2019 Controlled Spend/No Spend

[shanendoah]

Had some spending wins this last week. Last Thursday when my bus ran late and I had C come pick me up from the park and ride, we did NOT go out to eat. And then on Saturday, I got on the roof (he's afraid of heights) and cleaned the gutters (so no paying someone to do that), and then on Saturday evening, when I was just done and was ready to order delivery for dinner, C cooked. Also, conversation with Pop Tart's other mom this morning. They'll come over here this month, so I won't be buying a plane ticket/renting a car/getting a hotel room to go visit them this month.

Goals for this year:
1) Limit myself to Starbucks 2x per week. I am going with Monday and Wednesday, as I work 7a-5p on both of those days.
2) Limit eating dinner out for C & I to 1x per every 2 weeks (with an exception for a Papa Murphy's pizza in the off week). There will also be exceptions for planned events.
3) Remember to use my FSA for healthcare. (I just filed a claim for dental work from this summer this morning, because I had totally spaced it.)

First version of charts for tracking:

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
January	(3)2	(9)3	(1)1	(Current Planned - 13 days) Current Actual - 6 days

This weeks (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks)
Tuesday: (----)
Wednesday: (Starbucks, BFF B-day dinner)
Thursday: (Dinner Out)
Friday: (Groceries)
Saturday: (Vet Appt)
Sunday: (----)

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

[shanendoah]

Also, welcome back imanangel and sheilaincali. Glad you decided to re-join us.

I tried using YNAB, and just confused myself in updating it. I have spreadsheets set up that color code and track my spending, so I just enter it once on the checkbook sheet, and then update the other sheets, and we're all good.

Lists are really good for helping keep spending under control. And for the house, it also helps us keep track of everything we keep thinking we want, and then allows us to prioritize.
We need to get overall better at meal planning, though we usually have everything in our house for the standard things we would make. But just having a plan makes it easier not to spend one eating out during the week.

[imanangel]

Jan 7, 2019 12:29:08 GMT -5 shanendoah said:

Also, welcome back imanangel and sheilaincali . Glad you decided to re-join us.

I tried using YNAB, and just confused myself in updating it. I have spreadsheets set up that color code and track my spending, so I just enter it once on the checkbook sheet, and then update the other sheets, and we're all good.

Lists are really good for helping keep spending under control. And for the house, it also helps us keep track of everything we keep thinking we want, and then allows us to prioritize.
We need to get overall better at meal planning, though we usually have everything in our house for the standard things we would make. But just having a plan makes it easier not to spend one eating out during the week.

YNAB is confusing me too. I might just switch over to a spreadsheet to track everything. I will keep playing with it to see if I can figure it out.

I do not anticipate any spending today. I do plan on getting out of my pjs, but not actually leaving the house. 

[moneysquirrel]

I don't plan to leave the house today but have been getting a lot done to get things as back to normal as possible.  Will be doing some spending tomorrow but the ones I know about are ones that I planned for and therefore CS.  

[imanangel]

I spent $3.98 yesterday at HEB. I bought 3 lemons, 1 baguette, and some spaghetti noodles. I need the lemons for water and the other stuff I bought because I need to add to the Home Chef meal I bought for 2 people and make it for 4 people since my DIL came down for the week. 
I have been doing well not going out to eat, that is the main thing that was killing our budget. 

[sheilaincali]

Yesterday was ok.

Upside: Stopped at the grocery store to get ingredients for dinner rather than eat out (we really need to make time to go to the grocery store for a full trip). Found a "free" movie to watch on Amazon Prime rather than pay $5.99 to rent one.

Downside- we bought a mattress for the guest room bed. Converting the Boy's room into a guest room.  I found a bed (headboard, frame, etc) at open box clearance on wayfair a week or so ago. We still needed a mattress- the Hubs found one on Amazon for under $200. It's probably not super comfortable but we only have guests once or twice a year. The Boy insisted on going from a queen sized bed to a twin when we moved so he could build a bigger workspace area for his computer. I'm not making a guest sleep on his crappy twin mattress.

