February 17:
$11 Haircut (Dh)
$ 6 Pizza
Dinner: Smoky Chicken Enchilada Skillet

I've been craving pizza for a while so I caved Wednesday night. Personal Round Table Pizza. Dh does not really care for pizza. He was already making dinner when I discussed with him but I assured him I would appreciate leftovers for lunch. When I got home we did talk about the rest of the week and he told me he didn't want to eat out. So I think we don't plan to spend any money today or tomorrow (except maybe gas) but admittedly I have not asked dh what his plans are.

I have never been big on denying things I want. It's just much more reasonable to get a pizza when it's just me and I don't have to share with the kids. So I figured I would give in to the pizza lust. If the kids were here I might have just gotten pizza for lunch on a work day.

Dh got a haircut also. He needed one and had some extra time since he didn't have to rush to pick up kids after work. & he saw the new haircut place by grocery store had a sale.

We were planning to try to hit a free movie screening this week but the offers dried up. I guess the last few weeks there were just a lot. That said, we did both receive offers to a movie where they wanted parents to bring their teens. My 12yo could certainly pass for 13 (or 15), but of course we get one of those offers when we don't have kids to take along. We were more hoping for a free date night. Especially since we are more reluctant to take advantage of these when we do have the kids. Going to the movies is one thing, but you have to go wait in line early for these and don't really want to ditch the kids all evening.

---------------------------------------------------

February 18:
-0- Spending
Dinner: leftovers

We didn't spend any money Thursday but I committed to buy some girl scout cookies from my niece.

The problem these days is grandparents. When you have newborns and your husband loses his job you just go with it. We've been asked to never buy anything for any of our nieces and nephews. We didn't have any money anyway, so sounded fine with us, early on. I know my in-laws are over the top, but my parents respond by pretty much doing nothing for my kids. (To-date it's absolutely never been brought up by my kids. I honestly think their impression is just that their other grandparents are over the top. They understand that is not normal, but they maybe don't realize that it's not normal that no one else feels like they can buy them anything). So, this is my family. BUT... All the nieces and nephews have two sets of grandparents who spoil them like crazy. In turn, we've been asked never to buy anything for them. I am appreciating over time how it's only one-sided for us. Thankfully my kids aren't getting two mountains of gifts for every occasion.

So when my niece asked us to buy some girl scout cookies, I was super excited to help out in some way.

Oh, and LM's best friend is having a birthday party next weekend. So we will buying a gift before then.

February 15:
$11 Groceries (Target)
$ 7 Groceries (valentines candy clearance)
$16 Lunch out (w/co-workers)
$11 Ebook purchase
Dinner: Cashew Chicken

I'd probably put the ebook purchase as an allowance item for dh. (& I don't even remember the last time he paid for an ebook. ???). But he told me it was for the kids. They are way into some series that just had a new release yesterday. This is why I usually put this stuff in the allowance pile. I don't understand *at all*. So you can't just wait until it is at the library?? Ugh! I do know that the kids are enjoying this series so will just put under the "kid" category. We rarely buy them anything. They save up to buy most things with their own money.

Dh used up our Target gift card. Since he had the day off work and needed some cashews for his recipe he went and did a $31 grocery run. $11 after gift card. I had asked him to check out the reeses valentine candy on clearance. But he told me it was only 30% off and it had already been picked over.

Which is fine since I ran by the grocery store and got a couple of bags of candy, 50% off, on the way to work. I thought maybe I didn't get a discount on one bag but it turns out the Reeses hearts are just crazy expensive. Dh was going to price them at Target for me, just out of curiosity, but nothing good was left when he went to Target after lunch.

Dh did drive the kids half way to drop them off with his parents and I think his dad treated dh and the kids to lunch.

-----------------------------------------------------

February 16:
$29 Fuel for gas guzzler ($1.73 per gallon)
$ 7 Movie Theater
Dinner: Citrus Chicken

With the kids gone we decided to take advantage and have a date night. We used the last of our movie theater gift card. We went last night because it was $5 movie night at our local theater.

I don't know that we expect to spend any money during the rest of the work week. Except dh may need to refuel at some point since he drove so many miles on Monday. There are loose talks of going out to dinner one night with the kids gone, but I am kind of over all the eating out. We plan to be out all day Saturday also. Dh has not eaten out half as much as me this month so I will just leave it up to him. Whatever he wants.

The kids are having a blast with their cousins and grandparents. (Cousins just happened to have the same week off of school). Monday it was so crazy warm that they went swimming. There is a storm rolling in today and so my dad made sure to take them on a hike yesterday while the weather was still nice. I don't know what else they have planned this week.

I don't know that we usually eat such varied dinners, but it seems that we have been finding a lot of good recipes lately. The Korean Beef Bowl that I made earlier in the month is a recipe that I found recently that takes about 10 minutes to make. So it's a nice addition to my "quick meal" repertoire. Citrus chicken is an old favorite that doesn't make any leftovers when the kids are here. So it was a nice one to make for just the two of us. We did try a couple of new recipes this month. I find it hard to believe that we will repeat anything we have already made, this month (except tofu which I left out/ruined and dh wanted to make again).

February 14:
$117 Groceries
$12 Kohls
$ 2 amazon (TV show streaming)
Dinner: Sweet & Spicy Salmon w/Garlic Butter Rice

Dh did a grocery run Sunday.

I made out well at Kohls though I didn't find anything suitable for work. I think it was my mood. I tried on like 30 things (which is why I like Kohls so much - they are okay with you taking in piles of clothes to the dressing room). I just felt so "meh" and "ugh" about everything. Which is too bad because I actually found a lot of nice stuff in the clearance racks. I usually don't bother to go through those, but I spotted some really pretty colors and started going through it all. Then I tried it all on and said, "UGH!" In the end I picked up 3 t-shirts. Two are a little winter-y and Christmas-y (long sleeved). & I had wanted to pick up another plain black shirt. They didn't have the nicer one I had bought last time but they had a short-sleeve one that will do. I did take a picture of a couple of shirts that were not on sale and that I think I would have been happy with. I can look online later.

