October Budget Review & Goals Update

October Review
It has been an awesome month for couponing!  I have decided that the fall is my favorite time to coupon shop.  There are a lot of great deals on medicine, baking goods, and other items that we use a lot. 

Our plan was to make up for going over September's budget by staying under budget in October.  It did not work out that way.  We decided that it was worth it to take a little from other budget categories this month so that we could spend a little more on groceries and stock up on items while they were at a rock bottom price.  We ended up spending just over $130 on groceries in October.

This month we will be closely monitoring our spending using Mint.com.  We are determined to continue stocking up while staying withing our $100 budget for November.

Good News!
At the end of September Daniel was out of work and looking for a new job.  We had no idea what our income would be over the next few months.  I am happy to report that he found a new job that is better than we ever hoped for.  God has truely blessed us.  This month I have been reminded that God knows us & our needs better than we know ourselves.  Daniel's new job will help us to meet our current savings goals and set bigger goals for the future.

Current Savings Goals
Here is an update on how we are doing towards our current savings goals.  We have set these goals to be reached by the end of January when the baby arrives.  Once we meet that mile marker, we will be setting new goals.

Thanksgiving Trip to California - 100%
Daniels family lives in California and we will be traveling to see them this year for Thanksgiving.  We have to save the gas money to get there.
Christmas Gifts-47%
We are not big on spending a lot on gifts for ourselves.  But we are saving for a few small things and gifts for our family members.  We hope to use Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks for part of this.
Emergency  Fund- 75%
Our current emergency fund is only enough to live on for one month.  We want to boost it up to 3 months before the baby gets here.
Baby-100% & 31%
We have two funds for the baby.  One for maternity & medical expenses.  The other is to help buffer the additional expenses and needs that we might not be expecting.  I plan to use cloth diapers, so part of this fund will be spent purchasing those.
Vet School-78%
We continue to save as much as possible towards vet school with the goal of aquiring as little debt as possible during those 4 years. 

As we do our best to be self reliant and live within our means, I know that the Lord will continue to bless us.  I am so grateful for a husband that will work with me as we try to live a debt free life.