Weekly Spending is back! (4/16-4/22/12)

I love doing these posts, because they always remind me how money trickles out of our accounts. Such a good reminder. I was on my own with the kids this weekend, so we spent more than usual on eating out.

• Monday
• $7 - lunch meeting got cancelled, so I had nothing from home.
• Tuesday
• $1.99 for a snack at work. Didn't pack a big enough lunch, like a forgetful fool.
• $11,035 in taxes. Hold me!
• $2.77 - a few running things on Amazon (energy gels, body glide, etc). This was the total after using gift cards. I'm counting this as "groceries"? :-)
• Wednesday
• $32.62 at Rite Aid for various household items.
• Thursday
• No spend day. Woo hoo! :-)
• Friday
• No spend day, again! :-)
• Saturday
• $1 - parking at the park where I went for my run
• childcare during my run, on a gift card
• Smoothie/lunch after my run, on a gift card
• $155.73 - Costco for groceries
• $7 - dinner for the kids after baseball
• Sunday
• $6.75 - frozen yogurt
• -$39.39 - returned a pair of pants at The Gap
• -$37.74 - returned a few things at Aeropostale
• $27.32 - undergarments/socks for the kids
• $25.54 - stocked up on hand soap at Bath & Body Works
• $42.53 - dinner out

Total spend = $233.12, with more than half of that on groceries at Costco. (I didn't count the taxes :-)). I'll take it! :-)

How did your spending go this week?

TGIF!

Who else is insanely grateful that it's Friday? :-) Count me in! I'm flying solo with the kids until Sunday night, so we have a low-key weekend plan. The weather is supposed to be good, but it's been raining so much lately, I feel like I should start building my own ark.

My right leg has been feeling very sore & tight after a huge running week last week, so I've been taking it fairly easy. That said, my half marathon in just 3 weeks away, so I need to buckle down & finish my training. Here's what's on our agenda for the weekend:

Friday:

• Workout - 4 mile run + some cross training, with arms & stretching after.
• Make a batch of muffins & granola bars to stock the freezer
• Potentially make another freezer meal
• Inventory my freezers
• Stay on track with my eating!
• Finish my summer trip plans, complete with approximate budget
• Budget for the boys summer camps. So far, I believe this will be $3120 for the summer.
• Memorial Day trip to San Diego. We've already paid for the flight & I think one night of the hotel. I'm expecting the remaining amount to be about $1000.
• Girls trip in July (my sister & BFF - our annual trip to Las Vegas for sunshine & fun)
• Family trip to the beach in August. Shouldn't be too much since we have our own place, but always adds up quickly.
• Long weekend getaway with M? I'd love to do this, but we'll see if he can take the time off with his new job, and/or if we have someone to watch the kids.
• This isn't exactly the summer, but my sister & I are taking my mom on a trip for her 60th birthday.

Saturday:

• 8 mile run
• The boys have a baseball game, if the weather improves
• Costco to stock up on groceries
• Make at least one freezer meal
• Hit the library to return our books & find some new ones.
• Family bike ride, weather-permitting

Sunday:

• 9 mile run
• I have a few things to return at the mall
• Take the kids to the park
• Make homemade spaghetti & meatballs
• Complete any remaining freezer cooking

What about you? Any fun plans for the weekend?

Goals for the day

Lately I feel like the days are just slipping away from me. Do you ever have that feeling? Like I spin, spin, spin all day but accomplish nothing? I'm having one of those weeks.

I did actually accomplish a few things yesterday (the life insurance, ate well, & straightened out M's health insurance.)

1. Make 4 freezer meals between now & the weekend.
2. Make muffins for the freezer.
3. Make granola bars for my son's school snack.
4. Fit in my runs for the week. (M's traveling - this is made infinitely more challenging when he's out of town).
5. Figure out our savings plan (with M's new salary - where is the money going, set it up so it's automatic, etc)
6. Plan our summer trips & budget accordingly.
7. Network! I'm not sure what my career plans are, but now that M's job is locked down, I've committed to doing two hours worth of networking per week. This is not something that comes naturally to me (at all), so I need to make a conscious effort to do this.

