First Person: Three Ways My Budget Changed in 2013

As we move forward in 2013, things are changing in my household. The budget I had for 2012 is no longer effective for the new year. There have been many changes made in bills and income, and those things need to be taken into consideration before getting back to our regular "no nonsense" routine. These are the three biggest changes our budget will see, and how it will affect us throughout the year.

Social Security tax increase

With the social security being affected because of an expiring tax cut, my husband is now losing $50 a month from his paycheck. Of course this is smaller than a lot of other Americans, but that money is enough to pay our monthly storage bill or put a tank of gas in our truck. Without having it, we need to pull the money from something else to be able to make sure everything gets paid on time, or find another way to recoup it. We are losing $600 this year with this small change.

Bills

We are just about to pay off our car loan. We finished off three huge debts in 2012, which only leaves us three credit cards to pay off. We have to sit down and write out the payment total for each month, but without the car loan, we are saving at least $220. This will free up money to start putting in to our account for a down payment on a house. Over the course of the entire year, we will be saving at least $2640.

Typical needs changed

What we were buying six months ago is not what we are purchasing now. With two growing children, our expenses have been allocated to different things. The money spent on diapers is no longer being spent for my toddler, but my infant has now began eating jarred food, so that money isn't exactly being saved. After moving everything around, I realized we were deficient $10 a month with added expenses. It is not as bad as it could have been, especially considering we are raising two boys, two years apart.

As things in life change, so will our budget. 2012 was a rough year for us financially and wholly, but 2013 looks promising. When something changes or becomes an issue, I will be there to tweak our budget. Until then, these were the three differences that occurred within a year, and they are handled now.

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