Real talk: My budget is in shambles
My 2025 spending goal is already toast, and it's only May.
I usually reserve spending updates for my monthly reviews.
But we’re not even halfway through 2025, and my budget is already in shambles.
Ignoring it won’t fix anything.
So it’s time to get honest and face the damage. Let’s look at the numbers.
Spoiler alert: it’s not good.
With one week left in May, I’m on pace for my highest monthly spending since launching Money Talks — maybe ever.
I’m staring down a five-figure credit card bill that makes me cringe.
I just keep tapping my card.
One charge just bleeds into another. It’s been that way since April.
At the start of May, I shared how busyness blurred my finances. How a balance exceeding $5,000 is a massive red flag for me.
Ha!
Earlier this month, I logged into my account and found my balance surpassed $11,000.
So much for my goal of keeping 2025 spending under $25,000.
I’ve already passed $20,000 — and we’ve still got five weeks until the year’s halfway point.
At this rate, I’m on pace to hit nearly $30,000 in spending. Definitely not what I envisioned.
But remember my word for this year?: Unflappable.
So far, every month has tested that resolve in a different way.
There have been rampant legal fees, work trips, vehicle repairs, a hefty dentist bill, gifts, indulgences and, of course, some frivolous spending.
It feels like one long, five-month setback…
But I can’t ignore the progress I have made.
I’ll share more specific numbers next week, but here’s what matters most: every dime I spent had a purpose — even those surprise funnel cakes and churros we crushed at the Sugar Shack on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
My mouth is starting to feel better after I ponied up for my root canal. The two-month ordeal has been a reminder — painful at times — that health is indeed wealth.
My overdue vehicle repairs are scheduled to be completed Tuesday. The part arrived that I need to pass an emissions test and register my vehicle. Just in time for our annual summer road trip, my car will be ready to roll.
My reimbursement for work trips also landed, reducing my eye-popping balance.
Still, I don’t like setting goals and falling short. Because when I do, it doesn’t just feel like I missed the mark, it feels more like I am the failure.
But I’m learning to see the difference. And honestly, the discomfort is what keeps me paying attention and showing up.
Blowing your budget doesn’t mean you’ve failed — it just means you’re human.
Instead of beating yourself up, take a breath and examine what actually happened.
Was it emergency purchases or emotional spending? A major surprise bill or a series of small choices that added up?
Once you know why, you can make a plan that’s realistic, not reactive.
You can always adjust.
And don’t forget to give yourself some grace.
My addiction to Nike
While contemplating life from a deck chair one night aboard my first cruise, I was surrounded unexpectedly by three men.
We've also had a couple of very expensive months that hurts me looking at the budget, but those are short term gyrations. I remind myself what really matters is the long term and our savings rate (and surely yours) is still high enough to reach our goals.
In the grand scheme, one expensive month or year isn't going to derail things, as long as those expenses don't become permanent.
Spending on the have-tos not the want-tos is hard. All of the pain and no counterbalancing pleasure. But also no guilt. Control the controllables and just keep going with your plan. Unflappable.