hiking on a budget

As most of you know, hubs only has like 4 months left on his no soda bet... and wants a $600 tent as his reward...

and most of you know that I have also sort of started hiking too (nope, more like addicted to hiking) ... and I want to do an overnight-er with him, and do some local "peak bagging" etc ... but I don't have a bet going on where I get to pick a super lightweight amazing tent and just buy it... and apparently buying me a tent takes away from Hubs working towards a back packing tent for the whole year, so I can't just go to REI or a small "cottage company" and say "take my money" and spend $600 on a tent.....

Oh ya, and I don't own a sleeping bag due to the vermin that moved into our outdoor closed back in November... so i'm sorely lacking in the ability to sleep outside right now...

So what does this new trail hugger do?

The UL Gear Trade/Sell Reddit feed.

• That's right, i'm buying lightly used gear at a fraction of the price. 

Apparently because it isn't new, my purchasing "used" gear online does not take away from hub's desire to pick anything he wants out from his bet... so I found an amazing loop hole. Instead of fretting and worrying about if I want a single walled DCF tent, 2 walled tent, free standing, semi free standing, treking pole set up, 2 door or one door, vestibule size, etc... I can just look until I find a good deal with a weight i'm willing to work with and voila, just buy it. I'm actually appreciating the removal of a lot of options, because it was making the idea of purchasing a tent truly frustrating because "what if i don't like something about it AND I spent $600 on it.

Instead, what's available are my options... so I started checking out the posts because this is what you call "THE TIME" to hit the feeds.

• Early Thru hikers for the PCT, AT, and CDT start dropping out and need to sell gear to have funds for the real world.
• Planned Thru hikes might fall through
• People can't get permits for the start dates they want or they need to change dates
• People freak out about weather conditions and just say, screw it i'm not going...
• People are upgrading gear to shed ounces just before they leave (having bought new stuff to use on trail and now need to sell their old stuff so they can have more funds)

It's a good time to frequent the feeds folks. 

So, after 4 days of browsing the feeds, I scored a 50 degree down quilt from enlighten equipment for $150 shipped (normally $240.00 with tax and shipping). It's super light weight (10.4 oz).. and is 850 fill treated down... bought a year ago and in really great condition... and perfect for the season of camping we will be doing out here in a warmer so-cal. How'd I get such a good deal on a quilt that is made to last 20 years? 

• The bag was sized "short/regular." The guy could only sell it to a fraction of the hiking community that was under 5'5 and that means ladies mostly... and outside of California or Arizona (where he lives), a 50 degree quilt isn't as desirable for those thru hiking. They need like a 20 degree bag for current temps right now.
• So, this limited him to day hikers and short section hikers... and of those type of hikers, ladies typically sleep colder and will just opt for a warmer quilt because you can just use it as a blanket if needed or stick a foot out if your too hot.  

So why did I buy a quilt I might have a hard time re-selling?

• I've never used a camping quilt before, but I've been wanting to try one out for the weight savings since I have such a small frame (length of my back), there really is a limit to what I can carry... 
• Having to pay $240 for a quilt and not being able to return it if I don't like quilt camping, wasn't really in the cards... 
• It would be cheaper than a sleeping bag...
• It's LIGHTER than a sleeping bag. 
• I don't really like sleeping like a mummy because I typically sleep warm.
• I can always add a light base layer for bed time snoozing if I feel cold... 

I got it and its in great condition, and I am small enough that I can actually have it cover most of my face if I wanted it to and I can actually mummy it to my person without using the straps if there was a really drafty night.

I also found a tent... which was a WAY better deal than the quilt.

A Big Agnes Fly Creek Platinum...  only used for 5 nights... with the footprint.... and the whole thing only weights 35 oz for a SEMI freestanding DOUBLE WALLED tent... and it's a 2 person, so plenty room for 5 foot me, and my gear without an added weight penalty.

• New from REI: $549.95
• Footprint from REI: $70.00
• TOTAL with tax: $668.00

I bought it for $288 with the security protection offered by Pay-Pal. 

The only thing I need to do is buy some stakes for it, which I can easily do for $20-$40 depending on how light I want to make them. 

I secretly think hubs is eye balling my used gear right now.... 

4 Month Spending Re-cap

Its been a while since I updated our spending on the blog... but I have been keeping track! Since we are really hoping that October will be the month we get back on track, I thought it would be good to take the time to finally categorize all the spending we have done since MAY!

