August '13 Spending

I guess I'll start with saying

we spent money... 

and were going to spend more

First off, SCB and I got to get sealed in the Newport Beach Temple this month as you all saw in the photos we posted on Monday...

And because we had such a big day and event planned for us, we had lots of family come in to town to visit... and so we spent a good amount of money this month.

Family/Sealing
Since we weren't at home much while they were there, we ate out more frequently... including treating the whole family to a nice dinner at Stone Fire Grill to thank them for traveling out to California to see us all (we included this amount in our over all eating out number below)...

La Brea Tar Pit :)

We visited the La Brea Tar Pits ($31.59)

Paid a photographer $200 to capture a wonderful day

Paid some baby sitters $30 to occupy the little ones for our sealing.

Paid $58 in alterations to my white dress because it was too big in the top and too small in the sleeves.... That also included getting my temple dress hemmed because it was too long.
 

I bought some make up ($43.72) and did my own hair/make up for the sealing instead of paying for someone to do it since it was much cheaper... so I spent $45 instead of like $200 at a salon, so I call that a win. 

SCB dancing with our Dog...

Other Expenses

Then there was the stuff that came up 

• We bought a tablet from one of SCB brother's for $175 so we can finally get rid of the 2 semi working laptops that we no longer want to use... (this was want... and after a year and a half of unemployment we were happy to get such a good deal!)
• We purchased some camping "72 hour" meals from WOOT.com for $146.95 (This was so last minute that had we known about the offer sooner, we would have probably bought more stuff that was already sold out--- but this falls in line with our church prepardness project we are working on)
• Then there was the stuff off Amazon: $59.69 (really $19.69 after my CC Rewards)
• We paid our Costco Renewal: $55
• and then we bought a second Fan for $28.00 after we saw what our whopper $100+ Electricity Bill looked like for using our wall ac unit...
• The couch $667.52 we replaced at the beginning of the month
• and a lot of little things that added up to $116.03.... including the BEST $10 I have spent in a long while:

We bought some magnets for our fridge that had these cute little hooks on them which freed up so much space in our drawer and makes it so I can actually reach the pot holders now (SCB liked to put them on top of the fridge)... and we bought hooks. 

I know so simple right? But I love being able to have a place for Roxy's park bag and my purse, and any bags I have that I use to ferry things to and from work. I hate clutter and things on the floor... Seriously the best $10 I have spent in a while!

Then there was the Car Problem... and Solution

Date Night at CA Fish Gril

We know that in the next year or so we will have to take "Wanda," SCB's '91 Ford Escort, in for another smog check... and she will most likely fail because they have recently changed the emission standards in California.

Now, originally Wanda was given to SCB for free from a family member (I think his grandpa)... and we have been letting it be known that when we can't keep her,  we would be willing to "give" her away. An idea was forming that Wanda would go to Oregon (where there are no emission standards) since SCB has a nephew up there that will be turning 16 in a year or so. Well, I got a phone call this week informing me that one of SCB's older brothers actually needs a car and the family that was planning on receiving Wanda wanted us to contact him first and offer her to him when we get rid of her.

The goal has always been for us to keep Wanda as long as we legally could... and we would test her at renewal in hopes that she would pass before relinquishing her to someone else. 

The brother who currently needs a car is working for peanuts while he finished his PHD... and doesn't really have the money to purchase a car... But his need for one has increased so much that he has apparently been trying to find a way to afford another family members car that is now "up for sale."  

"Sally" the car that is up for sale, is a '03 Ford Escort with around 60,000 miles... Since this is a transaction between family members, Sally has been offered to be sold for only $2k. The amount is much lower then they paid for her (especially considering all the repairs that went into her) because A) their brother really needs a car... and B) the brother who currently owns Sally will be able to use their parents spare car and home for free while their parents are on an 18 month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (For insurance issues/purposes, the grad student would not be able to just use their parents car when they leave)... 

