~~~~~~~~~~~~ March 2023 Frugalistas ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[mommyoffive]

Come on spring!!  Fingers and toes crossed for the snow to end. 

How did March come in for you?  

Anyone spring cleaning?  

Spring break trips?  

[prairiewindmomma]

I am spring cleaning! I am trying to tackle a room a day. I am editing belongings as I go along. I will do a thrift store dropoff this weekend. 🤞

[JustEm]

I am Spring cleaning and painting our dining room this month!

We have gotten basically zero snow so I'd like one good snowstorm this month.

We got our tax refund so all our sinking funds for the year are filled, which means all our extra money from here on out can go to vacation planning!! No Spring break plans though.

Frugal wise, dh and I continue to try to work together to stay within a budget. We haven't quite figured out how to do it, so this month the attempt is to basically spend a few.minutes at the end of the day going over things spent that day. This is mostly needed for dh because really wants to get a better grip on where our money goes as opposed to leaving it entirely up to me.

 

[mommyoffive]

I need to spring clean, but I am not in the mood yet.  Hopefully on one of the spring breaks my kids have coming up I will want to get things done.

[wisdomandtreasures]

Saturday, I was out doing yard work in a lightweight short-sleeve summer dress. Yesterday/all through the night we got. 4" of snow. Pretty lion-like to me! 😉

I've been nesting/Spring cleaning quite a bit. I want my house sparkling when Baby arrives! Or at least not covered in dust balls... Sparkling might be a bit lofty.

Husband got a raise but I'm still pinching pennies, hanging laundry (I put my dryer in the garage so there's no temptation... Of course now that means yesterday's load has a pile of snow on it!), cooking from scratch, limiting car trips, and shopping the pantry first. The extra money we now have is rebuilding our savings after last year's insanity.

Edited March 1, 2023 by wisdomandtreasures

[Brittany1116]

Hello! I love new months. 🙂

I am waiting on our tax return. How long did yours take to process @hjffkj? We are saving and investing ours. 

I need to make a day trip to see my grandmother this month. Trying to figure out when. Soccer starts soon, so I need to go ASAP. 

I also need to decide on and plan a monthly field trip, which I try to stay under $40 for. 

[mommyoffive]

Getting our taxes done is still on my to do list.

[prairiewindmomma]

Do you live somewhere with very expensive electricity, wisdom? When we did the math, it works out to something like .25/load for me to run the clothes dryer. We still hang quite a bit, to save wear and tear on sweaters and such…but putting a load on our drying racks takes about 20 min and we chose to save that time elsewhere with me doing food prep where we could see greater savings.

[prairiewindmomma]

March came in with freezing fog. The 10” of snow we got last week was worse, but this is all very atypical weather for the season for us.

[Brittany1116]

I honestly would trade a week of weather with someone. It has been in the high 80s for weeks. We didn't really get cold or even cool weather this winter. We had maybe a cumulative 8 days from December through February. I am already getting annoyed at the idea of garden work. 

[JustEm]

59 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

Hello! I love new months. 🙂

I am waiting on our tax return. How long did yours take to process @hjffkj? We are saving and investing ours. 

I need to make a day trip to see my grandmother this month. Trying to figure out when. Soccer starts soon, so I need to go ASAP. 

I also need to decide on and plan a monthly field trip, which I try to stay under $40 for. 

9 days surprisingly.  I wasn't expecting it for another 2 weeks but it appeared in our account on the 24th.

[JustEm]

52 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

I honestly would trade a week of weather with someone. It has been in the high 80s for weeks. We didn't really get cold or even cool weather this winter. We had maybe a cumulative 8 days from December through February. I am already getting annoyed at the idea of garden work. 

I would love 80s!! But my garden planning isn't done so there's no way I'm ready for garden work

[Brittany1116]

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

I would love 80s!! But my garden planning isn't done so there's no way I'm ready for garden work

I'm only actively prepping one bed for lettuces to get a bit in before we hit 90s and they all die. LoL But we'll have one last cold snap before Easter, and really dig in after that. It's just not exciting to consider when it's already so hot. 