Its not perfect and we have a lot of "other" because I didn't save receipts for that long to really itemize out what all of it was, but hopefully i'll get back into the swing of things with October. I may have forgotten something, but its a pretty good snap shot... and its a little scary. Since we found out about the little goober, things we have been putting off got escalated as we'd rather make the purchases now as a DINK family (Dual Income No Kids), than when things get tighter as we search for daycare options down the line.

My Friend's Wedding :)

South County Boy and I did come to a decision that we won't be funding our Roth IRA's for 2014. We would rather take a the rest of this year to do the improvement projects we need to before the baby comes and pay cash for them and build up reserves and make it so we can stay in the condo as long as possible this year, then fund the retirement accounts. I still have my pension contributions going, and he still has his 401k withdraws, but we probably won't be doing a Roth this year for either of us... and i'm okay with that.

So lets get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?

June/ July/August/September Spending

SCB finishing his first 5k!

• Tithe / Church Giving: $3,238.00
• Groceries:$1,464.75 (Monthly Average $366.18)
• Gasoline: $1005.43 (Monthly Average $251.35)
• Eating Out: $1174.27 (Monthly Average $293.57) I blame the baby....
• Dog: $119.90 total
• Mortgage:
• HOA: 1155
• Earthquake and Homeowners Ins: 530.00
• Home Improvement: $626.00
• Attic Foil: $155.20
• Mortgage: $3,087.96
• Clothes - SCG: $467.96
• Clothes - SCB: $217.58
• Internet: $169.46
• Birthdays: $91.10
• Dr's / Perscriptions:
• 2 pairs of Glasses: $200.96
• Eye Exam: $49.00
• Pills: $43.15
• Work Cell: 240.00
• Burner Cell: $40.00
• Electricity: $320.98
• Vacation to Nauvoo: $519.48
• Wedding: $243.92
• 5k/Fitness: $85.55
• Furniture:
• TV & Wall Mount: $320.00
• Paint & Desk Supplies: $81.43
• BBQ, Stand, Cover, Etc: $298.60
• IKEA (Shelves, Lights, Entertainment Unit, Etc) 1,535.36
• Used Glider: $80.00
•  Costco Renewal: $55
• Parking Ticket: $51
• New Bedding Sets: $89.97
• Tablet: $148.79
• Power Tools: $220.29
• Other:
• June: $474.64
• July: $608.40
• August: $547.02



Vacation to Nauvoo!

• September $361.00

What We Spent in 2014:

• Church Tithe/ Giving: $6,846.00
• Groceries/Household: $3,076.26
• Automobiles
• Gasoline: $2,217.78
• Smog: $51.24
• Registration: $104.00
• Repairs: $1,633.65
• Insurance: $638.43
• Parking Ticket: $51.00
• Housing:
• Mortgage: $6,946.39
• Extra Principle: $14.52
• HOA: $2,505.00
• Homeowners + Earthquake Insurance: $530.00
• Small house repairs:
• $6.44 (fixing under the sink piping)
• $53.91 (New front door deadbolt)
• $87.18 (Bathroom Faucet + Tp Holder)
• $47.35 (Bathroom Fan)
• $155.20 (Attic Foil)
• $626.00 (Paint, Can Lights, Electrical, Ceiling Fan)
• Eating Out + Date Nights: $1,933.46
  
• Clothes:
• SCG: $616.31
• SCB: $304.76
• Dog: $175.06
• Fun Money: $720.00
• Cell Phones: $661.23
• Electricity: $580.25
• Internet: $353.41
• Costco Renewal: $55.00
• Gifts:
• Wedding: $100.00
• Other: $94.45
• Birthdays: $667.85
• Medical:

• Prescriptions: $120.11
• Dr. Visit: $309.20
• Allergy Pills: $32.38
• Cold Meds: $10.17
• New Glasses: $200.96
• Eye Exam: $49.00
• Wedding: $243.92 (Dress, Alterations, etc)
• Fitness: $695.42
• Furniture:
• Bedroom Wardrobe: $487.76 (Includes Truck Rental)
• New bed Frame: $61.56
• TV & Wall Mount: $320.00
• Paint for Desk and Hardware: $81.43
• BBQ, Stand & Cover, Etc: $298.60
• IKEA (Shelves, Lights, Entertainment Unit, Storage, Etc) $1535.36
• Used Glider: $80.00
• $361.19 Vacation to Utah: 
• Food: $124.66
• Gas: 187.30
• Other: $49.23
• $519.48 Vacation to Nauvoo

