recaps

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. That seems to sum up my efforts at frugality in February. :/

I tried really, really hard but it’s been almost impossible to survive on income #1 (while saving income #2 like we’re supposed to).

Jake’s B-Day…$50 Heelies, $50 Van’s, $125 dinner at Olive Garden and $40 game for his 3DS
I got my new washer and dryer, about $1250 out-the-door) in early-Feb. We paid right at the end of January, so this doesn’t necessarily explain February’s cash-flow issues. Or maybe it does. Really not, since T gave me $2400 to “seed” my accounts for February. (Still trying to figure out where it went!)
I purchased a new bike for around $200, mid-February. That isn’t a whole lot really…not enough to explain the issues.
I spent $200 to have movers move a hand-me-down sectional from my friend as well as an awesome fridge from my dad and my mom’s old roll-top desk. We needed the sectional for seating in our TV room and it was generously FREE, so how could I say no? I also needed to pay to have the fridge moved if we wanted it (26cu freezer-on-the-bottom GE, YES PLEASE) and it was safer to have movers move the roll-top since it is very heavy and T’s back isn’t all that great.
I guess our personal training sessions, $300 on Jan. 15, $300 on Jan. 30 and $300 on Feb. 15 accounts for a lot of it. We prepaid 12 weeks of sessions for $900 divided into three payments. We have something like 7 weeks left and they’re paid for now, so that’s good!
Katie’s voice lessons are $72/mo. Not a lot again.
I didn’t buy any clothes for anyone in February.
I bought Katie and Dakota each a new pair of shoes (much needed). I spent about $50 combined.
I didn’t buy any gadgets, small appliances or camera gear. OK, I’m lying, I spent $13 on a plastic macro-ring set. And I spent about $50 on a hand-held Foodsaver and some containers and mason jars. I’m seeing a lot less spoilage since I started storing lettuce, cheese, etc. this way, so I think it’s a worthwhile investment.
The grocery budget really killed again too. While I managed to spend only $800 total at Fry’s, there were several $100-$200 Walmart and Target trips, mostly for groceries and household supplies. Adding back grains for most family members, but keeping things gluten-free has been pricey and a learning experience. It may or may not be as expensive as being paleo/primal.
I also had about $200 in “easy-pay” payments, which paid off my Dyson and my carpet cleaner and a couple other things (not doing “easy-pay” anymore…)
I spent about $30 on photo storage boxes, as I’ve been charged with the task of organizing all my family’s old photos and there are many of them.
The good thing is that I won’t need laundry detergent for at LEAST 2 more months as I got three HUGE boxes of Surf for about $6 each with coupons/sales.
Oh, I did spend $250 or so on our garden and yard. That includes plants, seeds and starts, soil, fertilizer, some planters, wood for a raised bed, barrier to keep the dogs out, etc. Last spring’s garden was a bust (I stopped maintaining it after my mom passed away) and I didn’t bother with a garden last fall…we’ll be here another 20 months or so if we can renew our lease an extra year, so I hope to get a lot of use out of the new bed if I garden in the fall/winter this coming year. That would be two springs, two summers and one and a half falls.
No big vet bills or other pet expenses this month. I do have about $200 due to me from our pet insurance–I need to do some work to get the claims finished (company claims they cannot read the invoices…).
I didn’t buy any craft supplies or fabric.
I also have things to sell (old washer+dryer plus several instruments, a few photo things, a bike and our double BabyJogger) but I’m hoping to save that $$ for our trip and not put in back in the general budget.
T and I do a “date” every weekend, which usually includes around $30 for a dinner out. We also take the kids to a restaurant at least once a week. We’re trying to cut back on a lot of this.
I got bronchitis and spent $$$ on a Dr’s visit (haven’t received the bill yet) and meds…hopefully that won’t happen again for a while! Being THAT sick really cut into my coupon’ing and budgeting though!

Improvements for March:

get more serious with coupons…there are a lot I can’t/don’t use due to our dietary restrictions, but there are a lot I CAN use…if I can only keep on top of having them organized and ready, and I pay attention to match-ups, etc.
continue the spending embargo on everything possible
continue to NOT buy household cleaners but rather use vinegar, etc.
take the time to make a weekly club-store trip because what I’ll save buying in bulk will be worth what I spend on gas, especially if I combine the trip with other errands
remember to use my Fry’s fuel points for $1/off per gallon, before they expire (tons expire in a few days)
continue to minimize food waste…I keep finding almost-full cups of expensive organic milk or almond milk
sew some “snack mats” so the kids stop going through 50 thousand plates a day…snacks don’t need stoneware and I don’t want to buy disposable
sell the things I have to sell…stop putting it off, bank $$
finish the Petplan claims and bank that $$
STOP ending up at the grocery store nearly daily!!
order things bulk on Amazon with Subscribe & Save, to save 15%+ compared to buying locally (mostly our gluten-free products)
follow through on homemade soaps/shampoos (I already have supplies to make months’ worth…and then I won’t have to buy these things)
cut restaurant/treat spending–I won’t give up date-night so at least for now, family restaurant dinners and frozen yogurt trips are going to have to suffer
Lane Bryant owes me $100 and change for an order I didn’t get around to picking up at the store…I need to straighten that out and get that $$ back.