I think that's enough for now. . . what are you up to this week? Any big goals you need to focus on?

Wow - long time/no update!

Where have I been?! Things have been absolutely crazy at our house. I've been training for a half marathon, ran a 15K, running.all.the.time. M went through a fairly arduous job search that came down to the last minute, switched jobs, has been traveling a ton, & the kids are both playing spring baseball. My schedule at work was also adjusted, I get up early to run these days, & go to bed during what used to be "computer time". Phew. I'm exhausted just thinking of all that. :-)

All of that  said, we just got back from a fabulous spring break, & I'm ready to put the pieces back together. We've been doing relatively well with our finances, & I've still been tracking - which as been tremendously helpful. Things are still up in the air with regard to M's new salary, potential insurance changes, and we're still waiting to see if he will owe a sales advance back to his previous employer. Oh, & I paid $11K+ in taxes today. Fun times. ;-)

After M's salary is finalized & we know if he owes his previous employer, we will be making budget adjustments. His new job comes with a higher salary, but part of that may be offset by an increase in health care benefits. I hate waiting to find these things out, but c'est la vie.

Here's a down & dirty list of things we need to get done in the next month or so.

1. Figure out M's salary, & adjust budget accordingly.
2. If M doesn't get life insurance through his new job (he is at orientation now), then find a private policy. We're both covered via our previous employer, but he will likely need a private policy now.
3. Continue my training runs. My first half marathon is on Mother's Day - May 13th!
4. Focus on eating well. I've been snacking much more than usual, & despite all of the running, haven't lost any weight. I need to keep the snacking more under control.
5. Firm up our summer plans/expenses. We have a few trips coming up (M & I are taking a quick weekend visit to San Diego in May to visit friends, I have a girls trip to Las Vegas in July, & my sister & I are planning a 60th birthday trip for our mother).
6. Rebuild our emergency fund. With just paying the taxes, and the potential for paying back the advance, the emergency fund has taken a hit. I expect to have this back up to our comfortable amount by the end of June.
7. Plan a date night! We've both had a ton going on, & I miss our regular nights out.
8. Our long-term savings goal (outside of retirement) is now focused on a full remodel of our house. We have no idea how much this will cost, but are considering hiring an architect to draft plans for us. The first phase will be saving for the architect.
9. Get back to regular menu planning. I've been winging it a bit more than I'm comfortable with, & need to get the freezer restocked.
10. Blog regularly! I miss the accountability & reading all of your blogs for inspiration.

How are all of you? Is everyone still on track with their 2012 goals? Was today (tax day - in the US, anyway) a happy day, or more of a bummer? ;-)

Mid-March Goal check

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. Things have been crazy with my work, M's work, the kids, my running schedule (doing a 15K race this weekend!), & life in general.

Here's a quick look at my March goals, since the month is about half way over!

1. Lose four pounds in March, bringing me to 143 pounds. - I've lost 1.5 pounds so far. Finally seeing the number on the scale move a bit.
2. Complete 1100 minutes of cardio. I've been crushing this goal, so I'm bumping up the number. - On track. I've completed 575 minutes of cardio, & have a bunch of longer workouts in my training plan to even things out.
3. Complete all training runs for my half marathon, and complete my 15K race on 3/19! - On track.
4. Spend $0 on clothes, makeup, shoes, etc for myself/kids. *Caveat - I may need a new pair of running shoes* - Fail. Bought a new pair of running shoes (a must have - my toenails were falling off from the others) & also bought a few spring tops. Both kids needed baseball gear as well.
5. Complete 11 strength workouts. Bumping this up by one workout, as I still feel like I need to devote more time to my strength training. - Pretty much on track, as I have a strength workout planned for tonight, & I've done 5 so far this month.  
6. Find an "extra" $650 in the budget to purchase two tuition credits for each child. - Likely not going to hit this in March. M's work is completely up in the air, he may be switching jobs, and we'll likely not fund the college accounts until this is all resolved.
7. Track all spending, stick to budget, and prepare month end spending report. - So far, we're doing okay. Lots of summer travel expenses are coming through (hotels, car rental, flights), but it's part of the larger year long budget. Need to keep things tight in March to stick to the rest of the budget.
8. Complete taxes, & fund what we owe. - Taxes are done - now we need to file & shell out the $11K. Good times.
9. Have one date night with M. - Done!
10. Get together with two friends. - Meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow, & have tentative plans with another friend later this month.
11. Create a master list of accounts/passwords to store in our safety deposit box. - Not done.
12. Investigate & create new budget based on a few options we're considering. (Selling our vacation house, buying a rental property, etc). This is very much a first stage of a long process. - This is very much up in the air, & will be dependent on M's work situation, my work situation, the housing market, etc. Lots more that I should cover in a full post.

