I am really slipping here at the end of the month. I got everything written down for yesterday but someone forgot to do the post.
Danger zone---rummage sale! The church where my daughter goes to for youth group had a fundraising garage sale today. They are earning for a trip to England in March.
We went to help set up yesterday. I spent $11.10. I bought 2 shelves, 2 clothes racks, a measuring cup, alarm clock, desk organizer, a tart warmer, quilt batting, and a meat grinder.
Steve bought the usual cigarettes, soda and his lunch.
I put gas in my car.
Today I spent even more at the rummage sale---to the tune of another $15.50. Today I bought a craft desk, Pyrex mixing bowls, houseshoes, 2 pairs of jeans, various kitchen utensils, mini muffin pans, gloves, books and movies. I bought a lot of misc. items when they put it to be $1 per bag. Then in the end I took home another shelf, kitchen cabinet unit and 2 other boxes of items free.
The house in the picture represents that it was the every other Friday day for half of the mortgage to be paid. And, as usual, hubby bought his cigarettes, soda and lunch today.
Two more days---I should go ahead and start sorting it out now to make it easier to add up on the 1st.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Oops. We didn't go anywhere yesterday, so we didn't spend any money. I didn't, however, intend to miss a day of the 31 posting!
Today Steve bought the usual. You know, cigarettes, his soda and lunch at work. He did buy 2 packs of cigarettes though. Guess that happened since he didn't go out yesterday. Plus yesterday when he ran out of soda he drank cappuccino the rest of the day at home.
Tomorrow is payday, so there will go most of the paycheck for bills. We are so close to the end of the month and adding things up to see what we come up with from each category.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Tonight was our usual Tuesday evening expense of our bowling league. Sadly, after Friday our bowling alley may not be anymore. A church is trying to get funding to buy it and turn it in to a worship center.
Steve bought his usual cigarettes and the usual soda today. he also spent for his lunch at work.
I didn't spend any money today.
And, that is my report for today, once again very short.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
We were about shopping until we dropped today. But hey, I only spent $18.09 out of pocket. I saved $38.79 with coupons and used the $6.21 that was left on the Target card we had gotten as a wedding gift.
I bought more little items to go in the Halloween surprise bags I am making up for my 9 grandchildren and 1 daughter.
Whether we can "afford it" or not, I enjoy puting together nice packages for the kids. There won't be any candy, just other goodies in the bags...which can then be used when they do go collecting candy.
Steve says he spent $10 on his food at work today. He also bought our soda's and his cigarettes.
I added to my Christmas gift stash today, but I didn't spend much. With the sale and coupons I was able to get 2 bottles of Axe body wash for just .25 plus sales tax!
That's it for today's report...I will be back tomorrow night.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Trucking along on tracking the spending.
Today there was offering at church. Steve bought his usual pack of cigarettes. He also bought a gallon of milk.
After church we met with relatives to eat at Wendy's. We paid for my mom, aunt, uncle, one granddaughter, and the 3 of us. Thankfully it really isn't all that much to eat there. Plus, since my son works there they give us a discount too.
I guess tonight was short and to the point.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
I was looking for that bank symbol I used the other day. I forgot I could have gotten from the pics already on my blog. Oh well.
I was going to use it because yes, for the 3rd time this month my husband overdrafted at his bank! My gosh, that is $90 this month in fees. That would have been enough to pay both the water and the gas bills.
Otherwise he was iffy on what he spent today. Claimed he had to spend more out of town for his pack of cigarettes. Just mentions his lunch of chicken sandwich, something else and a drink. Couldn't remember how much it was he said...then made a guess of $7.39. Too much for lunch if you ask me!
He bought us all soda today too.
We went out to eat with my mom, aunt and uncle. The deal was we would join them and pay for our own. Once there my uncle insisted he was paying for it. ggrrrr I am still feeling bad about that...the intention of us going was extra time to spend with them while they are in town, not for a free supper! He said consider it their wedding gift to us.
