Okay so maybe scheduling a vacation the week before rent was due was not the brightest idea. I had to do some number crunching as I was writing out my rent check to make sure that I had enough in my account. After I pay my rent on the first of each month, I like to start budgeting for the rest of the month. Living alone in an apartment in the city doesn’t leave a lot of money left over at the end of each month especially when other bills start to come out too. I started to write out my November budget and thought it would be fun to share on the blog. Since I am coming back from a vacation where I did a little too much spending (oops!) I am making it a no spend November. Okay, so realistically this isn’t going to last but the goal is to spend as little as I can this month.

The Essentials

Since I live alone (and have a boyfriend who buys me food 🙂 )  I don’t spend a lot of money on groceries every week. I usually stock up once every two months and it is enough food to last me for a while. However, on Sundays, I will go to the food store and stock up on microwavable soup for lunch at work, lettuce, coffee creamer, oatmeal, and bagels. One of the perks of my job is that I usually get a free lunch most days so it definitely helps save me money each week. For a few months now, I have been taking advantage of the free shipping on Target.com and having my groceries delivered to my door. It makes grocery shopping so convenient and easier to bring everything up to my apartment.

Travel

I am still unsure if I will be traveling to see my parents in North Carolina for Thanksgiving because of work. We are unsure if the office will be open on the day after Thanksgiving and if the office is open I have to come to work. If I do decide to make the drive to North Carolina, I need to budget for travel. I think I spent around $200 in gas for a round trip drive to North Carolina and back in September.

Holiday Shopping

I try to do most of my holiday shopping on Cyber Monday or Black Friday. When I shop for gifts, I will make a list of people I need to shop for and then budget on how much I want to spend on them. This helps when I am shopping later this month and I already have a budget set in place so I don’t get too carried away. Shopping for Christmas gifts now is smart especially during a Cyber Monday sale, just be sure to plan for this expense.

Personal Shopping

Okay, so I highly doubt that I will be able to prevent myself from spending any money this month but I try to minimize it as much as possible. I will make my own coffee instead of buying Starbucks and will avoid online shopping as much as I can. However, when Cyber Monday comes along, I like to have a list handy of things that I may need for myself. In years past, it was a new Keurig or flannel sheets. I don’t need another handbag but I may need something for the apartment. It is smart to do some gift shopping for others during the holiday sales and even smarter to finally buy something you need but you have been putting off.