• Other
• $27.45 (Wedding Card, Walking Safety Light, 10 Storage Boxes)
• $4.69 (2 car key copies)
• $24.09 ($5 dry Vac, 7 house key copies)
  
• $10.79 (MLP dog tag, running light)
• $3.21 (Bug Spray)
• $347.75 DYSON Pet Vacuum (Kohls)
• $9.12 Laundry Basket
• $27.98 (Running Arm Band, Computer Cable, Computer Microphone,Nose hair trimmer.)
• $91.98 Turbo Tax/State and Fed File
• $13.18 V-Day items.
• 21.55 (Metal Skewers, Organizer bins, Shower cleaner)
• $7.83 OTC Medications and Water bottle
• $51.60 (Postage and Handcrank/solar radio)
• $35.54 (Audio Book, Journal, card, etc)
• $153.28 (15 & 30 Gallon Water Barrels + Solar Batteries / Food Storage)
• $30.98 (Food Slicer)
• $14.27 (Postage)
• $24.82 (CPU Fan + Workout gloves)
  
• $5.90 (Straws)
• $17.16 (polarized sunglasses)
• $0.99 Game App
• $34.78 Rental Car
• $7.26 Cutting Boards
• $8.00 Batteries
• $15.57 Wii U Accessories
• $119.51 Wood for storage closet
• $74.51 Garden
• $16.62 Computer Cables
• $65.70 Trashcan, 2 pillows, 2 steering wheel covers
• $11.26 Allen Wrenches
• $56.38 Computer Speakers
• $215.19 Treadmill
• $38.96 Make-up
• $296.39 Walmart
• $89.97 New Bedding Sets
• $148.79 Tablet
• $220.29 Power Tools
• $1,991.06 "Other"

What we spent in May

We had hoped May was going to be a cut and dry month for us... but boy were we wrong! We spent money like no other and if it weren't for the fact that it was a 3 paycheck month for us, we would have gone into the red. With that being said, June for sure is going to be a savings month because it has to-- My Roth IRA got shorted $1200 since we had to spend that check instead of save it...

Our eating out was triple what it normally was because my work house got all junked up and we were too exhausted to cook or just didn't have the time to prep the healthy foods we purchased...

May  2014 Spending:

• Church Tithe/ Giving: $828.00
• Groceries: $358.11 (6.32 Household items)
• Car
• Gasoline: $343.70
• Car Repairs: $715.57
• Insurance: $638.43
• Housing:
• Mortgage: $771.80
• Extra Principle: $0.19
• HOA: $270.00
• Bathroom fan: $47.35
• Eating Out: $274.99
• Date Nights: 
• $5.50 (Beach parking)
• $16.99 (Movie Tickets)
• Gifts:
• Other: $55.52
• Fun Money: $80.00 (Always $40 a month per person)
• Work Cell Phone: $60.00
• Electricity: $17.04
• Internet: $47.99
• Cell phone: $39.88
• Dog: $16.88
• Clothes:
• South County Girl: $56.91
• South County Boy: $17.05
• Medical: $109.69
• Doctors Visits: $74.09
• Prescriptions: $35.60

• Other:
• Water Barrel / Emergency Essentials: $97.83
• Wii U Accessories: $15.57
• Postage $7.62
• Home Depot: Wood for storage closet: $119.51
• Garden: $74.51
• DietBet: $25.00
• Bedroom Wardrobe: $487.76 (Includes Truck Rental)
• Amazon - computer cables $16.62
• Trashcan, 2 pillows, 2 steering wheel covers: $65.70
• Allen wrenches: $11.26
• New Bed Frame: $61.56
• Computer Speakers: $59.38
• Make up - $38.96
• Treadmill $215.19
• Other Random trips to Walmart: $296.39

What We Spent in 2014:

• Church Tithe/ Giving: $3,608
• Groceries: $1,514.04 + Household Items: $97.47
• Automobiles
• Gasoline: $1,212.35
• Smog: $51.24
• Registration: $104.00
• Repairs: $1,633.65
• Insurance: $638.43
• Housing: $4,328.49
• Mortgage: $3,859.19
• Extra Principle: $13.76
• HOA: $1,350
• Small house repairs:
• $6.44 (fixing under the sink piping)
• $53.91 (New front door deadbolt)
• $87.18 (Bathroom Faucet + Tp Holder)
• $47.35 (Bathroom Fan)
• Eating Out: $734.70
• Date Night: 
• $2.00 (Movies)
• 5.50 (beach)
• $16.99 (Movies)
• Clothes:
• SCG: $148.35
• SCB: $87.18
• Dog: $55.16
• Fun Money: $400.00
• Cell Phones: $381.23
• Electricity: $259.27
• Internet: $183.95
• Gifts:
• Wedding: $100.00
• Other: $94.45
• Birthdays: $576.75
• Medical:
• Prescriptions: $76.96
• Dr. Visit: $309.20
• Allergy Pills: $32.38
• Cold Meds: $10.17
• Furniture:
• Bedroom Wardrobe: $487.76 (Includes Truck Rental)
• New bed Frame: $61.56
• $361.19 Vacation to Utah: 
• Food: $124.66
• Gas: 187.30
• Other: $49.23

• Other
• $27.45 (Wedding Card, Walking Safety Light, 10 Storage Boxes)
• $4.69 (2 car key copies)
• $24.09 ($5 dry Vac, 7 house key copies)
• $10.79 (MLP dog tag, running light)
• $3.21 (Bug Spray)
• $347.75 DYSON Pet Vacuum (Kohls)
• $208.18 Disney Half Marathon
• $208.18 Disney Half Marathon
• $9.12 Laundry Basket
• $27.98 (Running Arm Band, Computer Cable, Computer Microphone,Nose hair trimmer.)
• $91.98 Turbo Tax/State and Fed File
• $13.18 V-Day items.
• 21.55 (Metal Skewers, Organizer bins, Shower cleaner)
• $7.83 OTC Medications and Water bottle
• $51.60 (Postage and Handcrank/solar radio)
• $35.54 (Audio Book, Journal, card, etc)
• $153.28 (15 & 30 Gallon Water Barrels + Solar Batteries / Food Storage)
• $30.98 (Food Slicer)
• $14.27 (Postage)
• $24.82 (CPU Fan + Workout gloves)
• $5.90 (Straws)
• $17.16 (polarized sunglasses)
• $55.00 Diet Bet
• $138.51 New Running Shoes
• $0.99 Game App
• $34.78 Rental Car
• $7.26 Cutting Boards
• $8.00 Batteries
• $15.57 Wii U Accessories
• $119.51 Wood for storage closet
• $74.51 Garden
• $16.62 Computer Cables
• $65.70 Trashcan, 2 pillows, 2 steering wheel covers
• $11.26 Allen Wrenches
• $56.38 Computer Speakers
• $215.19 Treadmill
• $38.96 Make-up
• $296.39 Walmart

New Running Shoes

We finally bit the bullet and took SCB down to our local Road Runner for some running shoes so he can start to train for his 1/2 marathon.

In hindsight, I was a little disappointed. I normally go to snails pace for my running needs but I had attended a few group runs at Road Runner so we thought it would be best to check it out and try some place new.

The first thing they did was start fitting SCB for custom in-soles... to "try" with the shoes. If he didn't want them, he didn't need to pay for them but they do that to try and sell you on the product.

He has rather high arches, and since i'm big on not getting hurt, he wanted to try them out.

I also decided to try out a pair and hunt for some shoes as well since i'll need to replace mine soon.

I hate to say it, but SCB got "sold" and while I told him that he needed to try on multiple pairs with and without the insoles, run on the treadmill in them, walk around the store in them and then do one shoe on one foot, another shoe on the other... he didn't really listen too much since he was caught up in the experience of everything.

Eventually he said he couldn't tell the difference with 3 pairs of shoes (only trying them with the expensive insoles) so I said if he was sure then the only question to consider was color and price. I told him to pick the cheapest pair of the three unless he couldn't stand the color (since we all know you don't really get to pick the color of your running shoe).

Then I drove their staff crazy trying to have them help me.