The mattress was planned and budgeted for- we actually expected to spend considerably more. I have a handyman coming over tomorrow to give me a quote on installing the new countertops and modifying the cabinets so the new fridge (bought last month) fits. Again- that cost is budgeted for but still is no fun.

[shanendoah]

So yesterday went as planned, other than missing my bus connection in the evening and getting home over 30 minutes later than normal. But otherwise, I bought my Starbucks and nothing else. The goal for today is for it to be a no spend day. There is NO REASON for me to spend money today.

sheilaincali - I got a couple of mattresses, one full, one twin (for a day bed and it's trundle) last year for around $100 each. They were both foam mattresses. The full size I think has a bamboo cover or something. I don't quite remember, but my mother said it's super comfortable. Especially for guest beds, the newer, but less expensive, foam mattresses seem to be a really good deal.

I am afraid we may need a new mattress for our bed. We have a super comfy foam mattress, but it's a little softer than the one we had been sleeping on at our friends' house for 7 months, and I'm finding the sinking in the middle is actually killing my back. The firmer mattress messes with my hip (since I sleep on my side), but my hip stop hurting within 15 minutes of being up. The dip in the current is messing with my lower back, and that does not go away quickly.

This weeks (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks) Starbucks
Tuesday: (----)
Wednesday: (Starbucks, BFF B-day dinner)
Thursday: (Dinner Out)
Friday: (Groceries)
Saturday: (Vet Appt)
Sunday: (----)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
January	(3)2	(9)3	(1)1	(Current Planned - 13 days) Current Actual - 6 days

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

[Blonde Granny]

For every one here that has found YNAB difficult to navigate and understand, I just came across this one: everydollar.com Quick look at it and seems that it's much easier to deal with.

[imanangel]

Jan 9, 2019 6:46:17 GMT -5 Blonde Granny said:

For every one here that has found YNAB difficult to navigate and understand, I just came across this one: everydollar.com Quick look at it and seems that it's much easier to deal with.

Thanks, I will have to check it out.  

Yesterday I had a no spend day. I volunteered at my local food bank, but other than that, I stayed home! 

[shanendoah]

So you know how I said yesterday there was no reason to spend? Apparently I jinxed myself. A friend posted something about an event at a local museum and I realized that I had failed to renew the membership at that museum for BFF/BFFIL (this is my Christmas gift to them each year). It was a planned and budgeted for expense - in December. I forgot about it with all the house stuff. So, I renewed their membership yesterday. 
Also, this week I apparently fail at taking the bus. So many misadventures. Last night, I had a fail again. Instead of waiting for the next bus (which would come in half an hour, be a 15-20 minute ride, and then be followed by a 15 minute walk to the house), I called C to come grab me at the park and ride - which is right across the street from our favorite Chinese food restaurant. So we went out to dinner. But that is okay, I'd planned for one dinner out this week, I just thought it might be Thursday. That moved to Tuesday, and as long as we don't eat out again, we're good.
Also moved birthday celebration with BFF to the weekend. I've just been feeling ugh and run down, so don't really want to be out late tonight.

So, as part of our wellness stuff for the state, we have this site where we can track activities and earn points. It starts by filling out a wellness survey, and when you do that, you get a $25 amazon gift card. And then you can earn enough points to get $125 taken off your personal medical deductible for the next year. Earning more points than that gets you entered in drawings for prizes like tickets to MLB or NFL games. I always do enough to get the deductible credit for the next year. The neat thing about this, though, is it is not just about physical activity (though I do track my steps and get credit for that). It is also about financial wellness - so I can earn points for things I already do - things like creating a budget, start an EF, tracking my spending, checking my bank account, avoiding impulse spending (NS/CS days), etc. It has links and tools to help people who aren't already on this path get there. (Consumer.gov, which is run by the FTC has budget worksheets and other neat tools.)

