Spending, January week 4

January 26 thru January 31

Groceries: $164.08

Eating out: $15.89
My husband got an order of fajitas for himself one night when I didn't feel like eating or cooking. The kids had hot dogs that night.

Household supplies/ toiletries: $2.29

I do not remember what I spent the $2.29 on.

Stuff: $30

I spent $5.99 on a pack of pacifiers. I bought a kids fold up/ camping chair on clearance from $9.99 to $3.99. And this next one was a lot considering I was trying to close out January with a $30 a day average. I spent $20.02 on a LEGO set for Abe. It was a $49.99 set that went on clearance and the store was running an extra 30% off toy clearance. It's hard to find LEGOs at a 60% off price point ever. My husband insisted we needed to buy it for our boy. I didn't argue. Abe spent all day yesterday building and most of today playing with it.

I had a few neat things happen with spending this week. On Saturday (okay, that was last week). Abe and I met several of my co-workers at Red Robbin for a work get together. I only ordered a black coffee for myself and then Abe got a kids meal which he scarfed down. When the bills came a co-worker grabbed ours and said they wanted to pay for Abe's meal (and my coffee). That was so nice of them!!!

Then practically the same thing happened on Sunday. We went out to eat with the guys from my husband's band and their families. One of the guys insisted on paying for everyone at the table. WOW!!! I don't even want to think about how much that bill was. Yikes. So many nice people in our circle of friends. 💓

Last, not the same at all, I spent $45 on clothes for my little Wren. I purchased three pajama sets, two pair of pants, and two shirts from Carters/ OshKosh. They were all pretty deeply clearanced. We had $50 left over from Christmas money that relatives gave her so that went towards the clothes and nothing came out of the budget. Woohoo!

Grand total this week: $212.26

Average daily spending this year: $31.61

Hoping to close out January with a $30 a day average means I spent $49.96 more this month than I was shooting for. Bummer.

On to February!

Peek at the grocery budget; meal rundown

Dinner at our house last week:

Sunday - Two orders of fajitas from a restaurant and two free kids meals.
Monday - Chicken and vegetable soup. I've gotten into the habit of boiling a chicken on Saturday which makes a lot of broth and enough meat for a few meals (mostly lunches). Soup was from Saturday chicken.
Tuesday - Beef stew, including sweet potatoes, onions, carrots, peas, sage, and thyme. I took my lunch break early in the day to get the stew started so that it had five hours to stew on the stove before I got home from work.
Wednesday - Bunless hamburgers and roasted broccoli and onion
Thursday - Turkey tacos with corn tortillas, fajita peppers, and guacamole  (I had a taco salad)
Friday - Steak and asparagus. The kids always eat the same meals as the parents in this house but I did make them hot dogs instead of the crazy expensive steak my husband brought home from the meat market. The stingy adults should have shared the steak though because we both ate way too much.
Saturday - Chili.
My chili is about two pounds of ground beef. One onion. Three peppers: yellow, red, and orange. A can of no salt added tomato sauce. A little water. Tons of spice: chili pwd. garlic pwd. salt, cumin, oregano. Simmered for about an hour. We seriously love it!


Breakfast is usually a granola bar or fruit and nut bar or scrambled eggs.
Lunches are often leftovers or very kid-ish, like dino nuggets or mac n cheese.
I feel like there's a lot of snacking in our house, dried fruits, nuts, cheese, granola bars or fruit and nut bars, crackers. Lots of snacking!

As far as beverages go I drink a lot of coffee and tea.
My husband drinks a lot of soda water.
The little lady drinks a lot of milk and Abe just drinks a lot of water.
We really don't buy pop or juice unless we're eating out somewhere.

That's pretty much the rundown 😋

Spending, January week 3

January 19 thru January 25th

I am no where near the $24 a day budget I'm shooting for BUT I'm not upset with my spending.

We haven't been eating out much (about once a week). My husband would eat out four or five times a week if I allowed it. I haven't been buying coffees at work. And I've been bringing lunch to work with me/ not buying anything to eat or drink while working. We've been eating really healthy food; haven't been eating sugary treats or any desserts (or spending any money on such items).

My "stuff" category has had relatively light spending and I've gotten pretty good deals on what I have purchased there.

Life is expensive! Right now I think I'll shoot for closing out January with a $30 a day spending average. That allows $167 to spend next week. My weekly spending has been over $200 so it's a fair challenge.

Groceries: $123.87
Meat, veggies, fruit, fruit and nut bars, nuts. Soda water. Oh, of course, coffee grounds and tea. Milk. That about sums up all of the grocery spending.

Eating out: $41.36
This week we had the "kids eat free" Sunday meal from a local Mexican restaurant. On Thursday I took a long lunch break to meet my husband at the dentist, grab the kids (so they didn't have to sit through is hour long cleaning) and I brought them through the McDonald's drive thru for happy meals before we headed home. I also got myself a medium black coffee from McDonalds.

Household items/ toiletries: $28.98
This week I bought $24.99 worth of diapers. Won't need those for a few weeks now.

Stuff: $16.74
I spent $10.90 on a mug for mom's birthday and $5.84 on a Valentines gift for Abe. That's $16.74 this week on gifts in the stuff category.

