Welcome to budgeting curveballs!

**MomToTwoBoys** · 07-27-2009, 12:29 PM

So we're at the end of July and today, I received my bi-annual AFETC payment (Alberta Family Employment Tax Credit). It was considerably larger than last year, which was nice.

I previously had stated that I wanted to put it all into savings for the slush fund, but that's definitely changed. Don't you love it when things change like that? Let me explain:

DH got paid on the 24th. He won't get paid again until August 6th, which means that any automatic withdrawals would come out of this paycheck. We paid FIL $400 for the debt before and another $200 will come out of this paycheck, which would leave DH with roughly enough money to cover his smokes and gas and the automatic withdrawals until he gets paid again.

What's that mean?

I got to pay all of the household bills plus any outstanding debt balances on my own checking account. Yay?

We had a slight balance due on the VISA and Mastercard, so I had to pay that off. Automatically, there went half of my $531.30 to pay that. I then had to use the other half to pay the Rogers, Shaw Cable and Enmax bills. I didn't originally have it budgeted to come out of my account, which is something we really have to start getting hard on in the future. I had my heart set on putting that entire check into savings, but that didn't happen. Instead, I put what was left over from my July 1st pension check into savings.

Now any savings is a good thing, right?

As of right now, I have $1218.50 in my savings account. I also have another $100 check sitting on my desk to be deposited straight into savings. I don't have any more forseen bills coming out until after I get my August 1st pension (which will actually come on July 31st).

I also left a cushion in checking to cover the August 1st automatic withdrawals. There's $216.95 in checking right now. Come August 1st, there's an a/w of $111 for the property tax and $33.59 for the alarm system. That's lower than the $216.95, which means I'll be able to put the remainder into savings as well. Once both a/w payments come out, I can put $72 in savings to bring the total up to $1390.50. It's about $400 less than I had planned, but that's ok with me. As long as there's something in there, I don't care.

Welcome to why budgets need a constant upkeep.

**Greebo** · 07-27-2009, 12:33 PM

Its a lot harder when you have multiple accounts to manage, too...

**savvy_sniper** · 07-27-2009, 12:54 PM

Amen to that!

I have a personal checking account, hubby has a personal checking account, I have a business checking account, we both have savings accounts, I have a PayPal account, AND I have a trust checking account that I manage.

I have to sit down at least once a week and transfer money around a week in advance to make sure there is enough to cover everything.

Originally Posted by Greebo

Its a lot harder when you have multiple accounts to manage, too...

**MomToTwoBoys** · 07-27-2009, 01:09 PM

We'd combine the accounts but we save money by not doing that.

I have my accounts through a joint account venture with my FIL, which wipes away any fees because of his age. DH's account is being closed soon since he also has a joint account with his dad at my bank. I'd rather have two bank accounts and not pay any fees.

**mauimagic** · 07-27-2009, 02:24 PM

Greebo - you're correct - and for some reason my mind works better with several accounts. We only have one checking acount for DH and me, but several savings accounts which seems to keep my savings safer.

MTTB - you do move that money well and seem to be on top of it all too!! I'm always thankful that when thrown a curve ball, we still come out on top!!