We are getting closer to the end of this month, and closer to me having totals to share with my husband and discussions to be had.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
A couple of bills needed to be paid today which was a loan on a vehicle and the water bill. I am happy that the water bill was way down over it was for the summer...and the next bill is even lower.
I did some shopping today at Walgreens and Walmart. At Walgreens I bought Steve's razor refills. They were on the register rewards on sale and I had a coupon. I also picked up some neat dog toys on clearance for just $1, a dog collar on clearance for just .25, and a ZhuZhu pet armor tank on clearance for just $2. (Christmas gift for one of my grandsons.)
At Walmart I picked up cat food. It was the quickest trip I've ever made to Walmart. I used the last 4 of my free Crave cat treat coupons.
Steve claims to have been extra hungry today and spent $9 on lunch. He also bought cigarettes and soda. I'm still drinking from the free Dr. Pepper 10's that I had coupons for. I must say that this stuff is disgusting! Yuck!
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Oops, I did it again. I forgot to ask Steve about his spending today.
I was gone when he got home from work and he went to bed, not getting up until supper was ready. Right after supper he went back to bed.
I know that I put gas in my car today. I actually bought myself a pack of cigarettes today as well as fountain drinks for both me and my daughter.
We also spent a few $$ at the Dollar Sense store. I bought Jasmine a pair of reading glasses and I bought toilet bowl cleaner. The 2 splurge items were lip gloss for Jasmine and nail polish for me.
I know that maybe we shouldn't buy so many of the splurge items, but life sure isn't much fun if you don't get to get a few things that you want. It will be interesting to add things up at the end of the month and see just how much total we spent on the splurge items.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
I was going to be able to come in today and say NO spending today. Both of us stayed home all day today---until after supper when he went to buy that pack of cigarettes. He did use a $1 coupon. He had already used the $1.50 coupon yesterday. An online friend sent us the coupons.
I had intended to put gas in my car today....then realized it was smarter to do it tomorrow when I would be going out anyway.
I've made it this far...19 days. Just 12 days of reporting left.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Tuesday--bowling league day. That means $23 to pay for that.
Last night (well early this morning), when Steve got up for work I did ask about his spending the day before. He gave me a total for the day...and an I don't know on how much he put in for gas, how much was for lunch etc. I explained to him that I'm not just tracking how much we spend, but what we are spending it on. Men!
I shopped today with coupons again, this time at the grocery store. I splurged on a package of Play Doh to divide up among the grandkids for part of their Halloween treat bag. Otherwise I used 4 of my free Crave coupons and 4 of my free Dr. Pepper 10 coupons. I also used a coupon and bought 2 cans of fruit. And, I bought 4 apples---go figure, the grocery store has a big display with 4 different kinds of apples and only 3 for $1! Sheesh, I paid $1.28 just for one apple at Wal Mart yesterday. I did go ahead and buy one more of each of the 4 kids of apples. I figured with 10 of us in the house I will wait to do the "assignment" with Jasmine until close to supper time and then serve the cut up apples with supper.
I gave my son enough money for a couple gallons of gas today when his truck ran out. Just his luck that I was heading in right where the truck ran out of gas to buy his little sister a fountain drink. Not so lucky for me, but I was glad that I did have a few $$ to help him out. I couldn't really give him any more though.
Looks like that is pretty much my report for today.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
I am slipping already. That's my biggest problem with this whole tracking spending thing.....and exactly why I chose this for my 31 days challenge.
I forgot yesterday about the $2 I spent buying jerky from a young man at church for his school fundraiser. I also found out that Steve bought twice as much soda as usual.
Today when I got home, he was already home. Over supper he told me that he took $50 out of the bank to put gas in the truck. However, I didn't find out how much. Nor did I find out how much he spent on other things, like lunch while at work.
I shopped at Wal Mart today. I got a mixture of things from food, to pet supplies, health and beauty, etc. I do have it all written out by category on my list. I saved a lot with coupons too. I spent just over $20 but saved over $35 with coupons.
More tomorrow.....
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Doesn't look like too much spending today either.
Steve gave offering at church. I forgot to ask him about any other spending, but I see bottles of soda over beside the couch. I will need to remember to ask him tomorrow if he bought anything else while buying those. My grandson says he stopped and bought those after church.