This weeks (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks) Starbucks
Tuesday: (----) BFF Christmas gift, Dinner Out
Wednesday: (Starbucks, BFF B-day dinner) Starbucks
Thursday: (Dinner Out)
Friday: (Groceries)
Saturday: (Vet Appt, BFF B-day)
Sunday: (----)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
January	(3)2	(9)4	(1)2	(Current Planned - 13 days) Current Actual - 8 days

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

[imanangel]

I spent $27 today on sushi for my family for dinner. 

The real test for me though was when I went to a wine tasting at our local wine store. I normally buy at least one bottle of wine. There were 3 wines that I liked (all Italian wines...go figure), but I am proud to say that I didn't buy a single thing. My friend walked out with 8 bottles of wine and a bottle of whiskey though (she paid for them...didn't just walk out  )

[shanendoah]

Looks like schedules just aren't going to match up for a B-day dinner with BFF, so yesterday I swung by the bookstore and bought her a gift.


This weeks (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks) Starbucks
Tuesday: (----) BFF Christmas gift, Dinner Out
Wednesday: (Starbucks, BFF B-day dinner) Starbucks, BFF B-day Gift
Thursday: (Dinner Out)
Friday: (Groceries)
Saturday: (Vet Appt)
Sunday: (----)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
January	(3)2	(9)5	(1)2	(Current Planned - 13 days) Current Actual - 9 days

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

[sheilaincali]

Yesterday was a spend- but only for dinner. I really, really need to suck it up and go to the grocery store. But in my defense I don't like people and grocery stores area always full of them.

[sheilaincali]

Today will be a spend. I completely forgot that the Hubs bid on a couple of things on the local auction site (it's an online consignment auction house- they get everything from whole estates or going out of business inventories). I have to pick the stuff up today.
He bought us a case of furnace filters (our furnace takes the big 16x25x4" ones which are expensive), a fancy new kitchen trash can (some intelligent can with multiple sections for recycling and trash), a pet ramp for the car (the little dog can't get in by himself and the big dog is heavy to lift up), and a pet step because the little dog is sad he can't snuggle on the couch but the big dog can. All things that were on our list and new in box. Still my cost of $144 but compared to buying from a traditional store we saved over $350 so I guess it's a win? IDK.

[shanendoah]

I actually managed to get a No Spend day yesterday! 

One of the things I did yesterday was work on my online checkbook/cash flow spreadsheet. I put in paychecks, minimum transfer to savings, new mortgage payment, and planned debt payment for the year (new w/d, paying off last of the 0% cards with a balance on it), the once a year car insurance payment. And once all of that is in, I look at the balance remaining, and it's almost $44,000. 
This means that we are going to spend somewhere between $3-4k a month and looking at it like that, it boggles my mind. How can we be spending that much? And then I go and look at the budget I put together, and yep, monthly bills of mortgage + $550, and another $3100 in spending (though that $3100/month does include an additional $500 going to savings for various things).

I know I live in a HCOLA, but when I look at it this way, it still boggles my mind that we spend that much. 
 

This weeks (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks) Starbucks
Tuesday: (----) BFF Christmas gift, Dinner Out
Wednesday: (Starbucks, BFF B-day dinner) Starbucks, BFF B-day Gift
Thursday: (Dinner Out) ----
Friday: (Groceries)
Saturday: (Vet Appt)
Sunday: (----)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
January	(3)3	(9)5	(1)2	(Current Planned - 13 days) Current Actual - 10 days

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

[moneysquirrel]

Just popping in with a quick update.  January is always an expensive month for me.  I just finished with the car insurance for 6 months and yesterday the homeowners insurance bill came in.  Will be adding that to the CC next week for the points. Money is in the account for it and it is planned for but I hate pulling any money out even though it is earmarked for that reason.  I have a lot of sinking funds that I don't want to sink.  Next month will be the flood insurance, June for car again than a few month respite before they start up again in December.

I did get to the grocery to pick up a few things and to the post office to get stamps before the price goes up later this month. Also stopped at the craft store but had a GC for that purchase and still have a balance on it. 

Decided that I needed to get a few things cooked that would make several meals that I can pull out when I am too busy to prepare meals.  One meal is in the crock pot and will get another one done tomorrow if plans as they currently are.

