July budget wrap

We came under budget in July by $440. Given our budget & all of the moving parts plus vacations this month, I'm impressed. ;-) Actually, I shouldn't give myself too much credit, because vacations come from our yearly budget, not the monthly one. But, I digress. Here's how July played out.

Categories where we were under our monthly budget:

• Childcare. I paid for camp well in advance (winter/spring), we were under by $1200.
• I also cleaned the house twice, for a savings of $120 (vs having the cleaning lady come). This is a much more palatable options when the boys are out of town. ;-)
• We were $30 under in entertainment, spent $0 on toiletries for a savings of $10

Categories where we were over our monthly budget:

• Dining out. The kids were out of town a bit here & there, so M & I took full advantage & had date nights. Fun, but expensive. Over by $157
• Gas. Rather than flying to LA to pick the kids up from Disneyland (they were with my parents), M opted to drive. Our gas budget was $101 over as a result, but we saved vs the cost of flying
• Groceries. Over by $132, as a result of hosting a party on the 4th of July. Worth it. :-) 
• Liquor. Over by $107. See above. We also left a bunch of wine at our vacation house, which we will definitely drink.

Our income was up this month as well, with a $70 stock dividend I found lingering in a non-interest bearing account with my broker, $960 in stock overage from tax withholdings from my company's equity grant (yeah, I don't particularly understand why it's so large either ;-)), and my penny slot jackpot. The "jackpot" went to pay for my trip, I covered the cost of my sister & BFF as well, and tucked the rest away for our anniversary trip to Hawaii.

That's pretty much it. I need to evaluate our yearly spending as well, as the year is almost 60% over!!!! How did your July go? Are you on track, or under/over budget?

That time I won the jackpot, and wrapping up July

The summer is a whirlwind of vacations, kiddo summer camps, work, & desperately searching for a nanny.

I realize the month isn't quite over, but here's where it netted out.

1. Fully fund our travel budget for the rest of the year. - Will be funding the rest on Friday (pay day), so considering this a win! Also have a fully funded emergency fund again. Woohoo!
2. Clean & restock the freezer, using all of our fresh tomatoes! Tomato sauce & salsa, coming up. - I've used all of the tomatoes, but didn't clean the freezer. I did inventory them both, so now I need to scrub both freezers & continue to keep the inventory up to date. 
3. Stick to the budget, including on my girls trip to Las Vegas. Can't wait. :-) - why, yes, I did. I won a $3037 jackpot in Las Vegas (on the penny slots, while playing for 10 minutes waiting for my friends to get ready for lunch). It paid for the trip, and then some. I covered the costs for my sister & BFF as well, and took home some additional money. Win/win/win! 
4. Lose 2 lbs. - No. I stayed the same, & still have 13 lbs to lose. 
5. Get in a minimum of 800 minutes of cardio, 15 strength workouts, & 5 stretching workouts. - I'm going to finish right on track for cardio & strength, but accomplished nothing for stretching. And, I can feel it! Must get back into a yoga/pilates routine. 
6. Keep my daily calories to 1500. - Ack! No. Not helped by my insane work schedule (read: snacking) & two vacations. My daily calories were 1673.
7. Buy all school supplies - Mostly done. Have a few things to track down.
8. Lower my pace time by 90 seconds (per mile) in my training for my big relay in August. - I'm down 60 seconds. The other 30 seconds remain elusive. ;-) 
9. Find another race to train for. - Yes! I'm going to do a half in October.
10. Sort out my family schedule, & work travel schedule through the end of the year - Eh, I did what I could & locked the days for my London trip. The other work trips haven't been confirmed due to the organizer. Despite my repeated requests. Giving myself a pass. 

Nothing too crazy, but it was a pretty decent month, considering how much was going on. A fun picture of the big jackpot moment. :-) I was thrilled.

Now I'm off to calculate our July budget numbers, and start planning my goals for August!

Menu Plan Monday

The weekend went by in a flash, as usual. It's back to life! :-) Here's what we'll be eating this week.

• Monday - Penne with garden tomatoes, zucchini, & chicken sausage
• Tuesday - Taco Tuesday! :-) With homemade salsa
• Wednesday - Leftover chicken & rice
• Thursday - I'm out of town. M will be making the boys pasta with meatballs
• Friday - I'm out of town. M will be making the boys chicken & rice
• Saturday - I'm out of town. The boys will be having leftovers.
• Sunday - I'm coming home late, so hopefully M can make beef kebabs, grilled tomatoes, yogurt sauce, & rice for us to eat a bit later.