 

When we initialy heard about Sally, we asked the grad student brother if he would be interested in having Wanda for free instead. Without hesitation he told us that a free car would be a blessed relief over paying for one... but that the problem was time. He couldn't wait a year for her to probably fail Smog... and miss out on the $2k car that needed to be sold relatively soon.    

After some talking, I tossed out the idea to SCB of purchasing Sally for $2k so we could give Wanda to his brother. We essentially would be getting a great deal on a car identical to the model we have now... but with 80,000 LESS miles, a good paint job and better interior, and would most likely have fewer emissions issues down the road... The only downside we found out is that she, like Wanda, has a broken AC unit.

After some thought and conversation, we decided we would drive Wanda out to Utah over the Labor Day weekend and purchase Sally for $2,000... (Since SCB doesn't have any vacation time and we both magically have Labor Day off, this is the only weekend we could make it happen). We have also negotiated for someone to front the cost of fixing the AC, ($600) so we don't die driving home from Vegas in the current heat wave sitting in holiday traffic on Monday. So in total, we are purchasing a 2003 Ford Escort with 60,000 miles, a working AC unit, a better paint job and interrior, with a chance of passing emission standards for many more years down the line for $2,600.00  

In preparation for the trip to Utah, we took Wanda in for an oil change and check up... and discovered both her front and back breaks needed to be replaced... her radiator had cracked, and the thermostat needed to be repaired.

All in all it would cost us $1,045.47 to get her out to Utah...

When we told SCB's parents and brothers about the repairs (we didn't feel in good concious that we could give his brother a car with those issues, nor did we think we could safely drive it to Utah without fixing them now), they offered to pay the $1,000 to fix Wanda up since we are giving her away...

We originally thought the AC repair on Sally would be $1,000 so they may just pay the AC repair bill instead for us... but were just going to figure out who is paying for what when we get there.

So for now, we'll add $1045.47 in car repairs to August's spending.

What we Spent this month

Housing  $1,021.99
Roxy (our dog)  $44.26
Groceries/House Items $491.77
Eating Out  $291.35
Car Repairs  $1,045.47
Gasoline  $273.29
Car washes  $10.00
Electricity  $109.48
Giving  $603.00
Cell Phones $40.00

Internet $28.99

Pocket Money  $85.00
Health Insurance  $178.00
Clothes- scb  $19.43
Other  $1,611.50

What we spent money on in 2013:

• Church Giving: $3,513.00
• Groceries/Household Supplies: $2,202.60
• Wanda and Stitch (our '91 Ford Escort & '04 Toyota Camry):
• Gasoline: $1,490.12
• Car Registration: $189.00
• Car Insurance: $520.34
• Car Repairs: $1,536.74
• Car Washes: $10
• Date Night/ Eating Out: $962.63
• Cell Phones: $989.63
• Internet: 239.71
• Electricity: $427.42
• House:
• HOA: $2115
• Mortgage: $5,924.47
• Refinance: $447.00
• Clothes:
• SCG: $433.75
• SCB: $233.46
• Medical/Dental/Dr/Prescriptions
• Heath Insurance Premiums: $1,246.00
• Prescriptions: $120.00
• Dr Bill: $8.00
• Holidays/Gifts:
• Valentines Day: $8.50
• Easter: $13.47
• Birthdays: 320.31
• Mother's Day: $23.73
• Gifts: $16.02
• Anniversary: $176.14
• Roxy: Our pup!
• Adoption fees: $165.95
• Vet bills: $215.54
• Food/Toys/Supplies: $231.55
• Pocket Money: $190.00
• Technology:
• Portable Wi-Fi: $96.27
• Computer Parts: $297.32
• Tablet: $175.00 
• Other:
• Expungement Fees: $292.81
• Tax preparation Fees: $56.98
• Stamps, Toothbrush heads, Grill Hose $81.52
• Resume Copies, Plant Container, Craft embroider, Relay For Life Fee: $43.25
• Camping Backpacks (2): $113.38
• Yarn for Relay For Life: $93.24
• Disneyland: $115.00
• Relay For Life: $15.00
• Wall mount, and craft eyes: $46.78
• Slicer and lint roller: $52.05
• Hair Cut: $49.00
• Kitchen Items: $39.70
• Garden Hose, house key/car key copies... $49.26
• Notary Fee + Birth Certificate $33.00
• OC Fair: $60.00
• Concert: $100.00
• Couch $667.52
• Fan $28.00
• Make up $43.72
• Costco Renewal Fee $55.00
• Amazon (Dog bowls, belt, cables, tablet case)  $59.69
• Alterations $58.00
• Baby sitters $30.00 
• Sealing Photos $200.00
• La Brea tar Pit $31.59
• 72 Hour kit Food $146.95
• Other: $346.03

