I can’t believe it’s already July 31st!!  Looking back over the past couple months, I’ve been able to reduce a lot of my spending which is great!  There’s still room for improvement, so I’m excited to move forward and continue working on this area of my life….experiences vs. things!

Food remains a challenge, particularly fast food, snacks and treats.  We’re making an effort to go homemade as much as possible and we’re working on baking and freezing muffiins and cookies, so the kids can grab something quick to help curb appetites while we’re out of the house.  I’m planning on making a few batches of frozen egg cups for quick breakfasts.  We have gotten in the habit of making breakfast sandwiches on inexpensive rolls or croissants purchased at Walmart.  It’s a cheaper than buying frozen breakfast foods or running through a drive-thru, and healtier, I’m sure.

Additional belt-tightening is going into effect for August.  I am going to fix up and sell the rest of our rehab dolls, and I’m going to collect $90 owed to me for a return that was never refunded, and an item sold and paid for with a check that I was not able to deposit.

I changed our Anaheim reservation to a less-expensive (albeit less unique!) hotel, saving $100.  I still have to go to AAA to purchase our tickets, but I am planning on simply doing it on our way out of town.  We actually leave on our next payday, so that should work out perfectly.  I paid our cell bill and car payment with this most recent paycheck, which was early, but gets them out of the way so that trip expenses won’t stress me out.  Disneyland for two rather than for four or six will be a LOT less expensive than usual, but we really want to have fun and not worry about finances while there.

All in all, not a lot to report!  We did make it through the weekend without dining out OR eating fast food.  Booyah!