And with that, how are all of you doing with your March goals? Hope the month is going well!!

Menu Plan Wednesday

I really need to get organized with my menu! To make my life easier, I'm planning for the next week and a half.

• Wednesday - Tilapia piccata + roasted brussels sprouts
• Thursday - Almond chicken pasta (sauce from the freezer)
• Friday - Chicken caesar salad
• Saturday - Stuffed peppers
• Sunday - Homemade pizza
• Monday - Baked chicken and pastina dish
• Tuesday - Leftovers
• Wednesday - Fiesta chicken casserole
• Thursday - Sauteed tilapia with honey scallion dressing
• Friday - Chicken marsala with mushroom casserole
• Saturday - at a party at my parents house. Will be having dinner with them.
• Sunday - Something fast from the freezer, as I'm running a race in Portland and will be getting home late. Possibly leftover chicken marsala casserole.

What's on your menu this week? Any fun new recipes? We tried the chicken marsala casserole last week, and it was both easy and yummy. It's definitely getting on the rotation.

Weekly Spending Wrap Up (2/27/12-3/4/12)

Hope everyone had a great weekend! We took the kids skiing on Sunday, & it was the perfect day. Great weather, everyone listened, & both kids are finally up to doing intermediate runs. (We've spent the entire season on the bunny slopes). It made all of the time & effort that we've put into skiing feel worthwhile. :-)

I also took Friday off to complete our taxes (more on that later. We owe. A lot), and rewarded myself with my last free massage coupon. SO nice. We had a date night on Saturday, & skied on Sunday. Fun weekend!

Here's how we did this week:

• Monday
• $10.49 - Lowes. Not sure what M bought for the house.
• Tuesday
• $47.71 - Trader Joe's for snacks for my office. I've been buying much more food at work, since I ran out of snacks, & this is much healthier & cheaper.
• Wednesday
• No spend day
• Thursday
• $30 - replenishment of my toll pass
• $723.84 - deposit for our hotel stay over Memorial Day weekend.
• Friday
• $106.31 - groceries
• $60.93 - house stuff (mostly for the lawn))
• $43.92 - gas
• $49.24 - quarterly gift payment for a music subscription (for my father)
• $6.01 - lunch at World Wrapps
• $-59.66 - returned a sweater to Jcrew
• Massage & pedicure -free with a coupon & on a gift card
• Saturday
• $29 - items for N's birthday party
• $3.99 - groceries
• $15.12 - gift. I'll be getting reimbursed for this.
• $.41 - poster board for a school project. Apparently, I forgot to take this out of the cart, because I can't find it at home.
• $8.99 - beer
• $149.45 - running shoes. My current shoes (that were only 6 weeks old) were causing terrible bruising & swelling on my toes when running more than a few miles. I finally went to a running store & got fitted - I needed a bigger size. My toes are KILLING ME.
• $2.37 - frozen yogurt after our date night
• $58.28 - dinner & drinks on date night
• Sunday:
• $16.41 - ski lunch at Subway
• $47 - ski passes

Total spend for the week = $1349.95. Pretty typical for a week, minus the running shoes & hotel deposit. I have $500 budgeted for clothing/shoe spending this year, so that's a huge chunk of my money. :-(

How did you do with your spending last week?