I paid my mom for an Avon order. I ordered my daughter and I each a bottle of the mosaic nail polish. Not a needed item but it's sure cool. I also like to help my mom earn too when I can order a little now and then.
On my sheet from tracking in August I have $2 only for clothing. We don't spend much here at all. That was 2 t-shirts on clearance for $1 each. For gifts I only have $1.75 that I spent to mail a gift to a friend. We had 3 birthday's in August but I made each of them doll quilts and jewelry from materials I already had here at the house.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
I chose the cent sign for my icon again today since not too much money was spent today.
Steve informs me of the usual pack of cigarettes and soda. He also says he spent $7 total eating while at work.
That's it for today. I didn't spend anything.
We went to the races this evening but it was merchant night so tickets were free. We took in our own soda so nothing spent at concessions either. I was sure tempted though with money in my pocket that I made at today's garage sale.
I'm out for today..short and sweet.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Today the house icon represents that today was mortgage payment day. We do pay it every other Friday. This way it was easier for us to pay as well as it ends up giving us an extra month's payment each year. They tell us that this will cut 7 to 8 years off of the loan.
Otherwise in money it's not been a good day. Remember the electric bill payment that was returned? I had told Steve to call the electric company to make sure they weren't going to send it back through. Instead he just went online and paid it again. Yep, you guessed it...they took both payments. However, it bounced at the bank again. This time they did pay it. Wouldn't be that big of a deal but because of it there wasn't enough for the other 2 auto pays coming out today--loan payment on vehicle and life insurance.
Steve made a trip to the loan company and got the payment date extended so all is well for now.
Other spending included the usual soda and cigarettes. Plus the overdraft charge again. Yikes! That's $60 wasted this month---that would have been enough to pay the water bill.
Tomorrow is a new day...ok, so it's past midnight so it is today LOL
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Good Friday morning. I'm a little late posting this week because I chose to sleep in--at least my body chose to!
I'm doing a series in case you've missed it-- 31 Days of Tracking Spending. It is a challenge put on through The Nesting Place blog. There are over 700 bloggers who have taken the challenge to choose a subject to blog about for the 31 days of October. There's some great stuff in the linky to check out. I chose spending to ensure that I do keep track. Hubby and I must track where the money is going to so that we can make up a budget of some sort. All that "little" money adds up to big money in a months time. (The link above will take you to my Day 1, where there are links to all the rest of the days as I get them done)
On to those uses for butter. These are out of the 99 Cent Solutions book. The book doesn't state that you can substitute margarine for these, so I assume it's real butter that has to be used for these uses.
1. Keep onions and cheese fresh. Both benefit from butter when it comes to storage. Rub the cut side of an onion with butter and wrap in plastic wrap. The onion will stay fresh for days longer, and you can dice the buttery part right in to your skillet.
Hard and semi-soft cheese will stay mold free for weeks if you rub the cut sides with softened butter, sealing them to keep the air out before rewrapping in plastic and storing in the fridge.
2. Get the medicine down. Whether the pill is large or you just have trouble swallowing pills, try a dab of butter to ease the job. Lightly rub butter all over the outside of the pill and it will slip gently down with a sip of water, no sticking awkwardly in your throat.
3. Strip off sticky sap. Tree sap on your hands is nearly impossible to get off, unless you rub it well with butter. Use a generous amount and slather it on your hands like you are rubbing in lotion. Wipe it off with a paper towel and wash with soap and water.
Egads! So technically it's after midnight and the 14th but I won't tell if you won't. I actually forgot all about doing this post until I was reading someone's gather post about their blog.
Not a whole lot of spending today really. Hubby says he bought food while working twice...but he also bought 2 packs of cigarettes today too, which isn't good.
I paid the sales tax for Jasmine on an item she wanted with her birthday money and then used a free coupon that I had to pay the sales tax on. I also bought a picture frame at the dollar store.
