A July Challenge Update….a little late.

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I apologize for this late update, a lot of unexpected stuff came up and my blog fell to the wayside. I closed out July on Saturday, and thankfully it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Spoiler alert: I did not meet my challenge goal.

Let’s just get right to the numbers–

July’s spending:

• Groceries/Eating Out: $623.00
• Personal Care: $182.00
• OTC/Medical: $74.00
• Clothes & Accessories: $395.00 (hubby bought a few items too!)
• Gasoline: $32.00
• Gifts/Spontaneous giving: $352.00
• Mom &Dad: $80.00
• Pet: $66.00 (dog food and misc. accessories)
• Travel (road trips and misc. travel products): $665.00

Total: $2,117.00

I was $1,367 over my goal of $750.00. I can honestly say I do not regret any of the spending. After analyzing the different categories and amounts, I realized that at least $1,000 of the $1,367 overage was for my trip to Italy this September. Planning this trip has sparked so much joy, that I’m not the least bit discouraged from failing this challenge. I’m actually energized and excited for more opportunities to travel, especially in retirement. 🙂

I know some of you were doing the challenge with me, and have been successful! Congrats! Please let me know what you are going to do with all that extra money you saved!

How was July for you?

July Challenge Update: July 11-17

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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!

An idea of what I sent. 🙂 (via)

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.

How was your week?

July: A challenge update and a few unexpected surprises!

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It’s July 12th, and I’m well into my July savings challenge. As far as the everyday spending, I did well.

Here is my spending from July 1st – July 10th:

• Groceries/Eating Out: $107.96
• Road trips (excluding actual vacations): $169.01 (a trip to NY to visit my parents)
• Gas: $0 (All gas was for our NY trip included above)
• Vet/Dog Food: $0
• Personal care/household. $37.00
• Gifts: $17.02
• Clothes: $0
• OTC Meds: $16.00
• Personal spending: $0

Total Spending: $346.99

My goal was to only spend $750 for the whole month, however certain circumstances and happy surprises have made me change this month’s challenge and pivot.

Here’s what happened in July (so far):

1. My foot is still fractured: An MRI confirmed it. Okay, this wasn’t really a surprise, but I was a bit disheartened. The orthopaedic doctor said I had three options – 1. stay off foot and give it more time 2. try a stem treatment to stimulate growth in the bone for the low, low price of $2000, or 3. have surgery. (He didn’t sound confident in any of the choices, so I can tell you surgery will be the very last resort.) I’m seeking a second opinion and I will see where this leads before I make any decision. In the meantime? I liked option 1 the best, so I’m staying off my foot.
2. My husband received a raise! This was quite unexpected, as he hasn’t had a raise in three years. It was a very welcome surprise. 🙂
3. We booked a trip to Italy! We were presented with an opportunity to take a ‘bucket list’ trip this September to Italy. The price was amazing, so we decided to go for it, foot issue and all. We booked a 9-night Mediterranean cruise. We will be spending two days in Barcelona, Spain before the cruise and two days in Rome, Italy after. My husband and I are thrilled to be able to go on this trip, something we’ve wanted to do for a very long time. (The extra money from my husband’s raise actually clinched the deal. 😉 )

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The trip itself was paid for from our vacation/travel account, which we’ve been building up for just such an occasion. Since we’ve never been to Europe, I want to purchase some extra travel items as well as some new clothes. This will most certainly put me over my savings challenge budget, which I am perfectly fine with. I still hope to reign in my normal expenses i.e. eating out, groceries, personal spending, etc. so that I can put away some extra spending money for the trip. I’ll do a follow up monthly spend at the end of the month. 🙂

How was your week? Any suggestions for how to dress for Spain, France and Italy in September? Please share!

June Spending: Adding it up.

Every Monday during 2022, I am posting an update on what I spent for the week (variable spending only) as a way of keeping myself accountable for my impulse spending. Also, to see my true savings, I am tracking items I was tempted to buy but didn’t.

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(I thought I would post this a day early)

June is in the books, as well as the first half of 2022. It’s hard to believe how fast this year is going, and also how slow. (I’m anxious, for many reasons, for this year to be over!).

This week’s spending is rather high, mainly because of gift-giving. I was late in getting wedding cards out (to weddings we didn’t attend) and a family friend’s baby. I decided to just get it down all in one fell swoop. Ouch. I also filled up my gas tank on the 30th, and both categories felt a bit like ‘cheating’ before going into July’s challenge, but I wanted to be fully transparent.

Here is the spending for June 27 – 30th:

• Groceries: $121.31
• Eating out: $45.00
• Personal Care: $7.00
• Gifts: $506.00! (2 family birthdays, two weddings, and a baby shower!)
• Gas: $41.65

Total: $720.96

June’s recap of spending by week:

• June 1-6: $1,660.73
• June 7-13: $321.13
• June 14-19: $724.52
• June 20-26: $384.66
• June 27-30: $720.96

Total Spending for June: $3,812.00.

Not the best month, but pretty consistent with my average spending. Hopefully, I can whittle that down to at least half going forward.

How was June for you?

A July Savings Challenge and beyond!

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Anyone up for a good challenge? I am! Especially after reviewing my numbers from the year’s first half! I was shocked to learn that I have been averaging about $4,000 a month in variable spending. Although that average was skewed by April’s unusually high month, it is just too high and does not reflect how we hope to spend our money when we reach retirement.

Since we are tentatively nine months away from our planned retirement, higher cash savings will be key. We have saved quite a bit of money so far this year, but there is room for improvement.

So..I’ve decided it’s time to super-charge our cash savings. For this July Challenge, I would like to limit variable spending to only $750.00. Then, going forward until April 2023, I would like to spend no more than $1,500.00 a month.

That includes the following categories:

• Groceries/Eating Out
• Road trips (excluding actual vacations)
• Gas
• Vet/Dog Food
• Personal care/household
• Gifts
• Clothes
• Personal spending

Spending only $750 in July will definitely be a challenge. I’ve been looking over the categories and trying to plan out where the $750 will be spent.

We have a trip to NY planned, as well as a birthday celebration. Gas for the trip will take up nearly $100 of the $750 (even if we take my husband’s hybrid).

I don’t need clothes, make-up, household items, or gifts in July (just a family party gathering) and I already have hair color to take care of the grey roots.

As far as the dog, I won’t need to purchase dog food either. I still have plenty of kibble left, plus I can supplement with boiled chicken and brown rice. We just need to take care that he stays healthy because vet bills are outrageous. Last month Auggie had a double ear infection that cost us $500. We do have insurance on him, but we have not yet met the $1,000 deductible.

I feel ready for this challenge, but July is a long month. We will have to find things to do that won’t cost money, or at least not very much. (Any suggestions or ideas you may have on how to make July fun while spending very little would be welcomed!).

As usual, I’ll update every Monday with the week’s spending.

Anyone else want to save money with me?