For Time and All Eternity!

Those are from our picture preview. Such a special day...

So blowing our grocery budget away this month

As of the 18th we had already spent $363.25 on groceries and household items for the month... I know i'm still shocked just looking at that number too... but to our credit, we have still been playing "stock up" as apart of our summer readiness project at church. If you have no idea what i'm talking about, allow me to shed some light. Our Bishop has asked us to take the next 3 months and evaluate where we are with the following three things:

• Do we have a financial reserve?
• Do all your family members have an earthquake or fire emergency kit?
• Do you have a rotating supply of 3 months of food your family regularly eats?

Since SCB is just coming back from a long 1.5 year stint of unemployment we know where the Bishop is coming from. We only made it through the long period of unemployment because we:

• Cut our expenses
• Have/had no consumer debt which allowed us to cut our expenses.
• Have/had a 3 month emergency fund to fall back on... which meant we could sleep okay at night. 
• We counted every dollar and cent and tracked it to see where we were getting out of line.
• We evaluated our shopping trips to not waste gasoline... especially since it was over $4 a gallon. 
• We learned to say things like "no..." and "we're done spending money this week..."
• When it was possible, I picked up overtime and holiday pay.

We were lucky and made it though with our savings in tact... but not everyone is so lucky. When disaster comes knocking on the door your not always prepared for it and that is what our Bishop would like us to focus on. Whether it be Job loss, earthquake, emergency, etc... and were taking his advice. 

Since we have at least 3 months of expenses stocked away in our emergency fund, we are going to tackle the other two questions first. My husband and I have some earthquake "72 hour" kits made up already... but we don't have one for our dog.  

• Did you know most shelters won't let you take your dog in if you can't prove they are up to date on their rabies? I don't know about you, but trying to find that paper in an emergency is going to slip my mind... 

So besides the emergency kit, we are left with food... personal care items... and house hold items. Last month we began stocking up... and since we are doing it gradually, this month we are continuing as well.

Some of that $363.25 includes things like laundry detergent and razor blades for SCB from Costco which can be somewhat pricey... but mostly it has been food. Just to give you guys and idea, here's what our pantry looks like right now.

In the cabinet on the left we have: 2 rows of canned tuna (16 cans), 2 rows of canned chicken (10 large cans), 4 bottles of Worcester sauce, a spare large ketchup, 1 bottle of sugar free syrup, 2 bottles of BBQ sauce, 2 bottles or ranch, a spare mustard, 2 sleeves of apple sauce, 2 containers of nutella, 2 bottles of Parmesan cheese,  2 jars of salsa, 1 jar of jelly, 2 containers of peanut butter, 10 packages of chocolate pudding, 1 package of vanilla pudding, 5 boxes mac'n cheese, some popcorn, various open cereals, 2 boxes of crackers, some generic crystal light flavors, box of oatmeal and a couple kool-aid packets. The Tupperware has some sugar in the one and the other cinnamon and brown sugar mixed to sprinkle on toast when I want it.

