So you know the old saying that March comes in like a lion and then goes out like a lamb? You can definitely apply that saying towards my budget for this month, as I made a huge dent in my budget at the beginning of the month and things quickly trended back towards normal as we approached the end of March. The reason for that was because for my girlfriend’s spring break we went on a camping trip, and was a considerable drive. Due to the fact that it was March, we also had to rent a cabin (tent would be too cold!) so that increased the price of the trip even more, but it was well worth it. I’ll be doing a review of our trip in the coming weeks, but for now let’s take a look at how my budget came out for the month of March.
Here’s how my spending breaks down for the month:
As you can see, I went pretty far over budget and actually ended up with a negative amount remaining for the end of the month. I did not include the rest of my bonus money, as I used most of it to pay my student loans last month. There was about $300 remaining but I just left that as off budget money, as it went directly to my emergency fund/savings account.
The two categories that really stick out are my gas spending and my extra spending categories. With the long distance trip, my gas spending almost doubled for the month! I knew it was going to increase with the trip but I didn’t think it would be quite this bad. This is obviously a one-time thing, and I expect to see this category go back to it’s normal levels by next month.
The extra spending category includes a portion of the cabin rental, spending money on groceries while down there, buying some firewood while there and that’s basically it! We spent about $80 on groceries while on vacation which I didn’t think is too bad for having to purchase everything in one shot. If you extend that out over a month that would be around $320 a month on groceries which isn’t all that much, and would probably be less if we were buying more in bulk – not just for a week worth.
I didn’t really have much “entertainment” spending this month, as I put all of our vacation spending into the extra spending category. Most of my other entertainment this month was free by just hanging out with friends. I was able to get some free hockey tickets from a season ticket holder than could not attend the game. This also included a parking pass, so that is where my dining expenses come in, from eating out before the game. That’s a pretty sweet deal of $13 for a game if you ask me, as I’m a huge hockey fan!
We definitely saved a ton of money by going on “camping” trip and staying in a cabin as opposed to a hotel, so I’m happy with my budget for the month. Getting to visit new places and spending time with my girlfriend definitely is worth the money and I was able to do that without spending a fortune too!
photo credit: Bourguiboeuf via photopin cc
You’re pretty young so maybe you don’t remember the good old days where we used to just go for a drive for entertainment?! Now a days, with the price of gas, I actually avoid as much driving as possible, and I drive a 5 speed manual transmission! However, there comes a point when we have to draw the line and your double quotes camping trip sounded like a good compromise from an expensive vacation. Great that you scored the free hockey tickets as well!
Haha, I think I am probably a bit too young for that. But I do enjoy driving in the nice weather during the day. I’d like to learn how to drive a manual, so maybe that’s something to look in to. I know my dad used to exclusively drive manuals but the traffic is always so bad here he gave up on it.
The double quotes was because when you see how nice this cabin was, you wouldn’t really consider it camping at all! 😉
$13 for a hockey game is awesome, and a camping trip sounds like a lot of fun. I would really like to rent a cabin somewhere. We used to do a four-day weekend trip for skiing and stayed in a house with about 16 people – that was fun! I’m all for spending on memories like that, and as you said, things will normalize next month.
Yep – and it would have been completely free but I felt like eating out this time 🙂 Cabins are great when you want to be lazy and not have to deal with setting up a tent and dealing with all that comes with it. Sometimes that is part of the fun, but not so much in March.