Originally they told me my shoes were shot because she could "bend" them in half... a sign that they were used up... but I watched her bend brand new shoes just to show another girl how flexible they were to sell her on that idea... so I walked in a bit skeptical because my old running store was more honest with me. They would just compress the shoe at the heel and see if the rubber cracked. If the rubber cracked when compressing, then shoe's support was done and it needed to be replaced. When I compress my shoe, the rubber didn't crack yet... but I wanted to see what was out there since a replacement would be coming up soon in a month or so now that i'm going to start seriously training for the Disney 1/2 marathon in August.

First, they started pulling stability shoes for me that were a full size too small. Mind you this is after I told the employee making my shoe insert (since I wanted to see what the hype was all about) that I ran in a full size up from my street shoe cause my toes like all the happy space and i'm a "sweller" when I do distance. I don't think the guy believed i'd done 3 marathon and a half because i'm out of shape at the moment and I don't think he was really listening.

So he fitted my custom insole for me to fit my street shoe... so it naturally  wasn't going to fit well in the shoes that were a full size up... and it wasn't until I "wasn't sold" on purchasing the smaller insert that the "light" went on in the clerks head that the insole had to be remade (I was complaining on pain when I went around with the insoles then without)... It was funny for me because their was another lady being fitted for shoes and she seemed to like my advice better then the sales rep when I told SCB that he needed to try the shoes with and without the insole, and with a different shoe on each foot if he couldn't decided between the pairs...

Even after I had the new insole, I continued to make the employee a bit upset because I'd walk in the shoes with the new insole... and then with the standard insole again to compare the difference between the larger size and didn't assume it would automatically make the shoe better... then I re-laced the shoes I was trying on because my heel tends to pop out a bit since its a full size up from my street shoe so I use some lace tricks to keep it in... and if i'm blowing $100 on a pair of shoes I'm testing them out in a practical manner to make sure they are a good fit...

Then we also found out that I couldn't wear their store socks  because they kept slipping off my feet so she had to relent and let me use my own.

In the end i'm seriously considering a new shoe and model... and if i go back to get mine i'll get $10 off with a coupon and if I bring in an old trash'd pair, another $10 off. But I think what bothered me the most was the rep never had us get back on the treadmill or watch us run in the shoe to see if the shoe fixed our "running issues" we both need a slight corrective shoe since we pron-ate a little... and that's what I loved about the other smaller store I went to... so I think i'm going back there to compare results a bit since I think I still have more time in my shoes. But since SCB swore he loved his shoes and they have a 90 day wear em and take them back if you don't love them policy, he got his and the insoles... Costing us a total of $216.26

A week later he told me he couldn't stand the insoles so we took them back since he had 30 days to try them out and just wearing them around the house in his shoes was causing him pain. He did a 7 mile walk with me and my two friends and was fine without the insoles.

So $138.51 for new shoes for SCB.

The Birthday Mystery Gift

SCB turned 28 this year! Woo Hoo! We ended up celebrating a bit early this month because his work is starting "inventory" season a few days before his birthday and that means longer hours and a very tired hubby... and I wanted him to enjoy his birthday and get to "use" his present before he turned into a blob of exhausted man.

I also really wanted to surprise him for his birthday... which never really happens because we both get too excited to keep secrets from each other for long. Our guilty faces are a dead give-away and the prying inquisitions normally make us cave by mid day...  but I really wanted to try. This year was the year to go big or go home because I wanted to surprise him with a Wii U Bundle.

Now SCB has been saving his pocket money up to get  a Wii U and all he had asked for his birthday was some My Little Pony figurines (he is a Brony folks...) so he had something to open still & asked me to put the rest of the money I would have spent on his birthday in the Wii U bucket... because that's how badly he wanted one but he knew that he'd have to wait a few months before we could get one, especially in light of the $918.08 we spent to repair the car this month. 

So when we were out shopping, I got him some pony gifts. He knew what they all were since he was with me when we went shopping so I waited to wrap them for a few days so he wouldn't be suspicious if say more packages appeared wrapped in the birthday pile. He would just assume I wrapped them funny so he didn't know what he was opening until he opened it.

Now we have free 2 day shipping from Amazon because our brother-in-law has an account and you can give the account to a few households as apart of the deal, so he shares it with us... this my friends was the only way I was able to pull this whole deal off. 

I had been doing the math all weekend long and I figured if I took the money from the Wii U bucket, added in all our birthday savings money, and the $122 leftover from SCB's last paycheck after the car fiasco I could do it.... It was going to have to be a combined family gift for both of our birthdays in the end, but since my birthday is just around the corner and SCB already told me that I get to plant my garden next month as a non-birthday present, I decided that in addition to getting him the things he wanted, I'd get Wii U fit for me and call it a communal birthday present since i'd be wiping out all our birthday savings.  

