July 5

$22 Movies

$31 Groceries

$57 Target

MH & went to the movies today.  I had sticker shock.  $14 for a 9am matinee?  Something like that.  We saw the new Minions movie.  (I very rarely buy a movie ticket, so in my mind a matinee is still $6 or something?  I don't know).  MH has his unlimited movie pass, and I bought a snack.

The most amazing cheesesteak place *was* by my new office, and then it went out of business quickly.  😞 So I told MH I would go to the movies if we could get cheesesteaks (right next to the theater), which are honestly kind of 'meh' (in contrast).  But it's all I got now.

I glanced at the cheesesteak hours as we walked by in the morning but completely missed the 'closed for the holiday weekend' sign.

So we went to the grocery store.  I wanted a couple of items like bread, and told MH I'd prefer the 'ready to eat' section over eating out.  Wasn't sure if I would buy anything, but my second choice was probably a pound of beef (which is very expensive these days, though would have lasted longer).  So I picked up a take and bake pizza not knowing what the price would be.  I think it was $11, and the kids devoured it. 

The GF broke one of my favorite little 10 oz glasses.  I popped online to buy more, but of course I can't find the ones I bought last time.  *Sigh*  I had already bought a couple of sets, but can't find them now.  In the end, I love the new ones I ended up with.  $30-ish.

I mentioned recently that I no longer deny myself things, within reason.  While shopping online at Target, I found a few pretty notebooks.  & then I remembered the granola bars are often 50% - 75% cheaper than they are anywhere else we frequent.

July 6

$17 Lunch out

$148 Groceries

MH did a grocery run.  

On whim, I tried another (highly rated) cheesesteak place by my work.  It did not win me over.

July 3

$31 Dinner Take Out (x2)

MH wasn't feeling great Friday and of course he would have eventually figured it out, but his smart watch ended up telling him his skin was a little hot, late at night or when he woke up the next morning.  So he took his temperature and he had a fever, a reaction from the shingles vaccine.

There's a local burger place we have never tried and MH was in a "Whatever, nothing sounds good" mood.  I treated myself to a milk shake and it was divine.

July 4

$86 DL(20) Birthday Gift

MH, the gift buyer (and insister on buying material things for holidays and birthdays), asks me if I planned to buy anything for DL's birthday.  No?

I guess DL(20) had just played this card game and it was amazing.  & asked if we could buy it and play it on his birthday. I presume MH bought some expansion packs and that kind of thing (re: the cost).

I thought I was going to entirely give up re: hectic week.  Nothing new or unusual, but it's a big birthday month, plus a few outings thrown into the mix.  It doesn't take much to throw off our minimalist preferences (usually reflected by a lot more downtime and a not crowded calendar).

Anyway, Wednesday is always more of a breather, and I suppose I will have a lot of downtime while I am caring for my mom later this week.  So I will soldier on.  

July 1

$86 salt/pepper shakers

I replaced a broken salt/pepper shaker set recently and MH does not care for the new ones.  I told him to get his own then.  I figured it was going to be a 'different strokes for different folks' thing.  He prefers to meet in the middle (and have less stuff).  I prefer to just use what I actually like (and have two of some things).

He figured it out.  I think we would both be happy with the much higher end salt and pepper shakers.  So while it is unlike him to spend this kind of money, I can see that's what he was excited about.  Just having one set that we both like.

MH received a $500 gift for his 50th birthday (6 months ago).  I think he might have been more on the fence, but I told him he still had some gift money left.  Usually he doesn't want to spend and I'd just invest.  But I told him this year, I was going to set it aside.  & not like he usually gets that much for his birthday!  But just talking about random money in general, when it falls out of the sky.  

There's probably a week or two (late June through early July) where I am spending down similar buckets of money.  I am extra appreciative of our slow burn through unexpected or set aside money (some of it I have been saving for years), during this murphy year from hell.  It's allowing some more luxury spending when we could not otherwise justify.

MH still has $250 of his gift money.

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July 2

$103 Dinner Out (x4)

This was MH's last work day before his seasonal summer break.

He had his second shingles vaccine after work.   When I got home MH was over it.  Long day, and he was tired. We briefly thought we could sneak out and enjoy a quiet dinner for two.  (We do not always invited the kids because that is far outside our budget).  & of course, we had just talked about how we really needed to rein it in this summer.  Because I will likely need to touch our emergency funds, if anything else big breaks while MH is not working.  & we just have less money to spend, in general.  But usually we just muddle through.  It will be a harder muddle this year.