The cabinet on the right has our powdered Milk and Chocolate Milk, cinnamon, 2 containers of yeast, some Crisco, oven roast bags, 2 boxes of shake and bake pork and chicken, some muffin wrappers, and 2 containers of dehydrated potato flakes that were from a larger container that was almost empty. Then we have some seasonings, brown sugar and wheat flour in the containers, 2 bottles of cooking oil, white vinegar, 2 bottles of bacon bits, more seasons, sprout seeds, packet of tempura batter, 2 bottles of ta-patio, 2 bottles of cooking spray, a bottle of sesame oil, garlic, and toothpicks.

  

Here we have 4 things of pasta, 2 cans of corn, a can of water chestnuts, 2 large containers of muffin mix (all you do is add water and bake-- 1 is open), 2 boxes of stuffing... then we have a shelf for granola bars (these are relatively new purchases-- before we were lucky to have just the green ones occasionally-- we have Peanut ones, oat n' honey, and protein ones.)

Here we have 2 of those white food grade buckets. One contains sugar, the other one behind it has oats in it. Behind those 2 cans of diced tomatoes are top ramen and cup of noodles. The we have a lot of tomato sauce (it goes all the way to the back), 2 rows of large olives with 4 cans of chopped olives on top. Maybe around 6 cans of sliced pineapple, and 5 cans of pasta sauce.

These shelves on the left are mostly empty. That old ice cream container has some sugar that wouldn't fit in the large container in it... some powdered Gatorade... a box of cereal and another Costco style box of granola bars. If your wondering why all the granola bars-- Costco was doing their back to school promotions this month and discounting a lot of them. We hope to see which ones we actually eat often enough and then keep those ones. On the bottom shelf we have 2 bags of gold fish, a bucket of wheat flour and then a LARGE bucket of all purpose flour. This is actually our first bucket of three. A large 50 lb bag of flour takes 2 buckets to fill, but since I don't want to run completely out before I can buy some flour, we have three buckets so when we get down to one, we do a Costco run and buy more flour. 

The shelves on the right have beans on them. 2 rows deep of black and kidney... and one row of re-fried beans. The shelf below that has some of our dehydrated canned food. We have one can of pinto beans, white beans, a can of hard red wheat, a can of diced carrots, a can of potato flakes, & a can of dehydrated apple slices. We ordered a can of black beans and another can of the apple slices this month. 

Water. We empty these and re-fill them every 6 months (and drop a little bleach in there for good measure). Each one contains 6 gallons and they recommend storing 1 gallon per person per day for emergencies. So this should be 6 days of water for hubs me and the pup... plus some for light washing and cooking. In the past we have actually had to use our water when the water in our condo gets shut off and we need to still get things done, so its come in handy. We have also taken these with us while camping so they have multiple uses.  :)

I mentioned those 2 other LARGE food storage containers with flour in them... they are here. Together they hold 50 lbs.

And this is our small "dessert" shelf. Evaporated milk, hot chocolate, vanilla, coco, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, marshmallows, melting chocolate, and some pancake mix and brownie mix.

How do we store all that in our condo... like this:

He broke another chair...

And this time it wasn't even ours...

We were garden sitting for our neighbors across the park while they were outta town in Utah visiting with some family...

One day SCB and our pup were out for a walk and we decided to stop by and water their garden since we were in the area. As I was busying myself with the hose, SCB was playing with our pup and then got bored. He was going to go inside and wait for me to finish but I told him I was on the last plant so he decided he would just sit down on the patio chair and wait for me.

and then we heard the rip...

He's cursed. My husband must be cursed. How can a man break so many chairs?????? (See The Chair for more info) I haven't documented all of them... but he's broken a kitchen chair, our first black office chair, 2 folding patio chairs... (a third of which is cracked and on its last leg), and now our neighbors patio chair...

Now well need to figure out what they want us to do when the get back in town...

Sigh...

At least he's cute.

Hubbs is banned from Amazon...

I gave SCB the "green light" to place our order from Amazon for a few things the other day... and we were careful to make sure we qualified for the free shipping option without going crazy...

