August '13 Spending

I guess I'll start with saying

we spent money... 

and were going to spend more

First off, SCB and I got to get sealed in the Newport Beach Temple this month as you all saw in the photos we posted on Monday...

And because we had such a big day and event planned for us, we had lots of family come in to town to visit... and so we spent a good amount of money this month.

Family/Sealing
Since we weren't at home much while they were there, we ate out more frequently... including treating the whole family to a nice dinner at Stone Fire Grill to thank them for traveling out to California to see us all (we included this amount in our over all eating out number below)...

La Brea Tar Pit :)

We visited the La Brea Tar Pits ($31.59)

Paid a photographer $200 to capture a wonderful day

Paid some baby sitters $30 to occupy the little ones for our sealing.

Paid $58 in alterations to my white dress because it was too big in the top and too small in the sleeves.... That also included getting my temple dress hemmed because it was too long.
 

I bought some make up ($43.72) and did my own hair/make up for the sealing instead of paying for someone to do it since it was much cheaper... so I spent $45 instead of like $200 at a salon, so I call that a win. 

SCB dancing with our Dog...

Other Expenses

Then there was the stuff that came up 

• We bought a tablet from one of SCB brother's for $175 so we can finally get rid of the 2 semi working laptops that we no longer want to use... (this was want... and after a year and a half of unemployment we were happy to get such a good deal!)
• We purchased some camping "72 hour" meals from WOOT.com for $146.95 (This was so last minute that had we known about the offer sooner, we would have probably bought more stuff that was already sold out--- but this falls in line with our church prepardness project we are working on)
• Then there was the stuff off Amazon: $59.69 (really $19.69 after my CC Rewards)
• We paid our Costco Renewal: $55
• and then we bought a second Fan for $28.00 after we saw what our whopper $100+ Electricity Bill looked like for using our wall ac unit...
• The couch $667.52 we replaced at the beginning of the month
• and a lot of little things that added up to $116.03.... including the BEST $10 I have spent in a long while:

We bought some magnets for our fridge that had these cute little hooks on them which freed up so much space in our drawer and makes it so I can actually reach the pot holders now (SCB liked to put them on top of the fridge)... and we bought hooks. 

I know so simple right? But I love being able to have a place for Roxy's park bag and my purse, and any bags I have that I use to ferry things to and from work. I hate clutter and things on the floor... Seriously the best $10 I have spent in a while!

Then there was the Car Problem... and Solution

Date Night at CA Fish Gril

We know that in the next year or so we will have to take "Wanda," SCB's '91 Ford Escort, in for another smog check... and she will most likely fail because they have recently changed the emission standards in California.

Now, originally Wanda was given to SCB for free from a family member (I think his grandpa)... and we have been letting it be known that when we can't keep her,  we would be willing to "give" her away. An idea was forming that Wanda would go to Oregon (where there are no emission standards) since SCB has a nephew up there that will be turning 16 in a year or so. Well, I got a phone call this week informing me that one of SCB's older brothers actually needs a car and the family that was planning on receiving Wanda wanted us to contact him first and offer her to him when we get rid of her.

The goal has always been for us to keep Wanda as long as we legally could... and we would test her at renewal in hopes that she would pass before relinquishing her to someone else. 

The brother who currently needs a car is working for peanuts while he finished his PHD... and doesn't really have the money to purchase a car... But his need for one has increased so much that he has apparently been trying to find a way to afford another family members car that is now "up for sale."  

"Sally" the car that is up for sale, is a '03 Ford Escort with around 60,000 miles... Since this is a transaction between family members, Sally has been offered to be sold for only $2k. The amount is much lower then they paid for her (especially considering all the repairs that went into her) because A) their brother really needs a car... and B) the brother who currently owns Sally will be able to use their parents spare car and home for free while their parents are on an 18 month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (For insurance issues/purposes, the grad student would not be able to just use their parents car when they leave)... 

 

When we initialy heard about Sally, we asked the grad student brother if he would be interested in having Wanda for free instead. Without hesitation he told us that a free car would be a blessed relief over paying for one... but that the problem was time. He couldn't wait a year for her to probably fail Smog... and miss out on the $2k car that needed to be sold relatively soon.    

