End of Year Budget Review

So, I rejigged my budget numbers based on what I spent this year (and what I plan to spend for the rest of December) and determined that I was over on two categories this past year. Now, I'm not sure where my math went wrong because I have enough in my bank account to cover my December Visa bill and have money left over. So, I'm not sure if I actually did go over my budget. Obviously, the new heating / cooling system was over my budget (my house budget was not equipped to cover a $13,000 expense), but that aside my budget tells me I was over in two categories.

I was over by $300 in my public transit category. At the end of the year I was asked to switch from my local office to a downtown office. Which meant I needed to start taking the train. This was not an expense I had expected and couldn't budget for. The expectation is that my yearly bonus would help to cover this new expense, but I had to handle it until January.

I was also over in my books / toys / gifts category. Apparently, I spoil my son. This category also held our expenses for computer backup and security ($250 at the end of the year - which I had forgotten about). I was over by $420. I've upped my son's allowance starting this month so that he will be responsible for the majority of books he buys (and will hopefully start to understand why I love the library so much). We spent a lot of money on video games this year. I bought my son a 2DS system for his birthday and games at Christmas. Plus we had games and accessories for the Wii early in the year. Next year I am planning on replacing the Wii (it is on its last legs). We will hopefully be able to borrow games from the library for whatever system I end up getting. I will have to plan ahead for that purchase as it will not be cheap.

But, with those (3) categories aside, I think I had a fabulous year in terms of budgeting. It was really my first year to really make sure I was doing it and I'm pretty happy with the progress I've made. I have my mega spreadsheet that I review daily. It has details of my budget, my spending, where my mortgage is and will be in the coming year, where my son's RESPs are and when I will be able to start putting more towards that goal, where my RRSPs are (not great). I know I should focus on my RRSPs but I really want to get the mortgage paid off and Jude's school costs figured out. Jude will still need to pay for part of his school, but I'm hoping that I can keep the amount as low as possible for him. I do not want him drowning in debt when he gets out of school (like my brother and I).

I'm planning to up the amount of money against the budget and Jude's RESPs next year. My goal is to have the mortgage paid off in 9 years and then put that extra money against Jude's school budget.

So, year 1 of budgeting is almost in the books. Here's hoping I don't spend more than I've planned this month.