this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

Or perhaps I should title it, "I'm a Slave to my Credit Card"?

We pay for nearly everything with our credit card because we like getting the cashback bonus awards.  We always pay it off in full, and it doesn't seem to cause us to spend more than we otherwise would.  That said, with a monthly closing date of the ninth and a traditional month-by-month budget, most expenses really aren't paid for in the month they are accounted in.

Is this a big deal?  Not so much, but the fact that a third of the expenses will actually be paid the next month and the remaining two thirds will get paid two months later is starting to bug me.  It seems to mean that when we are able to save a large chunk of money in any given month, it doesn't really "show up" for a while, especially if a previous month didn't have a big surplus. 

So, we're switching things up.  Instead of starting the budget month on the first, I'll start it on the tenth and run it through the ninth of the next month.  It might be even more annoying, I don't know. 

I also upped the grocery budget.  I realized I was consistently going over, so I decided to make it official.  It didn't change the bottom line a whole lot, because I lowered the gas numbers (which were still high to reflect gas that cost nearly $4 a gallon).

Our February fiscal month doesn't start for a few days and then we'll see what happens!