October & November Budget Update

I said that September went by quickly – but I think October went by even quicker!  This month we celebrated Baby RB40’s 1st birthday, which I then wrote about, and I realized that Christmas is quickly approaching!  Also, in September, I instituted Weekly Budget Check-Ins since we’ve had a rough couple of month sticking to the budget.  You can read about the effect these had tomorrow – so be sure to come back!

Here’s where our budget landed in October:

Wins:

• Income: The Big Guy got his bonus this month, which means our income was super high and we were able to put $4,900 in savings towards the personal loan!  We’ll have it paid off by the end of next month!
• Utilities:  Came in a lot lower then expected – WIN!
• Groceries: We were a bit over budget, but like I said in my last Budget Check-In, we were running $306 and then the Big Guy got sick and I had to get him some chicken noodle soup and sprite.  Still, we’re doing awesome!
• Personal Loan: I covered it above, but  I just want to celebrate again – Yipee!

Losses:

• Phone: I’m not sure what is going on here, but our plans never cost that much.  If we had 2 phones at $25 month it would cost about that, but we only have 1.  I’m trying to figure out what the problem is, but every time I try to load my billing from Republic Wireless, it won’t load :-(
• Internet: After the whole Charter outage + horrible customer service, we switched to AT&T.  Our bill will level out after next month and be exactly the same as what it was before, but we split up a $99 installation fee onto 3 bills.  At least we have consistent service, now!
• Gift: Ugh.  I also covered this in my weekly budget check-ins, but we were roped into a couple of birthday dinners with family.  And the food wasn’t even good.  I’m not at all happy about that.
• Amazon: Expect a rant about Amazon coming soon.  Here’s what went down: I sold my keurig on Amazon in JUNE.  This month, Amazon authorized a refund through their A to Z claim program.  I was told I had 7 days to appeal the claim, but when I responded on the 6th, they had already closed the claim and taken the money out of my account.  On top of that, they overdrafted my account THREE TIMES!  Anyone have advice for how to deal with this?
• Pet: We, ummmm, got a dog.  And had to buy a tote for her food, leashes, bowls and the initial heartworm and flea medication.  It’s high this month, but from now on we’ll take it out of our grocery budget when we have to buy stuff for her.

And here’s how our November budget is shaping up:

What do you think of our October Budget?

Any advice about how to handle Amazon?

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