Annual Goals Update from 2020

We set some goals for the year, and then we had 2020 -- the year of the unplanned EVERYTHING. Which naturally affected the progress on our annual goals... but before I update you all on what we spent for the year (ya, I tracked it), and set some new goals for 2021 and attempt to update the blog regularly again, lets all laugh back at what we thought would happen in 2020 before the pandemic.  

Put all of our savings accounts we borrowed from back. Emergency Fund: $5,175 & Vacation: $1,500

Well, we managed to get this done by March with extra paychecks and tax returns... and then in October, we had to buy hubs a new to us car... Our amazing mechanic was finally unable to source parts to replace worn out pieces on the car. After a new water pump went in and an oil change in May, we knew that would be our final repair. Our mechanic said "you got between 6 hours and 6-months and it will just die... and when it does, your towing it to a junk yard." So we kept our eyes peeled on SEVERAL different car types and in prices because we didn't have the cash to buy a long term car like we wanted. After test driving several cars, we faced the inevitable. Hubs WANTED a Subaru Forester and I couldn't find a car in our budget range that he actually FIT into that wasn't a Subaru Forester. 

We ended up finding a used 2019 one with 9,000 miles on it -- and we bought it 2 days before we would have had to pay the renewal DMV stickers on the Escort -- which was also the same day the car almost didn't start on his way home from work. The Dealer gave us $100 for the old car on a trade in and we forked over $9,000 in cash and have an AUTO LOAN for the balance.

I know what your thinking... how could you get a car loan, right?

1. It's Temporary.
2. We planned the payments.
3. We CAN pay if off right now if we have to... but this is our 2021 mission.  

First off, this car loan is temporary. We may have a four year loan, but we plan to have this paid off by the end of 2021. It's  $18,794.20 at 0.99% APR for 4 years. Because we bought used and a base model, we got a very low interest rate (and have good credit), but because of Covid, we didn't want to drain our emergency fund to pay cash right away in case we needed cash... and we didn't want to buy another clunker only to have to replace it in 5 years.

• We plan to remove most of this loan with our tax return, extra paychecks, regular monthly car payments, and our 2021 profit share check from hubs work -- which should be substantial as they haven't had a year THIS good since before the great recession. His boss also just told us last week that he's getting a 5% raise cause it was such a good year and he's been busting his butt!
• Over the course of the LIFE of the loan, we will pay only $382.33 in interest. This was a fee we were HAPPY to pay, to have our savings stay in our account until the profit share check comes in to knock out most of the loan, if not the whole thing. Its a peace of mind fee that we are chalking up to 2020. (it's less than $20 a month in interest right now and it shrinks over time, no joke). 

Secondly, we controlled the payment. WE TOLD the dealer what the payment would be, and asked how much they needed down to make the payment work. We didn't accept a payment and a 6 year loan or whatever. We have regularly been saving over $400 a month towards a new car for several years (first it was mine, then it was saving $9k towards his) -- so we know we can handle that amount on a monthly basis with flex. To keep the payments at $399 and change a month, they needed $9k -- which was what we had saved up at the end of October with hub's extra paycheck.  

Third, we could take the $20k in our emergency fund and write a check tomorrow --- but that would make me nervous. I wouldn't sleep right at night, and I listen to my gut on those issues, so our 2021 goals will be eliminating the car payment. 

Start saving for hub's next car.... (ya, kind of bought it already) Meet Tess :)

Old Car....

New to US Car

Finish painting the interior Doors - Ya'll, this actually happened!

Just before we did the tile floors, I got everything painted!!!! 

Seal our Concrete - Yup, our floors got sealed. 

I just posted the re-cap update on that one, but we have sealed floors and tile now... no longer walking on concrete is a step up if you will mind my pun. 

Things on hold:

• Purchase living room built ins -- and then do base boards: These are on hold as we now have a car payment.... and had to pay almost $8,000 for the new floors in our condo.... So we are cash strapped at the moment and don't spend money unless we have it.  

After those goals were supposed to be done, our plan was to Jack up retirement to 15% without counting matches and make our mortgage a 15 year term to pay it down faster...

• We changed hub's retirement contributions to 15% at some point during 2020, despite still paying $700 a month for daycare cause virtual school half day and weird schedules and no remote options means extended daycare for little dude. But we stopped Roth IRA contributions to my account after 2 months for more flexibility when the car was on the fritz. 
• We also refinanced our mortgage to take advantage of better interest rates, so a full post on that is coming soon. 

So not too shabby from the year we never thought would never end. 

We bought a new car...

We Kept this one!!!

 It's been a busy summer at our house, and with fall officially here, I found the time to log-in only to realize "its been awhile" since I posted.... and we have had a lot of big money changes happening in September because we decided to buy a car... (yes you read that right).