[wisdomandtreasures]

Our tax return took a little over a week. 

[mommyoffive]

Coat deals at Walmart

Men's SwissTech Puffer Vests, Jackets & More from $4 on Walmart.com (hip2save.com)

[Soror]

On 3/1/2023 at 9:19 AM, Brittany1116 said:

Hello! I love new months. 🙂

I am waiting on our tax return. How long did yours take to process @hjffkj? We are saving and investing ours. 

I need to make a day trip to see my grandmother this month. Trying to figure out when. Soccer starts soon, so I need to go ASAP. 

I also need to decide on and plan a monthly field trip, which I try to stay under $40 for. 

Ours came in about a week. I love new months too.

On 3/1/2023 at 6:40 AM, hjffkj said:

I am Spring cleaning and painting our dining room this month!

We have gotten basically zero snow so I'd like one good snowstorm this month.

We got our tax refund so all our sinking funds for the year are filled, which means all our extra money from here on out can go to vacation planning!! No Spring break plans though.

Frugal wise, dh and I continue to try to work together to stay within a budget. We haven't quite figured out how to do it, so this month the attempt is to basically spend a few.minutes at the end of the day going over things spent that day. This is mostly needed for dh because really wants to get a better grip on where our money goes as opposed to leaving it entirely up to me.

That's wonderful that you and dh are working together.

Just a thought- if after several months it is a continual struggle to keep in budget for some categories it could be that some categories aren't funded enough? 

Dh and I go over goals and spending. Goals and priorities we just go over when things change-- like when I got this job. Generally we're on the same page but it is good to verbalize and confirm. We don't go over the minutiae of spending but if we need bigger things for the kids, house or car we talk about to make sure it's accounted for in the budget. We also go over CC charges if they are unusual so the other one knows it isn't a fraud. But I do all the day-to-day budgeting- tracking transactions, reconciling accounts etc. Once he graduates and has more time he'll be more involved but until then this works. The big thing was getting him on board with budgeting in the first place. He felt it was restrictive but once I got it through to him that it was stressing me out not having one as the finance person of the house and I really, really don't want to control his spending just keep us on track with our goals he was receptive. 

On 2/28/2023 at 10:51 PM, prairiewindmomma said:

I am spring cleaning! I am trying to tackle a room a day. I am editing belongings as I go along. I will do a thrift store dropoff this weekend. 🤞

I'm due for spring cleaning here but it won't be until spring break week or after we finish hs'ing in April. I've been doing a better job of cleaning with my Motivated Mom's chore list but need to do some decluttering in a few areas and reorganize as we finish the chapter of hs'ing. I'm not sure how I'm going to use space now.

On 3/1/2023 at 9:04 AM, wisdomandtreasures said:

Saturday, I was out doing yard work in a lightweight short-sleeve summer dress. Yesterday/all through the night we got. 4" of snow. Pretty lion-like to me! 😉

I've been nesting/Spring cleaning quite a bit. I want my house sparkling when Baby arrives! Or at least not covered in dust balls... Sparkling might be a bit lofty.

Husband got a raise but I'm still pinching pennies, hanging laundry (I put my dryer in the garage so there's no temptation... Of course now that means yesterday's load has a pile of snow on it!), cooking from scratch, limiting car trips, and shopping the pantry first. The extra money we now have is rebuilding our savings after last year's insanity.

Congrats on the raise! yipee for nesting! 

[JustEm]

@Soror thanks for the advice. It really isn't that our budget lines are too small. It is that we don't plan well and when things get stressful or busy we just make purchases of convenience. We both have a clear idea of how we want our money spent, for example we hate how much we can spend on convenience food during busy times. We see that as a waste of money and unhealthy for everyone. But when we're in the thick of it and don't have a plan money gets spent.

He also grew up in a family that buys wants pretty regularly. They're all shoppers. And he doesn't want to be that way but struggles to break that habit formed ages ago. 