I was able to order the really nice Wii U with the Mario and Luigi combo games and that funky large screen remote package thingy... & I picked up Wii U Party since it came with a second Wii U-remote and I also ordered a Wii classic - Sports Resort since you can play older games on the new model.... Then I added the Wii U Balance board combo with the game and the little step counter which I knew was more for me than for him, but I needed him to have that to unwrap to confuse him all the more.

I timed the order correctly so the items would be delivered on Tuesday and Wednesday since I beat the mail man home since I get off early in the afternoon. Roxy and I waited and hunted him down and collected the package, wrapped the items and then hid them. I made sure to dispose of the boxes in the dumpster the farthest away from our house so he wouldn't see the shipping labels and I changed the password for our Amazon account and my hotmail email account because SCB likes to cheat.

I took all his "pony gifts" and wrapped them individually and put them in a brown paper bag that I stapled shut... i also made sure to put the Wii U party and the Wii Sports Resorts in the brown bag so he couldn't "see them."

Then I took the Wii U Fit and wrapped it and then covered it in duct tape and posted this on facebook:

  

I wrapped the Wii U game console and hid it in the cabinet in the kitchen behind the reusable bags next to our water storage since SCB never goes in the cupboard because he hates the reusable bags that always falls out.  

When he got home from work I did my best to feed him lies about his presents and had him going in all different directions. He commented that the duct-tape box oddly looked the shape of a Wii U fit board but I told him I fished it out of the dumpster and used some can goods to weigh it down so he couldn't guess how heavy it was and shouldn't shake it. When he mentioned how he thought a Wii U could fit in the oddly shaped box if I took everything out of the original packaging, I just put this disappointed look on my face, sat him down and lied directly to his face and told him I didn't get him a Wii U and that he better get that idea out of his head because I was not going to have him be disappointed on his birthday when he didn't get one...

Worked like a charm. 

Later in the week I let it "slip" that I was surprised to find it in a "store" since it hadn't been stocked for awhile to further confuse him... 

Everything was going great until Easter... 

On Easter he realized the Wii U bucket was empty because he got a My Little Pony Bank as his Easter present and went to put all the money from the bucket into his new bank and only found a few coins..

**Face Palm**

I told him I deposited the money in our bank account so I didn't have to transfer $150 from our savings, wait a few days for it to switch banks, and then go pull it out in cash to put in the bucket for a few months to again have to deposit it to buy the thing online so we could get the bundle he wanted... He complained for a few minutes about needing to see the money in the bucket to know it was going towards the Wii U so I told him i'd got take the money out of the bank on Monday and put it back in the bucket... 

Then he went to have breakfast in the kitchen. The Wii U was again wrapped and hiding in the water cabinet with the reusable bags... there was a reusable bag on the table from my lunch on Saturday... facing me he opened the cabinet and I saw his present... he was going to shove the bag in there and turn around but i pulled it from his grasp and told him it went on a hook because it was a lunch bag and not a grocery bag and he let the cabinet door slip from his fingers without turning around...

The Wii- U was safe for the moment...

But my nerves were shot...  Later that morning I caved and we celebrated his birthday.

Men (and Brony's) don't use their hands to
unwrap presents wrapped in Pony
Birthday Paper... They use their teeth.

And then struggle when they can't get
the paper out of their mouths because
its cheaply made...

I made sure to hand him his "brony" presents one by one
from the bag so he couldn't see the extra ones in there.

After a few pony presents, I went to fool
him by handing him a boxed present.

"Is it ticking?" 

Wait... its from Amazon... could it be???
Nope...  She's just tricking me.

BUT SCORE... Awesome Pony Towel/Cape!

His reaction after unwrapping the first
mystery item... a Wii game...???

Then he started to unwrap the last item from
the brown paper bag....

More confusion as he hold a Wii U game and
remote combo package...

Goes to get a knife to tackle the duct tape on
the "mystery package."

Excitement mounds for the duct tape package

Slice & pull....

HUH???? But u said it wasn't a Wii Fit U...
and why would you buy this if we couldn't
use it yet???

At this point I told him about this morning and the "incident" over breakfast... and where he could find his last birthday present.