We verified our total, confirmed out items... and I handed SCB the card to pay for everything... Only he forgot to select the "free super savers shipping" option at check out...

So what should have been a $45.32 turned into $59.69...

(he is now no longer allowed to order off amazon alone... )

Thankfully since we both are working full time, this is something I can just tease him about and not fret too much over. I decided to cash in $40 worth of my cash back rewards points anyway, so it will all even out in the end.  This is what we ordered:

We bought 2 sets of these for $3.00... SCB has been having issues plugging everything in lately, and this will solve his issue.

I've been hunting all over for a proper black cinch belt... and I've come up empty in every store I've been looking for... but I found this online for only $8.00-- My dress problems are solved!

These are for our Doggie Emergency backpack. Light weight and collapsible :) We normally take the back pack down to the park with us each time because it has our blanket and water and treats for our pup... but $8.00 for 3 of these is a huge steal.

And the biggie. The tablet case... Why a case? well we are buying my brother-in-laws older tablet off him for $175.00.... our laptops are too old and bulky to keep hauling with us to church each week and since we have the money... we figured we'd get one and share it for a while and see how much it gets used, etc.

Mortgage Update Aug '13

Principle paid down: $318.52

Interest: $351.44
Additional Principle: $0.00
New Balance: $112,141.22

The pay off date is June 2033. If I continue to pay the minimum on my loan, I will now pay $47,191.62 in interest (plus the $22,233.51 I've already paid... totaling $69,425.13). The original amount of interest I was going to pay before my refinance was $116,404.23. 

It took me $7,057.08 to get the keys to my condo... and another $17,672.29 to remodel and repair it... 
In short, I was -$24,729.37 in the hole on day one...

• In 2009 I got the First Time Home buyer's Credit giving us $8,000.00. I also got to write off some of the property tax I paid in addition to taking the standard deduction. This gave us an extra $90.10... but then I had to pay an Electrician $95.00 to fix an outlet... We also ended 2009 with a refund from my botched tile job that gave us another $1,265.00.
• In 2010 I saved $1,087.00 on my federal taxes and $461.00 on my State taxes from itemizing my homeowners expenses. (This is what I received ABOVE what I would have with just the standard deduction).
• In 2011 I spent $12.97 at home depot and $72.29 on a kitchen door. When we subtract those costs from what we saved by living in our condo instead of renting, we came out ahead $494.04 (See Mortgage Update + Condo Costs December '11 for that break down.)  We also received a small $70 refund check from over paid closing costs. Since we tied the knot in 2011 we won't be able to itemize our housing costs so there's no savings there for us.
• In 2012 we finished our Kitchen/Laundry door which cost us $103.24.. We also replaced both our glass slider doors which cost us $2,957.00... and repaired our dryer for $81.42....It ended up being $3,383.47 cheaper to OWN our condo than to rent an apartment on a monthly basis,  (See Housing Costs 2012 for the break down) so even after we subtract the windows and other minor repairs, we still came out ahead $241.81 by owning our condo instead of renting... 
• In 2013 we got $52.53 back from challenging my property taxes in 2012. I also refinanced our condo, costing us $447.00 up front for our home appraisal... but we got a check back at closing for $747.20 and a check from my old escrow account for $489.74... We also got to skip a mortgage payment too!

All of that Leaves us $12,456.42 in the hole...

If we assume our home is worth at least what we paid for it $120,000.00 (Our refinance appraisal hit $150k so I think its safe to say our condo is still worth $120k), then we have $7,858.78 in equity.

Leaving us only $4,414.17 in the hole after 3 years, 11 months.
If we use our home appraisal figure of $150,000.00, we have $37,858.78 in equity, giving us a gain of $25,585.83

For 2013, we will again assume our monthly mortgage payments are a wash since its cheaper to OWN our home then to RENT an apartment. Check out Housing Comps 2013 for how we figured that one out (and those rental figures do not include us getting a pet 6 months into the year either and being subjected to a pet deposit and pet rent). For 2013 we have spent $7,269.53 to live in our condo, instead of $10,888 to live in the apartment.