[Soror]

Let's see what's new here-- 

- Dh got a small raise (but not as small as last year- so ya). I think that will start in March's checks which are for April's budget. I expect that a small bit of extra money will go towards increasing the cushion.

-In March I will get my first paycheck. It will entirely go towards the HELOC- it will cover about 2/3rds of what is left. YIPEE

-yet again someone is supposedly coming to buy something. We'll see if they actually show up--- 3rd/4th times a charm??

Any extra money this month will go towards my x-ray and kid's funds. Dd1 ended up in the spring formal court. She hadn't even been planning on going at all because he had beta so didn't have an outfit. It's kind of a big deal because her school is pretty big. She did well shopping for bargains but still it wasn't budgeted for so I'm squeezing other categories to cover it and really need to fill some of those back up -- there wasn't a lot of fat in the budget in the first place.

We will be spending an exorbitant amount on gas again this month and next. Dh is now having to drive 3 days a week to college and dd as usual is very active. I can use my work car at times-- I try to schedule visits before or after I pick her up/drop her off so it's not my gas. Thankfully using my work car is helping mitigate the extra from dh having to drive more. After April dd will be driving herself and paying for her own gas and dh will finish the spring semester in early May. 

So, March won't be quite as tight as Jan and Feb but still tighter than we'd like. I'm examing and reexamining goals trying to make sure they are realistic and doable for long term. Dh and I went over the overview of the goals but he leaves the details of that to me. We've got a shop to finish this summer- really 2 sides are done and we have the materials for the 3rd (just need to finish the siding). The back we have a chunk to do yet and we're not doing the interior. We need to increase sinking funds, help ds with college, increase retirement, and put towards the vaca fund (we're planning another big vaca next year after he finishes college which will coincidentally be our 25th anniversary).

We're still keeping to the budget and I even managed to save a bit from the grocery budget in February (I'm saving for a partial cow - not sure how much as Mom isn't sure what they'll be using themselves). I went over category averages for the last 2 years and looked at increasing spending based on that. Year one was very tight  and year two was looser as dh made a lot more money. This year should end up between those two as dh is making less but I'm working now. However, we still have some bigger goals to hit to keep in mind so I'm working on balancing all of that.

[Brittany1116]

After 6 increases in rates last year, our electric company dropped the base rate this month. So it will undo one of the jumps. I am thinking about overpaying for a few months to have a buffer for when summer (and our highest bills) come. 

[Soror]

10 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

After 6 increases in rates last year, our electric company dropped the base rate this month. So it will undo one of the jumps. I am thinking about overpaying for a few months to have a buffer for when summer (and our highest bills) come. 

That's ridiculous! At least they finally had a cut. we have budget/levelized billing here- they average out the last 12 bills and you pay that so it only changes a bit each month. There is no charge for this and I like having to pay a fairly steady amount instead of it swinging so much.

On 3/3/2023 at 8:33 AM, hjffkj said:

@Soror thanks for the advice. It really isn't that our budget lines are too small. It is that we don't plan well and when things get stressful or busy we just make purchases of convenience. We both have a clear idea of how we want our money spent, for example we hate how much we can spend on convenience food during busy times. We see that as a waste of money and unhealthy for everyone. But when we're in the thick of it and don't have a plan money gets spent.

He also grew up in a family that buys wants pretty regularly. They're all shoppers. And he doesn't want to be that way but struggles to break that habit formed ages ago. 

It's so hard to change habits and thoughts. Maybe looking at what you want to spend, what you are actually spending and then inching the budget down a bit at a time?

[Soror]

Shocking/not shocking news the lady that was supposed to come for the tables backed out. 

This is at least the 3rd person that did this to me. Usually, it is not so rough, although when I sold a table and chair set last year it was just as bad. URGH. People.

Very good news I only had to pay $45 for my xray yesterday. I'd thought it wouldn't be so bad but a local place had told me it would be about 700 so I was very nervous. The place was nice and it was quick so I feel better about the fact that I'll likely have to have a MRI done as well. I just wish it was closer- it's about an hour away but that much of a price difference it is worth it.

