Issue 12 · August 2026
Posted Sept. 5, 2026. Covers the calendar month, not our pay periods — see the method for why those are not the same thing.
One bad Saturday and an otherwise unremarkable month. The August total is $3,880 against $3,770 planned, and the $110 difference is smaller than the single line that caused it, because four other envelopes finished under.
| Envelope | Planned | Spent | Left |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | 1,485 | 1,485 | 0 |
| Utilities | 210 | 264 | −54 |
| Groceries | 620 | 651 | −31 |
| Household | 75 | 42 | +33 |
| Car | 195 | 148 | +47 |
| Phone and internet | 132 | 132 | 0 |
| Dog | 85 | 214 | −129 |
| Health | 95 | 60 | +35 |
| Sinking funds | 458 | 458 | 0 |
| Eating out and fun | 145 | 171 | −26 |
| Gifts and giving | 110 | 95 | +15 |
| Personal, two at $80 | 160 | 160 | 0 |
| Twelve envelopes | 3,770 | 3,880 | −110 |
Notes on the month
Dog, $129 over. A foxtail seed in the webbing of the left front paw, on a Saturday, which meant the emergency clinic rather than our usual vet: $214 for sedation, extraction and a week of antibiotics. The regular vet quoted $90 for the same procedure on the Monday. We did not wait until Monday and would not have.
Utilities, $54 over. Eleven days above 95 degrees and a window unit that runs all night on the bedroom circuit. This is the fourth month in a row that utilities has finished over, which is a statement about the envelope rather than about August — the utilities page has the trailing numbers and the reason we are not fixing it until March.
Car, $47 under. The hospital parking pass is charged by the day worked, and a week of leave in the middle of the month took $58 off it. Fuel was $109 across two fills.
Groceries, $31 over. No single cause. Three of the five weeks landed slightly heavy and the warehouse run fell inside the month rather than outside it, which it does eight times a year and always looks like an overspend when it happens.
Household, $33 under. Nothing broke.
What we did about it. Took $110 from the buffer, leaving $160. Did not touch the savings transfer. Did not move money between envelopes, so the one permitted mid‑month transfer is unused for August.