Issue 10 · June 2026
Posted July 6, 2026. Covers the calendar month, not our pay periods — see the method for why those are not the same thing.
Nothing happened in June, which is the best thing that can be said about a month in a budget. Eight envelopes finished under, two finished over by small amounts, and the whole month came in $103 light.
| Envelope | Planned | Spent | Left |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | 1,485 | 1,485 | 0 |
| Utilities | 210 | 171 | +39 |
| Groceries | 620 | 586 | +34 |
| Household | 75 | 68 | +7 |
| Car | 195 | 181 | +14 |
| Phone and internet | 132 | 132 | 0 |
| Dog | 85 | 79 | +6 |
| Health | 95 | 145 | −50 |
| Sinking funds | 458 | 458 | 0 |
| Eating out and fun | 145 | 162 | −17 |
| Gifts and giving | 110 | 40 | +70 |
| Personal, two at $80 | 160 | 160 | 0 |
| Twelve envelopes | 3,770 | 3,667 | +103 |
Notes on the month
Health, $50 over. A dental cleaning at $130, of which $65 came from the dental sinking fund and $65 landed here because we have never been able to agree on which of the two it belongs to. It goes in whichever one has room, and June had room.
Utilities, $39 under. The four weeks a year in Spokane when neither the furnace nor the air conditioning runs.
Groceries, $34 under. The garden did about $40 of lettuce, chard and far too much zucchini. We are counting that as an underspend rather than as income, which is either the correct accounting treatment or a way of avoiding thinking about the cost of the raised beds.
Gifts and giving, $70 under. Only one birthday.
The $103. Went to savings on the 2nd of July, on top of the standing $1,100. This is the one thing an underspend is allowed to do: it does not roll into next month's envelopes, it leaves.