[Brittany1116]

2 hours ago, Soror said:

That's ridiculous! At least they finally had a cut. we have budget/levelized billing here- they average out the last 12 bills and you pay that so it only changes a bit each month. There is no charge for this and I like having to pay a fairly steady amount instead of it swinging so much.

 

Yes, it increased so much that we were $40-70 over the same months from the prior year. It definitely prompted us to change some habits with lights and thermostat settings. 

[mommyoffive]

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The coupon will be redeemable through May 13th, 2023, and can be used in-store or online.

[Brittany1116]

Well.

I still can't believe it but yesterday we got tickets to Legoland. Free but had to be used by tomorrow. So we went today. Me and mine plus two of my sister's kids. The gas and food were unplanned expenses but you just don't pass on free LL tix when you are just a few hours away and have kids at the prime ages. 

[mommyoffive]

10 hours ago, Brittany1116 said:

Well.

I still can't believe it but yesterday we got tickets to Legoland. Free but had to be used by tomorrow. So we went today. Me and mine plus two of my sister's kids. The gas and food were unplanned expenses but you just don't pass on free LL tix when you are just a few hours away and have kids at the prime ages. 

Aww, how lucky.  I bet it was a super fun dy.  My kids loved LL better than Disney.

[JustEm]

Just spent some time this morning paying bills and filling in the budget spreadsheet with expenses from the last few days. We are on track so far this month, which is great.

I'm even hoping that the money spent on paint, joint compound, and primer for the dining room can fit into March's budget, even though the funds are already in a sinking fund. We have $1500 set aside for painting multiple rooms and doing some landscaping.  But as much of that as I can keep under budget or pulling it from our normal budget means that we'll be able to replace the living room carpet sooner.  So, that is my main frugal goal for the next few months.

[historically accurate]

Finally home from Mayo Clinic - 3 1/2 weeks is a LONG time to be away from home and splitting the family. Spent the morning cleaning/unpacking/laundry/updating finance information. Printed off the financial assistance paperwork to see if they'll knock some off. Still have to call hotels.com to see if we can get a refund on the last night there - we were so done, we hit the road at noon yesterday after the last appointment. Program seems to be a good start for DD - I am hopeful for more functionality for her.

Celebrated youngest's birthday last night because it was on Sunday. She's my baker, so she made her own cupcakes yesterday.

 

[mommyoffive]

40 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

Finally home from Mayo Clinic - 3 1/2 weeks is a LONG time to be away from home and splitting the family. Spent the morning cleaning/unpacking/laundry/updating finance information. Printed off the financial assistance paperwork to see if they'll knock some off. Still have to call hotels.com to see if we can get a refund on the last night there - we were so done, we hit the road at noon yesterday after the last appointment. Program seems to be a good start for DD - I am hopeful for more functionality for her.

Celebrated youngest's birthday last night because it was on Sunday. She's my baker, so she made her own cupcakes yesterday.

 

Glad you got home safe.  I hope that your dd is on her way more functionality. Happy birthday to your youngest!!

[historically accurate]

And in doing some further financial updating, DD is now free for the year for medical things. I believe that is a record for her! Bring on the doctor appointments (hoping we won't need much though).

[Soror]

Happy budget update here:

I got my first check Wednesday. I officially started on Feb 6th last month so I thought my check would be prorated as I'm salary by the month but it wasn't. My take-home was also a bit more than I thought it would be. So, with that unexpected extra, put my check close enough to the total HELOC amount that I went ahead and paid it off this month. I pulled from my vehicle repair fund to cover the rest. 

I had planned on pulling a bit from my check and loosening up the budget this month but paying off the loan a month early won out 🙂

happy, happy, happy! 

And wait for it..... supposedly someone is coming to buy my tables. I think this is the 4th time??? Any funds will go to April's budget. 

[JustEm]

@Soror that is awesome about paying of the loan! And hopefully someone buys your table.

 

My budget update. We have 6 bdays in March and April that we get gifts for and budgeted for them this month. I knocked 4 off the list and only spent $50 because of discounts and coupon codes. Then yesterday I got one for $0 by using credit card rewards points I didn't even know we had. So, we'll come in roughly $100 under budget once we get the last gift.

