I decluttered a lot today... all of the party stuff for DS1's birthday that has been sitting in my room awaiting his party.  Of course, new presents came home with us. Mostly clothes and money though, perks of being 9 now. 

I am having a lot of feelings about my baby being halfway to 18 already. 

finnime- WHAT A DIFFERENCE! 

It could have been pretty scary, but both boys have always had insurance. We qualified (barely) for state insurance for them, but it's not the free plan, we pay monthly for it. Thank goodness for it though. 

That's my plan. Last time I got 10% off for paying it in full. Anything helps. 

Well, I was so excited about not having to touch it during H's job transition month, but now it looks like our savings is about to take a hit. I have received approx. $1,000 in medical bills this past week. I had to have an ultrasound on my thyroid last month and of course, I wasn't insured then, so the bills sting. It's just crazy to me that I was at the hospital less than 10 minutes having the scan and its this much money. Alas, I want to get them paid off, I don't really want to mess around setting up a payment plan because our budget is foggy enough with the new job/pay schedule and I don't want to end up screwing us somehow. 

I know this is why we have emergency funds, but sheesh. I hate touching it. 

I decluttered 20 items from our garage this past week. It's finally "clean". I use that term loosely because it's still a mess as far as organization goes. But until we use up our construction supplies, I can't really do much more in there. It looks a million times better now though. 

Purge count: 973/2,019 items for the year. 

I also sold $23 worth of baby clothes on FB tonight. I had already counted these items in a purge, so while they don't change my number, they did fill my wallet and empty out half of my remaining baby items! 

We are also planning for a necessities only spend month here. Once school starts on Wednesday for DS1, we should be able to "start" our month. 

Upcoming "Necessary" Expenses (that aren't regular expenses) 

1. School fundraiser participation- I budget $40 for this each year. Our school only does 1 selling fundraiser a year, and as the PTO secretary, I make sure we participate. 

2. DS1's birthday party- his birthday is Sept 7th but I will purchase supplies/decor/etc this month. 

3. DS2's birthday party- his birthday isn't until October, but I plan to start shopping for it if I find good deals. 

4. Christmas- I always start shopping early, but this will be the first year DH doesn't get a Christmas bonus at the end of November, so in an effort to ease anxiety about running out of time/money. I am starting to deal scout now. If an item is too good of a deal to pass up for someone on our list, I will purchase it (provided we have the extra funds at that time). 

The only eating out we plan to do for the rest of the month is our weekly "Taco Tuesday" date with our friends and their kids. $1 taco night at our local Mexican restaurant- we usually get out of there for under $20 including the tip. 


Also,  now that H has received his correct paycheck from his new job (first check with his added salaries figured in PLUS deductions for health/dental), I know what we are working with bi-weekly now. The check amount should be consistent from here on out. This was a major cause of anxiety for me with his job transition. After 15 years of knowing what your check was every week, waiting to properly budget on his new salary was killing me. Now I can go through the rest of the year, make adjustments as needed, and finally ease my brain. 

DS1's summer baseball season ended today. I am sad to see it over, but very much welcoming a brief hiatus from games/practices/washing uniforms. He is signed up for fall baseball and soccer but neither starts until the week after Labor Day. 

This week's goals: 

Unpack sports equipment from both vehicles (including pop tent, wagon, and chairs) 
Clean out both vehicles (so much infield in the carpets lol)
Wash my SUV
Laundry, laundry, and some more laundry
Mow and weedeat 
Dust/vacuum/mop 
Clean bathrooms
Clean kitchen
Balance checkbook
End of month money check/update WIRR&WIRS
Pay bills
Grocery list/menu for 2 weeks
Grocery store
Drop off recyling

Super super super lofty goals for this week, because right now I am so exhausted from this weekend I can't even imagine accomplishing them: 

Spray weeds in driveway
Take pile of junk outside to dumpster
Organize leftover yard sale stuff and get remaining unlisted items listed on FB
Type PTO minutes 
Set up PTO google drive 
Apply stripper to deck
Remove gazebo frame from deck
Haircuts for DS1,DS2, & H 
Label DS1's school supplies (I print nice labels and attach to all his stuff)
Order paint for DS1's room (need small can for touch ups) 


And most importantly- ENJOY this last full week of summer vacation before I have to start sharing DS1 again next week. 

We spent more than I would have liked this past week, but it is what it is. 

It can best be summed up as "a failure to plan, is a plan for failure." We just had too many days of I didn't get this in the crockpot or let's grab lunch at this baseball tournament with the other parents...
All money we had, but I would have rather not spent. 

Next week is a new week and I am motivated to finish out July without spending another penny! 

nidena- Great mantra to keep you focused! 

Update Race #2


NikiZ628 (2): 7/21/19 $13,790.73 (3/26/18 $32,991.93)


Total Paid in 2019: $5,738.37
Total Paid Overall: $19,201.20

Big dent this update thanks to selling H's truck that was tied into this loan! We have the option to go in an "refi" this one to lower the payment back down to what it was originally (reduces it $90 a month). I am debating if I want to do this or just leave it and throw that extra $90 to the balance each payment. I need to see how our budget plays out with H's new job/salary before I will have a better idea on feasibility. Regardless, celebrating this loan's decrease! 

We survived our yard sale on the surface of the sun. I think the heat hurt us a bit, but I made about $70 and came home with much less than I left with so, I guess it's a win. I listed a lot of baby items on FB and have had some bites, so hopefully I can unload all of it this week for some more $$/more space in the garage.