The "you're the best wife ever" look.

Oh man... oh man... it is... it is....

Ecstatic-ness 

Then I/we made burgers & tried my homemade buns while we waited for the Wii-U to get hooked up so we could make Mii's and play a few rounds on the system. The buns were really good and well sized for the burgers.

I made sure to inform him that the Wii U fit was mostly for me... but it was necessary for his overall surprise and to throw off the scent so to speak.

He looked a little relieved that he wasn't expected to "match" my level of surprise this year. He's always worried I won't like something so he tends to run everything by me ahead of time. So he promised I could still have my garden and do a little house decorating and my awesome Apron from Etsy will be arriving shortly since I wanted a cook apron to cook and bake with  :)

I'm glad we celebrated early because it took a while to set up everything and we learned the other day that if I want to see my husband at all on my birthday (May 8th), i'd have to volunteer to help with pre-inventory counting at his work till 9 pm at night because inventory prep starts the 2 days before his birthday and doesn't end until the day after mine.

Groceries in March!

$2.87 over budget... So close... so close my friends... but I blame it on SCB getting sick and us needing to buy "sick food" for him at the tail end of the month.  But I'm still happy with what we spent on food, all things considered :)

Dairy

This month we spent just short of $60.00 on dairy, about $10 more than last month and $15 less than January. We bought the same amount of Milk (2 gallons)... we only used half the amount of Greek yogurt as last month because of our travel plans out to Utah and because we "average" about 3 containers a month between smoothies, veggie dip, and using it for cooking. We have also been baking more so more butter was needed. As for Cheese, we did a little stock up towards then end of the month so I think next month will be lighter like last month.

Fruit 

Mmmmmmm... (Sorry, flashbacks to my first Red Mango-- My husband described me eating it like a wolf devours meat....)... but the yellow mango.... ewwwwwwwwww

So we ended up spending just over $30.00 on fruit, which was about $25 less than February and January. Part of this came from not needing to stock up on strawberries like last month and my habit to consume fruit in smoothie form... although I missed actually eating fruit instead of drinking it so when I ate that Mango, it was probably the first piece of fruit I had Chewed in a few weeks. As I type this the second Red Mango is waiting for me on the counter still (a reward for finishing my food blog post for the month).

The only fruit that got tossed was maybe 1 or 2 bananas that got too ripe to do anything with because they were forgotten about or I didn't have enough of them for banana nut bread but felt the banana was too ripe for my smoothie or to really eat.

Grains

We spent a little less than January and February on grains and breads largely because we had most of our bread in the freezer... and because we stocked up on granola bars. SCB really liked the organic ones so we will see those have a permanent home in our pantry... and just 7 ingredients makes me happy.

I'm going to attempt to go back to making my own bread because the Organic Bread at Costco got kind of tacky after freezing and now that I have my own wheat grinder (be-lated christmas present), I'm hoping I can get back into the groove and start to make, slice, and freeze my own bread. We bought some Potato bread as a treat for hubby.

Meats

Not really that much since we were gone a full week, but I've finally hit the point where its time to re-stock the chest freezer with organic ground turkey again... and we are finally out of our stockpile of burgers. I'm going to see if I can find a good way to make my own frozen burger patties because we want to switch to Organic for these and I have not been able to find any, let alone decide if they are worth the cost... so Look forward to a post on my "attempt" at homemade frozen burger patties. (We want to try to freeze them because the fresh ones fall through the BBQ grill. But $16 for meat this month, instead of $35 in Feb and $72 in January.

Vegetables

I don't think I can ever get mad when we spend money on Vegetables ... except for when we waste food and don't eat them... as I alluded in yesterdays post was the "theme" of the month apparently. Looking now though, I think some of the wasted produce must have been purchased last month because looking at this list, most of the stuff listed here is still in the fridge because it was bought just a couple of days ago when I went shopping. But either way we spent $66 for March, $47 in February & $74 in January on vegetables. Only 4 things that weren't organic... that's a huge victory, especially when we think about where we were last year around this time!

I now even dig carrot juice and spinach in my fruit smoothies now....

And this month I had a LOVE relationship with home made pico... hence the 4 lbs of tomatoes...

I swear if I can just break this habit of not working out (March was bad with vacations and work schedule changes) and stop snacking in between meals, maybe i'll have a hope to shed those extra pounds I've put back on... April is the month to Re-commit!

