The official budget numbers are in.

[Tobin S.]

We ate out a little more than we planned on, but we were still $80 under on our food budget for the month. I have $60 less allotted for this coming month and I rolled the extra $80 into this coming month's food budget. I think we can trim it down even more next month. I've been taking two sandwiches to work with me for lunch. As you might guess, I can stand to cut that down. By taking one sandwich I can probably save us another $30 a month. I tried it today and I actually felt better. I was ready to eat supper when I got home, though.

I've heard it said that when most people blow their budgets, it's on food- mainly eating out. It's more convenient to eat out and doing it too often is an easy trap to fall into. We were pretty cheap when we did eat out last month, but we can still cut that out. We did a lot better than we had been doing, though. We had only one meal that was really expensive and I think my wife needed that. August is a really tough month for her for personal reasons and I think she needed a break to lift her spirit. We went to a nice Italian restaurant and spent about $60. It might be a good idea to do something like that once a month if it's not going to hurt us.

As far as our other bills and the rest of the budget went, we have almost exactly the same amount of money in the bank as at this time last month. On the things we had counted on, we stayed within our budget. We had an unexpected bill of $340 and another bill of $204 that I'm only going to have to make for another month. So, when everything goes as planned, we'll have at least an extra $630 to use to pay down debt including the savings on our grocery bill.

That's all with our income staying the same. My wife says that she'll probably be getting a nice raise pretty soon. I'll get a raise at the end of the year and a bonus. I've also been considering either trying to find a better paying job or picking up some part time work on Saturday evenings, maybe delivering pizzas. I'm a trucker and I might be able to find a part time trucking gig on Saturdays.

This is all after I have filed for bankruptcy. The only debt we have now is our house and school loans. We bring home about $3100 a month together. You'd think it would be a lot easier to make it on that here in Indiana, but we currently have next to nothing getting set back for retirement. I cut down the 401k contribution to $10 a week when we started running into trouble. Maybe I'll be able to get that going again after the new year.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. You two are doing great, my dear Tobin!

Congratulations on your victory! Perseverance pays off, big time!

I know you must be relieved to see all this good stuff happening. It is certainly time!

[mackerel]

2. I've heard it said that when most people blow their budgets, it's on food- mainly eating out.

Yep and I try hard not to but I end up eating out a few more nights than my budget will allow. We have a Grocery Outlet here and that help me a lot and I always make up a huge pot of vegetable soup once a week and mix things into as the week goes along. I do this mostly for my sister, she has a lot of health problems but it really saves a lot of money.

[LiberalElite]

3. It's clear that you're making progresss -

eating out is my Achilles heel. I do it way more than I should - all those deli/salad bar meals during the work week. It's hard for me to think of it as "eating out" since I bring it back to eat at my desk - but it is.

[IrishEyes]

4. Good job!

I think it is a good idea to reward yourself once a month with a nice meal at a restaurant. Some people slash their budget so much when they are trying to get out of debt that it becomes too much and they give up. You should enjoy yourself a little as long as it is within your budget.

I think that finding a part time job would be a good idea. You can look for a better paying job while making the extra income at the part time job. Putting more into your 401K next year is a good idea. At least you are putting something into it. The money you put toward your debt and savings really adds up. Every month, I enjoy watching my debt go down and my savings go up. I have paid off a lot of debt since this time last year. I have also saved some money. Not very much but it is something. It will take a couple of years until I'm debt free but I'm on my way.