A Blow to the Budget - Post 498

Tragedy struck our family budget yesterday. Not the financial part of it - thank goodness. No, it was the clerical part that got pulverized.

You see, we have this system where we divide our income into different categories on paper, keeping different accounts for things like food, gas, medical, etc. Then as we spend money, we record the transactions in the account book so we always know where the money has gone.

It's a good system, but unfortunately what often happens is the receipts tend to collect for a week or two or three at a time before they are actually entered into the book. Life happens - what can I say?

This is the situation we found ourselves in this week. Kara had a pile of receipts in her purse, and I had a wad in my left hip pocket. Unfortunately, it was in the left hip pocket of a pair of pants that went into the washing machine.

Yup - the receipts got washed, and that flimsy paper the stores use didn't hold up the way a five dollar bill can.

So now there's a hole in the budget - several weeks worth. I suppose the best bet would be just to estimate based on the bank statements - Wal-Mart is usually 75% food and 25% miscellany. But of course, that means even more work.

Oh, well. I'm just grateful that we have enough money coming in to cover these expenses, even if tracking them can be a pain in the, um, hip pocket.

Contest note: This is post 498 here at Fifteen Minutes of Delusion! As you long-time readers know, post 500 will be a contest! With a Prize!

What will it be?

Who will win?

Stay tuned and find out - the contest is near!

Comments

Josi said…
Accounting--oy. I recently heard of a woman who set up like a dozen different actual bank accounts through a credit union, then puts the different $$ in the accounts so she always knows how much she has for food, gas, clothing, bills, etc. I'm not sure if I could keep it all organized, but it's an intriguing idea. right now we do cash for everything but bills and gas. That helps.
Heather Moore said…
I put everything on my check card so that I can see it on-line the same day--it helps me double check everything!
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