Planning to stay home the next few days and get some things done around that house.  My friend and I will be signing up for a few spring craft shows and I need to get a few new items in the works.  Need to see what I can make with what I have on hand as much as possible.

[zibazinski]

Jan 6, 2019 10:05:53 GMT -5 imanangel said:

Thanks moneysquirrel! I also took a break from the boards because I didn't like how snarky I was getting to some of the posters. When people on a computer can get that kind of response out of me, well....that isn't who I am so I know I needed a break.

It is the 6th of the month, and I am stressing over the budget. We still have not received Goose's disability check and it is a huge part of our monthly income. I will have to pay bills out of savings. 

We haven't been doing so hot at not spending money. We have spent LESS money, but we are still bleeding. Goose wanted ANOTHER pair of Levi jeans last night. I got really stressed out about him spending $60 for a pair of pants....I told him that we have to stop spending money. Then I remembered that I had $65 in Kohl's cash he could use for the pants. So, he got the pants and we didn't spend any additional money at Kohl's. 

Today we have to grocery shop. I hope I can get him to stick to a really strict list. A HUGE part of our grocery bill is for different kinds of drinks for him. Not alcoholic, but he buys energy drinks, a lot of flavored sparkling water, Naked juices...etc. It really adds up. I do have enough food in my house to prepare dinner for 4 nights without having to buy anything extra. 

What tricks or tips do you all have to help control spending?

Do you have a Sam’s club or Costco by you?

[zibazinski]

Jan 6, 2019 18:52:16 GMT -5 imanangel said:

Jan 6, 2019 16:40:24 GMT -5 moneysquirrel said:

I just use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my spending plan.

#5: I also try to shop with a list and only shop when there is a need for something.   I tend to see if something else can be used if I need or think I need an item.  Sometimes one can substitute something that is already on hand for something we think we must have.  I know that there are times when this is not possible but if I can reuse or recycle something that is my first option.  I have enough craft supplies on hand to keep me busy and I try to keep any cash I make doing craft shows to replenish those supplies as I need something.

#6: I don't go to the mall just to go.  I must have a need for something to require me to go.  (However I will check out the closing sales at Sears and Kmart this coming month.)

#7: I keep a list of expected yearly expenses -- insurance, maintenance, doctor appointments, etc. I refer to this list on a regular basis.  I also keep a note of the previous year expenses for these expenses. It gives me an idea of what the minimum I will need for the current year.

*8: I "pay myself first" by putting money aside for these yearly expenses once any money comes in.  I leave only a little extra for fun once all of the monthly expenses are accounted for.

#9: For upcoming fun experiences that involve an expense, I try to put aside a little at a time to have money available for that experience.

   

I actually HATE shopping. I would rather scrub toilets than go shopping at the mall. My weakness is Amazon though...I find too much stuff for my grandson. My husband is the shopper. That man has more clothes than any man I know.  Same with shoes. 

I always tell my husband that I hate grocery shopping. Then I had to face it, I don't hate grocery shopping so much, I hate grocery shopping with him. He refuses to stick to a list where food is concerned. He doesn't really look at prices or anything. If he wants it, it goes in our cart. Grocery shopping is so stressful to me. We spend well over $1,000 a month on groceries. 

Never ever take a husband grocery shopping. DH was the same way.

[Blonde Granny]

It's been cold and raining here all, so not stepping foot out of the house. That makes no spending quite easy.

[laterbloomer]

Ok, I'm in on this but it's my version. I allow myself $750/month for miscellaneous. This includes, clothes, trips, meals out,ancestry.com kit, gifts, basically all the stuff that isn't a monthly bill. My thing is that I want to use that money on things like spending money on my trip to Jamaica at the end of the month. I don't have to worry about what I spend on groceries, ISO covers those. Gas for the car is considered a monthly expense. I've spent $216 so far this month, about $100 of that was to pay off my CC from Christmas and $75 was to get my nails done. So far so good.

