Remember we tightened our belts the third week into November, so this month's will be another “here's what our mostly non-budget spending looks like”. We purchased six months worth of hay in November at $12/bale. The price per bale is estimated to rise up to $15/bale by the end of the year. We are also putting away a month's worth of hay money each month so when it comes time to purchase hay again, we won't have to come up with a huge amount all at once.

This is one of my steps to getting our budget back under control. If you have a large bill that is due one time a year, instead of having to come up with it all at the same time (and maybe having to charge it to a credit card), save it in monthly increments. If you have a bill that is due every year in October for $1200, save $100 each month and by the time October comes, you will have your $1200. If your $1200 bill is due end of July, then take the months left from now until then and divide them up to find out how much you'll have to put away each month to have the money when the time comes. You'll be counting December, January, February, March, April, May, June and maybe July. Potentially 7 months to save that $1200 that you need to have. So divide $1200 by 7 and you come up with $172.00 each month. For the next year that this bill is due, you will need to save significantly less if you start out saving 1/12th right away. So in August, begin right away saving $100 and then you'll be ready with the entire amount by next July.

Here's the groceries tally – I took the time to categorize November, except for a few receipts that I couldn't locate. If I locate them without spending too much time, I'll recategorize and post a correction.