"Stitch," the blue camry I drove for 13 years (after buying it used) was recently sold for $600 cash, and was replaced with a yet to be named "new to us" 2018 Subaru Outback with 7,200 miles on it with a kick butt warranty.

So why did we buy a new car a year before we planned to?  Because last year we faced over $3,500 in maintenance on the camry, and the car was only worth around $1200 on the private market... but since we are cash for cars kind of people, and wanted more time to save, we paid it vowing it would be the last year we would do major repairs on the car. No exceptions.

So, when I went in for an oil change this month, and paid another $230 to fix a leak and get the oil changed, we were given an estimate of another $1,000 to repair yet another thing on the car that had died. (This year already we paid $450 for a new starter -- it was the original one--- ... and I had to pay $160 for a new driver side mirror cause someone clipped my parked car and drove away-- so "Stitch" had a black mirror on its blue car when we sold it).

Given the fact that the car was safe to drive sans the repair (Mechanic said we could probably put it off 3-6 months before it would NEED fixing for safety), we took a moment to think smartly.

• The Camry needed an oil change every 3,000 miles because it burned oil like no ones business.
• The Camry had two ... yes two not valid in California Catalytic Converters... (but it could pass smog/omission levels...)
• Burned oil every time it turned on out the tail pipe a little...
• Hard started to make a new noise at times not related to the needed repair above...
• Had more miles on it than the Escort, (140,000 vs. 120,000)
• And was the car we primarily drove as a family, so we were in it often... and felt each time little dude would kick one of us with his growing legs.

So we decided, to not pay $1,000 to fix the Camry and would take the less popular decision to instead, keep the 2003 Ford Escort. Our mechanics know parts are hard to find for it, but when I went through the list above with them, and told them we didn't care how Frankenstein his car got if it ran since the Escort just had a check up and was given a clean bill of health, had lower miles, and had no issues with major car components or indicators of issues, we decided to making it strictly a commuter car and bounce the Camry. 

I had a Friday off work, and despite knowing we were fond of a Subaru Outback from a previous test drive, I didn't want to pay above $30,000 for the sticker price on a car.

So I hit 4 dealerships in a single day BY MYSELF.

We had a list of safety features we wanted since we would (baring a car accident or act of god), essentially be picking Eli's first car if we traditionally keep it 13-15 years and it had been a LONG time since I upgraded. Things like back-up cameras are apparently standard now... which is awesome.

I hit Toyota, Honda, and Mazda, in addition to going back to the Subaru dealership to re-test drive an Outback. I wanted all the cars looked at in one day so the preferences were there and I could rank them, and see what was standard, and what trim line I would have to purchase with a combination of features to get what I wanted.

At the end of the day, I sat in the Outback and was sold. Some of the other cars felt "cheap quality" (Mazda), the Honda would force us to by a trim package with a sunroof and extra nav we didn't want (No garage or carport means no sunroof... hubs worked in  a carwash for a long time), and while I was liking the Rav 4... the back seat was at a weird angle and felt too inclined. -- because yes, I sat in every seat in the car, with the engine running, felt the AC, pushed the seats all the way back to get a feel for what it would be with hubs driving, and then made the larger salesmen sit in the seat to see how much room THEY had north of 6 feet. :) 

So we knew we wanted a Subaru Outback... Only problem was they didn't have any used 2018-2019 cars with the features we wanted... or they didn't when we went in to the dealer previously....

That Friday, on their lot was a 2018 with 7,200 miles... and all the safety features we wanted, in a car with cloth seats, no sunroof, and a heavy duty floor mat in the back... It also wasn't a push button start, which was something I wasn't quite ready to get behind yet. So it was perfect.

For those of you who don't know, most Subaru's are still on the road after 10 years, so in order to find a certified used one, you are basically looking at lease returns or rentals and hoping for low mileage. We knew with the new 2020 models hitting the lot (and that you never really want to purchase the first year of new upgrades because there will be kinks that need to be worked out), if we didn't want to buy a NEW car, now was really the time... and this car was going home with us. 

After some sweet negotiating skills, we got it for $26,195, $1200 below their sticker/offer price. The negotiating alone is almost a whole blog post on itself because they had sold this car on paper, but someone else drove off the lot in a different car.... and my interest in this car was the only reason they cause the mistake they made 15 days ago.... (lets say someone got a serious "chew-out" session) and their dealership only made a couple thousand dollars off us as I got a peak at their profit loss screen on the car. 

They not only gave us the remaining time on the original 3 year 36,000 mile warranty.. (so free oil and service for 2 years), since it was certified used, it came with an additional 7 year 100,000 mile warranty. Since cars now have multiple computers on them and i'm a pretty low mileage driver (less than 12k a year), we elected to pay $1500 to extend the 3 year 36,000 mile warranty covered items to match the 7 year, 100,000 coverage. So basically everything on the car besides basic wear and tear is covered for 6 more years.