[imanangel]

Ugh, today was a huge budget buster, and my husband and I need to have a "coming to Jesus" chat later in our room. My daughter wanted a new cell phone. I told her, fine, but it has to be your birthday present. Well, all of a sudden she didn't NEED a new phone anymore because she didn't want to "waste" her birthday present on it. So, what does my husband do?  He takes her to the phone store and gets her a new phone because if hers is shutting off on its own, she needs a new one. He told her it wasn't a birthday present. So, he is her best friend now and I am the meany. He spent $249 for the some bundle and the taxes on her old phone that she traded in. Now, I have to adjust our budget because he spent that money and I had not planned on spending that PLUS a birthday present. 

[shanendoah]

Last Thursday night, I specifically ask C what the plan is for Friday, since I get off work at Noon. No plan, no plan. So, since buses don't run through our neighborhood at non-commute hours, we make the plan for him to pick me up at a nearby park and ride, and I figure we'll go get groceries and be good. He picks me up on Friday and says "I want to go to Ikea" (which is over 25 miles away). Okay, house stuff, we've been talking about what we would need at Ikea, we just hadn't prioritized it. So fine. Except that I hadn't eaten lunch, and we swung by a Jack in the Box. 
Saturday was good. We did the grocery shopping, and the new vet costs like half as much as our old vet. Annual exam for both dogs was less than $200 total. Definite yay.
One of the things we decided to get at Ikea (a storage unit that is being closed out, so price reduced 50%) was too big to fit in our car, so on Sunday, we borrowed friend M's Element to go back and get that. We also swung by the LaZBoy store, and it looks like our new couch will be a LaZBoy. And that would have just been house spending, except C was craving ice cream, so we stopped by McD's for ice cream.
One good thing is that with the purchases from Ikea, the master bedroom is pretty much done. That makes two rooms (kitchen and master) that are done. Now on to the rest.

Last week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks) Starbucks
Tuesday: (----) BFF Christmas gift, Dinner Out
Wednesday: (Starbucks, BFF B-day dinner) Starbucks, BFF B-day Gift
Thursday: (Dinner Out) ----
Friday: (Groceries) Jack in the Box, Ikea
Saturday: (Vet Appt) Groceries, Vet Appt
Sunday: (----) Ikea, McDonalds

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
January	(3)3	(9)6	(1)4	(Current Planned - 13 days) Current Actual - 13 days

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

[laterbloomer]

$50 for 2 deductibles for my teeth cleaning this afternoon.

[shanendoah]

And on to the best guess for this week. I've gone ahead and put the plan through next Monday, since this will be a three day weekend, and I likely won't be on to post next Monday.
On Friday, my massage itself will be covered by my healthcare FSA, as it's massage therapy, but I do tip, and the FSA doesn't cover that.
I am also trying to be a bit more realistic about knowing we'll have days where we spend out of plan. So even though I have a plan for all days in the week, my plan is going to include two spend days. (I'd like to get it down to one a week, but with the running around we're doing for the house stuff right now, 2 a week is more realistic.)

This week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks, Counseling) Starbucks
Tuesday: (----)
Wednesday: (Starbucks)
Thursday: (Dinner Out)
Friday: (Massage Tip, CostCo, Safeway)
Saturday: (House stuff, Trader Joes)
Sunday: (----)
Monday: (Mani/Pedi, Lunch)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
January	(1)2 (2)1 (2)	(4)3 (5)3 (4)	(1)1 (0)3 (2)	(Current Planned - 21 days) Current Actual - 13 days

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

[sheilaincali]

We actually did pretty decently these past few days. Friday we didn't do anything but pop into the grocery store for ingredients for Friday's dinner and Saturday/Sunday breakfast.
Saturday we hit up Ikea to put the butcher block countertops and then Lowe's for sink and faucet. These should be the last things we need for the Kitchen. Later we popped into Home Depot to get paint for the bathroom- last thing we apparently need for that room as well.

After nearly 3 weeks we finally did a full grocery store trip. Good news- we have groceries! I really hate the grocery store - it's always so full of people and people are super annoying

We only ate out for Lunch on Saturday and on Sunday- may seem like a lot still but on a normal week we'd have eaten out Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast and lunch and Sunday Lunch.

