As a reminder, my husband pays the "big bills" like mortgage, phone, car, and electricity. I pay for groceries and the pets and that somehow evens things out.
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Eating out ($27.19, 1.3%) - I had lunch with Sarah and I ate ice cream once.
Entertainment ($51.18, 2.4%) - Hold on to your pants, people. I bought an audiobook, an ebook, and paid for my Spotify subscription this month. I bought the audiobook for my IRL book club or I would never have been able to read it and I bought a new release ebook. Who am I?
Cars ($64, 7.3%) - Gas a couple of times.
House ($84.40, 3.9%) - New sheets. We haven't used the new ones yet because we're still using our flannel sheets, but I think my husband might want to switch soon.
Personal care ($113.47, 5.2%) - Eyeliner, shampoo, sponges. It takes money and work to look like an average Midwestern lady.
Gifts ($124, 5.7%) - A couple birthday presents and some greeting cards.
Bills ($158.83, 7.3%) - Home and car insurance.
Pets ($299.25, 13.8%) - Food, food, food. Why do they eat so much? They're not fat. I don't think.
Savings (350, 16.2%) - Better than a kick in the teeth.
Groceries ($869.33, 40.2%) - Food, food, food. Why do we eat so much?
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I rarely buy books, but I purchased two in February. Have you recently made a purchase for something you rarely buy?
I feel your "who am I?" feeling at buying books. I sometimes get Audible when it's really cheap and I have a backlog of audio books that I can't get on Libby, but last fall there was a book that I really wanted to listen to and I just up and paid full price like it was no big deal.
ReplyDeleteYay for a sub $300 pet month! Somehow the only pet expense that we had in Feb was Doggo's $25 nail trim. This is definitely not the average.
Yes!! What a lovely inexpensive pet month. $25...that would be a DREAM.
DeleteI haven't bought them yet but I must - MUST - buy new compression stockings. My old ones (from 2010) have a big rip, rendering them useless. They are SO expensive, so I've been putting them off, but I need to do it and I need to do it asap. They get shipped here so it could take a while.
ReplyDeleteI wear compression socks almost daily. They're not hardcore, but they help support my ankle. They're on sale right now and I feel like I should buy some, but I just don't want to.
DeleteWell, let's see... I just bought a new watch. Kind of annoying because my old one works just fine, except the battery life has been dwindling, and I don't think it will get me through my race. I bought a bunch of books in January and have been under a book-buying ban ever since. But I support your book purchases! Sometimes you just have to buy them.
ReplyDeleteNo watch for me! I love being so old skool. I don't track my steps! Yay for me! I think I would just make myself crazy tracking things. Does your new watch have cool new features or anything?
DeleteOMG, the cost of food, especially produce, has gone SO HIGH. I am feeling very proud of myself--and grateful--that we have a big freezer and that I consistently buy meat, etc. on sale and stock it up.
ReplyDeleteI had to buy new walking shoes--I'm cautiously taking little walks these days, yay!--but I got a good sale price. And I had to buy a new phone. Ugh. My old one is finally just too slow and the battery drains before the end of the day.
You know I bought several books, but I did buy them used in hardback. Well, two of them, anyway.
We went to Costco last weekend and spent SO MUCH MONEY. I don't even know how we spend that much. And then went to our regular old store the next day and spent another $60. I guess it's just how we are now. Working to eat?
DeleteI need some new cross trainers. Every year I buy new ones and get mad that the old ones didn't last longer! Shouldn't they last longer than eleven or twelve months?
We had unexpected plumbing problems in February, which ended up being so expensive, but necessary. Hopefully this is a rare occurrence!
ReplyDeleteOh, no! Home repairs are not a fun thing to spend money on!
DeleteI've never spent money on a garage door (aside from an opener) and we spent some dough to replace both doors and to put in new openers. Merry Christmas to us. Well worth it. Bought through Costco, so a decent price and they look great. I'm laughing at Why do we eat so much? and It takes a lot to look like an average midwestern lady. Bah ha ha. I rarely buy books and was bummed when I couldn't get the book club book Dark Wild Shore or whatever, but another woman in our book club shared her audio book thing with me and that saved me some coin. And time, because Pokey reader over here.
ReplyDeleteI just said to Michelle that home repairs are never a fun thing to have to spend extra money on! But think of how cool it is now that you have a fully functional garage door set-up!
DeleteI did buy a three month subscription for Panera's Sip Club last month because they were having a sale where you paid $3/ month and got all the coffee/tea/soft drinks/lemonade that you wanted. I'm not usually a buy a beverage person, but the Panera was literally across the street from the theatre and caffeine is important during tech week. I think our lighting designer had four coffees a day with his Sip Club membership.
ReplyDeleteWell, for $3/month, just one drink will pay for it - totally worth it, in my view. Do they limit how many you can get a day?
Deletethink of all the things we DID NOT BUY when we shopped. That is unusual for me
ReplyDeleteTHE PURPLE SWEATER. I exhibited great self-control, I think.
DeleteThe only big purchase I made in Feb was to pay for my trip to Quebec which will be in April.
ReplyDeleteTravel is definitely a fun thing to pay for.
DeleteI rarely buy books - unless a friend publishes one! So I bought Nicole's book from an indie bookstore last month and read it this past weekend!
ReplyDeleteAlso, we still have our flannel sheets on, too, and I do not see us taking them off anytime soon as it looks like the weather will cool off soon (as I type this, I'm sitting w/ a blanket on my lap even though it's probably in the 50s and sunny outside... i am always cold, though).
I sleep very cold, so I don't want the flannels to go. I managed to convince my husband to keep them on through this week and there's snow in the forecast, so...it is really warm here right now, but that won't last forever!
DeleteI bought some earplugs recently. I have been wearing them to sleep and it’s GREAT. No background noises, no snoring, etc. But now I’m wondering if it’s a bad idea to wear them overnight, if I will have ear wax build up or something. Nothing is ever perfect, is it?
ReplyDeleteYou put 16.2% in savings? That’s amazing, good for you!
I don't know if wearing earplugs to sleep is bad. I suspect the bad effects of not sleeping are worse than earwax issues, but what do I know? I'm not a medical professional.
DeleteGotta say I’m jealous that $64 filled your tank TWICE. We have a hybrid van and it still costs $75-80 ( Canadian) every 10 or so days to fill it. Sigh. Still much better than before the hybrid but still sigh.
ReplyDeleteI bought brand new bras in February for the first time in 4 years. Definitely a not very often purchase!
Yeah, I think it costs about $80 to fill our tank right now, though before the current BS it would be closer to $65-$70. Once.
DeleteYeah, we drive small cars with small gas tanks and drive about 150 miles a week, so we do all right. Also, my husband fills the gas tank on our larger car more often than I do, so he gets the heftier bills for the most part!
DeleteNice work on your savings! Hey, if you are investing it, that amount will be over doubled in 10 years! Yay! I am now saving a lot of money by not going to Costco! I never could get out of there without spending at least $300. I actually still have my card (with me!) and there are even Costco stores where I am, but what am I going to do with a huge bag of nuts? So my carry-on only policy is saving me hundreds a month! :) I do love Costco though.
ReplyDeleteBuying two books in one month would be RESTRAINT for me. I am such a sucker for books.
ReplyDeleteI think the last out-of-the-ordinary purchase I bought was a new cat tower. I'm hoping it fits perfectly next to my desk!