Anyway, the three shirts I picked up were $12 total. I think I did pretty good. I really loved the two winter-y shirts I got, so there is that. Oh, and I scored a plastic bag! I suppose I don't know what all the rules are with that. I was thinking it must have been the first retail store I have been into this year. But now that I think about it I went into Walgreens once and they were charging for plastic bags.

Dh wants to use up our movie gift card this week (going out while the kids are gone). We discussed using a restaurant gift card that we got for Christmas but decided to keep that for when we take out the kids. It will be nice to cut down the bill when it's the four of us. I think that is all we have left in gift cards right now. Well, other than a $2 Barnes & Noble gift card balance.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that I also have a $20 Target gift card from work gift exchange.
Dh is planning to use it today towards a grocery run.

----------------------------------------------------

Mid Month Spending Totals:

$283 Groceries
$19 Fuel
$4 TV Streaming
$209 Everything Else

That leaves $367 left for groceries and $68 left for everything else. I expect we will spend about that much on fuel for the rest of the month. & of course, we can always spend less on groceries to free up more general spending money.

We are very aggressive with paying ourselves first, and so we would never have money left over at the end of the month. Psychologically it's what works for us.

We are planning to take dh's Grandma out this next weekend though. That is such a one-off thing, as is our medical co-pay this month, that I will probably cover these things from our short-term savings. We do also save aggressively for that, which is just for non-monthly expenses during the year. So that buys us some wiggle room. Especially early in the year when we have not spent down any of that. But of course, if I can cover these things from our monthly budget I will do that. The more I can keep for more fun spending later and for the more random things that always pop up, the better.

On the flip side, we both get paid this week and we already paid all of our bills for the month. So 100% of our paychecks are going to savings. (The daily spending is put on our credit card for rewards. Will pay this month's charges off on the first of March, or the following payday).

February 12:
$5 Groceries
$3 Lunch Out (moi)
Dinner: Spicy tofu w/coconut rice

The 12th was a day of inefficiency. Ugh!

I was just not feeling the leftovers I had at work and noticed I had run out of chicken nuggets (frozen) - which is my backup food and the only frozen food I can really stomach. I was just not feeling the food that day and ran to Taco Bell for a $3 lunch. While working 6 days a week I generally allow one day per week out but I had already eaten out once this week so I was disappointed in my planning.

Then dh asks me to pick up green onions on the way home. At least it's on the way! I believe he mentioned that he needed those Wednesday but he forgot while at the store. Very unlike him, but I will file this away under "adjusting to working". It was kind of a hectic week and this extra grocery trip shows that.

Oh, and of course while I was at the store I picked up donuts! I maybe resisted the last 2 or 3 times I had to run to the store for dh but I only have so much willpower. Yeesh!

To sign off on an inefficient day, dh made that tofu recipe again. Since I accidentally wasted most the last batch, it just reminds me of inefficiency early in the month.

---------------------------------------------------

February 13:
$45 dh allowance purchase
Dinner: Taco Rice Salad

I think dh made this dinner (BM's fave) because LM was in such a salad mood all week. It figured that LM refused to eat this dinner. He might be open to leftover salad for lunch. He was just kind of over it yesterday.

Inefficiency carried over into this day in that we had absolutely no salsa in the house. ??? We just made do. It worked, but the salad was not as good as usual. I will chalk that one up to a crazy busy week.

Dh ended up spending $45 on some annual video subscription to his favorite podcast. Is generally not anything he would waste his money on and he accordingly had to beat himself up all over it. It's early in the year and so I really don't give a flip. He's only spent $100 this year, which is within reason with our "$600 per year no questions asked" allowance spending, which works out to about $50 per month. I do think it's probably something he would not have done if he wasn't working. But is all the more reason why I don't care.

On the 13th I worked most of the day and finally had some time to read when I got home.

---------------------------------------------------

As to Valentines Day, we don't celebrate in the slightest. Though I may stop by the store tomorrow to see if I can get some candy at a discount. I was craving some chocolate/peanut butter the other day but figured I should wait until the post Holiday sales.

7th grade did not do anything for Valentines. 5th grade had a party but LM wasn't interested at all. I decided to purge all our valentines yesterday since I doubt 5th grader would change his mind next year. I couldn't find any so it looks like maybe he didn't participate last year and I already did that purge.

Today dh plans to do a weekly grocery run. That's the only spending I am aware of. I may run to Kohls if they have a sale today. I have just been waiting for a sale because I have some credits to use up, and I could always use some nicer tops for client meetings this time of year. I have more time today since will be working tomorrow.

February 11:
-0- Spending
Dinner: Free Dinner Adults/leftovers for kids

February 10:
$15 Groceries
$19 Fuel for gas sipper ($1.75/gallon)
Dinner: Crockpot Tater Tot Casserole

On the 10th the kids had a short day and I drove them home during lunch hour. LM wanted a salad for lunch (finishing off all our lettuce) and BM was complaining that we had no white bread. I told them I'd go to the store on my way home later in the day. Wednesday is generally dh's errand day since the kids are covered, but since he had a meeting at the school I didn't expect him to run errands. In the end he picked up wheat bread, but at least he told me before I went to the store for bread also. BM will have to live with wheat bread for a while.

We stopped for groceries and gas after the science fair that night. Dh picked up a can of beans (for some recipe) and some produce while I put fuel in the car. In the end we didn't need any lettuce because dh mentioned the giant napa cabbage in the fridge was just leftovers from some recipe last week. I'll use that for salad while LM is on a salad kick.

Oh, and I got some free tangerines at work, fresh off someone's tree.

On the 11th we had dh's volunteer appreciation dinner at the public TV station. They always put on a great party with good food and everything. So we just fed the kids some leftovers before we went out.

