As planned, I did no grocery spending this week, aside from $8 for some ingredients I needed to make cinnamon rolls with a friend. They were amazing, and she was delighted by the magic of yeast dough, haha.
I had an unexpected $160 expense of the next 4 months of Oliverās pet insurance, because randomly my work stopped deducting it from our paychecks. So I had to pay for the rest of the plan year all at once to keep it active.
I ordered 3 potential interview shirts, for $75 total (good sale) and none of them worked, so they will be returned.
Otherwise, basically no other spending this week aside from planned bills (gym membership and water bill)
My check in is to hold myself accountable for either starting a spreadsheet or downloading an app to track my spending. I will do one of those things before dinnertime tonight.
householdās essentials spending this week: $347, mostly boring things. Largest items in here are a therapy session ($180, counts toward deductible) and $105 for gym membership. Iām including a restaurant meal in here because we couldnāt cook one day when our water and natural gas were turned off for repairs. Thankfully as renters weāre not paying for the repairs.
fun money: $19/50 this month (a few Halloween decorations and dice I convinced myself I need for an upcoming gaming convention. yes, I could use the ones I have from different sets, but then they wouldnāt match!)
An item Iām not sure how to categorize: $62 for a birthday gift for my father-in-law. I could try to spend less on gifts, but I think Iād rather just budget for it, as some of my relations have expensive taste and Iād like to give them things they actually like.
This week I have successfully not spent money on random stuff! And only one grocery store trip that was under $100, so Iām on track to keep under my grocery budget. Turns out I have a lot more stuff in my freezer and pantry than I thought, so Iām doing my best to only buy protein/fruit/veggies.
And! None of the pets have had any more vet visits, so thatās a savings
Week one check in:
Groceries: $244.74
Discretionary: $222.30 (definitely forgotten some things here, will ask husband if heās made any not on credit card, totally thought this would be lower so thats a worry since weāre not even half way through the month. Guess thatās why Iām trackingā¦)
This weekend got away from me. So far still on track! Added my half of a Costco grocery load for $55 (we were low on milk & cheese), so assuming last monthās utilities (probably overestimating, because it was hotter then), currently at $1085 (a bit over $886 actually spent), anticipating something like another fifty bucks in groceries for a total close to $1130-1150. If I can stay under $1150 I may give the difference to an art project I liked.
In either case I will probably end up putting a bit extra to MSF in a donation that goes out this month or later. Payment processing fees often favor lumpier donations. Though charities have an easier time budgeting steady donations, I canāt usually commit to that, so bigger occasional gifts mean they get more of it.
I set up a spreadsheet and entered the monthās expenses so far. Groceries are lower than I had expected, but some of that can probably be chalked up to the fact that the kitchen was well stocked before the start of the month and also I just eat way less than TAFKAH (the asshole formerly known as Husband). My meals stretch so much more.
I was not able to resist and did buy the Halloween costume. $30, but Iām keeping the tags on in case the weather changes for my dress up event this weekend and I end up not using it. I have plenty of other options that I can wrangle.
Looks like I will be opting out of staying at a hotel post wedding next weekend so that will be about $180 not spent. Driving back late will suck, but Iāll see if anyone else attending wants to carpool.
Problem for future me: I keep finding adorable things I want to buy for my new apartment when I move. I will need to be strong and resist.
Oh and I need to figure out getting $3500 to $6500 for a retainer. Kinda blows the discounted spinach out of the water.
