Midyear Review: Overall Expenditures

So here are our latest numbers:

Home = $1361/month
Giving = $893/month
Food = $595/month
Auto = $407/month
Travel = $357/month
Utils = $340/month
Misc = $250/month

How does it compare with original budget?

23% Mortgage
17% Giving
11% Food (groceries, eating out)
7% utils (phone, gas, electric, internet, water)
7% auto (gas, insurance, etc)
5% travel
3% Education
3% misc
24% savings/investment




We are currently OVERSPENDING: FOOD ($50/month), AUTO ($50/month), TRAVEL ($100/month)

We are ON BUDGET: HOME, UTILS and MISC/EDUCATION

We are UNDERBUDGET: GIVING

Our travel budget was used up earlier this year with winter vacation and trip to Cali. It'll even out if we don't do any major traveling for the rest of the year...

As for food and auto, I think these are ok. I might have been too conservative with the numbers. I'm going to check again with auto insurance to see if maybe we can reduce that expense. Considering that we have nearly 30 people in our house every Thursday for bible study... AND we've been feeding them, I think we are doing VERY well keeping costs down.

As for giving, we have not been tithing regularly... so that's something we need to be more consistent in doing. We have been however, generous to other causes, but I think we still need to be consistent in supporting our local church.

Okay, until then, WHAT CAN A BUDGET DO FOR YOU?