I have been keeping a log of my monthly expenses since the beginning of the year and it has really helped me to be able to look back over what I've paid and what's coming up. I haven't perfected it by any means, but I like being able to see what bills I have. Basically I just bought a smallish notebook with folder dividers and every month gets a page. I am just listing the Paydays at the top and then a column below for the bill name, due date, and amount due. This is my simple "carry around and glance at daily" system of staying organized. I'm not a big spreadsheet person, even though that might make it easier in the long run, I guess.

For March 2007

Paydays:
March 2 me w/ Bonus
March 8 husband
March 16 me
March 22 husband w/ Bonus
March 30 me w/ Bonus


TB and I each get paid every other week and on opposite weeks...so there is a paycheck every week. Luckily there three Fridays in March so I get three checks. Woot! I am also eligible for a performance bonus at work. I get it pretty consistently and it adds a decent boost to my check. Sometimes as much as $300 dollars but sometimes it is much less. It also worked out that this month there are two scheduled bonuses. Normally there would only be one of those per month.

Bills:
Discover- E $160.00
Carmax $312.65 (March was the last month for this one since I paid it off)
Atmos (gas) $67.92
Netflix $19.29
Mortgage $1223.00
Bank of A (truck) $311.55
Water/Sewer $42.00
TXU (electric) $171.61
Visa $50.00
Sprint (cell) $51.68
Discover- D $110.00
Auto Ins. $120.88
Internet/TV $75.00

Total of Bills - $2,715.58


Since I have that extra check this month I should be able to make a fairly large additional payment on my smallest debt snowball item which is the Visa. All of the bills are paid for the month and once I get groceries and set aside tithing money I should have $900 or so to throw at it. That will help a lot since the balance is approx. $2,200.00.

I kind of feel out of place on these blogs because so many of you are killing it when it comes to budgeting and being frugal. I was just looking at my checking account register and it is quite obvious that fast food and a few other areas are not being budgeting correctly. I think for my next entry I will add up all of the fast food and general entertainment money spent for March. I'm not looking forward to it but will probably help me to see a truer picture.