We decided to up dh's 401k contributions. We aren't able to max them out quite yet but I'm hoping buy this time next year we'll be in a place financially where we can moving forward. That is my last major financial goal for the year.

We are killing it sticking to the budget this month. Communication and adding purchases to it the day they're made is what has gotten us there. I'm hoping to end the month just as strong as the first half.

Still trying to figure out how to keep our grocery bill from going crazy.

[mommyoffive]

@Soror Yay for a bigger paycheck!! Congratulations on paying off the loan.  

Hopefully the luck of the Irish will mean someone will buy your tables today.

[Brittany1116]

2 hours ago, hjffkj said:

@Soror that is awesome about paying of the loan! And hopefully someone buys your table.

 

My budget update. We have 6 bdays in March and April that we get gifts for and budgeted for them this month. I knocked 4 off the list and only spent $50 because of discounts and coupon codes. Then yesterday I got one for $0 by using credit card rewards points I didn't even know we had. So, we'll come in roughly $100 under budget once we get the last gift.

We decided to up dh's 401k contributions. We aren't able to max them out quite yet but I'm hoping buy this time next year we'll be in a place financially where we can moving forward. That is my last major financial goal for the year.

We are killing it sticking to the budget this month. Communication and adding purchases to it the day they're made is what has gotten us there. I'm hoping to end the month just as strong as the first half.

Still trying to figure out how to keep our grocery bill from going crazy.

I feel ya. We have 8 birthdays between April and May. 

[Brittany1116]

Kohls had extra 50% off clearance. I needed some new shorts and pants and got 8 items for $50. I also had $8 in Old Navy cash so I got the $14 linen pants for $6. 

[Soror]

On 3/17/2023 at 7:15 AM, hjffkj said:

@Soror that is awesome about paying of the loan! And hopefully someone buys your table.

 

My budget update. We have 6 bdays in March and April that we get gifts for and budgeted for them this month. I knocked 4 off the list and only spent $50 because of discounts and coupon codes. Then yesterday I got one for $0 by using credit card rewards points I didn't even know we had. So, we'll come in roughly $100 under budget once we get the last gift.

We decided to up dh's 401k contributions. We aren't able to max them out quite yet but I'm hoping buy this time next year we'll be in a place financially where we can moving forward. That is my last major financial goal for the year.

We are killing it sticking to the budget this month. Communication and adding purchases to it the day they're made is what has gotten us there. I'm hoping to end the month just as strong as the first half.

Still trying to figure out how to keep our grocery bill from going crazy.

Great job keeping on budget!

On 3/17/2023 at 9:55 AM, mommyoffive said:

@Soror Yay for a bigger paycheck!! Congratulations on paying off the loan.  

Hopefully the luck of the Irish will mean someone will buy your tables today.

I *did* have the luck of the Irish and finally sold the tables. Woot! Woot!

I've been planning and scheming about how to allocate my check since I got hired. I talked to dh to verify our goals but I'm the one that plans the nitty gritty. This was a lot of speculation as I wasn't certain of my exact take-home pay. Since I got paid this week and it was a full month's check I did some more precise figuring yesterday. 

Goal 1 - Paying off the HELOC ✅

Goal 2 - Save up to finish the shop

Dh thinks it will take x but I don't think that will be enough so we're saving 1.67x. 

Barring catastrophe that fund will be fully funded with my May 15th paycheck. We're working on this goal next as we don't want to do any more work until we can cash flow it and he only has time to work on it during his summer break. His break will start May 10th so the timing should be perfect.

Our other saving goals are retirement, college for ds, vacation (planning a big one for our 25th next year- which should coincide with dh finishing college), and sinking funds.  Both college and retirement are already being saved for now but we will be increasing those (we were saving a little for vaca but diverted that all to pay off the heloc). 

