Quicken User Error
The other day, I almost had a heart attack.
I was looking at our budget in Quicken, and comparing our spending to our one income budget. Our spending was in line, all of our bills had been paid or scheduled, and we had one more paycheck coming in for February.
Then I looked at the forecast for the next 3 months. This shows a nice little graph of what your bank account balance is projected to be based on expected income and expenses.
Our balance was forecasted into the negative. I freaked out. Sheer panic. How can that be? I have reviewed this budget over and over and, while it is tight, we should not be going into the negative.
After determining that Quicken was a piece of garbage, and vowing to try another budgeting software, I saw something little in the corner. Something that said “Extra Monthly Expenses”. A value that should have been zero, but instead was listed at $3800.
Oops.
Due to some user error, the software was projecting an extra $3800 to be taken out of my bank account every month. No wonder it had projected into the negative.
So, Quicken, this is my public apology. I will no longer blame you for errors that are clearly my fault. And I will vow to double check all my numbers before I freak out and think that our new budget is going to bankrupt us.
Menu Monday - New Budget Edition
Here we are, a week in February and our new one income budget. My husband was out of town all last week, so I cheated on the menu by eating tons of leftovers and mooching meals off relatives. But now I have to get back to cooking and keeping our meals within our grocery budget of $300/month.
I bought a huge packet of bone-in chicken breasts for $0.99/lb yesterday and they’re cooking in the Crockpot as I type. I plan to use them for a few meals this week to help stretch our grocery dollars.
Monday: Roasted Chicken & Veggies
Tuesday: Italian subs OR Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
Wednesday: Chicken Enchiladas
Thursday: Kielbasa & Potatoes
Friday: Buffalo Chicken Wraps & Sweet Potato Fries
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Valentine’s Day Dinner! Scallops Au Gratin & Ravioli
For more inspiration, check out the menu plans at OrgJunkie.com.
Automating Student Loan Payments
I have finally joined the digital age.
By that I mean, I finally set up my student loans to auto deduct the monthly payment from my checking account. I graduated in December 2004. So for the past 5 years, I have been logging in every month and manually initiating the payments.
Which is a pain in the butt.
The problem is I have a lousy memory. I can remember to pay the bill, but it takes 10 days to process the auto payment. By the time I log in to pay the bill, there isn’t 10 days left until the due date. Then after it’s paid, I completely forget about it for the next month.
Rinse & repeat for 5 years.
I’m ashamed to admit this because, aside from being much more convenient, enrolling in automatic payments makes me eligible for a 0.25% reduction in my interest rate. My current interest rate is 4.75%. Based on some rough calculations, the reduction in interest will save me a little over $3/month. Over the remainder of the loan, I will save about $385.
I would say that is worth the 5 minutes it took to sign up.
Have you been procrastinating on something that could save you time and money? DO IT NOW!
Living on One Income
As part of our 2010 goals, we have decided to pay for all our bills and expenses using just one income. Part of this is to up the intensity of saving for a down payment, but I also want to see if we can do it. Somewhere down the line we’d like to have kids, and to have the option of a parent staying at home would be wonderful. I don’t yet know how all that is going to go, but I like the freedom of having flexibility.
When I made a budget for 2009, our expenses were greater than one income alone. Since then, three major things have happened that that make it possible to even endeavor to live on one income:
1. That one income increased. Thanks, raises!
2. We paid off car loan #1. That $404/mo took a good bite out of out budget.
3. We have a (small) emergency fund. Although I want to save all of my income for the time being, it’s nice to have that backup to work with in case we need it.
In 2009, I also noticed that we started to get a little complacent. It was our first year without any credit card debt since 2004. It was easy to spend more on eating out, lunches, fun money… everything, really. We were out of credit card debt! Look at all the money!
Please won't you save us from all the money?
(Bonus points if you get that reference)
We ended up wasting more than we should have. Now, I don’t regret enjoying ourselves, but we lost the drive to get a great deal – on our expenses, on our bills, at the grocery store. Living on one income is going to force that drive back.
On Friday I submitted the paperwork to change my direct deposit to our House Fund. It should take effect in February - and then here we go!
Photo from Aqua Teen Central.