After taxes, registration, and the added insurance, we wrote a check for just over $30,200.00

We didn't have $30,000 in our car fund, but we moved some money around and depleted some of our additional "non-bill" related savings such as our $1500 vacation fund, $1000 technology/phone fund, $1000 medical/doctor savings, and $1,000 from our Roxy fund... and emptied our slush fund.... and pulled $4500 from our emergency fund...

• We pulled from the emergency fund because Hubs is unexpectedly getting a $2k company bonus out of no where??? AND we had added 2k to it this year, so it was like reversing that deposit... and we will replace $600 back into it from the sell of the camry. 

We should also be able to replenish the funds soon because we have enacted a very strict spending policy between now and the end of the year (sans Christmas). We are on "gas and groceries" cycle and are avoiding stores, Amazon, and Walmart like its the flu... or cancer...

But we have a new to us car now that runs, and its super fun and exciting to drive it every day! And I have absolutely no guilt over the purchase, which is, in fact AMAZING!

May spending

With work events, wrapping up birthdays and mother's days, and getting things wrapped up, the blog was a little quiet for May. We hiked Cucumonga Peak and i'll do a re-cap post on that shortly, and we managed to start back up on the home improvement projects!

But for now: What we spent in May:

Groceries: 324.80
Gasoline: $295.80

• Me: $129.48 (after work rebate of $37.82)
• Hubs: $166.32

Car Insurance: $694.93

• Our 6-month premiums were due.

Eating Out: $187.14

• Thankfully the last of the birthday dinners out :) This should go back to normal soon instead of the inflated spending we had in March, April, and May

Clothing:

• Me: $146.63
• 4 bras. I was desperate for something comfortable and after 3 stores, I finally broke down and went to Nordstroms in the mall, got fitted and walked out happy!
• hubs: $75.40
• 2 pairs of Nike's from the outlet store. His day shoes had holes.

Gifts: $93.48

• Few co-workers with baby showers or leaving parties, and my sister's son's birthday party. 

Little Dude:

• $26.93 Pull-ups / Overnight diapers
• $14.91 Swim toy / Glider
• $22.57 Poop helpers
• $5.37 Clogs / non-sneaker shoes
• 43.09 Booster seat for Hub's car.... little man weighs 40 lbs now.... which is apparently the size of a 6 year old... but his doc said he isn't fat, just sturdy... This model is still got head support and other stuff, but he out grew the seat in hubs's car and this was at aldi's for a steal for a graco!

Tithe / Giving: $770.00

Daycare: $960.00 (Paid a $50 summer fee too)

Doctors: $30.00

• Little dude needed two ENT appointments. His hearing test was poor, but since his tubes are out, the doctor wants swim lessons this summer, and then put them back in during the fall.  So one visit for a sound test, the other for the doc to postpone until fall. 

Dog:

• $37.11 Kibble

Internet: $65.99

Housing:

• HOA: $367.50
• Mortgage: $764.00
• Insurance and earth quake annual premiums: $643.00

Renovation: $50.86 -- We bought curtains for the hall laundry room and its the best thing ever!!

Fun money: $80.00

Audible: $14.95

Netflix dvd: $8.61

Electricity: $23.73

Discretionary: $158.62

•  $ 9.09 Hygiene items 
• $ 8.59 Home Depot - utility knife 
• $ 16.74 Card / Car Sun Shade 
• $ 10.98 (2) Turnover / ($1) item / 8 count of "mini cho" 
• $ 29.46 Clip on sunglasses 
• $ 4.30 Chap stick 
• $ 10.76 TP
• $ 32.31 Watch band, sink stopper 
• $ 2.14 Sandwich bags 
• $ 34.25 Kitchen Items (Tongs, Spatula, Soap)

Hiking: $585.33 after credit card rewards

SO MANY RETURNS THIS MONTH... A lot of our overnight gear we tested out at Cucumonga is getting swapped out. This is why we shop at REI for their awesome return policy. We learned hub's pack was the wrong size for his back, and was just too small for overnights and too large for day trips because it doesn't cinch down, so he swapped it out for the men's version of my day-pack. We also returned my sleeping bag. The extra foot at the bottom of my bag that was just dead air was hard to keep warm in our snowy conditions and we didn't get down to the bags "comfort" 21 degree range, let along survival rating of 7 degrees. So, we researched and found a bag that 6 inches shorter so less dead air in the bottom, a bit warmer at 15 degrees... and as a bonus, it attaches itself to our sleep pad (another problem I had), and is cheaper and was also on sale. Hubs's also swapped ice axes for a heavier one. After using it on a couple of mountains, he needed something bigger for his bigger frame. 

