This week was my best yet, which is good because next week there will be two big expenses, a plumbing bill (we have to get our leaky bathroom faucet fixed) and my daughter’s sensory assessment (more on this next week). At least I’ll have one decent week in my first month.
And while it was a good week, there were expenditures that were unnecessary. I took my son to a tot time at a local trampoline park. He loved it. We both had an awesome time. Was the experience worth $20? Before I would have said, unequivocally, yes. Now I’m not so sure. I suppose once I have a set budget, I’ll be forced to determine if those kinds of frivolously fun things with the kids are possible. I hope they are. We had a really good time.
I also ate out with a friend who is notorious for choosing expensive places. The plan was to get there for happy hour but my husband got home later than I asked him to and it took her longer to bike than she expected so we both showed up literally the minute happy hour ended (and our pleas to get at least a drink at the lower price were denied). I did try to make responsible decisions: we each got one (on-the-cheaper-side) appetizer and we split the cheapest pizza. But of course we got drinks. It had been a LONG, challenging day at home (more on this later) and I really just wanted to enjoy a few drinks. Obviously these luxuries will also have to be well planned once we’re putting away a certain amount into savings.
The good news is my husband is all about merging our finances (he is SUPER annoyed with his bank right now) so I’m hoping I can get coverage for my son one morning this week and meet him at a bank before an early lunch. I still want to open a savings account (also in both our names) at a credit union, but I think we’ll keep our checking at a big bank for the convenience of mobile services. I’m looking forward to taking this step and I hope it will help me keep track of what we’re spending on eating out, once I can track what my husband spends as well.
So here is week three:
| WEEK 3 | ||
| 6/27/2015 | Rockin Jump (Tots rock) | $19.36 |
| 6/28/2015 | Carousel (rides for two kids) | $6.00 |
| 6/29/2015 | Gas | $47.71 |
| 6/30/2015 | Mission Beach Cafe (brunch with friend) | $20.00 |
| 6/30/2015 | Whole Foods (bananas + hypoallergenic bubble bath) | $13.74 |
| 6/30/2015 | In-n-Out (dinner with friends) | $16.34 |
| 7/2/2015 | Safeway (groceries) | $34.62 |
| 7/2/2015 | Dinner with friend | $48.00 |
| 7/3/2015 | TJs (groceries) | $164.51 |
| TOTAL | $370.28 |
Good job. And such a reminder that eating is expensive. Food costs are jumping all the time and the predictions of more increases to come due to the drought are not encouraging.
Hope your 4th of July was lovely. At 10:30pm I think the illegal fireworks where I am are finally winding down. Fingers crossed no fires started.
God I didn’t even think about food costs going up because of the drought but it makes a lot of sense.
Yes, fix that leak. Before my dad died his water bill went up from approx 40 to 1000$ (Yes 3 zeroes) one month. Turned out to be a slight toilet leak. Luckily our water co allows one free adjustment. Rates are like that bc of the drought, which is good, unless you have a leak you don’t know about!
We’ve been putting a bucket under it and then using the collected water to flush the toilet but after four months of that I just couldn’t anymore. It’s fixed now. It didn’t cost as much as I thought it would and now I’m annoyed at myself for not fixing it sooner.
IS the faucet a repair or replace? Am wondering who your plumber recommends as good manufacturers of faucets these days. Have heard quality is not the middle name of H.Depo.t faucets…. that they are cheap but not long lasting and delaminate…….
Clearly I am looking at some problems in the plumbing department too. THANKS.
They ended up repairing it (though before they said they’d have to replace it). If they do end up replacing it I’ll let you know where they get the hardware.
Great job! For us, those “fun adventure” things with kids are absolutely necessary for life to not feel like a slog. If you guys need to make cuts, I would try to cut down the food budget or gas budget before cutting the things that make life with little kids fun!
I appreciate you saying that. It seems like a shitty thing to let go of, but I’m guess a few things that I really love are going to have to be left by the wayside.
FYI- we were worried about joining a credit union and being able to get money out. Our credit union works with local banks so we have no fees or issues getting money out of their ATMS- which is nice because we have two about a mile away from our house.
We are likely going to get rid of our big bank credit cards and open one at the credit union in a few months as well.
That is good to know. Thanks for sharing that.