robex's Personal Finance Blog

Yay! Another no spend day--that makes 3 out of 10 for the month. Tomorrow will hopefully be another one.

Ways I saved money today:
1) Hung up a load of laundry.
2) Baked zucchini muffins, and brownies. Froze half the muffins for school lunches.
3) Made homemade pretzel buns. When we were out on Saturday ds11 had a soft pretzel bun from the bakery and the kids all loved it. I went on the internet, found a recipe for soft pretzels, and made the buns. I had to sprinkle regular salt on the top because I didn't have any coarse salt, but they turned out yummy! Everyone has one packed in their lunch for tomorrow.
4) Threw the shower curtain and liner in the washing machine with towels. Usually I throw out the liner and buy a new one but I thought I would try this first and it cleaned really well. Hung them back up straight out of the washing machine. I don't think the liner can go in the dryer anyways, and really, does it make sense to dry it?

The kids are in bed, lunches are packed (with the exception of the pasta that will go into their thermoses in the morning), backpacks are by the door, and clothes are laid out. Tomorrow is ds5's first day of kindergarten and he is so excited! I will be dropping the kids off at school, working from 9-2 and picking them up on my way home. I'm glad to be going to work--don't want to think too much about my last baby going to school. I bawled with my first, cried with my second, and think if I drip a few tears tomorrow, oh well! As long as he doesn't know, I don't care! I'm sure I'll get used to the freedom fairly quickly.

We decided to take the kids to a fall fair yesterday. We got there and it was 12 bucks to get in and then all the activities inside cost money. We decided to forgo the fair and we went for a little hike in a park nearby instead. We stopped at a warehouse store on the way home and spent $25.00 there and then went to Red Robin's for lunch/dinner and spent 45 dollars. I was okay with that...we could have come home and made something but dh had already told the kids we were going out to eat. My kids love to eat out!

I won a $100.00 gift certificate to Future Shop through my work. Last winter we bought a dvd player that didn't work. I had taken it back and got the money back but never bought another one, so we used the gift certificate plus $120.00 of our money to buy a dvd/vcr/mp3 combo. We certainly didn't need anything quite this fancy, but dh really wanted it. I would have bought the cheaper model if it had been up to just me, but he usually doesn't give an opinion on major purchases, so I didn't argue with him. Well, I did give my opinion, but he chose to not take my advice, and I didn't care enough to push the point.

Today at work I bought breakfast. With my meal and tip I only spent $4.00. Shoot! I could have brought something from home and had a no spend day--just realized that!

Finishing yesterday's entry, now...
After the periodontist appointment, I took ds11 to school and then went to sign up ds5 and dd9 for their gymnastics. There was a $25.00 gym membership for each of them for the year and then it's 60 per month for dd and 45 per month for ds. Ouch! Then we went to register dd for Girl Guides and spent 70 dollars there.
I don't even want to think of the grand total...

Friday for work I attended a fundraiser ball. It was beautiful and the food was delicious. I did buy a gorgeous top to wear, but stayed with a skirt and shoes from my closet. The blouse cost me 50 bucks (including a necklace to go with it!), but my birthday is coming up and my Dad always sends a generous cheque. So this year I'm going to buy clothes...Happy Birthday to me!

Ds11 is sick, just a stomach flu. It's my day off today so I think we're just going to hang out and relax--maybe go for a walk later if ds feels better.

Ds11 does not have to have gum surgery at this point. We will check back in a year to see how things look, but it's a no go at this point. We spent 10 minutes with the periodontist to the tune of $100.00! Ds looked at me after I paid and said "He gets paid like 10 bucks a minute. If it costs that much just for what he did, how much will my braces cost? Are we going to have to live on the street because we can't afford our house anymore?".
Dh told him that's why he had to get a paper route. LOL! We'll get $65.00 back from my dental plan at work.

My brother and I run the fundraising committee at the kids' school...well, we are the only two people on it, so I guess we run eachother. First full day of school yesterday and we were right back at it. We've decided to only do 3 fundraisers this year so it should be pretty easy...they all sell well and we've done them before and, although time consuming, they're not difficult. I'm looking forward to working with my brother, too. We have always been close and he lived 3000 miles away for about 10 years and I really missed him. So glad to have him live so close to me now.

Yesterday was not a no spend day as I had hoped. I spent $8.00 on groceries-big bag of rice, macaroni and cheese, and shake and bake (not a necessity, but soooo good). I also had to hand in $35.00 for kindergarten supplies for the year. Today I'm going to sign the kids up for their fall activities so that will cost about $500.00, but will be spread out over the next few months. They each must pick one activity to be involved in, and are allowed to do two.

Ds11 has a periodontist appointment today. Apparently he has thin gums and needs some minor surgery to repair this. This will be very interesting, as a simple filling is enough to revert him back to the tantruming stages of a terrible two year old. He simply cannot stand having his mouth worked on, which will be great because he gets braces in the new year! Poor guy!

I'll plan for a no spend day tomorrow.

First day of school went well. The older kids are in temporary classrooms this week until the school figures out how many kids are in each grade, whether there needs to be split classes etc. I really hope that the kids stay in the classes that they're in now because I really like their teachers. Ds5 has a meeting with his kindergarten teacher tomorrow and then my friend is taking him out to breakfast to celebrate his first day of school...she doesn't have kids and she spoils him rotten. The love is returned in multitudes and ds5 calls her his girlfriend and says when he grows up he's buying her a truck, a car, a bus, and a boat!

Tomorrow I have the kindergarten meeting, some fundraising organizing to do for the school and a funeral to go to for my friend's little boy--he was only 10 years old and had been sick for a long time. It's very sad and unfair to have to watch this and I hurt so much for his parents. Not much to say on this subject right now...

Luckily, I don't work tomorrow. I work Thursday and Friday from 4:00-whenever I want and have Saturday off.

Today I spent $4.00 on groceries, $8.00 on chocolates for a co-worker who has helped me out tremendously the past week getting my work done, and $11.00 on dinner for myself and my boss who often treats me to lunch or dinner and never lets me pay for her!

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a no-spend day--that would be 3 out of 10 for September!

This is my second no spend day of September--I'm trying for 10 and I think that I should be able to do it easily!

Back to school for the kids tomorrow which means back to a routine for me. I washed, dried, and folded 4 loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, took ds5 and nephew to the park, got dinner started, and made new lists for each of the kids showing before bed routines and morning routines. I always start off the school year with them making their own lunches and putting their clothes out for the next day and usually by October the whole plan is blown out of the water and I do it all. I'm trying to hold out this year, be the mean mommy that I know I can be, and make life easy for any future dils I may have...it's my own fault for spoiling my own kids. When I was growing up, we had tons of responsibilities (comes with the territory of a single working mom) and I want my kids to be kids and not deal with what we went through. However, that does not mean that I should still be packing lunches and backpacks for them!

I'm off to iron my clothes for work. I'm doing the 4:00-11:00pm shift as a favour for a friend. Last time!

Yay! I'm home alone! Dh took the kids to his brother's house for dinner and I just got off work and have about 3 hours ALL TO MYSELF! I love being home alone...it is so rare. Just the cat and I in a quiet, silent, peaceful house...blissful!

Worked from 8:00am-6:00pm today. On Tuesday I start my new position so if I don't want to work such a long Sunday I don't have to...I get to pretty much choose my own hours and I can't wait!

Didn't spend anything today. I brought breakfast (banana, cereal bar, and yogurt) and lunch (baked potato and leftover pork roast from Friday). I was going to stop and get dinner (either sushi or Chinese food) and treat myself but when I thought over how much I spent last week on school clothes, groceries, and the movie day, I changed my mind and will eat something later if I get hungry. We have leftover roast from last night so that's what I'll eat if I'm going to have something.

Dd9's first major ortho payment is due this month to the tune of $1000.00--after this it's $150.00 every month for the next 17 months...oh, wait! it gets better...ds11 gets his braces on in January and that will be one payment of $1500.00 and $200.00 per month for I don't know how long. Oh well, my parents paid for my teeth and both of them have actually offered to make payments if we need them to. It won't come to that, but it sure was nice of them to offer. We have the money for both major payments, so it's not too big a deal. I just hate emptying out the account when we try so hard to save!

I'm off now to enjoy my quiet time!

Slept in until 11:15 am! I could hear the kids every so often but not enough to really wake up...besides dh was home and lying in bed watching t.v. If anything major crashed he would have gotten up!

Spent 40 bucks at the movies yesterday...that's admission for 5 and popcorn and drinks, too. We don't go often, now I know why. The new theatre near us charges 12.50 for adult admission, so dh and I have only gone there once and we used a 2 for 1 coupon. My nephew's bday party was there a few weeks ago and I shudder to think what the cost for that was.

Today I spent 45 dollars on gas for the van and 25.00 on groceries and hygiene items, which puts our grocery amount at 210.00 for September...only 27 days left and 240.00 dollars...I think I can...I think I can...

The kids start school on Tuesday and my ds5 starts kindergarten the week after. I love having them home (I really enjoy my kids--they are very entertaining!), but I'm ready to get back into our routine and I'm excited about starting my new position at work. I'm hoping a nice raise comes with it! Dh accepted a new job really close to home, only 23 hours a week but great pay, so we will manage nicely. The great part is that the job he's been working at temporarily for the last month told him that if he wants to work one or two days a week with them then that's fine. Work will be available for him there until at least the new year...extra money that we don't really need. I love it! I think we might start saving for another trip to Disneyland. I turn 40 next year and I would love to be in Disneyland for my 40th birthday. That would be so cool.

I'm going to put in a roast for dinner tonight with some carrots and potatoes and corn from the garden. I meant to put it in the crockpot this morning, but blew the day with my sleep in!

We went to the mall and bought my son's friend (used to be close, now my son informs me he doesn't really like him anymore) a birthday gift...our family is quite close to theirs and his mom and I help eachother out with childcare every so often. We spent 22.00--I usually try to stick to under 15.00, but made an exception here.

I'm taking my 3 kids and my niece to Madagascar this afternoon. End of the summer treat for them and it 's a matinee but will still cost 5 bucks each plus snacks. I don't bring our own snacks into the theatre because, as tempting as it is, there are signs all over saying it's not allowed and I'm very picky about stuff like that, especially when I have my kids with me. I don't believe in breaking rules just to save money. I think it teaches kids to cheat, but I do know lots of people who do stuff like lying about their kids ages to get them in cheaper etc. To each their own, I guess!

I work my last late night shift tonight...from now on I will be sleeping at 3:00am just like all other normal people!

We set our September grocery budget at $450.00. Today I went to Costco and spent 185.00. We were pretty scarce on the food front at home and we got enough for 22 dinners, so I'm happy because that will almost take us through September...add in a couple of leftover nights, pots of soup, take out a couple of times, and I think we might make it. Each week I'll have to get fruit and vegies, milk, bread and lunch meat, so we have a good chance of making our goal.

August's goal was 350.00 and we were over by 3.56. VERY HAPPY!

So my little 4 hour shift today turned into a 6.5 hour nightmare! The person who was supposed to send me the information I needed didn't send it until way after the time that it should have been there. By the time I had downloaded it and printed it I was really late for picking up my kids and for my dad's birthday dinner. According to my sil, my kids and her kids did not behave their best today, either. I feel bad because she offered to take them for me and have my dad's dinner at her house, so she was really helping me out and then she supremely got the short end of the stick with poorly behaved kids, me working way later than I thought and my dh having to put in 2 hours of overtime to get his job done on time. Oh! What a day! That's the thing about family, I guess. Next time it will be my turn to cover for her. She was very good about it, though. We get along very well, although I wouldn't say we were great friends. I'm very close to my brother, but sil and I are just very different personality-wise.

I'm so glad that tomorrow is September! My favourite month...I love fall and back to school and my birthday is in September, too. We're going to do a big grocery shop tomorrow.

The extra 20 dollars that my work owed me ended up being 65.00 because I received money from something else that I had done that I didn't know I'd be getting extra for...so I actually ended a month with spending money in my wallet--what a concept! This is the last week where I'll be covering two positions. Next week I start full time doing the job that I love with my favourite manager of all time! I'll be working in her office with her some days and then evenings on my own. I got a new desk, a phone, and a laptop...I am very excited!

Somedays I don't know what I'm thinking! My shift last night was 6:00pm to 3:00am. I usually never buy food at work, but last night I did not plan and my family was having leftovers for dinner. I ate a burrito at home at 5:00 and by 9:00 I was starving. No snacks, no dinner, nothing. I HATE when I do this because I know I'm going to be hungry...The only kitchen open at work (we actually have 6) was out of the special so I ended up having chicken strips and fries for $7.00! I didn't even really want it by the time it was ready. The only good thing about it was I ended up sharing it with someone else who was on the night shift who didn't bring anything from home and didn't bring money because he didn't want to spend it on food at work! One day I may learn...


Thank you, thank you, thank you to the person who gave my journal stars--this is certainly keeping me motivated to keep recording!

Well, I have to go get ready for work. I have a short 11:00-3:00 shift covering for someone else. It's 9:20, I need to shower, whip to the dollar store, and take the kids to my brother's. Good thing I'm centrally located.

And the grand total of the back to school shop was 235.00!!!!!

We went to Wal Mart and bought 6 shirts, 7pairs of pants, 3 pks. socks, boxers, black skirt (for me!), one pair of light up runners, hot dogs and buns, chocolates, and 70 tootsie pops for my Dad's birthday to make him a card that says 70 Sucks! on it. I don't think that we did too bad, but I did put it all on my cc and won't have to pay that bill until October!