• $ 44.29 small hiking odds and ends (sunblock, new water bottles, travel sized items, etc) 
• $ 292.91 REI - New sleeping bag (shorter!); Hat for hubs, snow stake 
• $ (322.16) REI Return - My REI Co-op Joule 21 sleeping bag
• $ (106.54) REI Return - Hub's old day pack REI Coop Train 40
• $297.28 REI - Kids sleeping bag, bag temp, air mattress pump, Osprey Stratos 36 - Hubs 
• $ 349.96 Ice axe, Overnight pack for hubs, axe covers, leashes. 
• $ 66.61 Zpacs (food bag); wallet 
• $ 109.64 Trowel; (2) 4 liter dry Sac; (2) 13 L Dry Sac 
• $ 14.55 (2) Odor proof barrier bags 
• $ (129.25) REI Return - Hubs Ice Axe 
• $ 56.56 Merino Wool Top - Me 
• $ 56.56 Merino Wool Top - Hubs 
• $19.39 Sock Liners
• $ (164.47) Credit card rewards

I'm still not sold on my new overnight pack. It might go back to the store. I hiked in it fine on the trip and trained with it a few weeks before, but when I got back and tossed on my day-pack, I felt a world of difference in support. I went with a light pack because I was worried about the weight and it removed some adjustable features and additional padding... and now i'm wondering if I should bite the bullet and get a comfortable carry. 

I'm going to put some serious weight in my day pack and do an 8 mile road walk once my pepper spray comes in the mail and then do the same road walk with the overnight pack and compare... 

• (long story, but apparently my hiking training trail/road walking area is now home to men who decide to try and grab and assault women in broad day light on the path... and she had pepper spray which is how she got away..... so now the one thing I truly enjoyed doing (going on a long walk in the day light) is now even more problematic. This is the one thing I hate about being a woman. Men don't have these problems. They can go out after dark and run, I don't get this luxury. I have to carve out family daylight hours to get to work out, but apparently we can't even go out in the daylight anymore without being armed. I'll have to either walk busy streets and enjoy the trip less with all the car noises (and get honked at and hollered at which is why I preferred the trail), or figure something else out... but I can't go by myself now without pepper spray. 

April Spending 2019

Wow... another month of sheer crazy. We had two birthdays (gift shopping for a third), preparation for our overnight backpacking trip, and I was SUPER busy at work... and the latter always affects our budget as I have to be more practical than anything else and judge time verses money.

We over spent in some areas, had planned spending in others (but still large numbers), but all in all, no regrets and that's how I like ending a month. After I look over all the spending, if i'm not getting that pit in the stomach "we should have done better" it was a good month. Could we have been more frugal? Sure... but we also had a VERY large profit share check this year and decided we would be purchasing backpacking and hiking gear because 1 year later, we are still enjoying this hobby and now have the gear to hike when we want to hike -- weather be darned!

Onto the spending:

Groceries: $421.56

• Two birthdays, house guests, and 5 shopping weeks.... that will do it!

Gasoline / Auto: $262.50 (Net)

• Hubs: $189.00
• Me: $113.04 - $69.54 Work Reimbursement
• Tolls: $30.00 -- Auto refill

Eating Out: $256.97

• Islands: $50.00
• Red Robin: $46.00
• Fast food / quick dinners: $160.97 --- blech

Clothing:$163.85

• ME: New workout clothes, sports bras and tops: $119.23
• Hubs: button down shirt & gym shorts $44.62

Little Dude: $155.47

•  $ 33.15 Last minute toy, decorations, and desserts for school class party 
•  $ 22.57 Hats and party favors 
•  $ 57.32 Walmart (Cake, Birthday outfit,  wrapping paper) 
•  $ 36.61 Balloons 
•  $ 3.32 Target 
•  $ 2.50  Kite and a water blaster

Tithe/Giving: $796.00

Daycare: $910.00

• Cause were 5 day "all day" friends

Dr / Dental / etc: $85.00

• My dental co-pay for visit and cleaning

Internet: $65.99

Cell phones: $72.68

• Minutes for me: $36.34
• Minutes for hubs: $36.34

Housing:

• HOA: $367.50
• Mortgage: $764.00

Fun money: $80.00

Audible: $14.95

Netflix: $8.61 (DVD Rental)

Electricity: $50.09
We actually use LESS electricity now that we have an alexa and a few smart plugs. Being able to turn things off by telling "alexa" has actually been saving us money! Hubs might get a few more smart switches, etc. at work so we can time light to come on around 4 pm for roxy, so it isn't on all day to ensure she's not in the dark when there is daylight out.

Discretionary: 
We have decided to take pictures of receipts before we leave the store when we shop together so I can itemize and have a copy of them since we have a lot of, "who knows what" in the budget this month.

We also planned to purchase a switch this month and games for the new system. This was husbands WANT from profit share and we tied it into receiving it for his birthday since it was a large purchase and far more than we would spend for a birthday and also is our big "tech" purchase for the year since our PC is still going . 

