Quick monthly update. We just finished our 2nd month of following a strict budget toward the goal of paying off the house by next June. Jaron asked me what we were doing differently, because he couldn’t tell. 🙂 It just shows how we had been spending money on things we didn’t really need, since we don’t miss them.
We had two unexpected expenses in August. The first was Jaron’s summer tuition, which I hadn’t accounted for. His scholarship covers most of his tuition, and a tax credit covers the rest. He’s taking a bit of an accelerated schedule though, so he’s going to pitch in to keep us under budget. The second expense resulted from Lianne dunking her phone. It’s supposed to be water resistant, but the speaker/mic don’t work, so she can’t make or receive calls. I just bought her a used Galaxy S6. That blew our entire “household” budget for the month. We’re still within the budget though, so that’s good!
On the flip side, our grocery expenses are well under the budget. I looked at our previous 6 months of expenses and set it to $1,200 per month, but we’re actually spending around $800 per month. That is an awesome difference, and that “savings” is going straight toward the mortgage.
Two months down. Ten months to go!