Dh won a $25 gift card in a raffle and plans to just give it to his dad as a belated birthday gift, this weekend. (His sister planned some gift they went in together for, but dh was not enthralled with her gift plan. Wasn't something he thought his dad would actually enjoy. This is something he will enjoy).

We did also score two free re-usable bags. We put a second bag in each car. That was a very nice and useful gift.

Dh told me that his weekend plans fell through. He also told me that he wanted to go see his Grandma for her 91st birthday. I was initially more like, "Have fun!" But after discussing it a bit I might try to go along. Will leave it as a maybe, for now. I did tell him he needed to just take his Grandma out without his mother or anyone else tagging along. He agreed. I know that is something she really would enjoy. So we have tentative plans to go all the way to the Bay Area to pick up the kids at the end of the next week. Maybe we can take Grandma out after we get the kids, on the way home. Might as well take advantage of low gas prices.

February 9:
-0- Spending
Dinner: Chicago-Style Pan Pizza

February 8:
$12 lunch out w/friend
$ 7 movie (dh allowance purchase, for his movie collection)*
Dinner: Korean Beef Bowl & Roasted Cauliflower

*Did I ever mention that my dh likes movies?

My lunch out (Chinese) created 2 days of lunch leftovers. I might take the 2nd day of leftovers home today for dh or the kids.

We were all hoping to go to a free advanced movie screening last night but we never got an invite. Still figuring how this website works. (We've pretty much gotten invites to everything else that has been publicized). It was never a given that we'd all get in anyway, so I just looked forward to reading instead. But dh bombarded me with TV instead. We had some movie to watch that he told me expired in a few days. (A rental? I had not realized it was going to expire). So I caved since we had planned to go to the movies otherwise. We watched "All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records". I was initially feeling pretty bummed because my dad used to take me to Tower records every weekend. Is where I spent most my money as a kid. IT's how and where I learned to manage my money. (For our kids, it's apps and video games). Kind of a sad nostalgia for me, that it's all gone now. But in the end the movie was really pretty interesting and summed up a lot of what we learned in business school. Tower Records does still live on in Japan. That part I like!

We also started watching the Eugene Mirman comedy special on Netflix. I think he is now my favorite comedian. !! Definitely a good TV night. (We didn't finish the special since it was getting late, but will probably have time tonight).

Today I am not planning to spend money. Dh has a meeting with the school and then it's Science Fair night for the middle school. I think it's a "too busy to spend" kind of day and dh planned a crockpot meal.

Edited to add: Might do a grocery run today. LM has discovered "salad" and ate all of our salad. & we could probably use some bread for school lunches.

February 7:
$135 Groceries/Household
$ 30 Haircuts (x2)
$ 2 Amazon (TV show streaming)
$ 17 Movie (Dh allowance purchase)
Dinner: Chicken Satay & Brussel Sprouts

I mostly thought February was pretty boring and we didn't have much planned. But... This week is kind of crazy! Just a lot of stuff going on.

I was also thinking that we may have the lowest gas spend month ever. We had no plans to go out of town, coupled with low gas prices. But I was wrong. Dh mentioned yesterday they were nailing down next weekend as an "out of town getting together with friends" date. (They had been planning this weekend but the Superbowl was local and they decided it was best to try another weekend). Also, since time is flying by lightning fast, we hadn't even realized the kids have a week off next week. I mean, we knew, but we didn't realize it was here already. Initially his work said they were cool with dh just taking that week off. But his mom asked if the kids had the week off and she wanted to take them. So anyway, dh and I went for a walk yesterday when we discussed this and I was wondering if he could kill two birds with one stone as to all this driving. There is a slight possibility that dh can meet his friends and parents around the halfway mark. If he meets closer to home with his friends I guess it doesn't matter so much. They have not decided where to meet, but the others live more around the halfway point. Either way we will probably only drive half way to drop off kids, but will also have to do the same to get them back, eventually.

Oh, and while the kids are gone dh wants to go to the movies. We do have a movie gift card and I have a restaurant gift card so maybe we will make use of that with the free babysitting next week.

Today I plan to spend money because I am meeting a friend for lunch.

February 6:
-0- Spending
Dinner: leftovers

Saturday I worked all day. Dh did not make it to the grocery store.

Maybe for the best since we can combine our errands today. There is a new haircut place by the grocery store. Since BM and I both have *lots of hair* I have the feeling dh will be waiting for us. I was surprised he was open to combining this errand, accordingly. But saves us some gas in the end. We usually aren't quite this efficient.

I gave up on the two books that I was reading because they were so terrible. This does not happen much. I am pretty easy to please. That and I usually feel obligated to see a book through. With the internet, not so much. If I am agreeing with the comments about how terrible the first half of the book was, and the people who read the whole thing said it didn't get any better... I guess these days I am more willing to abandon a book that I am not getting into. But I did take some time today to refill my kindle with library e-books.

I'll catch up on some housework today but mostly plan to veg out and read.

The weather is gorgeous and I will also make sure to get a walk in today.

ccfree's post reminds me than dh and the kids watched a free movie rental last night. I wasn't up to it.

I saw 20-30 turkeys while driving into work today. These guys were keeping the cars in check.

----------------------------------------------------

February 5:
-0- Spending
Dinner: hobo dinner (crockpot meatloaf + potatoes)

Planned spending for the weekend:
Saturday - weekly groceries
Sunday - haircuts

BM agreed to a haircut, which happens never, so I will drag him along with me.

February 4:
$7 Groceries
Dinner: crockpot pepper steak, pasta/sauce

Did another grocery run yesterday. I didn't realize until I got home from grocery store (the prior night) that I wasn't enthralled with dinner situation for the 4th. In the end dh picked up some hamburger and tomato sauce for me (when picking up kids from school). LM and I ate pasta with a meat and tomato sauce. I have started making double batches of this dish (recently) and some of my thinking was I needed some different leftovers for the next few days.

The plus side: Everything we picked up the past 2 days was on sale. Sometimes we just get lucky like that!

