As a reminder, my husband pays the "big bills" like mortgage, phone, and electricity. I pay for groceries and the pets and that somehow evens things out.
We're still in a bit of weird area right now. There are expenses related to me dealing with my mother's estate and a tiny bit of travel. Let's dig in. It was a spendy month.
(In light of what's going on right now with the government shutdown and benefits being withheld, I struggled with whether or not this post was tone deaf. Maybe it is. If you don't want to read it, feel free to skip it. I understand.)
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Eating out ($12.48, <1%) - I went out to lunch once.
Entertainment ($12.65, <1%) - This is my Spotify subscription.
Personal care ($77.62, 1.9%) - Some supplements and daily face lotion.
Travel ($110.99, 2.8%) - One night in a hotel.
Miscellaneous ($126, 3.1%) - I had to pay for a death certificate* and then I bought some stuff for our non-food items for next Halloween.
Bills ($133.33, 3.3%) - Insurance for home and car.
Cars ($161.11, 4%) - I bought a lot of gas. I was driving a lot.
Fitness ($164.58, 4.1%) - I BOUGHT A NEW YOGA MAT. I finally decided I wanted a nice mat at home and school and I bought a new mat and a bag to go with it and I have no regrets. Now I have a bag with a whole yoga set at school and a smaller bag at home for going to the community center and back.
Gifts ($173, 4.3%) - A birthday present for my nephew and a baby shower gift.
Savings ($200, 5%) - Lolz.
Clothes ($217.79, 5.4%) - My niece and I got permanent anklets together when we were at the local tourist town. Worth every penny.
Donations ($220, 5.5%) - My puny contribution to a fundraiser at the community center. Remind me and someday I'll tell you all about my silent auction victories.
Pets ($288.07, 7.2%) - Let's all just be excited that this number is so low. Yay! Confetti falls from the sky.
Groceries ($788.39, 19.7%) - We still gotta eat, you know?
Health ($1314.79, 32.9%) - My PT bills came due. What a sadness.
*I need an official death certificate and all I had was a copy. I asked the funeral home for an official one and they sent me another copy, which was not going to pass muster. Eventually I had to shell out to get one through a weird website. Anyway, I don't know how to classify a lot of these random types of expenses, so I'm throwing it in miscellaneous.
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What is something fun you bought in October? Is it as fun as my anklet with Claire?
Oof, the death certificate business is frustrating. It kind of reminds me of when Phil and his mom had to pay for the autopsy report when his brother died in 2020. They kept waiting for the report and eventually figured out they had to pay to get the report, but no one told them? And then the report was basically impossible to interpret. I thought it would have like an executive summary that said the likely cause of death, but it didn't. Luckily Phil's best friend is a doctor so we sent to him to get his take on the report. Anyways, death is just so complicated and hard for so many reasons. :(
ReplyDeleteLet's see, fun purchases in October. I received a lot of gift cards to Athleta from coworkers and a few blog friends to get comfy clothes when I was recovering from my burns, so I bought some new comfy sweatpants that are soft as butter! And I also finally got a cross body bag which I LOVE. I don't know why I waited years to get that. I use it allll the time now.
The bureaucracy surrounding death is necessary, I guess, but it is hard. My mom worked really hard to make sure my sister and I were set up with everything we needed and it has been pretty smooth, but there are occasional sticking points (like the death certificate) that she had no control over.
DeleteI only use crossbody bags at this point. I guess maybe I have sloped shoulders because otherwise they just slide right down my arm and are super frustrating.
I'm glad you have been taking care of yourself and treating yourself to things that will help your recovery.
I don't think I bought anything fun this month-- jeans from Target?
ReplyDeleteNew clothes are usually fun!
DeleteWoo hoo for sub $300 in pet expenses! I spent $600 for one dog - testing to rule out anything serious after a long bout of belly woes, and some expensive food to settle her gut down. My fun purchase was a trip to Ontario!
ReplyDeleteWell, here in the November time frame, Zelda's already had her annual exam, so I'm pretty sure we're going to fly by the $300 easy next month!
DeleteAnklets are fun! I bought a couple of Christmas decorations in Morocco, I would consider that a fun purchase.
ReplyDeleteEverything purchased on a vacation is considered a fun purchase!
DeleteThere is nothing as fun as your anklet with your niece, definitely. It sucks that we have to pay for official death certificates. What if one doesn’t have the money? I mean, some people are close to the edge, right? Sigh. Did I buy anything fun in October…I would say a book or two!
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what I would have done if I couldn't have afforded the death certificate. Maybe I would have sent in a copy and hoped for the best? The whole business surrounding death is very hard and if you had a lot of financial constraints associated with it, it would be even more so. *sigh* Capitalism is not a great system for our most vulnerable.
DeleteI bought the biggest pumpkin I have ever lugged around to carve for Halloween! Just like, from a grocery store, not like a prize winner, but still. They were all huge this year for some reason and I got a big kick out of it.
ReplyDeleteYay! It's fun to have a big canvas when you're carving a pumpkin.
DeleteI bought a weighted coaster/drink holder for the arm of my recliner. Wheeee. Livin' it up over here.