Yesterday was a no spend day.

[shanendoah]

Stuck to the plan yesterday!
This morning, I am stuck in a triangle between escrow and my public utilities and electric company (both run by the city). I was not allowed by the company to close those accounts. You're told it's all done through escrow when you sell. Escrow shows they paid my public utilities bill back in December. And yet yesterday, they auto-charged my credit card for the exact same amount escrow paid. And they would have charged my card for the final light bill tomorrow (despite the fact that they can take "a couple of months" to get the final light bill to escrow), but I cancelled the auto-payment.
And of course, when I call customer service for the utilities/light, all they can tell me is that no payment has posted yet. They won't even tell me if my account has officially been closed, though the information on my bill clearly states that the property is now owned by someone else. 

This week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks, Counseling) Starbucks, Counseling
Tuesday: (----)
Wednesday: (Starbucks)
Thursday: (Dinner Out)
Friday: (Massage Tip, CostCo, Safeway)
Saturday: (House stuff, Trader Joes)
Sunday: (----)
Monday: (Mani/Pedi, Lunch)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
January	(1)2 (2)1 (2)	(4)3 (5)3 (4)	(1)1 (0)3 (2)	(Current Planned - 21 days) Current Actual - 13 days

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

[shanendoah]

Got my NSD.
Update from yesterday - had to have the escrow company call the utility company. Utility company applied the payment from escrow to the wrong account. And so, they "can't" refund the money they charged me on Monday until they get that transferred over and applied to my account. Which will take 3-4 weeks. And they won't do it automatically. I have to call them in 3-4 weeks and ask for the refund. Also, escrow hadn't received the final electric bill yet. The said it sometimes takes 3-4 months to get it. I told them I had the final electric bill and would they like me to send it over. So I did, and when they talked to the utility company about the other money, it was confirmed that this was the final bill, and it should have been sent to escrow, but it wasn't.
What bugs me the most about this, is that with this utility company, when you own a house and are selling it, you are NOT allowed to close out your own accounts. (I tried.) Instead, the utility company tells you it will all be handled via the escrow process, except it appears they don't actually like talking to the escrow companies.

This week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks, Counseling) Starbucks, Counseling
Tuesday: (----) ----
Wednesday: (Starbucks)
Thursday: (Dinner Out)
Friday: (Massage Tip, CostCo, Safeway)
Saturday: (House stuff, Trader Joes)
Sunday: (----)
Monday: (Mani/Pedi, Lunch)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
January	(1)2 (2)1 (2)1	(4)3 (5)3 (4)1	(1)1 (0)3 (2)	(Current Planned - 21 days) Current Actual - 15 days

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

[TheOtherMe]

The utility situation should be much simpler than that.  

[Blonde Granny]

It's supposed to be really cold and rainy here this weekend, so it's going to be a quick trip to Walmart to pick up a few things. I don't work again until next Wednesday since Monday is a Federal Holiday so I will have almost a week of not much to do....including no spending....should be a good week.

[moneysquirrel]

Just stopping in to say hello.  Picked up a few craft items with coupons of course.  I use money I have budgeted for this usually from the craft shows so this counts as CS.  Going out to lunch yesterday was totally unplanned so definitely a SD.  Other than grocery, gas and paying bills I am doing ok staying within my plan.  Will try to stop at the dollar store to get a few things there that I will need for the class that I am taking.  

Definitely have a few items to pay in the near future.  I am taking a craft class and there is a small fee for supplies.  Also waiting for a tool that has been back ordered and will have to pay for it.  I need that one for another class that I am taking.  Had to return the one I had since it was defective.

Also will have to book a plane ticket for the annual retreat I participate in annually.  Money is put aside for that just have to go online and book it.  Also the rest of the retreat fee.  Again have the money put aside for it.  (I save a little each month all year for this activity.)

I did have another SD this week as I stopped at the local KM that is closing and get a few items that I felt were good buys and that I needed.  

This week has been more spending that I expected but all items will be used multiple times.