or miss.
We often only buy what’s on sale, but the Cosmic apples have held steady at $3.99lb.
During the month, Mrs. CBB started to purchase Halloween candy on Amazon since it was on sale, which added to the overage.
- Bulk Reeses Chocolates x1
- Misura Firextra Whole Wheat Biscuits x2
- Gioia S Cookies x1
- Ritz Original Snack Crackers Family x4
- Kinder Chocolate Minis x6
- 95 Halloween Bulk Candy Hershey’s
- Inari Quinoa 1kg (by far the best we’ve ever tried)
- Oreo Cookies, Super Mario
- Robin Hood Gluten Free Flour x2
- Chips Ahoy Chewy Caramilk Cookies
- French’s Tomato Sauce
- Vachon Joe Louis x2
- Crystal Light Tangerine Grapefruit x 2
- Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip Cookies x2
- Chewy Chocolate Chips Ahoy Cookies x2
September 2023 CBB Net Worth Update
Our net worth sucks this month, but with renovations, there’s not much we can do.
The investment portfolios went south in September, which decreased our numbers by $20,447.07 or -2.14%.
Until Next Time!
That’s all for our September 2023 Monthly Budget,
If there’s something you’d like to see in our monthly update, hit reply to this email and let me know.
Thanks for stopping by, and please subscribe if you are new to CBB.
Read our budget updates from 2012-current.
Mr. CBB