• Mortgage (including additional principle payments:) $5944.47
• HOA:  $2,115.00
• Small Home Repairs/Improvements:$0
• Earthquake Insurance: $0
• Homeowners Insurance: $0
• Refinance Charges: (-$789.94) This is what we "gained" from refinancing after out of pocket fees. 

Saving us $4,408.41 this year by not renting.

If I sold the condo tomorrow, I'd have to sell the property for $123,995.10 to break even..

• This assumes a 6% total commission ($7,439.71)
• and enough money to refund the amount we are in the hole for ($4414.17)

Settling in...

After being away from home for an entire week, we sure need a few calm days to settle down and get things back in order--- but we won't be getting them.

Today alone I have to work 8 hours... visit with my mom since she's back from her trip... go and get my dress from the tailors for a second fitting (the one I ordered on-line didn't fit in my arms and shoulders)... AND drop off a second dress to be hemmed... cycle some laundry.... and meet up with my old roommate for dinner.... and spend time with my awesome husband...  oh ya, and get my house ready for family that will be arriving in 9 days.

I'm just glad we were able to knock out trips down to Costco and Walmart already since all these people I haven't talked with in a few months all want to see me-- this week. My old roommate, my friend Amy, heck I even talked to my "brother" through text messages and an old friend from Child Share! Not to mention our visiting teacher from church and the couple that went to almost all my missionary lessons with us (they moved away) but are back in town this week...

I guess that whole re-commitment to fitness and taking a bunch of evening fitness classes probably won't happen  now... which is a shame because I wanted a nice burst before we gathering for all those picture moments next week.

We bought a new couch

out of no where. We were walking through Costco just to pick something up and ended up buying a new couch.

You see we both hate my old leather couch... especially when summer rolls around. You stick to it if the AC isn't blasting and after our $100 electric bill from running our little wall unit during the heat wave, (and living the last week or so without it on) we have begun to loath the black leather recliner with passion.

The couch was free. It was my first roommates, ex boyfriends stepdad's office couch... and when we parted ways and she didn't want it-- it became mine. If followed me to my next apartment and later to the condo... where its been ever since... and its heavy. Getting it up to the third floor without an elevator at my second apartment made my friends swear that if i ever moved again they would refuse to help me move it.... but somehow it made it to my condo and up to the second floor there.

Now I've always wanted to replace it... In fact every piece of furniture I own was either free or a gift/hand me down... and the couch is the only thing i've ever really considered getting rid of.

But i've never found what I really wanted.

• I wanted an L shaped couch with a built in storage compartment that was small enough to fit in our little condo living room...  
• but I was willing to settle for a microfiber couch if it had a built in sleeper sofa since we only have a one bedroom condo and it would be nice to find something we could use when a guest wanted to spend the night (other than an air mattress).

So imagine my shock when we were walking through Costco and found this:

Everything I ever wanted in a couch... and more...

So as you can see... we took her home.  It took us two trips and a call to a member from our church to get the thing there (I had to wait with the second box at Costco while they brought the first one home)

.... and then SCB took apart the old couch to make it fit in the dumpsters outside.

He kept one piece of the old couch for an impromptu gaming chair for our bedroom. For the time being i'm letting him keep it because he looked too cute when he showed it to me and had his "look what I did-- excited" face... plus that will be one chair it will be hard for him to break... (See Office Chairs).

The couch cost us $667.52 (We had some pita chips and 2 types of dip in the cart for a work party too)...

So i'm officially purchased something new for our home. Good thing our dog has proven not to be destructive in our absence.

I'm a genius

Did you remember a few weeks back when I wrote this post, Adventures in Dog Food... Well apparently I'm not the only one thinking about what goes into my pets bowl. I saw this on MSN Money today Does your dog need expensive food?...

