Final March Budget

So here is how March ended up.

Income			Payments
G	3216.49		Garbage	53.08
Phone	80		Daycare	650
Moi	1843.34		Credit Card	200
Moi	1816.99		Gym	57.5
Total Income	6956.82		Car Insurance	200
			Swimming	45
			Mortgage	1429.6
			Elec/Water	316.94
			Phone	270.08
			Cable/Internet	175.97
			Parking	25
			Groceries	1124.04
			Various	2038.39
			HELOC Interest	123.07
Running Balance:	248.15

Here is a breakdown of the "Various" category:

I think that carpooling is really paying off.  It will be interesting to track that over the year.

I'll give you an update on April after the 10th.  However, due to tax prep fees and the application fee for Kidlette's school next year, we are already over... good thing we are expecting a nice tax return soon!

How was March for you?

The thousand mile hike

On Saturday we went for a hike.

We chose Ledbetter Point State Park and the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, near Long Beach.  It was a beautiful day.  We were prepared for the forecast-ed rain, and it ended up being sunny and warm and gorgeous.  The hike we chose was three miles (or 2.9, according to some sources).  It started out in the dunes.  We saw TONS of birds.

 

This heron greeted us, as we first stepped out of the forest, and onto the dunes.  We walked along the dunes for about a mile.  We saw heron, sand pipers, geese, American wigeon, canvasbacks, scaup, buffleheads grebes, and this guy.

 

He just watched us walk by.  Maybe he was wondering if we'd make a good snack?  At the point of the trail when we could have left the dunes, I decided we needed to add another loop to the hike.  The extra loop added 1.1 miles.  I thought a four mile hike would be good for us.  Kidlette would sleep well!  Ashley would be a happy dog.  G. would get his exercise.  I was doing a good thing!

 
So we walked another 1/2 mile up the dunes, then turned into the forest, for the last 2.5 miles of the hike, that would loop around and bring us back to our car.
 
I love how you just never know what you will run into on a hike.  I wonder how long this guy had been sitting there?

So there we were.  G., Aunt L., Kidlette, Ashley and Moi.  We had less than .5 miles to go.  We were very proud of ourselves.  We were hungry and planning on where to go for lunch.  And then we ran into this.

 

That is a flooded trail.  As far as we could see in all directions.  How did we miss this?  (From the website... "Be prepared to hike in water if you plan to enjoy Leadbetter during the annual winter flood season.", and on the big sign in the parking lot, and and and...)

We were not prepared to hike in water.  So we turned around.  And walked back around the loop.  Another  three miles. All in all the hike ended up between 6 and 7 miles.  Or as Kidlette proclaimed, one thousand miles.

And we all slept really well.

Weight Update

I'm still struggling with how to get past my current plateau.  I weighed in this morning at 250.  That is down from last weeks high of 254...  but I'm still above my current low of 241. 

I was doing really well last week - sugar is down, wine consumption has halted, portion control is good... I think this week I've been over indulging in cream in my coffee.  I have to scale back to 2%. 

It seems like every time I tackle one area, another one pops up.  And I know that this is all MY behavior... and supposedly I have control!  URGH!

I had coffee with my mom on Monday.  First time I've talked to her in over a year.  I'm not angry any more.  I've mostly forgiven her.  But I don't trust her.  It is what it is...  but the good news is that I didn't go eat a bunch of junk food or drink a bottle of wine after seeing her.  Yay for me!

It's Wednesday and the weathers fine.  How's your week going?

Weekend Update 2

What a nice weekend.  We got all of our chores out of the way on Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon we went to a family dance party at the local library.  They were kicking off the annual family read aloud campaign and had an hour long event.  G. is still sick, so Kidlette and I made our way down there and had a blast!  She was REALLY shy for the first couple of minutes.  Then she noticed the bubble machine...  and by the end of the hour she was jumping around, chatting with all the librarians, and having the time of her life.  We both got a good workout and had a lot of fun.  Events like these are great reminders that we should all support our local libraries!

Sunday we (Kidlette, Ashley and moi) headed out for a nice long walk.  We walked four miles and had a great time!  Kidlette was wonderful, and Ashley was in doggy heaven.  After, we hit Red Robin for a tasty burger and then went home and had a nap.  Last night I made chicken cordon blue, steamed artichokes, asparagus, salad and garlic bread for dinner.  Yum!  I was feeling like some decadent dessert, so made this awesome chocolate cobbler from the Tasty Kitchen.  Wow...  I also made Applesauce Bread for Kidlette's class snack today.  Hope the kids enjoy it!  A day spent outdoors with my family, and indoors baking... the best of both worlds!

