I spoke too soon…

I tend to do that…make snap decisions and run with them That’s part of what got me into this mess! Anyways, the monkey wrench in our plans for September appears to have been taken care of, and I feel much better.

Today’s Spending:

$53.71 on a dentist bill. It would have been much higher, but apparently I overpaid last time and had some credit on my account.

$6.42 on milk and coffee at the grocery store. WOW we go through milk fast!

$6.81 to treat myself to a burrito. I had mixed feelings on the splurge, but hubby encouraged me to go for it. I had a good lunch, and it was so big that he is having a nice snack now!

Gah

Monkey wrench may have been thrown into the gears of our plans for hosting a get together, but I’m still going to knuckle down as though it were happening. If nothing else, we’ll get out of our shared living situation faster if the get together doesn’t happen.

Spending since my last post:

$68.50 on groceries. This is more than I’ve been averaging, but I did get a few things in bulk, like a gallon of vinegar and a LOT of coffee, which will cut costs over the long run. I hope.

$2.49 on a stick of deodorant.

$3.09 on a gallon of milk.

Saving for a fun thing

This morning, I got a little extra motivation to really cut back my spending and see how much I can save in the coming months!

We’re still ironing out the details, but it looks like we may be hosting three friends from all over the place for a week in September. I would LOVE to have a few hundred dollars set aside to do things like…go to Santa Cruz (or up to SF, I suppose. Visiting people always seem to want to do that…dunno why), cook a fancy dinner, buy everyone some beer, etc. Not to mention, I’d LOVE to drive out to pick one of the friends up, which would be about 18 hours driving each way. Gas, hotel, etc, would add up if I did that. Said friend is going to look into other options, but I’m still hopeful about the possibility of a road trip.

Meanwhile, I’m going to buckle down, and maybe try to sell off a few larger things on Craigslist. I’ve been wanting to get rid of our patio set for awhile, and I’m sure I could get a few bucks for it.

Today’s spending: $3.09 on a gallon of milk.

A little bit of fun

I haven’t really ironed out a set dollar amount for “fun money”, though I know I should have. I really need to sit down with myself and get a more official budget together than “spend as little as humanly possible”, though part of me wants to put that off until the credit cards are paid off. We shall see.

I’m getting a MUCH better idea of where out “needs” lie, and things like…my car needs fuel every two weeks or so.

The little surprises are what’s throwing me off. I just got a bill from the dentist today…with a late fee on it? I don’t recall getting a FIRST bill, and this is upsetting to me. Even when I’ve been a complete financial disaster, I prided myself on paying things ON TIME, even if it was just the bare minimum. I also have a paper from my insurance company that seems to indicate that I owe them more than the bill indicates. I’m confused. When I get paid Friday, I’ll call them to sort it out and pay whatever I owe.

I also need to have my car smogged and register it. Luckily, my car is old and registration is only $100. So…I’ll take care of the dentist this coming week, and the car the week after.

Meanwhile, I will put $200 a week (or more if I can manage it) onto the main credit card, which is the one currently accruing interest. If I can keep that up (barring unforeseen expenses) ALL of our debt should be paid off by October. I’m sure there will be a few surprise expenses, but I also usually get somewhere around $200 in birthday money, so hopefully they will balance or turn out in my favor.

Once the debt is paid off, my tentative plan is to live off of 50% of my income while putting 25% into retirement savings and 25% into house savings. Hopefully we will have two incomes soon, which will speed things up immensely.

Today’s Spending:

$13.04 on a cat toy. I’ve been waiting for over a month to buy this toy. The moment I saw it, I knew out little guy would love it, but I waited…and it was worth waiting for. He has so much fun with it! I felt a little guilty pang over the cost, but hubby assures me he’ll skip out on enough Starbucks trips to make up for it…and really, cat toys are EXACTLY the sort of thing I’ll spend my “fun money” on, so I think this counts as a fun money expense.

Yummy fried rice

Tonight was one of those evenings when non-frugal me wanted burrito. Badly. I LOVE Chipotle, and I could eat there every night for a L O N G time before I ever got sick of it. I was tired, cranky, I’ve been headachey off and on for almost 48 hours, and just….pleh.