Grand Total this week: $210.95

Average daily spending this year: $30.71

A few cents down from $30.93

Cold, Quiet, Calm, budget rambling

I've woke up well before the kiddos this morning. Generally Abe wakes up before anyone. I've had a very lovely few hours of quiet time. I haven't been able to comment in blogger for awhile now and until this morning's strange bit of peace and quiet I haven't had an opportunity to try and figure out what the problem is. Well, after at least 30 minutes of poking around I am happy to report that I think I've figured out whats been wrong (something to do with cookies... not the delicious kind) and I was able to just leave two comments on blogger for the first time in ages!
Little victories 😊

I've also used this bit of very rare mom time to look over my very abused budget which I've set at an average of $24 a day for the year.
Currently I sit at an average of $30.93 a day .
If I wish to end January on budget there's only $187.25 left to spend this month ($14.40 a day).

In all honesty, brutal honesty is my policy, I'll be happy if I spend $187.25 or less this week. BUT I am up for the challenge, at least I feel like I am right now after having had a good amount of coffee and several hours of peace and quiet.

Thirteen Days. $187.25
and GO...

Spending, January Week Two

January 12th thru the 18th


Groceries: $192.65
I purchased two pounds of salmon, a whole chicken, and several pounds of ground beef this week. Right there my grocery bill spiked. Oh yeah, my husband also brought home pre-cut beef chunks for last nights dinner, a superbly delicious beef stew that I stewed for five hours. I always regret asking him to bring home meat though. I told him to get a very cheap hunk of meat but... well, I should have known.

At present I have a whole chicken, about three pounds of ground beef, and tons of veggies on hand so hopefully that will bring down next weeks grocery budget.

Eating out: $31.78
We ate one meal out and I did not buy any coffees. If you ask me that's a win for the eating out category this week!

Household supplies/ toiletries: $19.03
Boring category. Not much to say here.

Clothing: $13.33
This was a fun one. Abe picked out a winter coat for next year from all the coats that have recently gone on clearance. The coat was originally $40. The clearance price was $20. There was an additional 30% off the clearance price. And I have a %10 store discount on clothing that applies at the end. One $40 winter coat for $13.33. He should be able to wear it next year and the year following. Win ✔️

Grand Total this week: $256.79


Average Daily Spending this year $30.93

Yikes! Even though spending is considerably higher than I'd like, I'm happy with my purchases. We didn't eat any fast food or any pizza. We ate out only one meal and I didn't buy any coffees. I purchased a ton of healthy foods. We were all well fed. And I'm very happy with the winter coat purchase. Also, I didn't buy any extra items, non food, non household supplies; no "stuff" category this week. Too bad it ended up costing so much just to eat but que sera sera.

Huge new coat

First Spending Tally of the Year

January 1st through January 11th


Groceries: $160.83

Household supplies/ toiletries: $22.98
I've included diapers under this category but we shall begin potty training next month so I anticipate that won't be an enormous expense this year. Yay!

Eating out: $86.28
This total included four coffees. I've already decided to start bringing tea to work with me. I'm also cutting out coffee creamer this year. We have a Starbucks at our store (where I work) and as much as I generally like Starbucks coffee I can't drink it black. The ones they choose to keep brewed are always too bitter.

Also, the eating out expense is WAY too high already but we went to one of my husband's favorite Mexican restaurants and spent $46 on one meal! This same restaurant does free kids meals on Sunday's so we've already decided we will not be eating there again any time soon unless it's a Sunday. I have a hard time paying more than $30/ $35 at a restaurant.

Stuff: $16.22
I spent $6.90 on a puzzle, $9.32 on Christmas items on clearance: wrapping paper, bows, lights, a decoration for Abe's room next year. I think there was a bit more but I can't remember what...

Clothing: $13.65
Two pair of pants on clearance for Abe.

Grand Total for 11 days: $299.96

Average daily spending: $27.27

_________________________________________


Average daily spending rules recap. I do not include any bills in the daily spending. I also do not include gasoline. My kiddos are homeschooled and its my budget. I make the rules. I don't include school expenses in the average daily spend: books, curriculum, crafting supplies, classes outside of the home, field trips. I do however limit what I consider a school expense. If we purchase something on a field trip for example that would still be normal spending. I also don't call fun or unique outings field trips unless there are other students along. I won't exclude anything purchased for baby Wren on schooling terms because she's only one. Even though she is always learning she is not currently being schooled. That would be cheating.

The baby is a darling little lady now

Have we given up on the fresh start?

I've worked in a supercenter for over sixteen years now. That's long enough to know that Christmas totally rolls out before Halloween is done. Thanksgiving is just a tiny blip on the radar. Swimsuits stop being sold one month into summer and you can't buy a winter hat no matter how frigid cold it is past mid February (it snows here well into April).

The other thing I've seen these past sixteen years is that New Year's Resolutions is a season. We fill the store with exercise equipment endcaps, weights, water bottles, yoga mats. The seasonal area (you know, where Holidays and garden time live) fills with vitamins, diet bars, protein shakes, the list goes on and on. The grocery side of the store runs ads and sales on "the healthy foods." It's tradition. People want to hope for a fresh start in January. Right? And the stores market to that.

