There are 5 more days of October and then we are in the last two months of 2011!
Where does the time go?
Like many families, much of our fall is spent in activities which makes time go really fast. I think I spent most of this fall in anticipation for rec football season to end so cheerleading would be finished. Then, because my daughter is brilliant at softball, she was asked to be a pick-up player for the final two weeks of the softball season. She missed it like crazy so she is pumped to be able to do the sport she loves. Her self-discovery included the realization that she did not like cheerleading. {Thank goodness because cheerleading is NOT cheap!!!}
Where does the money go?
This month I feel like I’ve had ADD with money. Towards the end of our 30 day no spend challenge in September, we were in desperate need of food. We had food, but sunflower seeds and pinto beans weren’t going to cut it for school lunches. We ended up making a big grocery shopping trip and got two weeks worth of groceries. Since I had not taken the cash out prior to the trip, we used our debit card. *gasp*
I figured I would just not fill the grocery envelope since we used a third of it by using the debit card. I’m pretty sure that thought process is what tripped me up. When it was time for some essentials {milk, bread, fresh produce} I didn’t have any cash. Uh-Oh..I dipped into the dining envelope to pay for the groceries. Robbing Peter to pay Paul…know what I mean?
We don’t usually run out of money for our allotted expenses…
We did have a few additional, non-usual expenses and I’m pretty sure we probably overspent since we used our debit card. {It’s waaaaay easier to add a “few” more things when you use plastic.}
I did buy a birthday cake for my now 3 year old.
 |
| Look at his excitement!! |
We also had to buy beef after 6 months! Purchasing a quarter of a cow last April was genius!! Must do that again!
I also got a few grocery goodies on our trip to the Apple Festival. Homemade jams and fresh honey are not the cheapest, but we supported a local business and that is good.
After all the fun, it’s time to get back on the wagon and live from our envelopes. We were still able to make a large principle payment to our HELOC so all was not lost this month.
