But I think we did well.
Last night we got Free dinner #10 or so for the month. I had forgotten about that one - volunteer appreciation dinner at the public TV station. Every year is better than the last. I'll have to post some pictures later - fancy schmanzy!
After attending almost 9 years in a row I will say it was a very small turnout compared to usual, and a really small raffle also. Of course, maybe it was just last year - seemed to be far more raffle items. Usually odds are good enough to win something, but didn't win last night.
Of course, spent $20 on babysitting, so was not free.
Looks like there may be a big neighborhood 4th of July party, so we may be able to string out the parties/celebrations/lots of free food into a bit of July. (Last year we were asked to bring plates - and there was SO MUCH food. I wouldn't mind bringing something more substantial - but I am sure we will get far more than we put in - if anything like last year).
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We had the luck to leave town when the triple digits hit, so did not run the A/C much this week. I believe that our electric bill will reflect a huge decrease compared to last June. May was not that impressive (compared to last May) but June will reward us for *lower than normal* temps. I hope! If not, it's because our A/C is so efficient. Sometimes it's hard to improve on. Which is certainly not a bad thing!
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I do not believe that we will need groceries or gas until the 1st, either.
That said, we do need to pick up some sun screen, mosquito spray, white t-shirts (tie die), etc. for camp. I hadn't thought much about any of that until today. The kids have some grungy looking white polo shirts for school that I decided to take this year. (I personally don't do white - too much hassle - and lord knows why dh insists on some white t-shirts for them. But glad we can find another use since they are more grey than white any more. Plus some sort of other stain - they are rambuctious boys - and seem to attract permanent marker marks if nothing else - don't ask me how or why). I may look for a white tank top or something different, for myself. Though waiting until the last minute I may stick with a plain old men's shirt again - is probably the 4th to add to my wardrobe - why I wanted to choose another style this time.
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I was poking around my Chase reward today and was able to squeeze a $5 Olive Garden gift card out of my old Chase card. Last time I looked I could not find anything to redeem for less than 1000 points - so I think this was new. I am glad I looked. If this was all I could redeem - is worthwhile - and I don't remember the last time we went to O.G.!
While poking around I realized I can probably redeem $1030 cash when all is said and done - with the Sapphire card. $1000 with the bonus points, but $3000 charged = $30 cash reward, in addition. I didn't catch that part before.
I will have to sit down and pay the July bills tonight and see where we are at. But so far, so good. (Well - I put everything in Quicken. Then I set everything to pay on their due dates. How it relates to June is I pay off the June credit cards in July - so why I sit down ahead of time to make sure it all balances and that I didn't do anything stupid!)
July is also going to have to be a low-spend month, outside of "vacation" type purchases, which comes from our short-term savings. We are on track to not spend our entire vacation budget this year, anyway. Well below budget. Since no big trips planned. Even LegoLand = free admission and free hotel. The food always adds up for us since we can't be as uber frugal as we are at home. & food will make up the bulk of the vacation budget. Food and random adult admissions - the kids seem to have free admission to everywhere.
June is not over...
June 24th, 2011 at 09:08 pm
June 24th, 2011 at 10:44 pm 1308951872
June 25th, 2011 at 03:35 pm 1309012501
June 27th, 2011 at 04:56 am 1309147006