1. Rising food prices. I really hate to say it, but the general cost of food has been blind siding us a lot lately. Seems like the price of everything is up these days. I understand that inflation does exist and that prices will go up, but these increases are crazy. I even swore off of cold cereal for about 4 months because of the price increases. This one is really hard to admit, as at one time, we were the family of three living off of a grocery budget of $250 per month. Current food budget for the four of us is $400-450.
2. Forgetting my lunch. I am quite well known for skipping lunch out with friends in favor of a nice bowl of leftovers. No complains - I enjoy our cooking, even a day or two after. But two or three times a month, I'll find that I've forgotten my lunch at home. Ug. This usually means lunch at the cafeteria. Not that it's expensive, just not in the budget.
3. A great deal on ________ . There's lots of ways to fill in the blank, and that's the problem - clothes, home improvement products, garage/estate sale finds, what-have-you. We're not phased by retailers' "Whatever Sale! This week only!" Whatever is right. But when you can get a $600 sink for $30, or that garage sale has clothes in your size - new or nearly new - for pennies on the dollar, how do you say, "No"? Many times, we don't.
4. Unplanned trips. We've had a handful of family members in and out of the hospital over the past couple months. If you haven't noticed, gas doesn't grow on trees. In fact, quite the opposite.
5. Unexpected medical bills. I've spoke, at length, about our crummy health insurance. Well, we planned for the bills from the birth of our second, but the tumor that she had removed was not planned for. It has been hammering our emergency fund, and replenishing our emergency fund has been busting our budget.
   

My wife is a budgeting ninja, so these rarely knock us too far off track. But some of these do occasionally earn me some glares during the budget committee meetings. Ouch!

Some other posts in this challenge:

• Debt-FREE Revolution
• Oh My Aching Debts
• Bible Money Matters
• Antishay Ventene
• Prime Time Money
• Remodeling This Life
• Wide Open Wallet

We'll tag:

• Squawkfox
• Frugal Babe
• Shegazelle
  

***UPDATE*** Welcome Carnival of Debt Reduction readers! To find out more about us, click here. Check out our latest articles here. Thanks for reading!