30 Day Spend and Save (Budget) Challenge Update: I Give Myself a D+

My 30 Day Spend and Save Challenge is coming to a close.  If I had to give myself a grade for this challenge, it would be D+. The only reason I did not give myself an F is because I did save some money towards my goals.  I have learned about myself and money while doing this challenge. Here’s what I learned.

I LOOOVEEE to shop. I also love to eat out and go out with my friends.  I exceeded my clothes, entertainment, fast food, and restaurants budget.  All of this fun and pretty clothes adds up to a whopping $593. 14. Holy cow! My original clothes, entertainment, and restaurants budgets combined equaled $450. I spent an extra $143.14. This is money I could have put towards my emergency fund or moving fund.

Budget more money for the essentials. Sometimes I think my car hates me! Since my car was born in the mid-90s, it’s not very fuel efficient and it burns gas easy. I should have allocated an extra $50 in my budget for gas. Even though I’m not primarily responsible for groceries, I also should have put more money in my budget for groceries.

Budget for other expenses. Throughout this challenge, I had unexpected expenses. I had to renew my AAA membership, buy a lock for my gym locker, take some clothes to the cleaners, and pay for this job subscription service. (I’m thinking of cancelling that subscription.) I also had to pay for transportation for the trip I took to Philly this month. I will definitely add a miscellaneous category to my spending plan.

While I did exceed my budget, I’m not going to beat myself up. This was my first time ever trying to live within a budget and I learned a lot.  I’m taking all the lessons I learned from this month and using them to make adjustments in my budget and spending habits. Hopefully, I will be able to give myself a better grade next month.