This month will be a real challenge for me. I was told at the beginning of the year that I'd receive my winter semester paychecks from Feb thru May (rather than through the summer) because I worked part-time at this school last fall, and thus was not a full-time employee for the entire year. I'm a teacher and I'm used to having my 9-month salary paid to me over 12 months, but they only do that for full-time employees for the entire academic year (which I am again now). I planned ahead and managed to save $7250 in my savings during that time, and have been living off the savings since.

However, it's still 45 days until my next paycheck, and the savings account only has $640 left in it. Summer tends to be my most spendy time of year, and this year was no exception. I took a trip out to L.A. to visit my mom, am taking 3 summer school classes, adopted a dog and made purchases to accommodate his needs, took care of some minor home repairs, and had one large car repair bill during this time, in addition to the usual monthly expenditures.

Thank goodness my mother still has the means to lend me $1200 (which I will repay in full by December) to enable me to pay my August bills (the September paycheck arrives just in time to pay the September bills).

So I've got to be good about adhering to the budget this month--I've got $967 on the credit card at the moment, and I *usually* pay in full every month.

So here's the budget for the month, which will all but exhaust the savings and the loan from mom, leaving just $100 in the savings accounts to keep them open and as a wee bit of buffer.

Budget
Mortgage/escrow 723
Gas (budget plan, spreading payments equally over the year) 150
Electricity 70 (guessing)
Water/Sewer 73 (quarterly bill due)
Phone 50
Health Insurance 95
Disability etc Insurance 40
Groceries 300
Gasoline 50
Pet Needs 20
Gym 29
Entertainment (including dining out) 50
Household supplies/goods/repairs 23
Credit Card payment 67 (leaves 900 balance)

Total 1740

I'll so look forward again to having money coming in! I've got the rest of the year planned out to pay off the credit card and the loan from mom by year's end, and to start rebuilding the emergency fund. I've concentrated my savings the past several years on building my retirement fund, but this experience (plus the fact that I am a relatively new homeowner) makes me realize that this year's savings needs to be addressed to establishing more liquidity in my accounts.