Oh, this month just looks ugly and I am not sure how November/December will be any better with Thanksgiving/Christmas/Vegas...

I am not proud to say we will probably save no long-term savings through December.

Than again, we knew this and planned it this way. Just feels like a step backwards though we are eons ahead. It's mental! (The reason we jived is because we invested the preschool money - hence we spend more now - AND I get a huge retirement contribution in December. But it still annoys me when our budget is so tight, all the same...)

I am trying to work as much OT as possible with the fam gone though. Will help. Just lord knows when I'll see the check!

Dh talked me into the Walking With the Dinosaurs thing. It looks REALLY cool but I saw no point to take a 2yo. We compromised - said he should get the best seats for him & BM vs. crummy seats for all of us. (No doubt LM would be a little terrified and too young to know what he is missing anyway if he would have enjoyed). But I had wanted to do something nice for my dad and I asked if he was interested. Yes. So we spent about $250. $80 or so is a gift for my dad. (Another gift down). However, dh talked his mom into paying for BM (Christmas present) so in the end it isn't too bad.

But we'll be around $200 over budget with Japan expenses and I would guess more with Florida. We'll see!

I also just paid $100 to diaper service. Last payment! Will send back all the diapers today. With LM picky at night with clothe, going 2 days to preschool (disposables) and them being so busy (out of the house) he has only been using about 10 clothes a week. He has been holding everything in though he generally still hates the potty. So anyway, dh brought this up a while ago and I am loathe to fill the landfill with diapers. BUT the fact is we are anyway with all the exceptions we can't really use the clothe. So, um, he has a point. Will save $53/month going forward. Phew!!!!! Of course will pay more for disposables but I doubt it would top another $10/month. Good move overall. Net $43 saved monthly? BM pretty much NEVER wore disposables and LM rarely did for 2 years. I did my duty I guess.

It will be nice to get rid of the stinky diaper pail.

Now if only he would get potty trained already - would really help with preschool expenses. Probably won't potty train until BM goes to K. Would figure. It's nice to know one day in the near future we will have another significant expense cut though. Yay!

Just wanted to mention also some reasons our grocery bill is down. Less diapers for one (it seems he is using much less). Milk is way down. We were buying 3 kinds of milk for the 4 of us and now we have been making an effort to buy bulk on sale (now that both kids are on 2% - phew). Dh started picking up cat litter in bags as opposed to plastic jugs - said it cost 1/2 as much. That's the latest. Stuff like that has been REALLY whittling down our bill. That is all big stuff I guess. As I said many times I just lump all of our household stuff in the "grocery" category because we really don't spend much on that stuff. I don't wear makeup, we don't spend a lot on household cleaners. IT's just all in one category - easy for me. I throw "out of the ordinary" stuff in "misc." to keep better track of though. But certain things like soap, diapers, cat litter I always put in the grocery category. Since yeah we mostly just get at the grocery store.

In other news I received a $10 rebate. Woohoo. IT was for a free after rebate thing (kids' computer games I think???). But it's not challenge money. I have always been a rebate lover!

That's what is going on here.

For Vegas I put up a $120 deposit and I believe our gas will be paid for, so I told dh we will just have to limit our expenses to $120. Sunk cost. Will off set our expenses when it is refunded. I think we can jive with that. What we really want is some nice meals and that is about it. We can enjoy Vegas pretty frugally otherwise. But every day I do keep telling him this trip is getting more frugal by the minute. (If he wants Dinosaurs means less spending money in Vegas!)

I know some people around here think we are crazy to drive, but we are drivers. Sure there may be some benefits to flying, but the fact is we do not have the money. Makes the decision pretty easy. LOL. No money in the budget so driving it is. We'll save around $300 driving. $300 that we do not have to spend. The choice is drive or not go. I guess in this credit card nation few people "get" that. The irony is we probably have far more in the bank that those who turn their nose up at driving. That is how it goes. I would like to keep it that way! (Having money in the bank...)

Oh yes - one more thing. We always host Thanksgiving but it looks like this year is going to be an easy year. Phew. Only our parents it looks like. As the rest of dh's family have other plans. I think last year we had something like 15 people. As fun as it was, it will be nice to have a simpler Thanksgiving. I actually doubt we will spend much on it. So that is a relief as well.

Well I have to start thinking about Christmas. We already started buying but haven't set the budget yet. Maybe I will work on that tonight... I like to spend like $100 in October, $100 in November & $200 in December. I think we already spent $100 and so seem to be on that track already.