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Frugalistas come on in. March 26- April 1


mommyoffive
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I did pretty good at training. I brought most of my food. I only ate out once (in 3 days). The only shopping I did was at the grocery store to replenish supplies. I meant to go to Ikea and to VS for panties (I desperately need some) but I as just too tired and busy. 

 

Spending- 

soil & weed block to finish garden beds

parts & supplies- to repair truck and oil changes

vitamins

new phone(ours has been messing up for ages- we got a deal on an Amazon refurb)

 

 

I went over on groceries but I also stocked up on some pantry supplies. We also bought too many snacks.

 

Looking at the month I went over on some things and under on others. I underestimated how much we'd spend on house renovations, that stuff always costs more than i expect. I must do better on groceries next month. I need to stop buying house stuff, but I have a few more things on my list.

 

We've decided that the kids and dh will join me on my next training. It is not anymore cost to have them come and they can have some fun in the city while I'm training. I hope to bring most of our own food and snacks and do lots of free activities. But we will probably do a few things that cost a bit of money. Since our family vacation will be state park camping and pretty basic i thought this would be a nice way to get in some fun stuff with minimal extra expense.

 

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March has been a rough month. Tons of renovation costs but we finished two major projects so that is good. 

 

April- Ugh. I'm leaving on the 1st to fly to Atlanta to visit my dad and sister then dh is coming down and we'll drive to Savannah to take care of his folks for a week.  His mom has terminal cancer and late stage Lewy Body dementia.  So lots of expenses with both of those weeks. Then at the end of the month I fly to Florida to help dd drive back to my house for a visit- driving 24 hours with four kids but just one adult is not a good idea. So then I'll host the grands for a week- lots of expenses for food and fun.  But they haven't been to our house since July 2015 so I am SUPER excited to have them here!

 

March groceries were on target, utilities and gas were under budget.  Misc spending was a little over budget, as I needed new jeans and new undies (Soror, the VS sale came at the perfect time for me. $35 for 7  and they'll last me a few years)

 

April isn't here and I'm already giving up and looking forward to a more frugal May. 

 

 

 

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I have a wells fargo question. How long did it actully take to receive your 250 reward after having 10 transactions? Did you get notification that it was in the works?

 

If I recall correctly, about 10 days. It was pretty fast. No notification - it just showed up in the account. 

 

 

Waiting on a $300 bonus from opening a Chase account now. I really do like churning these bank account bonuses :)

 

Sold some stuff last night on Offerup. Not a ton but I'll take it. 

 

 

March was not a good month here either. I had to buy a lot of stuff - medications, pet food, batteries, etc. 

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Work deadlines have kept me hiding at home again, not shopping.  :P  I can't remember any unusual spending other than the medical stuff I keep mentioning.  Speaking of which, I made a bunch of new appointments for my kids and me.  Still need to schedule a dentist appt and eye exam for myself.  I feel like "one of those people," but it's all catch-up from being "one of those *other* people," LOL.

 

After a long break from it, my kids have decided peanut butter is the bomb.  Funny how things come around again.  :P  That should save some money.  :P

 

My kids won't stop growing, and it seems they legitimately need some warm-weather dresses and shorts.  Ugh....

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March has been a rough month. Tons of renovation costs but we finished two major projects so that is good. 

 

April- Ugh. I'm leaving on the 1st to fly to Atlanta to visit my dad and sister then dh is coming down and we'll drive to Savannah to take care of his folks for a week.  His mom has terminal cancer and late stage Lewy Body dementia.  So lots of expenses with both of those weeks. Then at the end of the month I fly to Florida to help dd drive back to my house for a visit- driving 24 hours with four kids but just one adult is not a good idea. So then I'll host the grands for a week- lots of expenses for food and fun.  But they haven't been to our house since July 2015 so I am SUPER excited to have them here!

 

March groceries were on target, utilities and gas were under budget.  Misc spending was a little over budget, as I needed new jeans and new undies (Soror, the VS sale came at the perfect time for me. $35 for 7  and they'll last me a few years)

 

April isn't here and I'm already giving up and looking forward to a more frugal May. 

Sorry to hear about your mil :( 

 

your grandparents coming will be a good and worthwhile expense, that's the things that we do not regret!

 

 

Did I miss the VS sale? I've only wore VS (plain jane cotton) panties for years, I've tried others but they never stay in place so I stock up every couple of years or so, my last batch is in rough shape but i just didn't feel like shopping this weekend, we don't have any VS shops locally, I looked at ordering online but then there was shipping, ugh.

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Sorry to hear about your mil :(

 

your grandparents coming will be a good and worthwhile expense, that's the things that we do not regret!

