Wednesday, February 1, 2023

I decided not to include bills, but just to do a diary for a month about the things that I buy. I am doing my gas, but not Tom’s. I love reading Money Diaries on Refinery 59 and so I thought I would do one. Also, this month I have been participating in Frugalwoods Uber Frugal Month. In addition, you know that I am starting my 23 in 2023 – I can only buy 23 new items this year. And, I didn’t stick to just two new items this month, but I could still succeed for the year.

I have quite a few gift cards I am going to use this month. That will be fun. I also have some restaurant coupons and when I want to go out, I plan to look at those first.

This may be really interesting for some readers and really boring for other, by the way!

Sunday, January 1-Whole Foods $50, Texas Roadhouse Take Out $0 with Tom’s gift card from a co-worker, $5 tip

Monday, January 2 – Kroger Pick Up $124, Dollar Tree stuff for school $30, Target book for me and razors for Mason $30

Tuesday, January 3- Back to School for Teachers – $0 Spend Day

January 4 – Back to School with Students – $0 Spend Day

January 5 – $0 Spend Day

Friday, January 6 – Amazon $7 green school laces to spruce up my white leather sneaks; $50 Door Dash (Eek!) reiumbursement to my kids who came home and wanted to order. They do this very rarely and we didn’t have any food in the house. I had Erica and Elizabeth over for happy hour instead of me spending around $50 at a restaurant. I made them a wonderful bourbon cocktail (or two), we tried the holiday pack Truly seltzers, I made them Trader Joe’s frozen fries with truffle oil and sea salt and a garlic aioli, truffle popcorn, and Trader Joe’s mini croissants. I think they were really happy to save a nice chunk of change, too. J and M had already had a late lunch/early dinner from Door Dash and Tom and I had baked potato, bean soup, and a few leftover odds and ends.

Saturday, January 7 – $154 Kroger, $15 coffee/donut shop, $18 Domino’s Pizza for J and M, $72 including tip for Tom and Amy Dinner at Varanese with three other couples

Sunday, January 8 – $12 Michael’s, $18 movie tickets, $0 Amy movie snacks, $12 Tom movie snacks

Monday, January 9- Old Navy online order of $44 with $100 Christmas money

Tuesday, January 10 – $0 Spend Day

Wednesday, January 11 – $0 Spend Day

Thursday, January 12 – $0 Starbucks (used a gift card), $1 barista tip, $119 Kroger pick up, $64 Gas at Kroger gas station, $3 ELF foundation from Amazon (very impressed), $30 Tully’s Hawaiian coffee from Amazon (new fave)

I do feel that I am deferring spending for a few days and then having larger spend days? This diary is really making me think about my spending, though!

Friday, January 13 – $38 Old Navy order (re-ordering two of the three items to see if sizing is better; I am trying to be a better shopper and get the right size and not just “settle”, $30 after school happy hour, $76 Mediterranean take out (cringe – why is this so expensive? Our kids were home for the night and wanted it. We never got it over Winter Break – it’s soooooo good and it provides leftovers, too)

Saturday, January 14 -$75 Trader Joe’s, $0 Library, $14 Liquor Barn, $ 20 TJ Maxx, $11 Mexican to go – I ate with my friends and they treated me and I took home an arroz con pollo for J and M. They went to a friend’s house to play Dungeons and Dragons and had pizza but were still hungry.

Sunday, January 15 – Coffee Shop $1 – had gift cards. Mason and I read for a bit, $15 car wash

Monday, January 16 – $109 Vaugu order (2 dresses and 1 top – I can also say this is my $100 Christmas money purchase) , $58 Fresh Market – went in for chicken and got a bit crazy

Tuesday, January 17 – $58 Old Navy order, $4 Amazon powdered Tide for my floor mopping – lol

Wednesday, January 18 – $68 Amazon Shark cordless vac

+earned $29 Rewards from my credit card (We have a Kroger credit card and save on gas and groceries with this. We also get rewards based on spending that are credited like cash to the card)

Thursday, January 19 -$152 Kroger pick up (Trying to make this the last big shop of January, but it may not be possible – If it is, my Kroger bill for January will only be $440! Note: It was not possible!)I have gone to Trader Joe’s once for $78 and Fresh Market once for $58, too, and then we have gone to Costco a couple of times mainly for Tom’s protein shakes of which he goes through very quickly. This is still a great reduction from groceries for December.)

Friday, January 20 – $26 Happy Hour margaritas, chips, salsa, queso, then ate dinner at home for $0 – Tom had a Totino’s frozen pizza and oranges and I had an egg sandwich and oranges

Saturday, January 21 -+$70 ish for Old Navy returns, $0 Library, $14 Trader Joe’s wine shop, $36 Trader Joe’s, $97 Walmart Neighborhood Market (just a grocery and not the big Walmart) – spent too much but bought toiletries along with some items can only get there – I went a little crazy because the prices were so much better than Kroger and Target on a few things), $28 Mojito en Havana for dinner – I had a $25 gift card so this is why it was so low for a nice dinner

Sunday, January 22 – $30 Sunday Funday margaritas and appetizer along with tip at Boombozz

Monday, January 23 – $0 Spend Day

Tuesday, January 24 – $0 Spend Day

Wednesday, January 25 – $0 Spend Day

Thursday, January 26 – $13 Chinese herbs for Ernie, $8 McDonald’s for Ernie and Amy

Friday, January 27 – $149 Kroger grocery pick up (was not able to make January 19’s haul last but this order will take me into the first few days of February, too) , $59 Target order of two pairs of jeans

Saturday, January 28 – $42 Walmart grocery, $58 Target, $0 Library, $35 Blaze, $37 Loft

Sunday, January 29 – $32 Coffee Shop/breakfast with Mason, $30 Sunday Funday with Elizabeth

Monday, January 30 – $14 Amazon purchase of small silk scarf

Tuesday, January 31 – $0 Spend Day

Totals:

I could have forgotten a couple of things, but I was pretty diligent about recording this month.

No Spend Days: 9! Wow! I am pretty impressed with this. This means no online orders, either. Some is definitely deferred spending, but it made me realize that normally hardly a day goes by without me at least placing a small Amazon order.

Gas: $64 – Wow! That is really low. I may have forgotten to record a second fill up. My work is really close to home and I probably filled up right before January started.

Groceries: Kroger: $698 Wow! That is a lot for two people except some weekend days when we have four of us. Whole Foods: $50, Trader Joe’s: $115, Fresh Market: $58,Walmart Grocery: $97 and $42

Grand Total for Groceries: $963 – Again that seems really high, but we really do eat most meals at home I guess. I almost never get breakfast or lunch out and I think we only had three meals out this month, not including my happy hours. Look how low my take out and meals out are. I would say this is pretty low for the average couple. Also, the groceries include all toiletries and cleaning products, too, for the most part.

Take Out: $200

Meals Out for Amy and Tom: $100 (had a gift card)

Amy Happy Hours/SundayFunday: $116

Coffee Shops for Amy and Mason: $47

Entertainment: $18 movie tickets – this is kinda sad. I think we need to do more things for pure entertainment that don’t involve food.

Clothing for Amy: $237 – What even is 23 for 23? Lol!

Other – Amazon: $115 – pretty pleased with this much reduced number

My Thoughts:

I am really glad I did this. I think it was a good re-set for me. My birthday is November 2 and from then until the end of the year I traditionally just go kinda off the rails.

Have you ever done this? