It’s been a crazy week for my July challenge. There has been a lot of buying and returning — primarily travel-related and clothing. I will try to be more diligent with my online orders, and hold off purchasing clothes until September. I’m definitely a work in progress as far as online spending.
In other news, I decided to go ahead with the bone stimulator ($2,000) for my foot, because I will try anything before surgery. That will come directly out of our Health Savings Account fund.
An Unexpected expense.
I spoke with my son this week. He is still on deployment and unfortunately got Covid as did most of the sailors on his ship. He told me he was pretty sick for a while but thankfully he is now on the mend. He was vaccinated and boosted, so I imagine he contracted the new variant while in a port. He never asks for anything, but this time he asked for snacks. I was out the door as soon as I ‘hung up’ the phone (as any Mama would do 😉 ). $180 later (and worth every penny), a 14x14x14 care package was on its way. 🙂 Included items: Vitamins, Emergen-C’s, cough drops, toothbrush, soups, mac and cheese (add water), cookies, beef jerky, chips, and candy (the non-chocolate variety, as chocolate would melt). It was filled to the brim. He is in a port now, so I hope his package will get to him soon!
Without further ado, here is my July 11-17 spending:
- Groceries & Eating Out: $51.00
- Misc.: $3.00
- Pets: $99.86 (dog food and dog pool)
- Misc. travel: $99.00 (Travelon backpack/cross body bags)
- Mom & Dad: $38.00
- Spontaneous Giving: $180.00
Total spend: $371.86
It is clear that I won’t make my $750 challenge, especially since I’ll need to do a large grocery shop soon. Unexpected expenses will always pop up, and as long as I can keep my usual categories within limits, I’ll still be able to sock a little money into savings.
JOURNEY TO RETIREMENT 
Family is my downfall, kids and grandkids but I don’t have issues with that (with the exception of over buying kids clothes :(, which I’m trying hard to control better). Family is everything. Also I so envy you with your vacation plans with your husband. I was widowed at 40, he was 41 from cancer. Do everything you can now, don’t take those opportunities for granted, you’ll never regret time spent together.
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JE, I’m so heartbroken for you that you lost your husband so young. My husband is everything to me, and actually one of the reasons we booked this trip now is for that very reason. You just don’t know what will happen.
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I’m glad he’s feeling better! That fun box full of treats is sure to bring a big smile to his face i’m sure!!
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Thanks Carla! 🙂
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Hi Sharon, this is Chris. I did have a frugal fail for the Challenge last week. Little granddaughter came on Friday for part of the day and my brain was fried when she left, so hubby and I did go out to eat. We stopped at Mod Pizza and each had a personal pizza and soda. With 15% tip it was $29.xx. Otherwise the week was ok. I think I had mentioned I was looking for cat food deals. I didn’t find a deal, but did find some canned cat food and got 2 boxes at regular price for kitty. I give her 1/2 can a day with her medicine in it. The canned food has been hard to find here.
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It sounds like you had a good week! Mod pizza was definitely worth it if it saved your sanity. 😉
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I only spent this week on two major categories but both were within my yearly budget allocations . My car maintenance totaled $300.64 for Subaru dealership oil change club-five oil changes at my dealership, tire rotation, and by hand done free exterior/interior free car wash , 48,000 service check and found out I need 4?new tires. $900-$1,000 Ouch!
My second purchase was $168. 24 for six tops, three dresses, and pajamas for my vacation/ 50th reunion at Macy’s 40-60% off sale. Going back to keto diet , increasing bed exercises and walking my grand dog I firmed up and trimmed ten pounds so far this month. My food budget is trimmed drastically too. And no restaurant take out. $32 total for the month.
Sincerely, Nora
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Wow! I’m a little jealous of the 10 lbs loss…Macy’s had a great sale, but I had to return everything because nothing fit. 😦 You did great with the sale AND the week!
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Hi Sharon, Everything OK with You? I got my Macy’s order and all the tops need to be return because their size chart and the measurements are totally different by four inches! The pajamas and dresses I love. Sincerely, Lara
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Yes! Thank you for checking. I’m trying to figure out what the heck I did with my July’s challenge! I’ve been purchasing and returning so much stuff for our trip in September, that I had no idea how to do an update. I’ll be updating for the whole month by Monday. 🙂
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Glad all is well. I will wait till then to update you on how I finished the challenge. Looks like we are finishing off a positive month for the stock market! Yea! Sincerely, Lara
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Yes!
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