Last night dh and BM went to a free advanced screening of Deadpool. Though people had lined up since noon, they squeaked by having gotten there just one hour before the movie started. They weren't really expecting to get in but figured they would try. Movies seem to be on average about once a week (in our region). But this is the first "big" film they tried. IT was in our neighborhood which was the other reason they figured they would at least try. Didn't drive too far out of the way.

My dh was over the moon. Though overall a VERY patient man, he *has to* see movies the day they come out, often times. Which is why he waited in line all day to see Star Wars. I don't know what it is. Now he can see them EARLY and FREE! It will be like Christmas all the time for him.

I do expect that today will be no-spend.

----------------------------------------------------

In other news, dh got paid. I don't know the lead time for his company when it comes to changing 401k elections. So I figured I'd just wait for his check and then change it, hopefully for next payday. The max he can do is 50% of income. I thought I'd just do a Target Date retirement fund, which is what I do for all of dh's retirement because he isn't much into doing more than that. I keep it simple for him. But when skimming the options I was not as thrilled with the Target date funds. I decided to go more aggressive since this is just extra retirement money at this point. But didn't really like the stock mix of the longer term retirement funds. But I noticed a general stock market index with a 0.04% expense ratio and is a good fund we would not have access to otherwise. (Vanguard, of course). So I just went with that. I expect he may put in $5k this year and maybe a little bit next year. Which may end up being like 2% of our investments. Which is another reason I don't mind going more aggressive with this small sum.

To celebrate changing his 401k election to 50%, his work place was so slow that they sent him home for the rest of the week. & he already took Monday off (which they encouraged him to do expecting a slow week). So I guess this will be a pretty piddly 401k contribution, for this week.

February 2:
-0- Spending
Dinner: leftovers*

*Leftovers included sloppy joes, meatballs, gyozas. There was more but these were the only leftovers that I Was entertaining.

Today I Realized that I should probably get a haircut this week. It's a once or twice a year thing for me, but today we posed for pictures at work and it is client meeting season. In all that I realized it's time for a hair cut.

Of course thinking of this I remembered February is not a super low spend month for us because I like to sneak in stuff like this when we have a couple of less days in the month for gas and grocery spending. So more random spending might pop up. It's nice to have a little extra breathing room.

Accordingly, I did reach out to a friend to try to set up a lunch date this month. I've got more budget room for that and might not have the time next month.

Last night we did go to the movies. I had forgotten about that but it was $5 night and dh had a gift card (credit card reward) so it cost us $0 out of pocket.

----------------------------------------------------

February 3:
$6 Groceries
Dinner: Spicy tofu w/coconut rice

I ran to the grocery store on the way home to grab some fruit and dh asked me to pick up some bread. I had also been wanting to make pumpkin bread and so picked up a can of pumpkin.

We tried a new tofu recipe and it was really good! It was a hit with the kids too. Now that I think about it I think I might steal that for lunch tomorrow.

Dh got his MRI results today, 6 months post radiation. I wasn't really expecting much because they expected swelling at this point, and is a reason they don't check sooner. Useful results should be in more like another year.

In the end the Doctor was excited and positive. His tumor is swelling but you can see that literally it is just swelling. The tumor is the exact same shape as it was in his last MRI. Usually it grows more willy nilly. Also, the middle is starting to turn dark which is a sign that it is dying and will eventually collapse.

I really wasn't expecting that much news, and so that was awesome!

They will take a peek again in 6 months.

----------------------------------------------------

I am not expecting to spend much this month and so am doing daily spending tracking. Just my version of playing along. I have not told my dh I am tracking (or that I expect this month to be low-spend) and am not altering our usual spending. It should be a pretty average month for us, but I realize it's a bit of a short month and we will both be pretty busy with work, which just generally means less free time and less spending.

So here goes. Today's spending.

February 1:
$18 Lunch Out, Mongolian BBQ
$65 co pay
$82 Target stock up (groceries, cat litter, cat food)
Dinner: leftovers

I mentioned already we were definitely going out for lunch since it would be our last lunch date for months. Dh took the day off because work was slow and so we decided to go out after his appointment to discuss things.

Paid $65 for medical expenses today. Expecting about $2,000 in bills for MRI and Doctor Visit. Probably won't be due this month though. Just $65 for now.

I had mentioned to dh to pick up some cat litter and cat food next time he went to Target. He just went today since he had the day off.

I expect tomorrow will be a no spend day. Will see!

Oh, and I did get paid today and paid all the bills for the month. Which just means paying off the January credit card charges and paying the 4 bills that I can't charge (mortgage, HOA, gardener, gas/heat bill).

Time for a lazy weekend at home!!

Survived the deadlines. Next week should be markedly more relaxed.

--------------------------------------------------

I haven't given up sharing expenses (I *always* track them). It's just it has been a little spendy. It is much easier to post zero, zero, zero. Easier than to figure out what we have been spending.

I don't remember what we ate all week. We got some corn on the cob and pistachios on sale though. YUM! I remember eating those...

April 28:

$50 Donation to Grandma's favorite charity (in lieu of flowers)
??? School Fundraiser today - will drop $20-$40 on food. GOOD FOOD, and we talked my folks into coming up. My dad will be in heaven. We get great home-made food from around the world. Dh made $50 this past week on Craigslist sales, and so we will just use that money. It is not coming out of budget.

April 27:
$57 Target (Groceries - needed cat food and granola bars, and not sure what else dh bought).

April 26:
-0-

April 25:
$2 soda
$5 flowers for Admin (Admin Appreciation Day)
$10 lunch out (we treated Admin, others would not let me pay my fair share.) Every time I eat out with everyone we just quibble over who paid *too much* and then leave a giant tip. I guess I am blessed to not have much experience in the other direction. I put in $15 and someone tried to make me take $10 back. I said, "I'll take $5 back, but I am not going to only pay $5 for lunch!" It's the same way with our friends.