• $971.31    Switch, controllers, games, and set up stuff
• $10.19 Toilet Paper 
• $132.89 Walmart? 
• $ 17.24 Target? 
• $ 74.22 Easter Baskets 
• $ 25.90 Ear buds (2 pack) 
• $ 25.93 Hiking "cookie" bars; OTC Meds 
• $ 17.84 Trail magic

Hiking:

• $982.41  
• 20 degree women's bag; 
• Bottom and top base layers; 
• Smaller hiking briefs; 
• 2 sleeping pads - therm-a-rest Neo Air Xlite; 
• 2 ice axes; 
• Fleece boys hoodie---yup, i fit in the kids jacket better than the women's 
• $156.02  
• Dry sack (2); 
• New Hat that does fit better; 
• buff; 
• kids water reservoir; 
• piezo igniter 
• $(34.16) 
• Returned Hat bought last year (Just didn't work for my head/pack)
• $53.88
•  Teva Sandals 
• $193.05
• Osprey Eja 58 Pack - Women's 
• $64.51
• Hip pack for hubs.....
• $90.25
• 2 pairs of pants / insect repellent (I got smaller)
• $54.95  
• Cheap River Country back-packing tent. We purchased this to see if hubs liked a trekking pole tent set up... since he wants a zpacks tent... and i'd rather pay $55 and let him play with a cheap version before he spends $800 on a tent.... 

What we spent in March 2019

March was an "interesting" month for us. I was gone for a week on a work conference so our groceries and eating out was way higher than normal as we attempted to make it easy leading up to me leaving, easy while I was gone, and an easy week to return.

I'm not listing my work expenses here that i'm floating while i'm waiting on getting a reimbursement for work, because that would really skew things even more.

We did a "profit share" celebration outing and went to see a movie and hit chuck-e-cheese up since we had some family there, bought a lot of hiking gear.... went to a toddler birthday party.... did some doctor and dental visits, and made NO progress on the condo, but we expected that since it was a busy month with my being gone.

We also decided to do some early birthday shopping since we have the family birthdays all over the next 2 months, and some of our "gear" will need a month to "get" to us, because we have decided to do an overnight hike for my birthday, since i'm an experience "gal".

And it was a 3- paycheck month for me, so we dumped over $1,000 into the car replacement fund!

Alright, so with all that being said, here's what we spent in March!

Groceries: $374.55

Gasoline: $276.07 

• Hubs:$163.02
• Me: $148.20 -(35.15 work reimbursement) = $113.05 net

Eating Out: $224.64

(Ya, that drive thru thing didn't last long....)

•  $ 23.81 Chipotle  
•  $ 31.24 Movie Snacks (Tickets purchased last year) 
•  $ 8.35 Chipotle (mom was sick) 
•  $ 12.46 Del taco (Shakes cause mom was sick) 
•  $ 11.09 Panera Bread 
• $10.78 Little Caesars (mom was working) 
•  $ 46.00 Red Robin 
•  $ 5.11 Sonic 
•  $ 17.08 Carls 
•  $ 8.35 Chipotle 
•  $ 13.11 del taco
•  $ 16.80 Wendys 
•  $ 20.46 Wendys 

Little Dude: $124.33

• $ 21.00 Chuck E Cheese 
• $37.68  Overnight undies 
• $ 15.02 poop helpers (2) 
• $ 26.64 Friends birthday party present 
• $ 23.99 Back up "hobbes" 

We found his stuffed tiger that he is super attached to... and bought a "replacement" just in case. If he never needs it, great, if the day comes and he needs Hobbes 2.0, we have it... or he has one for his future little person.

Daycare: $910.00

• Cause we are a "5-day friend" and an "all day" friend. 

Tithe/ Church givings: $3,659.00

• A lot larger than usual do to the overwhelming blessing that was profit share :)

Doctors / Dentists / etc: $130.00

• $15.00 Little Dude co-pay
• ENT office visit, tubes removed
• $15.00 little dude office visit -- "fluid draining" from tube removal
• $5 Eli meds for "fluid draining"
• $15.00 Mom co-pay, annual visit and tests
• $80.00 Hub's dental cleaning --- yeah no cavities, a first.... Woot Woot for no soda bet!!!

Dog: $429.80

• Blood work, vaccines, and visit.... (she is healthy, but fat, so the diet begins)

Internet: $65.99

Fun Money: $80.00 ($40 each)

Audible: $14.95

Netflix: $8.61

Electricity: $67.96

Propane: $43.04

• This was for our BBQ. We haven't purchased propane since 2016. I think hubs swapped out 2 canisters. We keep a couple as our emergency fuel in case the power goes out, we can use our small BBQ as a stove if needed since we have an electrical one. 

Housing:

• HOA: $367.50
• Mortgage: $764.00
• (property tax not included in mortgage. We drop $285 a month into savings for it.