Oh yes, Steve also bought soda again today. Tomorrow (well today) is going to be the trick. Will his paycheck be enough to cover the 3 bills that are automatically coming out of the bank tomorrow? Stay tuned for my next post to find out!
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
We didn't spend too much money today.
The spending started with my husband buying his usual pack of cigarettes and then buying soda for all 3 of us.
Next we were off to eat lunch at Chili's. We had gotten a $20 gift card as a wedding gift and hadn't used it yet. We picked lunch to get cheaper meals for the 3 of us. The service was slow. So slow that they brought us out some free chips and salsa. Then, when we got the bill they didn't charge us for our drinks. The total was just $21.60 for the 3 lunches. Woo hoo! $1.60 for lunch plus the tip we left.
After that we made a trip to Wal Mart to buy my Carnation Instant Breakfast. I always buy it at Wal Mart over the grocery store because they sell it for $2 cheaper. We also used $10 of my Free Del Monty fresh fruit and veggie coupons that I won from the Frugality is Free blog giveaway. We had $10.25 worth so just paid .25 plus the sales tax for the fruit.
That's it, that's all the money that was spent today :)
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Today we had an unexpected expenditure of buying me an elbow brace. Well, not exactly unexpected as I've needed it for weeks. It was a last minute decision of Steve though after bowling. My doctor says my elbow tendons will never heal until I quit bowling, crocheting, sewing etc, however, the brace eases the pain while I am doing those things.
Otherwise, Steve spent a little more for his lunch today. Jasmine and I also treated ourselves to Wendy's for lunch during sewing club at church. It would have cost us about the same to buy something at the store though since we buy from the .99 menu.
The usual Tuesday night expenditure is for our bowling league. We've been taking in our own soda even though we aren't supposed to, but he did buy Jasmine a soda.
Other spending included Steve buying soda and a pack of cigarettes. Speaking of cigarettes, my prescription smoking cessation will be coming in the mail. No co-pay with our insurance.
And speaking of the soda, I added up what I had for receipts and such for August. On just soda I come up with $41.50. I don't think this is correct as I'm sure several times he didn't tell me he bought, or I just didn't get it written down. After this month and using this challenge I will have a much more accurate spending journal. And, I'm in hopes that even though I won't be blogging about it next month that I can keep up the list. They say it takes 3 months to get an average that is pretty close.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Today's biggest expense was the co-pay to the doctor for my physical today.
My husband reports buying a pack of cigarettes today and only spending .98 for a slice of meatloaf for his lunch at work. I'm not sure yet if he's being up front with me on what he is spending yet or not.
We got his bank statement in the mail. I can write down what is this month for ATM withdrawal fees so far, and hope he will tell me about others.
He claims he can't help it when he's out of town with work and needs cash. I am trying to convince him that he needs to make one withdrawal, figuring what he will need for the week. That part of this tracking spending may have to wait until next month's statement comes in. That way I will have a total for him on just how much he is wasting with those fees withdrawing $20 or so $$ at a time.
That's my report and thoughts for Day 10.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
Today was Jasmine's birthday as you all know from my previous posts and the cell phone. I don't think she was too thrilled that she didn't get the fancy one she wanted.....she said thank you and took my phone right away to get her friends put in to her own phone. She texted everyone right away...she just didn't have the excitement I thought she should have.
Anyway back to today's spending.
That I am aware of my husband didn't spend any money that I know of past putting money in the offering plate at church.
I spent $22 and some change at Wal Mart. Just over $12 of that was yarn and netting to use for craft orders, so that is not part of our budget. I keep track of my business separately. I used 4 more of the free Crave cat treat coupons so only paid sales tax on those. I bought one can of the .30 canned cat food to see how the animals like it. If they like it then I can spend less on the canned food by buying it. I bought myself a new mouse for my computer. My scrollie button quit working a couple of weeks ago and it's been driving me batty. I bought the cheapest mouse for just $6. I splurged on a package of the tart melts as I call them. I love to scent up the house and was out. I also splurged $1 and bought a sheet of Halloween clings.
Looks like that is my report for today.
Check out the linky with over 700 others who are also doing the 31 Days Challenge HERE