April 24:
$4 snacks

April 23:
$34 Gas for gas sipper
$4 lunch

April 22:
$9 Gas (just enough to get home)
$11 BK Lunch (kids and I)
$2.50 donuts (kids and I)
$5 Dinner
**Kids and I had a beach day**
Tired after a long drive/weekend, we used up a Subway gift card someone had given me. Spent $5 on a $15 dinner. IF not for the gift card, I think we would have just eaten at home.

Since I last posted - just a boring/usual week of gas and groceries.

Saturday we went to a birthday party for lunch, and the in-laws ordered in Thai food for dinner. Hence, a small grocery run this week - but we ate VERY well.

April 21:
$35 Gas

April 20:
-0-

April 19:
$60 Groceries

April 18:
$32 gourmet lunch for two
Dinner: leftovers

April 17:
-0-
Dinner: Crockpot Golombki (stuffed cabbage)

April 16:
-0-
Dinner: leftovers

April 15:
Groceries: $9.62
Dinner: Sweet & Spicy Salmon, garlic butter rice

Yesterday was no-spend.

I saw a charge at the grocery store and wondered what on earth dh bought. Then I remembered he sold some games on amazon. The charge was postage. I am skipping it since it was money spent to make money.

Interestingly, the focus groups and online sales (primary source of other income) have been SO DRY lately. But DRY while the credit card rewards abound. So I guess I am okay with that!

Anyway, dh finally sold that stroller for $30 (he was tenacious in listing it several times - the spring brought a buyer). I would have given up ages ago and just given it away, myself. {It wasn't even our stroller - it was MIL's - she gives us her stuff to sell and keep the money}. HE also sold a few games on amazon. Since I just transferred so much money to savings, I told him to keep the $30. (HE might use to invest in game systems to sell). When the amazon money hits the bank I might add it to the mortgage. Would be the first mortgage chip of the year, I believe. We haven't gotten chips like this in a while...

FINALLY got reservations at the cooking school for $10 gourmet lunch. I was trying to get reservations to meet a friend, but dh was very jealous. SO, I am meeting him today. Will be $20 spent. Next week I will try again for future reservations with friend. Decided to push off to next month since dh is my backup plan if she can't make it. (&I don't want to be stuck paying $20 again next week). The times are limited, is the only thing. I am exhausted trying to work around everyone's schedule. It usually works okay - friends that I do meet for lunch fairly often. Narrow down the times to a couple of hours in one week though, and then it becomes impossible. The thing is I would go more often if I could make it a $10 lunch versus $20. Lunch dates with dh are nice, but twice as expensive as lunch dates with girlfriends. Plus, girl time is nice!

----------------------------------------------------

Daily Spending:

April 18:
$32 gourmet lunch for two
Dinner: leftovers

April 17:
-0-
Dinner: Crockpot Golombki (stuffed cabbage)

April 16:
-0-
Dinner: leftovers

April 15:
Groceries: $9.62
Dinner: Sweet & Spicy Salmon, garlic butter rice

I got my salmon!

It was $8.99 per pound (good price) and I got 1.11 pounds for $9.89. So it ended up being 100% free (with $10-off coupon).

I also bought eggs and bananas (breakfast staples for moi).

& I was checking the online coupons and found a coupon for 88-cents per frozen pizza - Celeste brand. These are *really* good. I will keep them at work. Anyway, so I got five pizzas for $4.40.

April 15:
Groceries: $9.62
Dinner: Sweet & Spicy Salmon, garlic butter rice

--------------------------------------------------

We try to slowly increase our culinary capabilities by just adding new skills - slowly over time. This week I am working on sweet potatoes. We seem to eat them all the time (out, etc.), but I have never bought one or baked or cooked a sweet potato.

SO, "frugal foodie/rob" had an interesting recipe recently, and I asked dh to pick up some sweet potatoes. He picked up a whole bag. I dug around online and found a very simple recipe for baked potato wedges (took me a while to weed through the "pile on tons of sugar recipes" - which are good,but now what I am interested in for our regular diet!). I also found a recipe for sweet potato hash. Says "good with salmon" but I didn't want to cook all day. But maybe will make some time this week.

I also looked for a new rice side dish and found garlic butter rice. I will link/share these recipes once I try them.

The kids and I are going to enjoy the gorgeous weather today, and then I will be cooking this afternoon.

-------------------------------------------------

This next week is going to be a BIG crunch week at work. Got tons of other deadlines (post tax day) coming up and dh has plans in San Jose next weekend. Unfortunately they have plans early Saturday and late Sunday, so it is an *all weekend* thing. I can't go unless I make huge progress at work this week. If I can swing it, the kids and I will go to the beach on Sunday. That makes me *very* motivated!

That said, if I am stuck with a quiet weekend at home, that won't be so bad either. I will survive. (I shouldn't have to work that much next weekend!)

Wrapping up the spending for the week:

Dh made dinner last night, but the kids and I had a hankering for pizza. So we ordered pizza in - and had a little of both. Yum! We picked up the Colombo garlic bread at the store - take and bake - it is divine.

Friday night we got our Denver travel arrangements set. I was initially planning to buy tickets at about $450. They went up a little bit with procrastination and went up significantly the past 2-3 days while we sorted out logistics. Ugh! Final price $570. Figured I'd just buy them before they get worse. {Interestingly, about what we paid last time - per Quicken}. Now I know not to dilly dally when I see $225 per ticket... Though I can't help the complication of the logistics. In fact, *now* MIL says she is busy the first 2 days, "But can't your folks just take them?" Um no? That is why we asked YOU? I won't sweat it because dh's sister, cousin, Grandma or aunt can help cover. I never would ask my parents to watch the kids for a few days, unless I was desperate. They are just not up to it. But they may be able to help in some regard - I just don't want the kids dumped on them for 24-48 hours. Of course they would love to see them for a bit. Anyway, will see! {In comparison, MIL usually sends us off on trips specifically so she can watch the kids - because we don't need enough babysitting for her liking - }.