February Financial Wrap Up

Rather than posting every last nitty gritty category, I thought I would try out a hopefully more visually compelling/easily digestible version of our February financial wrap up. :-)

Here goes! (The first number listed is the budgeted amount, followed by actual spend).

Categories where we were on track, or under budget for our monthly spending:

• Groceries!!! Finally. :-) I increased our budget for the month, knowing that we would be entertaining family one weekend. We were right at goal, for the first time ever! Budget $650/spent $648
• Boys lessons. I predicted that we would spend $0, and we did.
• Gas. $400/335.
• Utilities. $875/555
• Personal. $50/30
• Boys. $50/5
• Primary mortgage. $4850/$4669. I think my budget number is off - need to adjust this for March.
• Insurance. $320/320.
• Vacation mortgage. $2600/$2600.
• Boys birthdays. $400/337.

Categories where we were over:

• Dining out. We came very close, & I'm pretty pleased, given that it was my birthday, Valentine's Day, my son's birthday, & we had company in town over a weekend. $400/$421.
• Boys clothes. Already described, but needed to replace two winter coats. $0/76.
• Clothes for me. $0/37 (minusing the $100 of gift money I received).
• Gifts. $0/$191. I was reimbursed for some of this, but lost track. Maybe $100?
• Travel. We have a yearly fund, but I didn't anticipate paying for anything this month. We bought tickets for our trip to San Diego in May. $0/735.
• Childcare. We cancelled a vacation due to a work conflict, and ended up having to enroll the boys in a winter break camp. $1675/1915.
• Health. $0/120. Registered for a couple of runs.
• House. $25/136. We were out of a bunch of stuff for the house (laundry soap, etc).
• Car. $25/860. This was the category where we were the most off track. Mostly unexpected expenses for my car.
• Liquor. $0/60. Bought extra beer & wine for the family gathering we had.
• College fund. $0/326. Half of this was funded via birthday gifts.
• Cleaning. $400/560. Switched to a new cleaning service, & did a one-time deep clean.
• Skiing. $320/327.

Total spend for the month = $14,615.

Total income for the month = $13,225*. (*Note that I put 15% of my net salary into an investment account that returns a fixed quarterly amount, and save that for the bigger expenses like travel, etc. Since I only get the money quarterly, I count in the month received.)

Sources of income:

• $20 - sold a pair of kids ski boots my youngest grew out of.
• $100 - birthday money for me. I went shopping & bought a few sweaters & a dress.
• $170 - birthday money for my oldest. Used to fund college account.
• $1645 - FSA (preschool/after care reimbursement).
• $11,268 - standard monthly paychecks
• $22 - Ebates

My goal for March is to be under $13,000! Assuming we have no major car expenses, or other random expenses, I think we might be able to pull it off. Fingers crossed.

How did you do with you budget in February?

March Goals

Here are my goals for March! (If you're interested in how these map to my 2012 goals, you can read more about them here.)
I feel like I'm okay with the artificial sugar in my coffee/tea (I've successfully eliminated it for two months), so I'm cutting that goal, & adding another. I try to limit myself to 12 goals per month.

1. Lose four pounds in March, bringing me to 143 pounds.
2. Complete 1100 minutes of cardio. I've been crushing this goal, so I'm bumping up the number.
3. Complete all training runs for my half marathon, and complete my 15K race on 3/19!
4. Spend $0 on clothes, makeup, shoes, etc for myself/kids. *Caveat - I may need a new pair of running shoes*
5. Complete 11 strength workouts. Bumping this up by one workout, as I still feel like I need to devote more time to my strength training.
6. Find an "extra" $650 in the budget to purchase two tuition credits for each child.
7. Track all spending, stick to budget, and prepare month end spending report.
8. Complete taxes, & fund what we owe.
9. Have one date night with M.
10. Get together with two friends.
11. Create a master list of accounts/passwords to store in our safety deposit box.
12. Investigate & create new budget based on a few options we're considering. (Selling our vacation house, buying a rental property, etc). This is very much a first stage of a long process.

