prepping for my fiscal fast

My kids went back to school Monday and it's given me a couple of days to get caught up logging our expenditures over the past month and to see where we are with our budget.  We have a bad habit of making a budget and simply logging/tallying our expenses at the end of the month and never making sure we actually are staying within the budget.

Finishing July's books was a bit of a buzz-kill!  But, the timing is good because other bloggers are using this month to spend less and challenge themselves to a Fiscal Fast.  So, I'm joining them in this "fun"!
As of last night, we'd already spent $485.47 on groceries.  Ummm...I'd "budgeted" $500 for the month.
And last week I wrote out checks totaling $356.66 for school supplies and fees.  Luckily I had more than that amount budgeted, so when it's time to write checks for field trips, I've got some $ left.

So what I'm saying is that it's early August and I've already spent a ton of money.  Here are the nitty gritty details.  Most of our true expenses have been paid. 

I have $1678 left for the month of August. 

Here's what I KNOW I have left to buy/pay:
groceries, $400 budget
guitar lessons, $100
MIL birthday gift, $40 budget
gasoline, $210 budget
football team/individual pictures, $60 budget
basketball registration, $270
commissions to my boys, up to $120
dry cleaning, no more than $30
cell phone bill, around $100
newspaper subscription, $22

Other things that might try to sneak in here:  scout uniform for my son (may be able to put this off until September), football expenses (I think we have everything we need!), an end of year season party for my son's basketball team, any kind of entertainment or eating out, and/or any household maintenance. 

My number one project and priority is to take inventory of our freezer and pantry and see what meals and snacks I can make from what we already have.  Will do this tomorrow!

So - August is my spend less month, and beginning tomorrow, I'm challenging myself to a 7-day Fiscal Fast!!