Well apparently i'm just awesome.

Here's a quote from the article:

Ways to save

No matter what brand you buy, there are lots of ways to save. For example:

Shop big-box stores. Overall, Consumer Reports found better prices at Target and Wal-Mart than at PetSmart and Petco. Compare prices everywhere before you head to the specialty shops.

Buy generic. Store-brand dog food is often cheaper than other brands. Compare the labels on a store brand and a mid-range name brand. If they have the same nutritional content, you'll save money going generic.

What did we do? Just that!

... we shopped around
... we compared labels

and we went with that awesome generic and cheap brand from Walmart that had the quality we wanted for our pup.

After that post I thought it was funny that Walmart was mysterious running out of that brand of dog food for a week or two after I did that post...

So if you don't want to take my advice... you can listen to them!

July In Photos

Hubbs is a brony so for our anniversary I decorated our place my little pony style for him!

Park days with our pup!

Our Free Concert Tickets! Hubbs loved Eric Church--- He was way better than Kenny Chesney!

Made this adorable Dinosaur Costume for my co-worker who is expecting a baby boy at the end of September.

August Budget

I'm going to have to do the budget post a bit differently again this month  because SCB got a new job!!!

YUP. Friday Aug 2nd was his last day working for Goodwill and on Monday he started his new job working for a company that distributes electrical supplies to contractors and builders!!

It's a real job... 40 hours a week... might even have benefits... pays better... and it AWESOME. They even have a bonus program if the company does well that year. 

So because of that AMAZING news, i'll be doing a rough outline budget for SCB's income since he will be getting paid from Goodwill still and now his new job. Depending on the pay schedule, there might be a break in paychecks since they aren't paid weekly and he'll need to work their first before he can submit a time card... plus SCB will be taking time off this month because we have family coming in town for our sealing. 

So first we'll break down my income:

For SCB-

10% Church

15% Retirement

$40 Pocket Money SCB

$40 Pocket Money SCG

The remainder of the income we will just tuck away this month since we have been bad about moving it to a determined savings account.

Remaining Financial Goals

1. Make one extra Mortgage payment this year:  ($385.71 / $669.96) 57%
2. Put at least 15% of our income into retirement:  Me: 14.9%   SCB: 11.5%
1. Deferred Comp: $70.00
2. Roth IRA SCG: $2776.28
3. Roth IRA SCB: $308.02
4. Pension: $1,222.46
3. Save $1,500.00?????? for dental work for SCB
1. We really need to get on this....
4. Save $1,000.00 for future car repairs and the start of a car replacement fund.
1. Ditto Here!

Remaining Fun Annual Goals Updates

Wow! I've cleared through most of my *fun*annual goals already!

1. DONE!!!! Find something new to crochet-- sweater, pattern, anything
2. DONE!!!!! Sew something from scratch or re purpose something I was going to toss out into something I'd wear. You'll have to wait to see the post on this because i'm going to have to take in more clothes and do more work!
3. DONE!!!! Cook or try to cook 6 new things or recipes
1. Salmon! (I learned how to cook it in the oven)!
2. Home made Pico Salsa
3. Tomato and Cucumber Salad
4. Broccoli Cakes
5. Tri Tip Kabobs
6. Cauliflower Cheese Sticks--- it was gross... we ended up eating pizza instead that night...
7. Laura Pasta
8. Zucchini Pasta
9. Korean Beef
10. Corn on the cobb
4. DONE!!! Read / Enjoy 6 new books
1. Sabriel by Garth Nix (audio book)
2. Lirael by Garth Nix (audio book)
3. Abhorsen by Garth Nix (audio book)
4. Nothing to Loose by Lee Child (audio book)
5. The Hard Way by Lee Child (audio book)
6. The killing Floor by Lee Child (audio book)
7. Die trying by Lee Child (audio book)
5. DONE!!!!! Loose weight (or just get the scale to 148 lbs and stay there or under)
1. Its creeping back up around the 150 marker so i'm re-committing myself to fitness again :) Guess that happens when you stop working out?
6. Change my last credit card to my married name
7. DONE!!!! Grow a garden with my neighbor
1. For any early birthday present, SCB let me get a tomato plant, 3 strawberry plants, and 4 bell pepper plants! The strawberries are sooooo Yummy!
8. DONE!!!!! Complete a half marathon in 3 hours and 30 minuets or less. DONE
1. Finished in 2 hours, 41 minutes!

