July was a crazy expensive 'low spend' month.  It did work out pretty well that we were so busy spending down buckets that we didn't spend money on anything else.  Thus the 'low spend' but expensive.  

MH and MM are back from Florida.  Pulled $365 from vacation fund to cover Florida expenses.

Movie filming is about 60% done.  Pulled $330 from film funds.  Reminds me, MH received some more donations and has raised $1,500 to-date.  One of the biggest expenses was going to be feeding 15 people for two days, but MH knows how to feed a crowd very well and cheaply.  I was hoping to just absorb in our grocery budget and that worked out pretty well.  Of course, this only worked because MH/MM were out of town for a week. 

We did the first round of "should buy way ahead of time" spending for college.  I pulled $300 from Grad gifts, for dorm expenses.  Fans in particular, sell out during fire season.  Laptop was ordered a while ago due to production delays but I got lucky and that didn't ship until August 1.

I've probably reached the peak of my savings for this year.  Will pay off the laptop charge September 1 and I just charged up some medical bills, in addition to a bunch of medical bills I paid off August 1  (more savings drain).   Credit card is already absurd for August, I just charged auto insurance. & we will probably be paying some big college expenses (room/board) this month, cash.

We did attempt to splurge on a couch/bed for DL(16).  Long story.  In the end, I found something kind of perfect in the $600 range.  I also randomly received an IRS refund.  I know what it was, but I thought I would have to amend my tax return and wait 12+ months to get this refund.  It was only as I sorted out July and reconciled everything that I realized that perfectly covers this splurge (the IRS refund was maybe $5 more than the couch).  

I was so relieved to cross that amended tax return off my To Do list.  Phew!  July was just...  Crazy.  In addition to a lot of medical appointments and all of the above, our parents were very needy last month.  It's been so calm (relatively) compared to recent hell years that I didn't think too much about it.  But as I was compiling in my blog one day (a draft I ended up tossing), I told MH, "No wonder we are exhausted."  I didn't even really appreciate why I felt so exhausted until I saw it all written down.  & this is not everything.  My employee is going through 12 weeks of medical procedures (I seem endlessly jinxed on this front; whoever I hire will mostly end up in the hospital and their life is a disaster).  That was while MH was gone so it was a really rough week covering for both MH and my employee.

So...  I scratched any half written blog posts (I give up) and thought I would just start over today.  

I was so wrong about being *shrugs* about DL getting a job in my office this summer, if he might just have to wait until next summer to get a job.  We made room for him in my office and he is loving the job.  I don't think I have ever seen that kid in a better state of mental health.  Phew!  I am so glad that it worked out.  Not only has it been good for his mental health, but it's very different than it was for MM(18).  MM 1000% wants to do math/science.  This job was just a means to an end.  For DL(16), he will be able to do a lot of career exploration in my office.   

That said, my schedule has been topsy turvy, carpooling with him during his shorter work days, and trying to keep him occupied.  I am relieved this is the last week.  DL(16) is back at school next week.   Fingers crossed, anyway.  (For his mental health, he needs to be there in person, and very much looks forward to it).  

This reminds me of the other thing, MM turned 18.  That's just been a lot of paperwork and stuff like that.  

Edited to add:  This week has been pretty dramatic.  It will be a miracle if MH can get his movie shoot finished this weekend, between COVID and all the fires.  😞  Crossing my fingers.  So close to that finish line...