 

 

Did I miss the VS sale? I've only wore VS (plain jane cotton) panties for years, I've tried others but they never stay in place so I stock up every couple of years or so, my last batch is in rough shape but i just didn't feel like shopping this weekend, we don't have any VS shops locally, I looked at ordering online but then there was shipping, ugh.

You didn't mention the sale but since you had planned to buy some last week I figured it was because they were on sale. Plain Jane cotton ones here, too. I'm pretty boring. 

 

My grandkids are coming...grandparents long gone. Grandkids are more fun than my grandparents ever were!  Plus it gives me an excuse to do fun things like eat ice cream for lunch- we have an awesome local ice cream place.

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This week has been awesome so far. I spent $40 on a bday gift for my brother. I don't normally buy my siblings bday gifts, I have 6, but he moved to Indianapolis not too long ago and is out there on his own so I thought he'd enjoy a gift. He's my brother who I'm least close with and rarely talk to him even though he lived with my parents for the last 8 years and I'm there twice a week. I miss him though.

 

Last week was a big spend week and it may have blown our budget. I haven't done the numbers. We spent roughly $150 all unplanned for a martial arts competition my ds was in in Philly and dinner afterwards. It was worth every penny to spend the afternoon with dh, my oldest, and my youngest. I'll know the actual damage on Friday when dh gets paid and I plan next months budget

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Went $20 over on grocery shopping this week. 

 

Returned $14 of stuff

 

Bought a car seat for my youngest.    Will sell the infant seat when we install it.

Paid for it with giftcards

got 19 back on ebates from it

earned 60 in kohls cash and some maybe 5 or 10 bucks in their other rewards

 

 

Have to pay credit cards this weekend

Need to make our Europe plans concrete 

Planning the next vacation

 

 

I am working on my income idea.  It excites me since I am actually feeling like I am doing something there. I blew past my goal for the week already. 

 

Going to spend the last of my kiddos charter money.

Thinking of if we do it next year what we will spend the money on.  I am going to get more/better use out of it. 

 

Sign kids up for spring classes and probably swim team again.  :)  :(

 

Signing them up for camps and summer school

 

 

 

I will sell some things this weekend hopefully.

 

Still waiting on my Swap.com 

 

I am getting some more cc for travel hacking

 

We have some free nights already for the Europe trip

 

 

 

Still trying to figure out our goals for the year. 

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Save me.

 

I am SO not a recreational shopper, but a friend opened an upscale boutique that is tempting me so much.  Nutsy prices, by my standards.  But so tempting.

 

And, I got a Vickki Vi $50 coupon the mail.  I thought she only made black and navy items, which are fantastic, but come to find out, she also makes collections in other colors.  Like Turquoise, one of my favorites.

 

It's not like I need clothes.  This is pure lust, and it's really unlike me to be so tempted.  Ugh.  I prebought a replacement pair of jeans for a pair that was on its way out recently, and sure enough that pair blew out this week as expected.  And I replaced a work jacket from 4-5 years ago recently because the material itself was giving way in spots.  Those were reasonable, rational purchases.  These new ones?  Not so much, although I'll certainly use them a lot.  

 

Have not weakened to the point of putting that credit card on the table yet, but dang.  I'm not usually this tempted.

 

 

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Save me.

 

I am SO not a recreational shopper, but a friend opened an upscale boutique that is tempting me so much. Nutsy prices, by my standards. But so tempting.

 

And, I got a Vickki Vi $50 coupon the mail. I thought she only made black and navy items, which are fantastic, but come to find out, she also makes collections in other colors. Like Turquoise, one of my favorites.

 

It's not like I need clothes. This is pure lust, and it's really unlike me to be so tempted. Ugh. I prebought a replacement pair of jeans for a pair that was on its way out recently, and sure enough that pair blew out this week as expected. And I replaced a work jacket from 4-5 years ago recently because the material itself was giving way in spots. Those were reasonable, rational purchases. These new ones? Not so much, although I'll certainly use them a lot.

 

Have not weakened to the point of putting that credit card on the table yet, but dang. I'm not usually this tempted.

I hate that tempted feeling because rarely do I ever enjoy the purchase as much as my brain thinks I will prior to purchasing

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Well the numbers are in for March and we did really well budget wise. We went over only the amount that we spent on ds's tournament, which I should have budgeted for but I thought it was in April. Because we went over we were I bit short on our savings goal but should be able to make that up in April since I don't have to budget in DS"s tournament.

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This week has definitely been a spend week. 

 

Ds1 needed pants and shorts for work.  Found some shorts and bought those.  His ripped pants I patched (maybe they will last til he can wear shorts full time)

 

Groceries - spent a little more than expected.  Found some items on clearance that we like but haven't had in a while.

 

Also dc birthday season is fast approaching.  Bought a few gifts. 

 

And had some work done on the house.

 

 

 

 

 

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