Weekly Spending Wrap Up (12/5-12/11/11)

Honestly, I was a little (okay, quite a bit) embarassed to write this one. Lots of places I could have made smarter spending choices. But, I'll be honest & just put it out there.
Here's what we spent for the week:

Monday (12/5):

• M & I met for lunch, but used a gift card. OOP = $0
• $9.78 - silk camisole at the Loft
• $18.53 - Rite Aid. Facial cleansing wipes (x2) for my gym bag + eye brow pencil
• $90 - cleaning for our vacation house. This was an error, & supposed to be $75, but I'll get a credit on our next cleaning.

Tuesday (12/6):

• No spend day

Wednesday (12/7):

• No spend day

Thursday (12/8):

• $45.65 - shoes for my oldest, who managed to destroy his existing pair. The kids go through their shoes so quickly!
• $128.74 - Costco for groceries. I've already reviewed the list & determined ways to cut back for next time. No more buying pre-shredded cheese. Our groceries our too high, & I can shred it myself & save the money. I'll continue to review our receipts to look for other ways to cut back.

Friday (12/9):

• $48.73 - new jeans for me at American Eagle
• $54.73 - a couple of new tops at Ann Taylor
• $13.91 - 2 Christmas gifts at Gap. We were done with our shopping, but M wanted to pick up hats for our friend's daughters. :-)
• $178.69 - Gap, clothes for me. 4 sweaters + a couple of tops + a pair of jeans.
• $54.74 - dress for me at White House/Black Market.
• $3.79 - Amazon for books for my Kindle for my next trip.

Saturday (12/10):

• $1.15 - protein smoothie at the gym, OOP = $0. On a gift card.
• $94.50 - haircuts for all four members of the family
• $3.79 - cookies at Safeway for our holiday party last night
• $109.45 - ski shop, for new ski boots for my oldest. I'll be consigning the pair that's too small, so I'll hopefully get $20 or so back.
• $565 - swimming lessons for 3 months for two kids.

Sunday (12/11):

• $4.04 - McDonald's. Bribe for my youngest child. We stood in line for 40 minutes (outside, in 35 degree weather) to see Santa yesterday. When we were 2 people from the front of the line, Santa took a one hour lunch break. I was not about to wait another hour, so I bribed my child with a Happy Meal. Best money I spent all week.
• $1.15 - Protein smoothie at the gym. OOP = $0. On a gift card.
• $12.50 - childcare at the gym. OOP = $0. On a gift card.
• $85 - pizza for our holiday party. This was intentionally more than we needed, as we sent home pizza for a meal for our friends.

Total spent for the week = $1419.07

Good:
-Two no spend days
-Only went grocery shopping once! :-) Quite an improvement for us.

Bad:
-I was overcharged for a cleaning service at our vacation house. I'm irritated, because I do our own laundry to save $15 (it's nearly impossible to get the house cleaned & ready to go while the kids are running around & we pack/load the car/ensure all lights are off, etc) so every other time we go, I have the bathrooms deep cleaned, etc. I'll get the money back in January, but it pushed my budget over.
-$565 for swimming lessons for two kids. It's for 3 months, and the instruction is amazing, but it's crazy expensive. I'm looking into cheaper options for my older son, who's ready for a more advanced program anyway.
-I opted to do take out for our holiday party this weekend. I could have prepared the food, but M was out skiing with our oldest child, & I was looking for convenience, rather than frugality.

Ugly:
-While I did need a few clothing items that were on my list (a new pair of jeans + a new sweater) & I can maybe count the new dress I bought (apparently I own only summer dresses, & we have an unexpected weekend trip where I'll need a dress), some of the other items were totally frivolous & just because I liked them. This time of year is *very* difficult for me with clothing shopping. The deals are great, I'm already at the mall for various gifts, & I try hard not to spend too much on clothing the rest of the year. I really didn't want to post this, but I figured it was best to confess. :-)

How did you do with your spending last week? Are you ever tempted to buy things for yourself at the holidays? :-)