April 14:
Round Table Pizza $15 ($5-off coupon)
Garlic Bread & Soda $5 (grocery store)
Dinner: Pizza & Garlic Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes

April 13:
$570 Airfare Denver (x2)
$10 B-Day gift for child
$67 Fuel for minivan
$117 Groceries
Dinner: Baked Spaghetti

April 12:
$4 snacks
Dinner: Stuffed Baked Potatoes


April 11:
$18 Gas for gas sipper (for reward)
Dinner: Leftovers

April 10:
-0-
Dinner: Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

April 9:
$4 lunch (favorite sandwich on special - lasts 2 days)
$8 Post-Easter sale (candy, egg decorating supplies)
$29 Dinner (had a $10-off coupon, from mail)
$33 Target (groceries, Easter stock up, champagne)
Dinner: Out

April 8:
-0-
Dinner: Leftovers

I pretty much ran the van tank to "empty" and figured I wouldn't drive it again until next week. But Dh had a lot of driving to do yesterday, so I figured I would just fill it up and drive it to work. So I get to the gas station ($3.84/gallon!) and the gas station is totally taped off.

I just drove to work (a few miles) and figure I'd look up another station, or hope it was open later. (I seem to recall this happening before). So, at work I looked up the nearest gas station (I have a coupon) and apparently there are none others in this city. It took me forever to find a list of locations, as is. Later the subject came up with co-worker and she told me there was one by her home (either not on the list, or I missed it), BUT that they get 50 cents off per gallon. What the heck??? We only get 25-cents off per gallon when we shop at our grocery store. Anyway, the math doesn't make sense to shop 20-ish miles away, BUT I will keep an eye out on other grocery stores closer to home. Maybe there is one close to home that offers better gas rewards.

--------------------------------------------------

BM had a birthday party to attend, happened to be right down the street from my office. Dh also called me to inform me the gas station was open when he went grocery shopping. SO, he dropped BM off at the party, after he ran all his errands, and stopped by my office to switch vehicles. He drove home and filled up the van with gas.

I picked up BM after the party, and he got to help me at work for a couple of hours. So, saved lots of gas $$ today. I was considering getting 1-2 gallons at the Chevron by my office ($4.13/gallon) and just filling up next week. But I am glad the gas station closure was *very* temporary.

Anyway, I am glad life isn't usually so complicated! Just felt like a lot of jugging today.

-----------------------------------------------------

Spending is below... Dh did a grocery run. LookingForward was asking about what we buy, as far as groceries. I personally find it hard to relay our shopping habits to others, maybe because that is dh's duty (I am not much involved). But, I do know from talking to other people around here that we keep our grocery bills very low. That said, it seems everyone shops for very different things. So I just know what works for us - I don't have any feeling that what works for us would work for anyone else. Unless they wanted to adapt an identical diet and live in the same neighborhood. But our primary strategy is just to shop around the sales (not much into the coupon thing). Whatever is on sale, we are cooking that week...

**Dh got a deal on ice cream drumsticks. On sale $3/each, and he had a $1-off coupon.

**Picked up some bread, but I usually primarily buy that at the bread store (which is dirt cheap)

**WE usually buy generic cereal at Target, but it was on sale for $2/box, so dh stocked up. All generic.

**Other sales: Apple juice, apple sauce, canned chilis, cat food, chicken broth, pickles, instant mashed potatoes, yogurt, ground beef, sausage, potatoes, onions, squash, canned soup, and string cheese.

**Full price purchases: Pasta, cream, cottage cheese, milk, celery, lettuce, cabbage, sweet potatoes, and mozarella cheese.

Sunday I will run to the store for salmon, eggs and bananas. (Dh doesn't eat eggs or bananas, and I Forgot to add them to the list - will run out of both this weekend).

----------------------------------------------------

This is not a completely fair representation of our eating. I am kind of laughing at the one-sidedness of this shopping trip.

So I pulled out last week's receipt, for full disclosure:

chili sauce, beef gravy, brownie mix, Hot Pockets, muffin mix, ramen, peppers, horse radish, wheat thins, beans, eggs, spinach, peanuts, barley, tomatoes, *foil*, sour cream, yogurt, OJ, Beef Stew meat, hamburger, bananas, lettuce, apples, several varieties of onions, onion dip, bacon, cream cheese.

----------------------------------------------------

April 13:
$10 B-Day gift for child
$65? Fuel for minivan
$117 Groceries
Dinner: Baked Spaghetti

April 12:
$4 snacks
Dinner: Stuffed Baked Potatoes


April 11:
$18 Gas for gas sipper (for reward)
Dinner: Leftovers

April 10:
-0-
Dinner: Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

April 9:
$4 lunch (favorite sandwich on special - lasts 2 days)
$8 Post-Easter sale (candy, egg decorating supplies)
$29 Dinner (had a $10-off coupon, from mail)
$33 Target (groceries, Easter stock up, champagne)
Dinner: Out

April 8:
-0-
Dinner: Leftovers

As predicted, just spent a few dollars filling up dh's gas tank before drive to pick up kids. Yesterday. Credit card reward earned!

Dh/Internet company has still not figured out the whole login thing, BUT I clicked the wrong link on a whim (Was in the e-mail) and was able to log in. Dh pointed out I clicked on the "business customer" link. Well, maybe that is the problem! All I know if I can see bills, pay them, and that they take AmEx. Score! We will start saving $3.50/month with statement credit and 3% reward from AmEx.

Today I told the kids I would run by Walgreens and check the super-clearance Easter stuff (they were enticed by some of the decoration kits I saw but didn't get). I told them they were probably gone, but might be 80% off at this point, so I will look. I will probably grab a snack for the long work week, if I stop there. Dh says he needs to do a grocery run the next couple of days. He has been on a Friday schedule lately because there have been so many "Spend $100, get $10 off" promotions. Which sometimes we miss the ads. So it's just a good habit to shop Fridays and be pleasantly surprised. I don't think they are running the special this week, but would be nice because I wanted to pick up some fresh salmon Sunday. That is the splurge of the week that I am looking forward to. {I think last time I bought salmon, it was almost free with the $10 coupon}.