Discretionary: $176.37

• $ 2.14 Sandwich bags 
• $ 7.77 Target 
• $ 46.84 Dog food (2 small bags); tooth paste, toothbrush, headache meds, lego mini build bag,  
• Normally Dog food is sorted out under our pup expenses, but I couldn't find the receipt afterward. 
• $ 59.63 CED 
• $ 59.99 Home depot cacti

Hiking: $1,239.27

Cause gear gets its own category... We know we spent a lot of $$$ on gear, but some of this is birthday presents for some hiking luxury items, like my food cook bag, and my hip belt/fanny pack thing. I'm using a smaller pack for our over nighter in May, so I need to get creative with saving space on the inside of my pack, and the fanny pack attaches to my chest strap for snacks, or my belt if needed. Hubs and I both wanted one, but we figured we'd get one between the two of us and see what is "manageable." 

• $ 240.12 Micro USB cables (3 pack); Blue-tooth speaker for hiking; Women's Merino wool base layer; 2 Tick removing tweezers; pack towel; BRS stove; fixed blade knife with sheath; sawyer filter + screw on coupling; Men's exofficio underwear   
•  $ 99.90 Possum Merino Wool Gloves (2) 
•  $ 7.80 Leukotape 
•  $ 24.80 hiking wallet, 2 water bottle clips
•  $ 32.08 Gaiters for Hubs 
•  $146.29 REI (Women's Exofficio underwear; hot lips; Toaks Pot; 2 inflatable pillows -sea to summit) 
•  $ 155.50 Quilt -- UL Reddit Gear Trade (USED)
•  $ 288.00 Tent  -- UL Reddit Gear Trade (USED)
•  $18.27 crocks 
•  $ 60.00 Thru Pack hip belt/fanny pack 
•  $ 54.54 Hyperlight food cook bag 
•  $ 208.84 cables, go pro-, power bank, hiking underwear x2 hubs
• -96.87 (returned sleeping pads)

What we Spent in February 2019

Finally got around to typing up what we spent money on in February. No regrets here, Wilson was worth every penny in gear and as I type this, i'm still hanging out with a blissful hiker high...

Hubs is probably sick of me asking when we are going on our next adventure, but I got the itch to do something again and I hope setting a date will do me some good, but it was the highlight of the month

We had a lot of rain too... did some batch cooking for the freezer, enjoyed a mellow valentines day at home ... and were just sick, and then recovering from being sick so we could do Mount Wilson. (the photos are so good it gets its own post!)


Alright, without further ado, what we spent in February!

February 2019 Spending

Tithe: $761.00
Groceries: $333.57
Condo:

• Mortgage: $764.00
• HOA: $367.50
• Property Taxes: $1708.72 (6 months)

Gasoline/Cars: $247.52

• Camry: $83.03
• work reimbursement of $39.32; Net $43.71 (yeah for living close!)
• Escort: $67.81
• Camry Car Reg: $136.00

Eating Out: $65.98

•  $ 10.17 Chick Fil A (Hanger Moment while shopping)
•  $ 18.46 Wendys (mom was sick) 
•  $ 9.70 Little Caesars 
•  $ 5.90 McDonalds (Mom was working) 
•  $ 21.75 Wendys (after 14 mile hike) 

Gifts: $112.40

• 6 pack peak challenge for Hubs: $80.00
• Valentines Flowers from a florist: $32.40 (They lasted 2.5 weeks!!!!)

Little Dude: $13.44

• Valentines for his class: $2.14
• Poop Helpers: $11.30

Daycare: $1,050.00

• $910 Monthly payment
• $140.00 summer camp student fee for supplies and to register

Doctors: $163.69

• $ 53.17 Hubs prescriptions (Flu + Inhaler) 
•  $ 15.00  Little Dude Urgent Care 
•  $ 30.52  Little Dude Prescriptions / OTC Pedialyte / Motrin 
•  $ 15.00 Little Dude ENT referral (wax build up and tube might be out... we got a March appointment) 
•  $ 50.00 Children's Tylenol, Gatorade, sick basics at the store

Our pup "woof woof": $47.99

• $47.99 Grooming (bath, nails, ears, teeth, etc.)

Internet: $63.99

Cell phones: $36.53 (added minutes to my phone)

Pocket money "fun money": $80 ($40 each)

Audible subscription: $14.95

Netflix: $8.61

Electricity: $72.33 (I love that our heater is a boiler in the winter... doesn't cost us anything to run and is included in our HOA). 

Discretionary: (We used credit card rewards points, overtime that came in, and our monthly "clothes" budget to help offset some of the expenses in this category since we spent more than we should have this month...). In light of this, we decided this would be our "spending" month from our tax return. 

• $ 4.30 vday cards for each other
• $ 3.00 dish washer tablets 
• $ 2.14 sandwich bags 
• $ 7.50 laundry soap 
• $ 10.73 toilet paper 
• $ 8.42  gorilla tap, velcro dots
• $136.53 Make up sale (lip colors, gloss, and foundation)  
• The gal was clearance/closing her shop, so we took advantage of a deal to stock up and save on stuff I would like like foundation and lip colors and gloss that hubs wants me to rock. Totally unplanned, but meh.