I have to remember sinking funds are meant to be spent from when needed. I can get stuck on them needing to be full. We are allocating x dollars to these funds. We don't know what might come up this year and where they will end up at the end of the year. Next year we will re-evaluate and fill up what needs to be funded accordingly. 

-------------------------------------------------

Dh and I are planning a date for the end of March. We have some cash we were given at Christmas and I had thought we'd use it to go out to eat but when I considered the options I didn't feel like any were worth the money. I bought some local home-grown steak at the shop where dd1 works yesterday to make and we'll eat a dessert out after the movie. We have gift certificates to use for the movies (a bit left from Christmas and the rest from dh donating blood). So, we shouldn't even use all our Christmas movie for it and will be able to do another cheap date in April too 🙂

Dh needs new shoes for work. Well, he has certain shoes he has to wear on the floor but mostly he's in the office so those are fine. But his other shoes he wears to college, work, around town etc are wearing out. When we went to order some they are discontinuing them and he can't get the color he likes so he doesn't want to replace them yet. 

[mommyoffive]

31 minutes ago, Soror said:

Great job keeping on budget!

I *did* have the luck of the Irish and finally sold the tables. Woot! Woot!

I've been planning and scheming about how to allocate my check since I got hired. I talked to dh to verify our goals but I'm the one that plans the nitty gritty. This was a lot of speculation as I wasn't certain of my exact take-home pay. Since I got paid this week and it was a full month's check I did some more precise figuring yesterday. 

Goal 1 - Paying off the HELOC ✅

Goal 2 - Save up to finish the shop

Dh thinks it will take x but I don't think that will be enough so we're saving 1.67x. 

Barring catastrophe that fund will be fully funded with my May 15th paycheck. We're working on this goal next as we don't want to do any more work until we can cash flow it and he only has time to work on it during his summer break. His break will start May 10th so the timing should be perfect.

Our other saving goals are retirement, college for ds, vacation (planning a big one for our 25th next year- which should coincide with dh finishing college), and sinking funds.  Both college and retirement are already being saved for now but we will be increasing those (we were saving a little for vaca but diverted that all to pay off the heloc). 

I have to remember sinking funds are meant to be spent from when needed. I can get stuck on them needing to be full. We are allocating x dollars to these funds. We don't know what might come up this year and where they will end up at the end of the year. Next year we will re-evaluate and fill up what needs to be funded accordingly. 

-------------------------------------------------

Dh and I are planning a date for the end of March. We have some cash we were given at Christmas and I had thought we'd use it to go out to eat but when I considered the options I didn't feel like any were worth the money. I bought some local home-grown steak at the shop where dd1 works yesterday to make and we'll eat a dessert out after the movie. We have gift certificates to use for the movies (a bit left from Christmas and the rest from dh donating blood). So, we shouldn't even use all our Christmas movie for it and will be able to do another cheap date in April too 🙂

Dh needs new shoes for work. Well, he has certain shoes he has to wear on the floor but mostly he's in the office so those are fine. But his other shoes he wears to college, work, around town etc are wearing out. When we went to order some they are discontinuing them and he can't get the color he likes so he doesn't want to replace them yet. 

Where are you planning for your 25th?  Congratulations on almost being there!  That is awesome.  Does it feel like it is a long time?  Dh and I have been together for 27 years counting the dating years and I always marvel that it doesn't feel like that at all.  But when I think about it the actual time, it blows my mind.

[mommyoffive]

Dh got a raise that was more than double what he was expecting.

paid a medical bill

finally got the last document for taxes yesterday.

Was quoted $400 for a car repair and they charged $0.

[mommyoffive]

The Fed announces ninth-straight interest rate hike of 25 basis points—here's what will get more expensive (msn.com)

[JustEm]

45 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

The Fed announces ninth-straight interest rate hike of 25 basis points—here's what will get more expensive (msn.com)

I'm sure glad we will not need a loan for anything anytime soon

[JustEm]

$900 worth of brake work today on the minivan.  The car maintenance sinking fund covered it but that means in April we've got to budget to start replenishing that.  

I got a small pet sitting gig set up for early April which will be added to the budget planning we do to prepare for the month. 