After some talking, I tossed out the idea to SCB of purchasing Sally for $2k so we could give Wanda to his brother. We essentially would be getting a great deal on a car identical to the model we have now... but with 80,000 LESS miles, a good paint job and better interior, and would most likely have fewer emissions issues down the road... The only downside we found out is that she, like Wanda, has a broken AC unit.

After some thought and conversation, we decided we would drive Wanda out to Utah over the Labor Day weekend and purchase Sally for $2,000... (Since SCB doesn't have any vacation time and we both magically have Labor Day off, this is the only weekend we could make it happen). We have also negotiated for someone to front the cost of fixing the AC, ($600) so we don't die driving home from Vegas in the current heat wave sitting in holiday traffic on Monday. So in total, we are purchasing a 2003 Ford Escort with 60,000 miles, a working AC unit, a better paint job and interrior, with a chance of passing emission standards for many more years down the line for $2,600.00  

In preparation for the trip to Utah, we took Wanda in for an oil change and check up... and discovered both her front and back breaks needed to be replaced... her radiator had cracked, and the thermostat needed to be repaired.

All in all it would cost us $1,045.47 to get her out to Utah...

When we told SCB's parents and brothers about the repairs (we didn't feel in good concious that we could give his brother a car with those issues, nor did we think we could safely drive it to Utah without fixing them now), they offered to pay the $1,000 to fix Wanda up since we are giving her away...

We originally thought the AC repair on Sally would be $1,000 so they may just pay the AC repair bill instead for us... but were just going to figure out who is paying for what when we get there.

So for now, we'll add $1045.47 in car repairs to August's spending.

What we Spent this month

Housing  $1,021.99
Roxy (our dog)  $44.26
Groceries/House Items $491.77
Eating Out  $291.35
Car Repairs  $1,045.47
Gasoline  $273.29
Car washes  $10.00
Electricity  $109.48
Giving  $603.00
Cell Phones $40.00

Internet $28.99

Pocket Money  $85.00
Health Insurance  $178.00
Clothes- scb  $19.43
Other  $1,611.50

What we spent money on in 2013:

• Church Giving: $3,513.00
• Groceries/Household Supplies: $2,202.60
• Wanda and Stitch (our '91 Ford Escort & '04 Toyota Camry):
• Gasoline: $1,490.12
• Car Registration: $189.00
• Car Insurance: $520.34
• Car Repairs: $1,536.74
• Car Washes: $10
• Date Night/ Eating Out: $962.63
• Cell Phones: $989.63
• Internet: 239.71
• Electricity: $427.42
• House:
• HOA: $2115
• Mortgage: $5,924.47
• Refinance: $447.00
• Clothes:
• SCG: $433.75
• SCB: $233.46
• Medical/Dental/Dr/Prescriptions
• Heath Insurance Premiums: $1,246.00
• Prescriptions: $120.00
• Dr Bill: $8.00
• Holidays/Gifts:
• Valentines Day: $8.50
• Easter: $13.47
• Birthdays: 320.31
• Mother's Day: $23.73
• Gifts: $16.02
• Anniversary: $176.14
• Roxy: Our pup!
• Adoption fees: $165.95
• Vet bills: $215.54
• Food/Toys/Supplies: $231.55
• Pocket Money: $190.00
• Technology:
• Portable Wi-Fi: $96.27
• Computer Parts: $297.32
• Tablet: $175.00 
• Other:
• Expungement Fees: $292.81
• Tax preparation Fees: $56.98
• Stamps, Toothbrush heads, Grill Hose $81.52
• Resume Copies, Plant Container, Craft embroider, Relay For Life Fee: $43.25
• Camping Backpacks (2): $113.38
• Yarn for Relay For Life: $93.24
• Disneyland: $115.00
• Relay For Life: $15.00
• Wall mount, and craft eyes: $46.78
• Slicer and lint roller: $52.05
• Hair Cut: $49.00
• Kitchen Items: $39.70
• Garden Hose, house key/car key copies... $49.26
• Notary Fee + Birth Certificate $33.00
• OC Fair: $60.00
• Concert: $100.00
• Couch $667.52
• Fan $28.00
• Make up $43.72
• Costco Renewal Fee $55.00
• Amazon (Dog bowls, belt, cables, tablet case)  $59.69
• Alterations $58.00
• Baby sitters $30.00 
• Sealing Photos $200.00
• La Brea tar Pit $31.59
• 72 Hour kit Food $146.95
• Other: $346.03