February Goal Wrap Up

The month is almost over - can you believe it?! Here's how I did on my goals for the month of February. Overall, I'm very pleased. :-) It's a short month, but I feel like I accomplished quite a bit.

These were my goals for February! (If you're interested in how these map to my 2012 goals, you can read more about them here.)

1. Lose four pounds in February, bringing me to 144 pounds. - I lost one pound, so progress was made. Ultimately, I'm having a hard time controlling my calories, because I'm working out like a crazy person. I know keeping the calories in check is important, but I'm also pleased because my clothes are fitting better & I'm in much better shape than I was a few months ago. Some days I'm STARVING after a long run, other days not so much. My calories are pretty wildly varied, & I haven't figured out how to account for that..
2. Complete 900 minutes of cardio. It's a shorter month, so this will definitely be a challenge. - I blew this one away, & even beat my huge January number. I'm planning to work out tomorrow, so this isn't a final number, but I completed 1173 cardio minutes in February. Boom!
3. Complete all training runs for my half marathon, and start training for my 15K in March. - Done. I fell behind for a few days when I got sick, but I rallied & I'm back on track.
4. Spend $0 on clothes, makeup, shoes, etc for myself/kids. - I did "okay" on this one, but didn't achieve my goal. I spent $137 on clothing for myself, but $100 of that was from my birthday money, so my net spend was $37. I'm actually going to return one of the sweaters (love it, but the color doesn't look good with jeans, & I wear jeans every day pretty much to work), so I'm giving myself a pass. We had to replace two kids winter jackets this month, for a total of $76. The good news was there was no unecessary kids clothing spending, and the jackets were essential & will last until the end of next winter.
5. Complete 10 strength workouts. - I'll be wrapping up the last workout tonight, so I'm giving this a complete!
6. No artificial sugar in coffee/tea or other beverages. - Done!
7. Find an "extra" $650 in the budget to purchase two tuition credits for each child. - I funded half of this, so one tuition credit for each child. That's all the budget could afford this month, with a bunch of unexpected car expenses.
8. Track all spending, stick to budget, and prepare month end spending report. - I tracked all of the spending, & I'm almost done with our month end spending report. Overall, there were some expenses outside of our budget (car expenses, travel which is part of our yearly budget, but wasn't expected in February, etc). Very little random extraneous purchases, and I'm pleased with where we ended up. February is always a struggle for us - my birthday, my son's birthday, Valentine's Day, the kids have a week off of school, etc.
9. Reallocate savings goals to pay for taxes. Waiting for a few final documents, but it's looking like we'll owe around $10K. *shivers* - Done. I'm taking Friday off to really commit the time to get our taxes wrapped up, and we have a plan for what we expect to owe.
10. Have one date night with M. - Done!
11. Get together with two friends. - Done!
12. Create a master list of accounts/passwords to store in our safety deposit box. - This was the only goal that I didn't even attempt, so fail. I'll roll this goal over to next month.

How about you? How did your February goals come out?

Menu Plan Monday (2/27/12)

Trying to get back into the regular habit of posting my menu plans. On Mondays. ;-) Otherwise, the week turns into a crazy blur. I'm happy to report that I spent most of Saturday in the kitchen, & stocked the freezer fairly well. That makes me feel much more relaxed about my ability to throw dinner together on crazy evenings.

Here's what in the lineup for the week:

• Monday - Leftover Fiesta Chicken Casserole. LOVE this recipe.
• Tuesday - Chicken marsala casserole + roasted brussels sprouts
• Wednesday - Sauteed tilapia with lemon peppercorn sauce, over orzo.
• Thursday - Homemade Bolognese sauce (from the freezer) over pasta
• Friday - Chicken peanut chow mein + wine :-)
• Saturday - One dish chicken and kielbasa dinner
• Sunday - Either chicken souvlaki, or pizza, depending on our plans for the day.

What's on your menu plan for the week?