Hiking: (It gets its own category now as this is our main like "hobby" now, lol.)

• $ 76.87   2 sleeping pads 
• We aren't sure we will keep them. 
• Hub's is too short and mine doesn't have the extra length we thought it would for his because of how I lay on it... so we are still trying to figure things out.
• Our car camping mats are just so heavy 1.6 lbs each, and the R value is low... but they are comfortable and fit his frame.... so who knows.  
• $ 204.56   Micro Spikes (2); bottom base layer for me!
• Best money ever spent
• $ 37.55  hiking food (trail mix, dried fruit, jerky, wipes, smart water bottles) 
• $ 207.50   REI (Shewee store version, Buff, Socks, Liners, Underwear x2, trowel, dry sacs x2) 

 

REI... take my money

Our tax return deposited for both our state and federal in February... and its a good thing it did... we ended up walking into REI ... and this happened...

https://www.gocomics.com/sarahs-scribbles

Allow me to explain. We decided earlier in the month that we were hiking Mount Wilson together... 14 miles of mountain.... and so we made arrangements for friends to watch our little man for a Friday sleepover and all fun play day on Saturday so we could leave and hit the base of the mountain super early.

and then wet weather hit our little bubble of the world... and snow is expected to hit the mountain again... just the day before we plan to hike it, and it's not going to melt since its going to be in the 30 degree range at the top of the mountain... We can't change the weekend since there are child watching logistics involved... and since we aren't stupid people... we dropped money on gear to make sure we are safe during our travels... 

Unfortunately this was AFTER we had already decided to spend a certain amount to get additional hiking gear.... #facepalm 

Before the bad weather appeared in the forecast, we picked up some basics for me to hike with hubs, including finally buying some proper hiking underwear, items to assist us using the wilderness restroom, some dry sacs to help sort out some gear, and another set of socks and liners for me). We used some credit card rewards money and that made our $200 REI trip more like $100 and felt that we were embracing our model to not drop crazy amounts of money at REI.  

Then the weather turned and I had to go back to the store... 

Apparently a trail runner, who was in a group with 3 other people, and they were not newbies, fell off the mountain and plummeted 180 feet to his death because he ran into some ice and wasn't prepared for it .... on the same mountain we plan to hike...  So, we both now own micro spikes for the "lets not fall off the mountain" win... (These are medal spikes that attach to your hiking boot to give you additional traction with your poles so if you hit ice, you have more traction to hopefully avoid falling)

I also now have a very respectable synthetic bottom base layer because they don't make mid weather pants in my size...  These are my general hiking pants from Columbia (they are amazing and I wear them all the time because they are thin, breathable, black and just all over awesome --- and they come in SHORT sizes)... but I needed something a little warmer for the 32 degrees we are expecting... and the only mid-temp pants in the store, that had short sizes were too small... by ONE size. I tried seeing if i could just buy the next size up online, but they decided not to make them larger than that in the short sizes. While I could get the pair they had in the store on, and move in them, they were too snug to pay $100 for... I tried on a regular in the next size up but I would have had to hem them like 8 inches and the pant seams would not be in the ideal places because of my shorter frame, which could lead to chaffing.... which is bad on a 14 mile hike... and I just couldn't pay $100 for a pair of pants that i'd have to attempt to fix in order to wear them... So instead I got a base layer that fits under my light weight hiking pants for added warmth.

I DID TRY finding base layers online and at Walmart... but they didn't have anything, so I spent money on the expensive pair from REI... making our second trip $200 

And then if you remember, hubs is on a no soda bet for an entire year... and he has been true to his bet thus far... and will likely keep to it because if he drinks soda, he looses like $80 at this point, and his grand prize.... which is a light weight back packing tent "of his choice" ... and he has his eyes on the $600 Zpacks duplex. We have been watching a ton of hiker videos because you can't buy this tent at REI... or in a store... 

• we have taped out the floor in our living room to get an idea of how big it is... and if we would both fit inside of it... 
• we have looked at other "tall people" claiming they fit in the tent, but everything is subjective. If you sleep slightly curled up, or flat, it makes a difference.

So we are still on the fence... and so we hit up the reddit hiking community and we were able to find a few local folks who will meet us in a park in a few weeks and will let us see their tent so we can see if he fits... or if we can both fit... so we picked up two foam sleeping pads that we can toss in there to gauge how much space there is when we do the meet up.

I'm also thinking that we are going to need to cut part of my foam mat off and tape it to hubs mat because they don't make foam mats for people who are taller than 6 feet... and we don't know if he's going to be "okay" with a sleeping pad that is 6 inches too short... I see how he sleeps at home and he's a straight leg sleeper on an angle... so he might benefit from my cutting my pad down to size and using my extra.   