Pantry/House 

We picked up a few pantry items... and a lot of stuff to help the sick husband get on the mend. Frozen pot pies, canned soup, saltines, sprite, Gatorade, and Alfredo sauce were all bought because SCB was sicker than a dog... and is still on the mend as I type.

As for house stuff, we seem to average around $20 -$30 a month. This month it was dryer sheets and bathroom cleaner for the most part. ... last month it was hygiene products like shampoo and TP.... January it was Laundry and Dishwasher Detergents and trash bags.... Its nice to know we tend to be able to spread these purchases out over time so we can work them into the food budget!

Black Friday 2013

We went out and did Black Friday again this year. While we visited a few stores, we generally spent the bulk of our money at Kohl's... $334.22 to be more precise, this year it seems like a lot of people chose to stay home... or perhaps we had a different experience because we weren't at Walmart or Target when they opened.

But we headed to Kohl's because we had the standard 15% off coupon and the free $10 they mailed out and there were some items in the ad we had been meaning to purchase. The 15% and the free $10 saved us an extra $64.62 ... and landed with $90 in Kohl's cash to come back with... but more on that later.

What we got on Black Friday:

• I got a new wallet ($14.99 instead of $40) since mine has been broken for some time and can't hold coins. (It was a wallet I had back in college when I used to go country line dancing-- so Sophomore year???)
• We got a toaster oven because I've been wanting to pitch our toaster for some time now because its so hard to clean... and I've always wanted one ($24.99 instead of $40)-- We could have gotten a $10 rebate, but SCB tossed the box before I could cut the Proof of Purchase from the box.
• We picked up 2 new duffle bags ($20 instead of $100 each) because we noticed that one of our old bags was ripping the last time we used it when we went to Utah. 
• We picked up 2 small blue tooth speakers so we can better hear our audio books when doing chores and while SCB is in the shower.($15 each instead of $30).
• I got two purses. A smaller one for the everyday, and a larger one for when I need to take more things with me. These were to replace my current everyday purse that is over a year old that we got from Target that was breaking at the handles and that always managed to get stuck on my emergency break in the car. The first we got for $23 instead of $60, the second $25 instead of $70.
• SCB wanted a nice toiletry bag - $22 instead of $45 This was a whim purchase.
• I bought my mom a pair of boots for Christmas ($30.00 instead of $80)
• I bought 2 pairs of comfortable jeans for $33 each... not really on sale, but I was on a mission for pants and its hard to find ones with a good length and these were ones I wouldn't need to hem.
• I got one shirt for $15 that I LOVE.
• SCB got a 3 pack of collar extenders and some of those things you shove in dress shirts to keep the collar straight, together they were around $15.
• The rest were 4 pairs of gym pants I got to wear at work and while working out ($14, $18, $18, $18 instead of their regular $36 price). -- A large reason we went to kohls in the first place.

We later went back since my mom gave us her $10 coupon that she got in the mail and didn't use... and we used it to purchase a $100 bathroom rug... for free. It was one of those 22 x 60 memory foam mats... the kind that makes standing feel really awesome...

Apparently because it was so large in size, they clearance'd them down to $9.99...

We have been toying with the idea of getting a comfortable mat for our kitchen so standing and doing the dishes or prepping for dinner wouldn't feel like a chore, so when we stumbled upon this one and waived it under the price reader, we were shocked. The much smaller ones (aka more normal sized for bath rooms) were more money.

So we picked it up and went and checked out. With the coupon, we didn't even need to pay tax on the item...

But that wasn't the only awesome moment. I mentioned that $90 in kohl's cash we got? Well I didn't want to forget to use it so I went back on Monday and bought the last 2 large mats they had in the color that matched our kitchen tile (which made SCB so happy), I got 4 new bath towels, bought Roxy a huge dog bed, and got one sweater and only paid $3.16

Awe, the joy of Black Friday...

I also scored 2 shirts and a skirt for less than $20 at JC Penny, picking up my annual mickey snow globe for my collection...

We also hit Walmart and got 2 boxes of our tupperware (now that we have a chest freezer, these will come in handy for all the things we will freeze in there)... but that was it.

We even walked through Target and could have had our pick of TV's and other doorbuster items, well after their opening hours I might add, but we didn't want those things and didn't end up buying anything there.