#88 Use my budget for three consecutive months, tracking all purchases (3/3)

August has been an expensive month...

My car needed both an oil change and a wheel alignment.

My car's registration was due, and since it's a newer car, it's over $200

I got my hair cut and colored...never doing color again while in grad school!

I had to buy textbooks

I took all 4 of my Utah nieces and nephews on dates

I had friends that were moving, had birthdays, broke up with boys, or started jobs...all of which needed to be taken out on dates

I went on two road trips (the monastery and to visit my nephew in Idaho), which increased gas and eating out

...and I didn't keep track of my spending until the end of the month.  Lesson learned: don't wait to update my budget!  Copy down those receipts and throw 'em away!

Uck--look at all those old receipts!

But, keeping track of my spending has been an excellent thing to do over the summer to prepare me for grad school.  I've done my finances for the semester/year, and I will be just fine as long as I keep to my budget.  :)

My dollar for finishing this goal goes to...buying two boxes of crayons for kids in Title 1 schools!  Yay!