I increased dh's 401k contributions and had to adjust his w2 because something changed and too much for fed taxes was taken out last paycheck, so I'll be going in blind while trying to plan for his take home for April until his first paycheck comes.

[Soror]

On 3/21/2023 at 12:02 PM, mommyoffive said:

Dh got a raise that was more than double what he was expecting.

paid a medical bill

finally got the last document for taxes yesterday.

Was quoted $400 for a car repair and they charged $0.

Congrats to your dh on his raise!

Ya for a cheap repairs and getting to file taxes.

On 3/22/2023 at 2:37 PM, hjffkj said:

$900 worth of brake work today on the minivan.  The car maintenance sinking fund covered it but that means in April we've got to budget to start replenishing that.  

I got a small pet sitting gig set up for early April which will be added to the budget planning we do to prepare for the month. 

I increased dh's 401k contributions and had to adjust his w2 because something changed and too much for fed taxes was taken out last paycheck, so I'll be going in blind while trying to plan for his take home for April until his first paycheck comes.

I know the w2 stuff stresses me. I went through the calculator for my new job but I'm nervous about it. I guess we'll see! 

It stinks to have to do repairs but at least nicer to have the money set aside.

[Soror]

We've had some extra medical expenses this month and I expect we'll go over on gas but I had some extra in other categories that I've been able to pull from to cover it.

We'll have another month of toooo much gas but then it will be much better. Dh will have off 3 months from college and then I won't be running dd around so much. With me having a work car I should be able to get by with just filling my car once a month.

[mommyoffive]

On 3/22/2023 at 2:37 PM, hjffkj said:

$900 worth of brake work today on the minivan.  The car maintenance sinking fund covered it but that means in April we've got to budget to start replenishing that.  

I got a small pet sitting gig set up for early April which will be added to the budget planning we do to prepare for the month. 

I increased dh's 401k contributions and had to adjust his w2 because something changed and too much for fed taxes was taken out last paycheck, so I'll be going in blind while trying to plan for his take home for April until his first paycheck comes.

Van twins.  We had to do the brakes on our other minivan this week.  Did you have both front and back done?

[JustEm]

11 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Van twins.  We had to do the brakes on our other minivan this week.  Did you have both front and back done?

yes

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, Soror said:

We've had some extra medical expenses this month and I expect we'll go over on gas but I had some extra in other categories that I've been able to pull from to cover it.

We'll have another month of toooo much gas but then it will be much better. Dh will have off 3 months from college and then I won't be running dd around so much. With me having a work car I should be able to get by with just filling my car once a month.

we're thinking that we'll likely go over on gas this month too. there is still hope. 

[JustEm]

Did the grocery shopping for the week and have roughly $150 left for groceries for the month, which is great. I'm pretty sure I'll spend another $50 because I have to pick up some on sale meat to go into the freezer for next month.

For next month, I'll put the $100 towards stocking up the freezer and pantry with stock up sale prices I come across. or that is the plan

[prairiewindmomma]

We went over on gas this month. Family came into town unexpectedly and we did some sight seeing and some unplanned expenses.

We had some other unplanned expenses 🤦so we went into our cushion a bit so we are now entirely home for spring break. We had contemplated taking a car trip away for a weekend but are choosing to build back our cushion.

Our upstairs gas fireplace has died entirely. The repair person can’t find replacement parts and so our option is to do without or replace it. We’ve done without this winter, but it’s not a great long term plan. We are adding that to the list of things to save for.

We need to buy one more box of 5” wood for the floors and some other little things and then those costs will be done. We have just two rooms left to go! Next up after that is our primary bedroom closet. The original builder grade shelves are about to collapse, so I need to make some decisions and order in. 
 

We still hope this is our forever home but we are nervous given what’s been happening in the tech sector. I will feel better when the house is put back together in case we have to do a sudden relo. Our last move happened on a two week timeframe from job offer to living  cross country with the house on the market and us in temporary housing so I have been deep cleaning and sorting this spring to make sure we aren’t far from being market ready.