May has come to a flying finish. I went in to the month knowing\nthat it would most likely be one of our busiest as a family. May did not\ndisappoint in this for sure. We should be finishing up baseball next week after\na 2 week break. Swim team has started with a goal of attending at least three\npractices a week. We have birthday parties, graduation parties and end of the\nyear activities that all seem to be keeping our calendar full. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you can tell from the pictures yesterday, the garden is\nlooking awesome, we have been able to harvest some green peppers, two very\nsmall zucchini, basil, dill and of course mint. We have blossoms on the tomato\nplants and the corn is over knee high. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With all the scheduled activities for the month, menu planning has been important however we have been making changes to accommodate evening when we have literally an hour or less at home to get not only homework finished but some sort of dinner. We ended up eating out Chinese once and ordered pizza once. It feels like I am going to the grocery store every other day. However, I am starting to realize that the reason for this is that I am only buying what we are out of or what things I find on manager special. I am planning to write a post this weekend about the deals I have been able to find at Food Lion.\u00a0 I have been able to keep a total of grocery spending. We are currently at $325 including the $75 trip I made on Thursday of this week. I am very pleased with this amount and plan to continue to monitor and reduce the overall spending for the summer months. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We ended up spending around $400 for gas this month. I am not keeping a running total for this because we have to have gas to work and for most of our everyday activities. After much thought and consideration, this is really not a budget item that I can control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the area of finances we are holding our ground right now. I\nmade the decision this week to sell the little red car. I was pleasantly\nsurprised that it only took two day for it to sell. This will probably mean an\nincrease in our gas spending but it did mean a $70 decrease in insurance for\nthe short term. Today is the last paycheck for the school year and it was less\nthan anticipated. I am going to have to sit down this summer and redo our\nbudget once I actually figure out what I can anticipate for my salary next\nyear. The good news is that I have scheduled two deposit, one in June and one\nin July, that will serve as my paychecks for the summer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The area that has seen the greatest improvement during the month\nof May is with my weight loss and exercise. I have walked a total of 8 days\nwith one of those being in the water. I have lost 2# this month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was able to increase my number of post\nfor May to 13! I am only two away from goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have continued to earn money with\nSwagbucks this month, we were able to gain $80. This is again going down but\nfree money is free money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
PLANS: 9 day of work left till\nSummer! I am going to focus on using our money wisely this month! I want\nto keep the grocery budget less than $300 again. The cost of gas should also\ndecrease significantly this summer as well due to me not going to work. We are\nplanning to replace the tires on the old van. This money will come from profits\nof selling the car. Lots of things to think about and consider during the\nsummer! I plan to update regularly so get ready to enjoy some summer fun and\ngardening. Spending should be minimal as we have already paid pool dues,\nall summer camps and our Wet and Wild membership is also paid. \n\n\n\n\n\nf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
May has come to a flying finish. I went in to the month knowing that it would most likely be one of our busiest as a family. May did not disappoint in this for sure. We should be finishing up … Continue reading