It's the end of the school year here and that brings a lot of expenses with it.

Signed my son up for basketball camp - $110. It's the only camp he does over the summer and we are trying to keep him from playing video games 24/7, plus the exercise is good for him and he really enjoys it. I know I am rationalizing why I am spending the money on camp but I am not ready to start depriving my kids.

Starting gathering ideas for my daughter's high school graduation party. I lot of things I will be able to do myself but some will require outside help and therefore, money. We are keeping it simple but even simple has a price.

Getting my haircut today - first time in 4 months and believe me when I say I need it! I did budget for it so that's a step in the right direction

Extended family went to a burger joint for Father's Day dinner yesterday. Mu husband has 2 sisters, both of which have their own families. Can you believe neither sibling offered to pay for their father's dinner? I couldn't believe it. I, of course, wasn't going to let them pay, it was Father's Day after all. $58 on dinner. I was half tempted to text the girls after and tell them they owe me half of what their parents had.

Getting burned out on mystery shopping. I did just get another $43.32 but it's so time consuming. I am still going to do it but I think I have to cut back a little until I get through grad party planning.

Still looking for a personal loan to consolidate my debt. Changed garbage companies last week which will save me $100/year. I also reviewed option for gas and electricity supply charges and am confident I am getting the best rate. Next up, ditching the land line and looking into options for decreasing our cable bill.

I forgot to add an item to my budget. I've been doing a lot of mystery shopping lately and totally forgot to account for the cash I must spend up front. It isn't a lot and I do get reimbursed but I think I should plan for it. Oh well, this is all a process, right?

I received my first check for mystery shops done in May $57.45 going straight to the Discover Loan. I am expecting at least one more payment from a different company next week.

The question I have is in regards to my Discover Loan. Do you think it would be wise for me to transfer my credit card debt to another Discover Personal Loan? I like the loan for it's low interest rate (8.49%), the ability to pay it off early, and the fact that I have the payments automatically deducted and I just forget about. My balance never goes up.

If I did transfer I would only have one loan to throw extra payments towards and hopefully never use my credit cards again.

What do you all think?

Phew, just made it! We've been running out of things at home - I know my family will be delighted when I get to the grocery store

I get paid on the 15th and last day of every month. Here is my budget for the first pay period of June:

Pay 1628.12
Left Over 30.66
Total 1658.78

Expenses:
TIAA Loan 190.62
Capital One 80.00
Citibank 150.00
Life Insurance 77.00
Gas and Electric 291.75
Kohls (pay off) 56.38
Cell phones: 199.73
Total: 1045.48

Left over: 613.30
Gas: 100.00
Groceries: 200.00
School Lunches 42.00

If all goes according to plan I should have 271.30 to throw at my Discover Loan on the 14th!

I am excited to see if I can do this

I also signed up for a few more mystery shopping jobs. Can't wait until I get paid for those in June.

When you all create your budget do you include things like laundry detergent and paper products in with your grocery budget? Or do you create a separate line for it? If you separate it out do you then go through your receipts and allocate each item to either grocery or household stuff?

I have always included these items in my grocery numbers but now I am thinking that it isn't a fair representation. But it also seems like a lot of work to allocate each item to a category.

Huge thank you to all who have commented and made me feel welcome!

Trust me when I say I know I should tell my husband about my situation. I know it isn't fair to keep him in the dark. I guess I don't want to because he is very good with his money, pays off his credit card in full every month. I don't think he would understand and I think it would make him angry. I dug this hole, I am going to try really hard to get myself out of it. If a time comes when it looks like there is no way out I will confide in him, but I have to try on my own first.

Here are some ideas I have on how to get started:

1) reviewing my monthly budget I know I can cut back on food. Between groceries, school lunches and the occasional dinner out I have $640 budgeted to feed a family of 4 (one of which is a 13 year old boy who eats alot)! I would like to get this down to $440 to start with - giving me an additional $200/month

2) ditching my land line - $25/month

3) bring clothes to consignment store - between my stuff and the kids I think I can get $30

4) I do mystery shopping and can bring in $100/month

5) I use Ibotta, Checkout 51 and Saving Star - this usually brings in $20-30/month

6) I use Inbox Dollars and complete surveys - $10/month

7) I get reimbursed for a small portion of my cell phone bill through work - $9.50/month

I am sure there are other areas of my budget that can be cut too. So far I am at $394.50/month I can throw towards debts.

My monthly budget currently looks like this:

Gas/Electric 278.00
Water 28.00
Garbage 45.00
Cell phones 199.73
Cable/phone/internet 153.00 Subtotal 703.73

Gas for car 250 Subtotal 250.00

Groceries 450
School lunch 90
Eating out 100 Subtotal 640.00

School stuff (not lunch) 30.00
Amazon Prime 9.00
Sports 11.00
Entertainment 35.00
Cash on hand 80.00
Miscellaneous 50.00 Subtotal 215.00

Life Insurance 130.00
Car Insurance 90.00 Subtotal 220.00

Debt
TIAA Loan 190.62
Discover Loan 371.74
BOA 100.00
Citibank 150.00
Capital One 200.00 Subtotal 1012.36



I make about 3250.00 a month and 3041.09 goes out leaving me with 208.91 to throw towards debt - if nothing comes up. Add that to the 394.50 additional I am going to try to make and I have to say, it's pretty impressive! Now if I can just stick with it!