Budgeting can be a tricky business. As much as we plan, sometimes things don’t go according to plan, and that’s exactly what happened to me in November. I usually try to be transparent about our budgeting process. I share our monthly zero-sum budget and update as the month progresses, but most of the time, there’s not much to report. Occasionally, we go a little over on groceries, or we find ourselves relying on pantry staples towards the end of the month. I also sometimes forget to account for a small expense, like an unexpected $50 bill, and have to shuffle funds around.
But then there are months where things go completely off track. That was November. Here’s what happened.
The Unexpected Costs That Hit Our Budget
The month began like any other. I was pleased with myself for putting $3,000 into both my Vanguard SEP IRA and Roth IRA, feeling secure about our financial strategy. I didn’t expect anything out of the ordinary to come up.
Then, the unexpected happened. I had a flat tire, which led to buying new tires and replacing a cracked aluminum alloy wheel. While I saved $780 by ordering the wheel online, the overall cost still came to $441. It wasn’t ideal, but I handled it.
Things didn’t stop there. I also received a forgotten bill for $52.50 for our final lawn care treatment, and my printer ran out of ink, requiring another $40 for a replacement. All of these expenses added up to an extra $683.50 that we didn’t plan for.
Recovering from Our Budgeting Blunder
Looking back, I’m frustrated that we overshot our budget by over $680. The worst part is that some of these expenses could’ve been avoided. But I’ve learned not to dwell too much on mistakes; doing so doesn’t help or fix anything. More importantly, I’ve always made sure to have a healthy emergency fund, and it’s situations like these that show just how crucial it is to have that safety net in place. Though I’d rather never touch it, it’s comforting to know that it’s there when we need it.
Here’s how we’re bouncing back from this slip-up:
- Double-Checking Our Records for December
I’m going to ensure we don’t overlook anything in our December budget. For example, the lawn care bill caught me off guard, but I’m reviewing everything thoroughly before setting our budget for the next month to avoid further surprises. - Weekly Grocery Budget Check-In
Last month, I was so busy that I didn’t keep track of our grocery spending as closely as I usually do. In December, I’ll make it a point to review our grocery spending once a week to ensure we stay on track. - Renewing Our Commitment to Save
It’s easy to get off course when we’re not keeping a close eye on our finances. Since I expect a lighter workload this month, I plan to allocate some time to reassess our spending and saving goals. While we did well in 2014, I want to see if there’s room for improvement.
Of course, as soon as we returned from vacation, I realized that we had overspent by about $150. What’s worse, I genuinely thought we were sticking to our budget while we were away. Once I accepted the situation, I moved on—it was already done, and stressing over it wouldn’t help.
Embracing Imperfection and Moving Forward
Going over budget is stressful. It makes me feel like I’ve failed. But I try to remind myself that this is the wrong mindset. There was a time when we wouldn’t have even realized we’d exceeded our budget. In the early years of our marriage, we spent without thinking about the future or considering long-term financial goals. While it’s frustrating to have missed the mark, the fact that we now track our spending so closely is a huge improvement. We’re in a better place financially, and we know where we went wrong.
I’m determined to do better in December, but I understand that life happens, and things won’t always go perfectly. The key takeaway here is that epic budgeting failures are bound to happen now and then. The important part is how we recover, learn from it, and make better financial choices moving forward.
For me, the real failure would be doing nothing about it.
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