The first weekly budget check record of the year 2017 🙂
Like last year, I have started 2017 with a wonderful budget and limited expenses. Hence, overall the numbers look quite good this week 🙂
The only difference between this year’s budget and the previous ones is that this year I will not be counting as savings the cab fare expenses that I have not made (i.e. money saved by rather walking or taking the bus) in my “would-be-expenses” category.
The reason for that is that now walking or taking the bus have become my “normal” (compare this to last year or the year before when it would be a miracle if I had not taken the cab in the morning and evening 🙂 )…While I will be still saving, since these savings will not be recorded, the numbers in the “savings from would-be-expenses category” below will be lower, but that is okay. This being said, I still include savings such as by the store discounts, coupons, sales, or loyalty card discounts in this category.
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Anyways; here is the snap-shot of the financial situation last week:
Weekly allowance: $120
Expenses related to the weekly allowance (grocery, breakfast/coffee at the cafe, cab rides- if ever, and other little miscellaneous expenses): $35
Fun funds saved this week: $120 – $35 = $85
Total fun funds accumulated so far: $72.5 (from last week; I started my budget recordings for 2017 in late December) + $85 = $157.5 (yay! 🙂
Other expenses: $11.5 (food and snacks purchased for hosting a couple of friends for a light dinner)
Savings from would-be-expenses: $219. A large portion of this savings is the reimbursement I have got for my credit card’s annual fee 🙂 Go ahead and ask for it friends! Banks sometimes waive it 🙂
*Pantry/freezer treasures enjoyed: a tasty meal prepared by baking dry beans and using the carrots that I had frozen sometime ago.
*I am noting this because a couple of days ago I decided that I needed to use the food I stocked up in my pantry as well as the freezer (this will hopefully help with my savings as well as limiting my food waste). By recording this activity here I hope to keep doing so.
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So; not bad my friends; I keep my frugal life style and my hopes for my future:)
Life as I interpret it 
Only $35 for the week for food?!? WOW!
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only the fresh produce for the week (excluding fruit) and for one person. I have others like yogurt, milk, canned beans/fish etc that are purchased the week before but not included here. So my food expenses are higher than that :))))
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That makes more sense! I’m still in awe! We spend about $150 for each week for the 2 of us not including food out. We really need to get back into meal planning and meal budgeting like we used to do when the kiddos lived with us. We’ve gotten lazy on this.
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if you guys eat breakfast/lunch/ and dinner at home I guess this is pretty good. I hardly have breakfast or lunch during the weekdays (only light snack)
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It still seems like a lot since that is what used to feed 4 of us!
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sounds like you really would like to lower your food cost. i am sure you will find the best way to do so 🙂 save and then award yourself or put in retirement 🙂 whatever is your heart’s desire is 🙂
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Hadn’t really thought of it as wanting to lower it, it just seems so high sometimes compared to others. Using the difference would be nice for increasing our savings!
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ooops 🙂 did not mean to impose anything – my bad 🙂 Increasing savings sounds so lovely!
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no problem – lowering any expenses is a positive the closer we get to retirement!
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