I’m looking forward to the new month–wishing we weren’t having a leap-year so it could get here sooner. 🙂

Planned spends for March:

new yoga pants for me….I’m sorry but I just can’t stand hitching up my yoga pants anymore. I live in them and wear them to work out and it’s gotten out of hand. I’m looking at getting 2-4 pair in the next size (or two sizes) down…should be around $50.Went ahead and ordered them now, since I had a 20% off code. $49 for four pair plus 3 pair of flip-flops (I am so in need of shoes!)
floral decor while 50% off at Michael’s….I still have my fall decor out because we need plants to cover the top of the hutch and armoire that are unfinished…I’ve budgeted $50 to make 4-5 arrangements that I can use through summer.
a couple cans of chalk paint to spiff up some of our Ikea junk…budget, around $60
materials from Ikea for additional storage and workspace in our homeschool room/craft studio…$300 or less…hoping to stick to $200 or so
order some prints for the walls, probably will have mounted cheaply rather than framed, but we need to brighten up the house and show off my work a bit more (I have some credits at a couple canvas companies that I can use, so I may not have to spend much at all on this one)…$100 or less
a few cans of spray paint to rejuvenate some of our stuff….$20 or so
taxes…we’ll certainly owe at least something…might wait till April depending on just how bad the bad news is 😉

My no-spend January went pretty well, at least from the perspective of small and impulse purchases. I was REALLY good!

I did however spend $1250 on a new washer and dryer (which STILL aren’t here!) and another $900 on 22 couples’ personal training visits ($300 of this won’t be paid till February 15th, so I guess it’s somewhat a February expense too). I also DID end up buying make-up because I desperately needed a new pot of Bare Minerals and while I was in Ulta, I got suckered into their “buy two, get two free” promotion on their store line of make-up. Oh, and I bought another puppy. I know, I know. But she was an absolute steal and came with all shots and already spayed, so the $200 I spent for her was much cheaper than a new puppy usually is (okay, well, I spent another $120 to start her pet health insurance as well…). The good thing about buying a new puppy when you already have a puppy is that I didn’t have to buy any doggie accessories (or treats or food) because I already have a surplus of those things!

Washer/Dryer: I’ve been wrestling with this one for a couple years now. My current machines are ten years old and while they’re in good shape and work well for their age, I really have grown very tired of dealing with the longer-than-normal cycles that these first-generation Whirlpool Duets have. I also am tired of being limited to buying only HE detergent, which STILL is difficult to find in powder in the brands/scents I want at any given time. The final issue I have with them is that I very much enjoy dyeing fabric and clothing in the washer and I can’t do it the way I want with a front-loader. I’m not saying the Duets I’ve had all these years aren’t great machines–I was just ready to get back to basics for a while. I researched the heck out of everything I could find and eventually settled on a mid-range GE non-HE toploader and dryer. I ended up paying $200 more than planned because my first-choice washer model was unavailable and the dryer I wanted had a different-colored console than the washer I finally chose. So we went up one model each. Then my sweet husband insisted on adding a 5-year extended warranty because our last GE washer needed a $300 coupler at age 2 and again at age 4. So that was another $200. So while my original intent was to purchase a $328 washer and $408 dryer and land at around $950 after tax and the dryer cord, vent and washer hoses, I ended up spending $1250. Yes, it’s a lot of money but I know these machines will last at least ten years with minimal repair costs.

Personal Training: This was another toughie and feels like such an extravagance! We reactivated our gym membership under a January special ($39 compared to the $95 we paid most of last year) and I remembered I’d pre-purchased six hours of personal training last summer. I never used the training because I felt too self-conscious to go in for my fitness evaluation after Tom had a not-so-great experience during his consult. The gym has a new option for couples’ training, so Tom and I traded those six hours of individual training for 3 hours of couples’ training. After our first session we were so exhilarated that we decided to consider committing to a block of sessions. After another session and a lot of soul-searching, we decided to go for it. We both need that sort of motivation to actually get there and work HARD, so we felt that we were making an investment in our health. It’s necessary and we’ve tried for years to really get in shape but frankly…we just needed a trainer. Going is just not optional. We’ve had seven sessions to date and the difference in each of us is truly remarkable. I actually am jogging short distances for the first time since high school and I’m seeing muscles and bones that I haven’t seen since then either. Tom looks amazing and is seeing even more obvious results. We have 8 weeks left and we’re seeing our trainer twice a week. We’re also hitting the gym on the weekends to get in some additional circuit training in.

Puppy: Well, nothing else to say here other than that I’m a huge sap. I fell in love with a difficult-to-place Powderpuff Chinese Crested on my friend’s breeder’s website. I ignored Tom’s warnings that I’d probably be unhappy with anything that wasn’t a poodle, and I brought little Trixee home. We have had some issues with her adjusting, but we’ve worked out most of the kinks and she’s pretty much become Kayla’s dog. Which is fine since that means I still can get another poodle SOMEDAY. 😉

No-Spend February Recap

No-Spend January ReCap

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