---------------------------------------------------

April 11:
$15? Gas for gas sipper (for reward)
Dinner: Leftovers

April 10:
-0-
Dinner: Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

April 9:
$4 lunch (favorite sandwich on special - lasts 2 days)
$8 Post-Easter sale (candy, egg decorating supplies)
$29 Dinner (had a $10-off coupon, from mail)
$33 Target (groceries, Easter stock up, champagne)
Dinner: Out

April 8:
-0-
Dinner: Leftovers

No spending yesterday - see below.

I was missing my $8 Walgreens charge and finally found it on the Citi card (it posted today). Funny thing is I don't remember using it. Anyway, so we are $4 short of our $2000 spending goal. Dh said he would just fill up his car today - I think it only needs a few gallons. So that should do it! {Dh is driving 100-ish miles, round trip, to pick up the kids today - so will gas up first - just to get the Citi card retired}.

It's just every penny over $4 could be working towards *another* reward!

------------------------------------------------

On the Chase Sapphire, spending to $3000 limit as follows:

$400 professional dues (I didn't include below because employer will reimburse - not out of pocket for me).
$500 airfare?**
$800 Health Insurance for May
$1300 gas/groceries (rest of April + May)

We have 3 months, but I'd like to get reward as soon as possible. By end of May? I will pre-pay June health insurance if the airfare thing falls through.

Another potential charge is increased life insurance, if it goes through. My long-term insurance is due this month, but I don't think I can charge it. I will call to make sure. That could be another $500.

**On the airfare, the prices went up a bit and we were back to "trip planning hell." I personally just have no patience for things that are overly complicated! I finally found decent dates/airfare in early June. We finally found a date MIL could watch the kids. I would have bought the air tickets yesterday, but we couldn't get ahold of my Grandma (which in turn had us all worried). Hopefully we can sort that out today. She's kind of crochety so I worry after all this she will tell us not to come, or something like that. I'd like to buy the airfare today...

----------------------------------------------------

Speaking of overly complicated? *Still* trying to get our internet bill set up online.

As is, dh was on the phone with them all day yesterday. HE still can not log in (I have never had so much trouble getting an online account for *any* service or bill). But he proudly told me he got us set up for online billing. We made this extra effort to finally get this set up, since they will charge $2/less per month, "indefinitely." (Until they change their mind? )

All I can say is: Wait, so our bills are going to an imaginary online account that I can not access? Way to go dh! {He seems to have much more optimism that we will ever get this sorted out. I am just aggravated!}.

If we do get this set up, and if we can pay with AmEx, we will also be saving about $1.50/month, with our rewards. So, this is a potential $3.50/month savings. Will be well worth it in the long run.


**Is it ironic that our internet company seems in the *dark ages* with this online account thing???**

----------------------------------------------------

April 10:
-0-
Dinner: Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

April 9:
$4 lunch (favorite sandwich on special - lasts 2 days)
$8 Post-Easter sale (candy, egg decorating supplies)
$29 Dinner (had a $10-off coupon, from mail)
$33 Target (groceries, Easter stock up, champagne)
Dinner: Out

April 8:
-0-
Dinner: Leftovers

Easter Day was "spendy" in a sense, though we didn't spend any money. Dh took his cousin and the kids to San Jose. They would have been fine in the gas sipper, but cousin has some medical problems and I suggested the van for his comfort. I've been trying to just fill it up every 15 days, but it will definitely be sooner now. Plus, dh will have to go back to pick up the kids later in the week (at least will meet half way for that exchange).

I am sure they feasted well on Sunday though. & MIL feeding the kids a few days saves me a fortune! So maybe it evens out...

I skipped Easter. Had a bit of a tummy bug last week (Wasn't up to all the food), and just wasn't in much of an Easter mood the week before April 15th! Though I ended up mostly sleeping and not doing much, but I suppose I can say I am well rested for the final tax push.

Maybe because of the April date, but I am not much into Easter. BUT, I just happened to be boiling eggs for the week and asked the kids if they wanted to color eggs. I don't remember the last time (if ever) we did that. I found some of those plastic shrinky dink egg wraps (laying around from years past) and the kids had a *blast* with those, so I decided to hit Walgreens yesterday a.m. to grab some future egg decorating supplies. I also stocked up for some candy to keep at work. Not that I eat it every day, but it's nice to have some sugar when needed.

Dh and I had a nice dinner date. After which we went by Target to stock up on soda for work. While there, dh grabbed some groceries, and I grabbed some more candy and egg stuff. All Easter stuff I got yesterday was 50% off. {Around here, if I wait any longer, there is nothing good left - I was surprised I found as much as I did at Target since the day was almost over}. Oh, and I grabbed a bottle of champagne, to toast the nearing end of tax season.

I don't know what dh's plans are for today, but I am not planning to spend a penny. Tonight we have a nice date of champagne and "Game of Thrones." Dh got the first two episodes from his dad.

As far as this week, doing a *big* push at work. As always, I don't have that many tax clients and not overly feeling the 4/15 pinch, but it is my last week to earn OT for the year and I want to take advantage and beef up my OT as much as possible. {In addition, I have several 4/30 and May deadlines - what is stressing me out a little more at the moment. But the more I get done this week, the less likely I will have to work any more weekends after the 15th. Woohoo!} Of course, all that working means I don't really see spending any more money this week.

April 9:
$4 lunch (favorite sandwich on special - lasts 2 days)
$8 Post-Easter sale (candy, egg decorating supplies)
$29 Dinner (had a $10-off coupon, from mail)
$33 Target (groceries, Easter stock up, champagne)
Dinner: Out

April 8:
-0-
Dinner: Leftovers

Not *cheap* gas, by any means, but cheaper than expected!

