Clawing our way to financial independence

This month we were MUCH closer to our budget, but we did indeed exceed the budget again.

Areas where exceeded include:

Pets- this month I bought pet food twice. At the beginning and end of the month. Usually it falls in the middle of the month and I just have to buy it once. Next month I have a free dog food though which should reduce Nov.'s spending by $40. I also bought flea medicine for $40. This is 4 month supply.

Cell phone- well I already complained about this one here J

Health- we bought miscellaneous health items such as vitamins, band-aids etc this month. A one time thing.

Insurance- we insured our 2^nd vehicle for the first time in months so I could get around with Mr W gone. I will adjust our budget for this accordingly.

Areas where we did well:

Groceries- we were under our $500 budget by $30 this month. Yay!

Dining out and Entertainment- under in both of these areas, I guess we were too busy working to do much this month.

Gas- we did not drive much for pleasure, and most of the gas was for work which is reimbursed.

Housecare- spent no money on housecare. This is partly because one item I wanted from Canadian Tire was out of stock, so I am going today to get 4 baskets for underwear and socks. Our organization system for clothes is terrible and the baskets were half off and I have a rain cheque. Should cost around $30.

Now to October's goals:

Goals for October-
1. Add $75 back to the EF- CHECK
2. Eat out less when at home. Stick to $30 a week. Try and eat out less than $30 a week. – CHECK, spent only $55
3. Meal plan! It saves us money. – NO. I was away too much, will focus on this for November. I did eat at home when at home though.
4. Close the CIBC bank accounts to save money.-SEMI-CHECK. I reduced my monthly bank fees but I cannot close out the account because of loan payments from the account. Apparently CIBC is not high-tech enough to take loan payments, other than mortgages, from non-CIBC accounts. Please note my sarcasm. What are they working with, pen and ink? Typewriters? Oh wait, they just want the money grab? Oh yeah!