Weekly Spending Wrap Up (2/20/12-2/26/12)

I'm happy it's Sunday, because I'm exhausted! I ran 8 miles yesterday, worked out today, swam with my youngest, made 10 meals & 6 dozen muffins for the freezer, and did all of my normal household miscellany. Today, my youngest & I spent the day together while my oldest + my husband skied. It was a very nice day. I'm trying to motivate myself to get off the sofa & get dinner prepared. So far, not very motivated. :-)

Another week, and here's how we did! :-)

• Monday
• $85 - child care, as schools are closed but our employer is not. On a gift card.
• Tuesday
• $9 - lunch at Panera. On a gift card. I was at home sick, & ran out to get some soup.
• $326 - one tuition credit for each child. I used S's birthday money (gifts from family) to fund his.
• Wednesday
• $76.57 - new ski coats, as one got lost & one was ripped at the seams. Spending this much makes me cringe, but both will last through the end of next winter. I did manage to get them on sale, but there were very few options this late in the winter
• -$60.17 - returned a dress at The Gap. Trying to offset the kids ski coat purchases.
• $583.49 - car expenses. Drat.
• $51.61 - gas
• $7.61 - lunch, out
• Thursday
• No spend day
• Friday
• $158.47 - Costco, groceries
• $30.31 - Costco, household
• Saturday
• $31.24 - pet store, for fish food & other various fish supplies
• Sunday
• $12 - child care at the gym, on gift card
• $5 - frozen yogurt, free with a coupon
• $21.25 - I took my youngest son on a Mom/Son day, & we did a bunch of fun stuff (see above & below) :-). This was for lunch out.
• $20 - a new pair of jeans, for me
• $68.83 - two pair of jeans, as a gift for my sister. I'm not sure what size she's wearing, so I'll return one after she has a chance to try them on.
• -$16.96 - returned a top to Jcrew
• $5.45 - bought my youngest a Lego key chain.

Total spent for the week = $1303.70

The car repair 44% of our spending this week, and the two tuition credits were another 25%.

How did you do on your weekly spending?

Tales from the grocery store

It's been a while since I categorized what we bought at the store (in this case, Costco), so I thought I would post it again. I'm training for a 1/2 marathon, so there are a few more high energy snack options mixed in this time around. We're also out of almost everything, & I'm hoping to stock the freezer with a few extra meals this weekend.

Household:
Laundry soap - $14.69
Body wash - $11.49
Total household spend (including tax) = $28.81
Total percentage of spend = 15%

Pantry items:
Rice - $5.49
Diced canned tomatoes - $5.93
Canned black beans - $5.79
8 pack of spaghetti noodles - $8.59
2 pack of tortellini - $9.39
Pickles - $3.89
Total pantry items = $39.08
Total percentage of spend = 20%

Bread items:
Two loaves of wheat bread - $3.99
Tortillas - $4.99
Whole wheat English muffins - $3.79
Total bread items = $12.77
Total percentage of spend = 7%

Dairy items:
Milk - $4.93
Romano cheese - $8.89
Fage yogurt - $12.49
Eggs - $3.85
Total dairy spend = $30.16
Total percentage of spend = 16%

Produce:
Clementines - $6.99
Pears - $3.99
Apples - $5.99
Honeydew melon - $3.99
Kiwi - $5.99
Pineapple - $2.99
Cucumbers - $2.99
Bananas x2 - $2.78
Mushrooms - $3.99
Lettuce - $3.49
Six pack of peppers - $5.49
Total produce spend = $48.68
Total percentage of budget =  25%

Snack items:
Nugo bars - $18.49
Cashews - $14.99
Total snack spend = $33.48
Total percentage of budget = 17%


Total spend = $192.98

Breakout of categories:

• Produce - 25%
• Pantry - 20%
• Snacks - 17%
• Dairy - 16%
• Household - 15%
• Bread - 7%

Both our pantry & snack categories are higher than normal, but the pantry is to be expected given my meal stock up. I'll have to keep any eye on our snack spending.

What about you? How have you been doing at the grocery store lately?