What's on your menu for the week? I'm having a hard time using up all of our produce! Anyone else getting creative with their bounty? :-)

Getting things done Sunday

I haven't been home on a weekend for way too long (over a month), so I have a lot I'd like to do today. Here goes!

1. Yoga - I'm tight everywhere, & could really use it
2. Some sort of cardio workout - either a bike ride with the kids, or a long walk/run
3. Pack for my trip next week
4. Pick & use all of the tomatoes - I think I'll make a fresh tomato sauce
5. Ditto the lemons - just juice them for use in salads
6. Have the boys clean their rooms. This will take several hours each. The good news? I've already found over 100 things to donate! :-)
7. Go through my closet
8. Plan for the week ahead - menu, work schedule, workout schedule, any kid transportation issues, & review with M

That's it! What's on your list for today? And, because I'm always curious about weekend dinners, what are you making for dinner? We're having grilled chicken, rice & salad.

Goals for July

Yes, the month is almost half over, but better late than never!

Here are my goals for July:

1. Fully fund our travel budget for the rest of the year.
2. Clean & restock the freezer, using all of our fresh tomatoes! Tomato sauce & salsa, coming up.
3. Stick to the budget, including on my girls trip to Las Vegas. Can't wait. :-)
4. Lose 2 lbs.
5. Get in a minimum of 800 minutes of cardio, 15 strength workouts, & 5 stretching workouts.
6. Keep my daily calories to 1500.
7. Buy all school supplies
8. Lower my pace time by 90 seconds (per mile) in my training for my big relay in August.
9. Find another race to train for.
10. Sort out my family schedule, & work travel schedule through the end of the year

That's it, but looks like plenty to keep me busy. What about you? What's on your list for July, and how are you doing so far? 

Five Frugal Things I Did This Week

It's been a bit of a whirlwind, returning from vacation. I'm so, so excited that the boys will be back from Disneyland (they are with my parents right now) this evening. It was great to have a kid free week, but I miss them too much! :-)

So, here's what I did this week:

1. Drove to LA to pick up the kids. Okay, M did this, but we were originally planning on having M fly to LA, pick up the kids from my parents, & then fly all three of them home. Instead, he left for LA super late last night, stayed at a hotel, and then will drive back with them this afternoon. SUPER long drive (7+ hours each way), but a savings of about $500, after gas & hotel cost.
2. Ate at home, even without the kids. Normally, when the kids are gone, we treat each night like a date night & eat out. This time, we ate out just once. Even when we got home late from the airport on Sunday, with nothing prepared, we went to Trader Joes & picked up a couple of easy options for $15. A huge cost savings over a meal out.
3. Decided to clean the house on my own this week. To be fair, the cleaning lady asked if this was an option, as she had a family emergency. She offered to send someone else, but I'm skipping it, cleaning myself, & saving $90.
4. Returned a few things to Macy's that I ordered online, and were a better deal in the store. Got a price adjustment. Savings of $65.
5. Sent in for various reimbursements through my tax savings accounts. A few copays on prescriptions while I was sick, & my vision check. I almost let these both go due to the effort involved, but thought better of it. Savings of $61.

That's it! We did our first *real* grocery shopping in four weeks yesterday, and it was pretty crazy. :-) Now I need to make a menu, clean the house, and spend a lot of time with my sweet boys!

And, here's a great picture of my dad at Disney, with his four grandsons. :-)

Have a great Friday & weekend, everyone!!

Back from a great vacation

We had a fantastic time at the Oregon coast - lots of sunshine (but, cooler than the 90+ degree weather in Portland), & family time. I was getting over bronchitis & pneumonia, so it was great to relax, sleep, bike ride, and hang out.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

The boys with their cousins, near where The Goonies was filmed.

Hug Point

Kite flying with Daddy

The beach at my favorite place

Other than that, I'm just recovering from the trip, and getting back into the swing of things at work. I haven't set any goals for the month, and need to check out my 2015 goals & see where I stand at the half way point.

I'm going to set a few goals for this week, just to make it easier for myself. ;-) No need to climb the mountain right out of the gate.

1. Talk to nanny candidates. I'm getting desperate - we haven't found any good candidates.
2. Review June goals.
3. Set July goals
4. Review 2015 goals
5. Buy travel stuff for trip in a couple of weeks
6. Set a menu for the week
7. Return a bunch stuff that I ordered online that didn't work out.
8. Work out 5 times this week
9. Exchange books at the library
10. Figure out what to do with all of our tomatoes in the garden!

How is everyone else? Any fun summer vacations on the horizon?