But! I stuck it out…put some rice in the rice cooker and tossed it with chicken, frozen veggies, soy sauce, and egg, and a can of tomatoes when I was done. Easy, delicious, and we already had everything on hand! It will make an excellent lunch tomorrow too!

Hubby has a sweet tooth, so he has budgeted himself a little bit every week for goodies. Hubby also does not treat himself often enough, so if he told me he wanted to go out and buy himself a lobster dinner, I would not object. (well, maybe)

Spending since my last post: $3.69 on a BIG bag of skittles, which hubby is generously sharing with me!

An expensive week

I recently mentioned making some tough calls regarding the pets in the household. Today, one of those tough decisions was finalized. We took two of our three cats to a local no-kill shelter and paid the shelter to re-home them.

I have very mixed feelings about this, and our reasoning behind the decision was NOT the financial aspect of having fewer pets. Long term, however, I think it is best for everyone.

I’m a little bit disappointed that I am not going to be able to put $200 towards paying off the credit cards this week, as I have been doing EVERY week for awhile now. It’s OK though: I have successfully avoided frivolous purchases, and there will be more money next week. I am also proud of myself for NOT giving in to the temptation to drown my guilt about the kitties in a big bowl of ice cream.

Spending since my last post:

$235 to surrender two cats to the local shelter.

$15.92 on cat food and $13.69 on litter for the remaining kitty.

$47.01 on gas. I’ve been making a point of not speeding and driving carefully, and I got 31mpg instead of the 29 I got on my last tank of gas!

A small victory!

Tonight, hubby wanted take ‘n bake pizza. Normally I would have given in, tonight I  decided to go to the grocery store instead. My total felt a little high, but I got six frozen pizzas, 20 frozen burritos, and an assortment of other things which should last quite awhile.

Today’s Spending:

$37.68 on groceries.

Where to draw the line?

I’ve been craving a Chipotle burrito bowl for….days, really. This evening, I caved and got it, at hubby’s urging. Even though I haven’t spent anything since the grocery shopping trip two days ago, I felt a little guilty….but I REALLY enjoyed that bowl, and hubby certainly enjoyed his burrito.

I’ve been doing SO well overall, and I am TERRIFIED of slipping back into old habits. I DON’T think this one treat by itself is a big deal, but I don’t know where to draw the line between an occasional treat and overindulgence. Hmmm

Today’s spending:

$13.63 on two meals at Chipotle.

Seeing the obvious

I’ve been making an effort to eat through the miscellany in my pantry, even as I buy convenience food more regularly. There was quite a bit of food in there that I bought without having a recipe in mind that was just….not appetizing. Four cans of garbanzo beans, for example. NOT my favorite food. I have NO idea why I bought them. A few nights ago, I took two of them and made some hummus. It was delicious, and helped me to get through most of my last veggie box.

Tonight, though, I was poking around in the fridge, freezer, and pantry looking for something to prepare for dinner. We had a frozen pizza, frozen mixed veggies, a piece of leftover BBQ chicken, a bag of rice, and a few odds and ends. I racked my brain for awhile trying to come up with something appealing, but to no avail.

Eventually, I realized that I COULD GO TO GROCERY SHOPPING. I hadn’t blown my money on some frivolous nonsense, and we were running low on a few staples as well as convenience food. I felt a bit silly for not realizing it earlier, but now we’re stocked back up on staples and convenience food. I wound up making chicken fried rice using the frozen veggie mix, and it was delicious!

Today’s spending:

$40.41 on groceries. Looking at my receipt, there is not a single thing on there that I feel like I shouldn’t have purchased. This is a new feeling for me, and I like it.

$26.61 on brunch with friends. I used to eat with this group twice a week, and I’ve cut it down to every other week or so. It’s still a pretty frivolous use of money, but at least I also got to bring hubby a HUGE portion of chicken-fried steak.

Switching banks is frustrating!

Today I got paid with an actual check because my direct deposit is in the middle of switching over to my new bank. Hubby still hasn’t gone into the new bank to get added to the checking account, which is going to set back cancellation of the old account. I wish it were all done already.

Today’s spending:

$15.74 on coffee and milk. Hubby and I are going decaf, had to get some decaf beans.

$14.09 on cat food. A HUGE improvement over the $35 a case prescription food!