Timeline

Dinner:  "Mom, my tummy hurts"
7:30p: Bedtime
9:00p: Wake up, cry, back to bed
11:30p: Wake up, cry, G. -can you take her back to bed?
2:30a: Wake up, cry, I give up, come get in bed with us.
2:35a: I need my blankey.  Ok, go get it.
2:35:15a:  Puke all over the stair landing, wall, entry way and banister.
2:36a: Bath
2:45a: Tucked back in bed.
2:46 - 4:00a: Clean floor.  Clean landing.  Clean walls.  Clean banister.  Pull up carpet runner on stairs (wood floors).  Clean stairs.  Start laundry.  Steam clean everything.  Kidlette asleep.
4:00a: Give up.  Put on sweats and go do treadmill for an hour.
5:00a: Call in sick.  Get in the shower.  Feed the animals.
6:00a: G. off to work.  Sit on couch.
6:30a: Wake up with Kidlette standing in front of you.
6:30a - 4:00p:  Doze and cuddle on couch with Kidlette, who is clearly not 100%.
7:30:  Bedtime.

G. has been sick all week.  Kidlette was down for about 2 days.  She's doing much better today, and is back at school.  I am soooo glad this week is almost over.  I hate it when my family is sick.  Get better guys!

Weekend Update

I've been trying, this month, to not spend a lot of money.  Just our normal spending, was the idea... just to see where the money was going.

Then I got big, one time phone bills.

Then I got big, one time vet bills.

Then I got big, one time health care bills.

So what did I do this weekend?  Well, the good news is that I didn't make a cake, a batch of cookies, and an apple pie.  I did however spend more money.  But this is money we had been planning on, kind of.

I posted a while back about going hiking with my friend Aunt L.  I had so much fun that I've been dragging G. and Kidlette out every weekend since.

And the shock?  Kidlette LOVES it!  She's a natural!  But she had no shoes that would work.  As matter of fact, we were all hiking in our tennis shoes, and it was not a good thing.

So Saturday we went out and got myself and Kidlette a new pair of hiking boots.  G. has a pair, he just needs to bring them home from work. 

Can I just say... size 1 hiking boots are the cutest things ever!

In addition we got Kidlette and myself new day packs. G. has a good one.

And Sunday we went and broke them in.  FUN.

Boots:  (And two new pairs of much needed shoes for Kidlette): $176.83

Day packs and first aid kit and emergency whistle for Kidlette: $133.73

G., Moi, Kidlette and Ashley spending the day together in the forest?  Priceless!

Money Diet - Part 2

 I promised an update on the money diet, and how we are tracking this month's bills, so here it is.

In column one is our income.  You'll notice that Moi Income for the 25th is blank, as it only the 11th!

In column two I've broken out our Bills, Other (Various) and Groceries.  However, Groceries and Various are included in the total for Bills, so we can see total outgoing.

We switched G.'s phone from a Verizon plan to an AT&T iPhone last month, so we had to pay his last Verizon bill, as well as a hefty AT&T bill that included activation and pro-ration fees for adding his account to mine and changing mine from a single plan to a family plan.  They get you every time.  That will be about $170.00 that we won't pay next month!

We also had our annual vet visit for all three critters.  That was another $170.00 we normally wouldn't be paying.

In addition those two "special" cases, I also got all the bills for health, that we have to pay to meet deductible.  Now, for the rest of the year, we just have to pay co-pays.  So that's another $200.00.

Whew!  Over $500.00 of "not normal" costs!  No wonder I think money is flowing out of our accounts!

Our electric bill is way up... with the cold weather and snow from last month, that is not a big surprise.  We have a huge, drafty old house, which we primarily heat with wood, but we do keep the the pellet stove going in the evening and the electric heat tends to kick on if it gets too cold!  With warm(er) weather creeping up on us, hopefully we will see a nice drop in this bill as well.

You'll also notice a big restaurant bill... we had a date night at a fancy restaurant that we don't normally go to, and in addition to the dinner, we went to a movie and paid a babysitter.  A $200.00 dollar night, but we only do that two or three times a year...

We've been carpooling all month, so our gas spending is down.  And we haven't been to Costco (oh Costco, how I love you, but how you entice me to spend to save!)so the Groceries aren't too bad for almost half way through the month.

Income			Bills
G. Income	3216.49		Garbage	53.08
Moi Income - Phone	80		March Daycare/School	650
Moi Income - 10th	1843.34		Joint Credit Card	200
Moi Income- 25th			Gym	57.5
Total Income	5139.83		Car Insurance	200
			Swimming	45
Running Balance:	376.29		Mortgage	1429.6
			Elec/Water	316.94
			ATT	270.08
			Qwest	175.97
			Parking	25
			Groceries	278.73
			Various	938.57
			Home Equity Loan Interest	123.07
			Total	4763.54
			Various
			3/1/2011	40	(Cosmetic)
			3/1/2011	31.3	(Restaurant)
			3/3/2011	22.61	(Restaurant)
			3/3/2011	57.08	(Hobby)
			3/3/2011	35.52	(Gas)
			3/7/2011	146.45	(Health)
			3/7/2011	23.22	(Health)
			3/7/2011	70.66	(Phone)
			3/7/2011	36.71	(Gas)
			3/7/2011	25	(Cosmetic)
			3/5/2011	172.05	(Animals)
			3/4/2011	100	(Cash)
			3/4/2011	127.78	(Restaurant)
			3/4/2011	33	(Movie)
			3/10/2011	17.19	(Health)
			Total	938.57
			Groceries
			3/5/2011	219.48
			3/9/2011	59.25
			Total	278.73