July Spending

Another crazy month has gone by... and boy was it a good one. SCB and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary and despite both of us now working, we got to spend a good deal of time with one another.

And it was nice. It really was.We went to the Orange County Fair, SCB got to go to his first ever concert concert and we had another awesome month with our pup.

As I alluded in Wednesday's post... our numbers are a bit skewed this month. Our grocery numbers don't include the extra house and personal care items we purchased like they normally do...  I was being lazy when it came to the budget and I just kept recording our spending and not deducting it like I normally do from the categories until about 3 weeks into the month... and the only receipts I kept had food on them... not necessarily the house and personal care items... so our "other" category includes some of these... and I think that receipt i'm "missing" got lumped into the "other" category as well. So the numbers are off... but its the best I could do for this month and i'm okay with it. I'll just be better about next month.

What we have spent this month

Giving: $473.00
Groceries:  $320.00

Gasoline: $291.06
Car: $382.07
Eating Out: $92.04

Cell Phones: $40.00

Internet: $28.99
Electricity: $43.68
Housing: $1,265.04

Clothes: SCG- $165.00

Clothes: SCB- $61.00
Health Insurance: $178.00

Prescriptions: $10.00

Anniversary: $123.65

Our Doggy: $48.00
Pocket Money: $70

Technology: $96.27
OC Fair: $60.00
Concert: $100.00

Other: $252.00

  

What we spent money on in 2013:

• Church Giving: $2,910.00
• Groceries/Household Supplies: $1,710.83
• Wanda and Stitch (our '91 Ford Escort & '04 Toyota Camry):
• Gasoline: $1,216.83
• Car Registration: $189.00
• Car Insurance: $520.34
• Car Repairs: $491.27
• Date Night/ Eating Out: $671.28
• Cell Phones: $949.63
• Internet: $210.72+
• Electricity: $317.94
• House: 
• HOA: $1,845.00
• Mortgage: $5,172.48
• Refinance: $447.00
• Clothes:
• SCG: $433.75
• SCB: $214.03
• Medical/Dental/Dr/Prescriptions
• Heath Insurance Premiums: $1068
• Prescriptions: $120.00
• Dr Bill: $8.00
• Holidays/Gifts:
• Valentines Day: $8.50
• Easter: $13.47
• Birthdays: 320.31
• Mother's Day: $23.73
• Gifts: $16.02
• Anniversary: $176.14
• Roxy: Our pup!
• Adoption fees: $165.95
• Vet bills: $215.54
• Food/Toys/Supplies: $187.29
• Pocket Money: $105.00
• Technology:
• Portable Wi-Fi: $96.27
• Computer Parts: $297.32 
• Other:
• Expungement Fees: $292.81
• Tax preparation Fees: $56.98
• Stamps, Toothbrush heads, Grill Hose $81.52
• Resume Copies, Plant Container, Craft embroider, Relay For Life Fee: $43.25
• Camping Backpacks (2): $113.38
• Yarn for Relay For Life: $93.24
• Disneyland: $115.00
• Relay For Life: $15.00
• Wall mount, and craft eyes: $46.78
• Slicer and lint roller: $52.05
• Hair Cut: $49.00
• Kitchen Items: $39.70
• Garden Hose, house key/car key copies... $49.26
• Notary Fee + Birth Certificate $33.00
• OC Fair: $60.00
• Concert: $100.00
• Other: $230.00