So of course, we go out for a big dinner.  

We did discuss DL(20)'s birthday plans (over dinner) and he told us he did not want to eat out for his birthday.  So in the end, I consider this a very planned (financially) pre-birthday dinner.  Cheaper than planned, because MM(22) was out of town.

Money well spent.  The food is always amazing at this Thai restaurant.

It's probably ambitious during a busy month, but I figured I'd dive into 'spending tracking'.  Just as a way to jump back into blogging.

Unlike in the past, will be focusing on my own spending (versus other household spending).  & maybe weekly, or 'every few day' updates.  & I mean, I can share grocery (household spending) but that is depressing right now.  😁 With a 5-person household.  MM(22) devoured all of our food for a couple of weeks, and then he left town for a couple of weeks (wrapping up stuff in college town; cleaning out rental).  We will definitely have to take some breaths and re-evaluate meal planning.

July will include 3 birthday celebrations, and a few days out of town caring for my mom.  

MH & I did our big dinner out, to celebrate MM(22)'s graduation.  MH's head was mostly where I expected it to be.  The one thing that was confusing to me was he seemed eager to push MM(22) out of the nest but I recalled MH had lived at home (free room/board) for 18 months?  It was just 6 months, I was confusing years.  So it does make more sense now. 

After that conversation, I ran into DL(20) and was asking him some questions about the GF's plans.  It turns out her rental situation fell through and so she plans to start paying us rent in a couple of months.  More things to figure out and talk about.  We might have a a couple of tenants paying rent in 2027. 

The bigger news is that DL(20) is talking about moving out, to help the GF with rent. (Not necessarily right away, but maybe when he finishes his degree next spring.)  I didn't *see* it because DL has been so insistent on living at home and saving money, and is so much like MH in that regard.  But MH called it.  We talked about it the other day and MH told me, "I just thought I would have done the same thing if you needed help with your rent."  Which honestly, I did need help with my rent at the same age, but I was more self sufficient and more quiet about it, I suppose. 

I wouldn't be surprised if all 3 of them move out at the same time, sharing an apartment to save money.

That reminds me, please send some good vibes.  The GF had a job interview this weekend for a job that she will enjoy (very much like the job she left on the east coast; it's a sister company).  The job market here is abysmal, like it always has been.  Both her and DL have been overly confident about this job, while I wouldn't personally hold my breath.  

I don't usually pay much attention to numbers other than an annual review.  But I figured I'd check in re: Emergency/Murphy year from hell.

First 6 months 2025:  In the black every month (earned more than spent), except for June when I had a $4,500 college bill.

First 6 months 2026: In the red February through May.  I have no idea how I ended up in the black in June.  We had several big expenditures, including more home repairs. 

Second half of 2026: I suppose that MM(22) could get a job tomorrow and our expenses could decrease drastically at that point.  But the only known at this point is that I no longer will have MM's college expenses.  

2025 vs 2026 spending: We've spent $19,000 more this half year, more than we spent last January through June.  

Details:

$6,000 College (more college expenses re: MM Year 5, but this is gone now)

$4,000 Home Repairs 

$4,000 Medical

$6,500 Emergency Vet

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$20,500 - Obvious reasons for increase in spending

This does not include things like paying an extra $3,000 in taxes (more FICA paid with raise; withholding more taxes re: loss of college tax credits)

I am grateful that this all happened this year.  We had so much going on last year and opportunities we were able to take advantage of.  The early year emergencies gave us the memo that there won't be much fun spending this year.  It set the expectation early.

I was cutting back retirement savings, intending to spend and enjoy more.  🙄 *This* is not what I had in mind.  But I have to admit it's one more reason I am probably stressing a lot less than I would be otherwise.  We will try again next year, re: more fun spending.

After all that, we somehow ended June with $2,400 in cash (above emergency funds).  It feels like a miracle we haven't had to dip into our emergency funds.  Will see what the rest of the year brings.

Side note:  By far not an all inclusive list of murphy year from hell, but it's the big/expensive stuff. 

Big picture: Net worth is up $50K.  

Details:

-$10,000 Cash (Medical Emergencies)

-$10,000 Investments (College Expenses)

+$ 5,000 Mortgage Decrease

+$65,000 Retirement 

It's always hard to sweat the smaller stuff when wealth is growing faster than we can spend.