Not this year. I have the vast majority of my Valentines AND Easter displayer out right now. A few hit the floor before Christmas was over. The main aisles house a slew of Valentines items. The seasonal pad... can you guess what it's gone to now that the 90% off Christmas clearance has been stormed? GARDEN! Mind you, the Farmer's Almanac estimates our last frost date to be MAY 2. GARDEN?

I noticed on facebook this month that almost no one was posting New Year's Resolution related things. I noticed that more people posted New Year's Resolution mocking memes and comments than that actually posted the fresh start ideas. Maybe my friends are just extra cynical. I can go with that. But the enormous store I work in too? Who decided that 2020 was the year that the New Year's Resolutions tradition dies?

Politics and political discourse has ramped up in the absolute most negative way. Political ideologies are tearing people apart in a way they never have before, or at least haven't in modern times. Social media is giving people an outlet to be cruel and heartless in ways that my generation and all those before us could have never imagined. More and more children are smoking and using other illegal substances at very young ages. Caffeine and sugar (too of my favorite things) are the fuel that much of the population runs on. The world is right at the very edge of war. And now is when we've decided that we're over this fresh new start thing? Really?

Has anyone else noticed that New Year's Resolutions seemingly became out of date this year?
A whole new decade. A whole new way of life. We're too good for goals and new beginnings now?
I feel I am growing old very quickly.

Replying to Comments/ $24 a day

I have tried to reply to comments lately and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.
Blogger isn't letting me reply...

In response to these two comments:

Then why not make your goal $20 a day? Children are expensive (even I as non-parent realize that!) and even with just one in 2014 you were spending $18.40. Or are you better aiming for the nearly impossible? I used to enjoy your "the numbers are in" posts.

I agree with frugally challenged. $20 seems like a decent starting point. Maybe you should consider a range of between $20-$25( $7300- $9125). That would keep you in the under $10,000 range.

Before I settled on an $18 a day average goal for this year I took several things into consideration.
1.) It would be impossible for me to average $12 a day like I shot for nine years ago
2.) We have two additional people in the family now
3.) We had three pets in 2011
We've had to witness the passing of all our furry babies and no longer have any pets
4.) Inflation has made it impossible to try and spend comparable to 2011 spending

To answer the first question: I'm really, really, really bad at hitting where I aim. I've found, over the past five to ten years, that whenever I set goals for myself I fall just short. Its true. Its probably a mental thing but I am not good at hitting my mark.

I thought that if I set my goal at $18 a day (hoping to at least come in for the year under $20.01) I'd most likely come really close to $20 a day.

After having read and pondered the second comment I'm realizing I didn't factor in many additional things.
1.) My son is eating more and more.
2.) I mostly cook from scratch now which is considerably more expensive than eating raman noodles and easy cook meals. Fresh foods cost more than processed.
3.) We will be getting a puppy in the spring time so having no pets isn't accurate.
4.) When I finally incorporated all my kiddo expenses into the average daily spend tally for little Abe we hit $18.40 a day average for the year
5.) I'm mildly crazy and always too hard on myself

Working it out:

$4380 is $12 a day. I never hit that target.
$5000.50 is $13.70 a day. That was my actual spending the year I started this blog.
$6570 is $18 a day. Where I'd originally set this year's goal.
$8760 is $24 a day. That's still considerably under $10,000 spending for the year and I think I really like that number.

I'm definitely going to change the goal for the year to $24 a day.
Since I started with a $12 a day goal (as the blog is and will remain named) and we've added two family members since then, cooking mostly from scratch now and inflation aside, doubling $12 a day after having doubled the family size is really VERY practical.

And yes, I'm still really long winded.
LOL

Re-working the Average Daily Spending

Welcome to $12 a day! LOL. For real though. Laughing out loud.

I started this blog several YEARS ago challenging myself to live off of $12 a day, everything under that umbrella: food, toiletries, cleaning supplies, gifts, clothing, vacations, pet supplies... you get the idea. Everything. It was a fun experiment and I learned so much from the challenge.

I ended that year, nine years ago with an average daily spending of $13.70 a day.
$1.70 a day over budget which adds up to just over $5000. Still a huge win for me because I tracked my spending so closely, spent SOOOOOOO very much less than I would have otherwise and learned so many valuable lessons. Additionally, I had fun.

Nine years and two new family members later I feel like my spending is out of control. Money is so difficult. One of the valuable lessons I learned from this blog is that when you meticulously track your incoming and outgoing finances you're automatically in much better financial shape.

There is no possible way I could commit to $12 a day, two more people in the family, inflation over the past nine years and all that jazz; I think $18 a day would be a better goal (not gonna hide the fact, I'd be thrilled with a $20 a day average for the year).

All that said I'm going to at least track, ideally report, and hopefully do a pretty good job with the average daily spending for 2020. In truth, I have no idea what the average daily spending was for the past three years. So this will be a fun new challenge.

Happy 2020

Well, the baby is hardly a baby anymore

😀

Bring on another year of crazy, busy, go, go, go.
We're ready!