ReplyDeleteHa! It is the little things that make our lives better, isn't it?
DeleteApparently I really take that to heart!
DeleteI'm just going to say it: having to pay for a death certificate is bullshit. Honestly, isn't this maybe the One Thing a county/state can spot a person? I'm happy to pay for a birth certificate, a marriage license, a building permit, a special event parking permit to allow people to park on my No Parking street if I have a party. But holy crap, give the executor or whomever a free death certificate while they're already struggling with so much other soul-draining stuff on top of the death of a loved one.
ReplyDeleteThere.
I'm going to pretend I bought something really fun in October, like a ... hell, I don't even know.
I think my sister (who was the executor) got official copies, but I am unwilling to communicate with her unless it's absolutely necessary, so this is what I had to do. It is bullshit that it's so very expensive and it would have sucked hardcore if we hadn't been able to afford it.
DeleteI'm going to pretend that after some bad adulting chore you went to a restaurant or bakery and got yourself the most indulgent thing on the menu!
I bought a few Christmas gifts for my grandkids. Fun.
ReplyDeleteUgh. Now I'm thinking about Christmas shopping. *sigh* I'm not excited about it.
DeleteI did all my Christmas shopping. It's good to have that already crossed off my list.
ReplyDeleteI admire you people who can get it all done in October. I know I should take inspiration from you and do it, but I am not going to. I am going to wait and then try to get it all done in December and it will not go well.
DeleteI LOVE that you got a permanent anklet with your niece! That is delightful. I bought a lot of stuff in October, but I am pretty sure it was mainly gifts and things for my kid and everyday necessities kind of stuff. Did I even buy a book in October? No idea.
ReplyDeleteI saw my niece yesterday and she and I took another photo with our anklets! She's so excited about it. I love that we have this memory together.
DeleteIt's actually kind of nice to have a boring month without a lot of extravagant expenses sometimes.
While the anklets sound cool and I want to hear about the silent auction wins, I also think your new yoga mat deserves more details in its reveal! (Unless I missed a blog post, then ignore :)
ReplyDeleteI think I'll write some posts about all these fun things in the coming weeks. So many life updates!
DeleteLet me know how that anklet holds up! When we did permanent jewelry with our book club, my friend did an anklet and it fell off the first night and after she got it rewelded, it came off again within a week! So she finally just got it on her wrist. I hope you have better luck!
ReplyDeleteI bought 10 books in October while I was in London, so that was a super fun purchase to me!
The anklet has stretched out A LOT and is going to probably fall off in a few weeks. I'm going to be heartbroken when it does. My bracelet has held up much better, but it was also more than twice as expensive and we went to an actual jewelry store to get the bracelet instead of a kiosk outside of an escape room.
DeleteYay! Like I told Nicole above, any purchase made on vacation is a fun purchase.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteOctober was also spendy over here. My husbands teeth (caps or veneers, not sure) are 10K total. The whole upper jaw. he is vain, what can I say, but he's been wanting to do this since we met 15 years ago.
what else. I bought some clothes: a fall coat, two pairs of fall ankle booties, one pair with a kitten heel, another with a lug sole, two pairs of work trousers from Bloomie's. Our NYC day trip warrantied some new note books from Kinokuniya store in Bryant park. One of the kids got a new winter jacket, a couple of sweaters since they grew out of theirs.
Also... Bloody kids activities... jiu jitsu, piano, gymnastics. School AFTER care :()
My friend turned 50 so I gifted her $200 gift certificate to a Korean spa and sauna that we both like.
Egads. Kids are so expensive. I cannot imagine how much all that adds up to be!
DeleteI know this isn't really funny, but I like that "miscellaneous' included a death certificate and Halloween stuff. Well... where else are you going to put these things.
ReplyDeleteThis post isn't tone deaf at all. We all have to carry on with our lives. I know you appreciate what you have!
Now that you point it out, you're absolutely right that the two items were Halloween things and a death certificate is funny. What a juxtaposition!
DeleteI bought a new book for my book club! It's at my local bookstore, so I usually try to buy the book there to support them since the book club is free. A Ghostwriter's Guide to Murder - so far I'd recommend.
ReplyDeleteYay! Books are always fun.
DeleteI am sorry you're also dealing with your mom's estate. I hope it's mostly in order and just things to "check off the list"? We're dealing with MIL's estate right now too and let's just say.... it's stressful. I thought she had all her ducks in a row but maybe, not so much.
ReplyDeleteYeah, most of the estate stuff was taken care of last summer. It's just sending death certificates for discharging debts and getting insurance. But it's a thing! Fortunately my mom's estate was Very Simple, so there aren't a ton of details.
DeleteI always find these posts interesting. Sorry you've had stress dealing with your mom's estate - losing someone is difficult enough without admin worries.
ReplyDeleteImagine if I didn't have the time and money to deal with it. I don't know how some people deal with the death of their loved ones!
DeleteDealing with the passing of a loved one is draining emotionally, and adding in the financial stuff even more so.
ReplyDeleteI'm always amazed at your detailed record keeping!