I thought we could retire the Citi card, AND we got our new Chase rewards cards yesterday. Woohoo! Talk about timing!

But I am checking if the gas charge showed up, and it was only $67. What the heck? That means about $3.95 per gallon. Not bad!

I think I am exactly $10 short on the $2000 spending goal (for reward). Will have to ponder on that. I suppose either of us can stop for just $10 of gas, at some point.

--------------------------------------------------

We had leftovers last night, but dh made some fresh hummus. YUM!

I've been mostly buying lunch on Saturdays (figure if I have to work and getting paid all this OT, might as well splurge). So I figure $5 for lunch today.

I also had to upgrade my Quicken, which expires this month. Amazon was cheap, and dh had a $10 credit. So it only cost me $25. I've said before, I save so much money using Quicken, it's not even funny. $25 every 3 years or so is a GREAT investment. Pretty much no mistakes ever (no overdrafts or anything like that - it is hard to mess up with an electronic check register. In the past I am sure I had more math errors). Also, there is an element of tracking expenses and knowing where we are at. Trust me, I know where *every* penny goes. But with Quicken it is not time consuming to track.

Anyway, I spent about 1/2 hour updating Quicken this morning. It only took that long because I have Quicken set up for the kids, too. So, 3 files to update. I usually don't really care much for the new versions, but I kind of like the way this one is set up. I think it is a bit of an improvement. (But, they didn't change anything major so no re-learning anything). Phew! I am pleased with how easy it was. {& also thank you to our super fast internet. It took seconds to download the software}.

I predict $0 spending tomorrow and no more spending today. Will see what comes up.

April 7:
$4 lunch
$25 Quicken Upgrade
Dinner: Mexican Salad

April 6:
-0-
Dinner: Leftovers, hummus

April 5:
$67 Gas for Minivan
Dinner: Beef & Barley Soup

April 4:
$127 for groceries
Dinner: Spinach Bique

April 3:
$60 Dentist
$42 Gas for "gas sipper"
Dinner: Shrimp Jambalaya

April 2:
$4 Togo's sandwich (lunch 2 days)
Dinner: Burritos

April 1:
$13 Groceries
$10 Sushi

April 6:
-0-

April 5:
$70?? Gas for Minivan
Dinner: Beef & Barley Soup

April 4:
$127 for groceries
Dinner: Spinach Bique

April 3:
$60 Dentist
$42 Gas for "gas sipper"
Dinner: Shrimp Jambalaya

April 2:
$4 Togo's sandwich (lunch 2 days)
Dinner: Burritos

April 1:
$13 Groceries
$10 Sushi

----------------------------------------------------

It turns out dh got groceries the other day, and I didn't even notice. He told me he gassed up the van while they were out at the library, yesterday. There is no evidence of this purchase online at Citi. This is really annoying me!

We tend to focus on paying for memberships/things up front so we don't have a lot of day-to-day spending. The kids have the week off, but have *plenty* to keep them occupied, without spending additional money. They've been picking up movies and games at Blockbuster (Free with our monthly service), going to the library, using our memberships (parks/museums), etc.

Anyway, the cars are gassed, and the pantry is full, so don't see any more spending in our near future. BM needs to get a gift for a birthday party, but we may already have something around the house. Will see.

I checked the balance on the Citi card, and it is about $75 short of goal. So, one more grocery run will do it. Probably next week. The card closes around the 20th, so maybe we can redeem our $250 reward at that point. Anyway, then I will be more on top of the household spending - I can actually see it immediately with all of our other cards.

P.S. Dh made a divine beef and barley soup for dinner last night. Yum! I suppose I should be adding our dinners to show where our grocery spending has gone.

Dh did not get gas yesterday, and we don't plan to spend any money today. OF course, I will update this if plans change.

April 5:
-0-

April 4:
-0-

April 3:
$60 Dentist
$42 Gas for "gas sipper"

April 2:
$4 Togo's sandwich (lunch 2 days)

April 1:
$13 Groceries
$10 Sushi

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The mortgage payment hit, and it was beautiful!! $1000+ principal paid. This means we will pay more principal than interest for the year. Woohoo! {Just resuming the "old" payments for the rest of the year, which were not very high to begin with}.

April 4:
?? Gas for minivan

April 3:
$60 Dentist
?? Gas for "gas sipper"

April 2:
$4 Togo's sanwich*

April 1:
$13 Groceries
$10 Sushi***

*My favorite sandwich is on special Mondays, so I generally buy one - it lasts for lunch for two days.

***We went out while hungry and so stopped for about $10 of sushi to bring home for lunch. While there, got some needed groceries. $10 sushi very avoidable, but it is what it is.

I think dh filled up his car yesterday, and the van today, but I don't have the totals yet.

On our credit cards I can see "pending transactions" for everything ASAP, but the gas never shows the true total until it goes through, AND we are using one-time reward credit cards that aren't as nice. Just to say unless dh gives me a detailed account of all his comings and goings, I might not see some charges for several days. The only indication I have on the gas is his car had a full tank this morning, and I left the van at home with an empty tank.

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So what is the point of the challenge? To just list what you are spending? To share and be mindful?

What does it say about me that I want to compile a big spreadsheet of everyone's spending? Ha! It says I am an accountant? {Don't worry, it's tax season, so I won't}.

Anyway, I have some commentary on the subject, and then I will just stick to the expense listing, after this post.

I hope April is better than March. Not sure what it was about March, but everything needed replacing, or this and that. March is historically a pretty darn low-spend month. So it was annoying!

April? I won't be spending much of anything the next 2 weeks, most likely. Work, work and more work. WE tend to be pretty low-spend this time of year, but I won't even have time to shop if I wanted to, these next two weeks! {Primarily since Easter is Sunday, so I don't see any free time in my near future}.

BUT, the second half of the month might be spendy. Because I am hoping for a big check on the 15th, and have some things to take care of. So basically, I expect these next two weeks to be pretty boring on the spending front. & maybe I Will be making huge purchases the end of the month...