I have to work the late shift tonight 6:00pm-3:00am. It's going to be a long night because I'm extremely tired, and it's rarely busy after 11:00pm on Tuesday. Well, I do have some other work that I can do--it's sometimes hard for me to concentrate if I'm too tired. I think I'll go try and have a little nap right now and maybe that will help a bit!

Just finished watching the Sponge Bob Movie with my 3 kids...they laugh out loud so much at him. It's funny just to sit and watch their reactions to things!

Spent 16.00 at Superstore yesterday. Bought 3 loaves of bread, 3 dozen eggs, chips for dh, tons of bananas (only 29cents a lb.), a big box of soda crackers, and 5 mini bottles of dasani water that were in the sale box and the plastic bottles will be perfect to refill and send in lunch boxes to school because they are the perfect fit. I was going to buy some new rubbermaid drinking containers, but these should work fine and were only 29 cents each! I only send water to school for my kids because I don't think that they drink enough of it and I have a problem with garbage created by drinking boxes and packaging in general. Our school has a vending machine for drinks that does have juice and lemonade (no soda), but my kids are only allowed to buy a drink if they use their own money. The older two (11 and 9) share a paper route and are given 30.00 each a month of that money to spend as they wish, but at 1.00 per drink they don't usually choose to go there! Ds11 loves to buy books, and dd9 likes jewellery, stuffed animals, nail polish etc. They use their own money for junk food, but since they're not permitted to go to the store on their own (it's just a tad too far away for my comfort zone, although most of their friends are allowed to go alone) it's maybe once a week that dh or I will take them there.
Youngest ds5 has his own spending money. We give him tickets for jobs and each ticket is worth 25cents that he may cash in for money as he likes. It usually adds up to about 2 dollars a week, but he'll sometimes earn nothing and other weeks go all out and make 5 dollars.

Today is going to be a huge spending day because we are going to do our back to school clothes shopping and need 6 pairs pants, 4 shirts, one pair of runners and everyone in the house needs new socks and/or underwear.
I'll check back in later with the grand total...

I don't know what happened to my last journal entry...

I'll redo it, still not great on the computer!

My husband and I challenged ourselves to spend under 350.00 on groceries this month. We have about 10 dollars left and will be slightly over by the time I pick up a few things before Thursday. I was pleased that dh got involved in it with me, usually he doesn't care what I spend money on as long as he has some for his own use!

For September we are going to try to stay under 450.00...we're starting off with pretty empty food cupboards and need some lunch items for school!

I didn't spend anything today as I brought lunch to work with me.

Always looking for a way to save something, I have two wooden drying racks that I can fit one load of laundry on. I've been trying to do one load every morning, hang it, and then throw it in the dryer to soften up the next morning for about five minutes before I fold. New load goes in the washing machine and repeat...I've done pretty well at this all summer and today it was a touch colder so my laundry is hanging in the garage. I'll have to see how long it takes to dry.

Other than that, we spent 4.00 on older two kids swimming (I took the youngest and his friend to the free water park). They spent their own money on Slurpees.

Made chicken soup from some leftover pieces of chicken I froze last month. Kids loved it and everyone had two bowls--almost threw the pieces out because they were just backs. Glad I didn't.

I quite enjoy reading everyone's journals and I'm hoping that by keeping my own money journal, I'll be encouraged to keep our goals in mind on a regular basis.
Dh recently quit his job and is working temporarily at another position until he decides what he really wants to do. This was all done with my total support as he supported me when we had our 3 kids and I wanted to be a SAHM. I have always worked part time, close to home, and around everyone's schedule, but have recently been offered a full time position for a job that I love, although the pay is not super. So in the last 2 months, our position has somewhat changed. Financially we are fine, albeit a little tight, something that we have not been in quite some time.
When we were first together and in university, we were super poor. After we had our first son, we once again had nothing extra to spare. Even in these lean times we managed not to have any debt other than our mortgage. We now owe about $90K on a $370k mortgage and have about $85K in retirement funds.
We still save $150.00 a week for retirement, are putting aside 200-300 a month, building our reserve funds (we currently have 2500, but would like to see that go to 5000, and then start on a freedom account), and have a separate account that we put 600 monthly into for yearly expenses ie. car insurance, property tax, Christmas, vacation, and house insurance.
We have never spent more than we made, but I know that we can always save more than we do...I tend to fritter money away on eating out, convenient groceries, and I don't know what else.
My new plan for the month of September is to take $700.00 at the beginning of the month and use it for groceries and all spending money--if we can do this for our family of 5, I will be amazed, surprised, thrilled etc!