For some reason another week went by and I didn't get to the ATM until Tuesday...which means I didn't put cash in my envelopes until Tuesday...which means I used my Debit Card for purchases up until Tuesday. Overall, there wasn't any real budget damage because I just deducted what I had spent from my ATM withdrawal, but let me tell ya, I felt very out of control of my money not knowing how much in each category I was still able to spend.

Here's the recap of what's left in my envelopes:

1. Gas Envelope: $0
2. Child Care Envelope: $0
3. Grocery Envelope: $0
   
4. Dining Out Envelope: $0
5. Personal Cash: $0
   
6. Debit Card: $-90!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the balance isn't negative, but I'm just missing this amount from our tv fund. Not too bad since it was -$130 last week. Somehow I made up $40 of this. And I have an extra $50 in my emergency fund. So technically, I'm only -$40 in the hole. And I figured out why - I had to buy DD tap shoes and tights the week before last and used my debit card. At least all money is somewhat accounted for.)

AND THE BEST NEWS OF ALL IN THIS WEEK'S DDR:

Card #3 - Balance = $0!!!!!!!!!

I called in to see what my balance on card #3 was, just to see if any extra income would help me pay it off this upcoming week. My balance was only $77.99 and not the $118 I thought it was. Woohoo!!! Goal Achieved! On to card #4. Again, another small balance, but one less thing to pay each month when it's gone. And I'm already starting strong - just received a half.com payment of $17.18 and put it right towards card #4. I love online BillPay!

I feel like my money was all over the place this past week. I'm trying to figure out exactly where it is and why. I'm missing $130 from my $250 TV fund. I really need to find out where that went. I guess it's my own fault for keeping it with my debit card money. We purchased the TV last weekend on our Circuit City credit card. Bad, right? But that was the plan from the beginning. So, I have a couple weeks to find the missing $130 before the payment is due.

Here's the recap of what's left in my envelopes:

1. Gas Envelope: $0
2. Child Care Envelope: $0
3. Grocery Envelope: $8 + $14.50 to use in store coupons on whatever I want. Technically, this was $18 +$14.50 in Q's, but I snagged $10 for gas. We used a lot of my gas travelling to get the TV in NH (tax free!)
   
4. Dining Out Envelope: $0
5. Personal Cash: $0
   
6. Debit Card: $-130!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the balance isn't negative, but I'm just missing this amount due to poor spending)

In other news, all of my credit card bills are beyond current. I paid an additional $115 towards card #3 today, making my balance just $118. Looks like I'll exceed my goal of paying this off by the end of February. Yeah, me! The good news is that none of this additional payment came from extra income this week. It was just snowball money because my EF is full (which I completely forgot about when deciding on goals!) in addition to the regular money I had put aside for bills.

I guess I could have put that $115 towards my $130 loss on my debit card, but I'm not getting off track paying off the debt due to my stupidity. If it comes down to it, I'm just going to need to tighten the belt on my Personal Cash for a couple weeks.

So, that's that. Can't wait for the next pay day! :)

This was a wacky money week. A few things threw me for a loop, but I think I handled them the best I could, and surprisingly, I think I'll come out ahead.

• The minimum payment for one of my cards was higher than expected. This card is actually a joint card for me and DH. It's a 0% interest card that we transferred two higher interest cards to over the summer. I originially had the payment as $110, but it was really $160. That meant I needed to find $50 somewhere. I took our Dining Out $40 and $10 from my Child Care envelope and just resolved to NOT eat out this week.
  
• Black Friday Shopping - I didn't overdo it. In fact, I only bought a few things and I used my Personal Money to do so. By doing this, though, I wiped out my $70 Personal Cash for the week pretty early on.
  
• I purchased something online using a gift card that covered everything but $15. I used my debit card since it was a Christmas gift. Unfortunately, the gift card didn't go through, and they wacked my debit card for the full $90! I called them first thing on Monday, but there's been a hold on that $90 all week. Not a huge deal because...
  
• I didn't have to spend any money on gas this week! I'm still going on that $33 tank that I put in almost 2 weeks ago. And I still have half a tank! Basically, the $40 I saved on gas this week took care of the $50 additional that I needed to pay on our 0% card.
  
• I have 2 things that I need to return to Old Navy that I bought last week with my Personal Cash = $25. These were not superfluous purchases - they were items to wear on Thanksgiving Day and a winter hat. Neither of which I liked. So, cash comes back to me.
  
• We decided to not do errands on Monday night, so that saved a bit of Dining Out money, and DH was sick with food poisoning last night and doesn't want to go out to eat tonight as planned, so it all worked out.

Here's the recap of what's left in my envelopes:

1. Gas Envelope: $0
2. Child Care Envelope: $0
3. Grocery Envelope: $7
4. Dining Out Envelope: $0
5. Personal Cash: $25 (once I return to Old Navy, will use this for Christmas Gift)
6. Extra in Debit Card: $90 (not sure what to do with this - think I'm just going to put it in my Emergency Fund since my Excise Tax is due at the end of the month, or I'll use it for "emergency" Christmas gifts)

Beyond that, I've paid all minimum payments for December as of tomorrow, and I should be able to pay off Card #2 the week after next. Woohooo! It's a small one, but just one less I'll have to worry about.

The tough thing is Christmas Shopping. Since I'm trying to work with a Zero Balance Budget, it doesn't leave too much wiggle room for extras. I'm doing my best to just use Personal Cash for any gifts I need to buy, but I don't think that's going to cut it. I hate to say this, but dipping into my Emergency Fund a teeny, tiny bit may be in order. It's a heck of a lot better than what I've done in previous years, and to be honest, it won't take me long to replenish it. In order to dip as little as possible, I've been trying to make as much extra money as I can by doing a little each day.