What we spent in January (2019)

he rides this thing everywhere...
including over our toes if we
aren't careful!

So every month I keep track of what we spend, and at some point or another I tack it up here on the blog.

WHAT WE SPENT IN JANUARY

Groceries: $375.88 (we had 5 shopping weeks because we missed our usual Saturday in December and shopped twice the first week in January. So it's a bit higher than we hoped, but we didn't spend all our eating our cash, so it worked and balanced. If I spend more in groceries because we didn't eat crap, i'm good with it.

Eating Out: $68.90

•  $ 10.33 Sonic (hubs) 
•  $ 12.49 Wendys (Hubs) 
•  $ 34.23 California Fish Gril (family dinner out) 
•  $11.85    Little Caesars (boys pizza night - mom worked)

Yup, one dinner out as a family, one boys night while I was working late, and then the other two were hubs during our fun tile fiasco. It deserves a whole post on its own, so you'll have to wait for that!

Ugly bread.... but it still tasted good!

Gasoline / Car washes / Tolls / Registration / Smog: $223.89

• Car Washes: $6.00
• Camry Gas:$144.67
• Minus work reimbursement: $31.72 (Net $112.95)
• Escort Gas: $104.94

I filled up three times and hubs did 3 times. He's normally a once a week filler-upper, so i'm not sure what's going on there, but meh, i'll take it!

Car Repairs:

• Camry: Front breaks, new tire, and a battery replaced but the latter was under waranty: $459.60
• Escort: Back up switch: $180.00

Tithe/Giving: $763.00

Mortgage: $764.00


HOA: $367.50

Renovation: $794.29

• 3 Ceiling Fans: $258.50
• Grinder tool: $34.41
• Air compressor, air hammer/chizzle/ and tile removal supplies. $501.38

Again, a whole post will be dedicated to the weekend that was dedicated to partial tile removal... (I already wrote the post and scheduled it, so just in case I forget to update the blog, you'll still get that nugget!) 

Little Dude: 

• Present for a Friends birthday: $16.10
• Toy from goodwill (new and was just missing a figurine he already had): $8.62
• 2 Future Birthday Presents for little dude: $12.49
• Pull ups: $26.93
• (2) mini coloring books, and those string/animal things for motor skillz: $9.69

Daycare and Preschool: $910.00
We both work full time, so he's a "five day" friend... and oh boy do we pay for it!

Clothes:

• LITTLE DUDE: 
• Pants from goodwill (4 pairs): $12.83
• HUBS: 
• 2 base player tops, and 1 base layer bottom for warmth: $36.97 
• ME: 
• Warm fluffy PJ's $10.76
• 4 tops on a LuLaRoe clearance sale. This will be my valentines day gift cause I wanted a few new things, and it wasn't a "need" $82.97

Most of these pics i'm never all dressed up,
but I can do it... Like when I have to speak at a
work conference!

I know I said I was going to try to not buy clothes this year... or at least I was thinking about it, but I just got to the point where i wanted a few new things to make me love the rest of my closet again... plus I have a few shirts that are now considered pretty worn that I should cycle out.

The base layers aren't for hiking either... its COLD in the warehouse where hubs works... he wears a beanie everyday and everyone gives him crap about it, but its cold on the coast!

Dog:

• Kibble -- $27.63

We bought more expensive kibble for her. Different flavor and everything. We had swapped her to a small breed brand, but were swapping back slowly to this new reg dog food stuff. 

Internet: $63.99

Electricity: $83.76

Netflix DVD Rental: $8.61

Yup, the streaming is gone. We weren't watching it. So now we check shows out on DVD.

Audible: $14.95

Cause audio books are amazing. I never thought i'd get into sci-fi space operas, but man, those things are good!

Fun Money: $80.00 ($40 each)

Cause you need to be able to spend a few bucks without asking your significant other. It's sanity and that way I don't nag.

Discretionary:

• $ 10.74 New years poppers
• $ 13.91 Hygiene/personal care items
• $ 1.93 Kitchen Sponges
• $ 6.43 Shampoo
• $ 14.80 Tin foil (2)
• $ 2.11 Hand soap (2)
• $24.75 Hiking Supplies (Hiking foods, snacks, and trail expenses)
• $79.98 Turbo Tax
• $7.45 Postage
• $22.03 Ant Spray / Caulk
• $160.55 Ikea area rug 

Yup, that's all the "STUFF" we bought for the month.

It's pretty darn respectable if you ask me! I itemized all our receipts!

The hiking supplies are no drain tuna and chicken packages, Korr side dishes like rice or pasta mixes, fruit pouches, etc. Its basically stuff we only take hiking, and since we are preparing for longer hikes for hubs with more gear, we purchased a bunch of stuff to try out on our day hikes before the longer hikes come. That way we can figure out what works and what doesn't... because you don't want to figure out how to cook something on the trail for the first time and then find it isn't edible or you hate it and its the only food you brought.