An Expensive Couple of Weeks Here

Whoever first said that children & husbands are expensive wasn't lying!

I went into December feeling good financially.
This is, after all, one of the 3 paycheck months......so we'd be getting an extra paycheck in December.
Meaning we'd have extra cash this month to save.

Then the Money gods laughed.....

Not a week after getting his replacement retainer, #2 son lost it.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

He threw it out after lunch in the school cafeteria.  He subsequently spent an entire study period that day going through 5 large trashcans in said cafeteria.
No luck finding it.....

So I made the dreaded call to the Orthodontist and began the call with the line, "You are NOT going to believe this!...."
And #2 son is having his allowance held up to the tune of $85.  He may turn 16 and have a JOB before he gets his allowance again.lol

Then he needed his flutes repaired/maintained/replated.  He has 2 instruments that both needed work.
So the music store sent them away and the estimate came back at almost one THOUSAND DOLLARS for all the work on both.
So we elected to fix the one that was in better shape for $402 and rented a flute for him to use until it was fixed.
After seeing what they get for instrument repairs/maintenance, I think we'll send #2 son to instrument school to become an artisan rather than to college to play the instrument.lol

Then Hubs took his commuter car into the shop Thursday to get an oil change and have his brakes looked at.
It appears that commuting down a mountain 5 times a week is very very bad for brakes, struts, shocks and tires.  We paid the ransom of $1100 for the work on it on Friday evening and drove the car home.

Let's review, shall we?
$85
$402
$1100

$1587 in unexpected expenses this month.
$1587 about takes care of most of that extra paycheck.
What is left will be for Christmas spending.

And I'll cross my fingers that I can make my Savings Challenge goal this month.

How's the money going(or staying)in your life?

Sluggy

December Food Spending Week 2, Meal Plan Week 3

I liked this graphic so much I'm using it again.  We never had a wall oven growing up but my Mother-in-Law had one in her 1970's kitchen up until she moved in 2003.  Unfortunately it wasn't turquoise, just boring old brown...but she actually had 2 ovens in the wall.

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Subway
MONDAY--Chili, Biscuits

TUESDAY--Leftovers (I had a big salad.)

WEDNESDAY--Ham Steak, Sweet Potato Fries, Brussel Sprouts

THURSDAY--I have no clue, but it wasn't what I planned!

FRIDAY--Leftovers or Burritos
SATURDAY--BOGO Whoppers 

 

Yah, I'm a sucker for a BOGO Whopper.....no cheese.lol

Still knee deep in eBay and being a bad bad mother/wife by not feeding my peoples well....shame on me!  But #1 son wasn't home for dinner most nights(band/play rehearsals) and Hubs is just as happy with Leftovers or "pasta and sauce from a jar" he 'cooks' himself.  Yes, he considers that cooking....

I used up some beef and ham as well as some frozen sweet pot. fries and veg. in the freezer with last week's menu.  

Then I made 1 trip to the grocery store, to the tune of $33.87.

I bought 3 bags of salad(most was used last week), milk, OJ and a pack of hot dog rolls to use(but these weren't used).  I also bought a roasting chicken(cooking it tonight), 5 bags of frozen veg($1 each), 2 packs of margarine(on sale), a big container of ricotta(on sale for lasagna next week) and 2 tubs of ice cream(just because and it was on sale).  Not a coupon in sight!  Reg. retail of $58.92 so I saved 42.50% last week.

My Dec. food spending total so far through 12/10 is $57.09.  That leaves $242.91 for the month.

As for keeping it under $3K for the year....I'm just going to let what happens happen.  If I keep it under, great!  But I am not really trying to.

We'll see what happens. ;-)

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Kielbasa on rolls, Grilled Onions

MONDAY--Roasted Chicken, Carrots, Onions, Red Potatoes

TUESDAY--Hamburgers on rolls,Mixed Veggies

WEDNESDAY--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad
THURSDAY--Leftovers

FRIDAY--Squash Casserole, Baked Potatoes w/toppings
SATURDAY--Daughter's Birthday Meal Out

Items needed for this menu.....Squash, Ground Beef.

I'm running out tonight for these things to the store, where they are on sale.  A gallon of milk is in my future too. ;-)

 

Both of my older 2 kids are coming home this week so I expect the food spending will be EXPLODING later this week.

Stay tuned for a sonic boom emanating from my wallet.....

Sluggy

Well, It's Up.....

It only took 2 weeks to get to this point.lol
The lights, star and garland are on and there's a big gaping hole in the middle of the tree, but it's up!

And outside, it's even BETTER!....
During the day....notice the Thanksgiving flag is still being flown....lol

And at night.....

Then we got the wreath up....

So now it's still lame but not as lame as before.

We might actually get this right by, oh.....maybe New Year's Day. 8-)

Sluggy-who is not stressed out over this at all....no REALLY!, I'm not....

Songs of the Season!

CLICK THIS!

Sluggy

Daughter's Birthday Week......Share a Song!

When Daughter was very little, we couldn't afford cable tv.  Well, we could have afforded it but not if we wanted to put money away for emergencies.
Instead, we had a tv antenna and we lived on the side of a mountain range facing east, so even though the nearest broadcast station was an hour away, we got all the major broadcast network signals coming out of NYC and northeastern New Jersey since they were mega powerful.
So our tv reception was a fuzzy picture for the major tv networks(CBS/ABC/NBC/PIX)and also for the NY PBS station, WNET.
PBS was a lifesaver back then before we had a VHS player.
Hours of kid-friendly shows for my toddlers, including Sesame Street.

And once we could afford the tape player we bought kid tapes, including a whole boatload of Sesame Street shows since that is what there was and what the kids liked.

#1 son loved Elmo and The Count.
Daughter was all about Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster.

Here is one of my Daughter's favorite parts from one of those Sesame Street tapes we had.

Sluggy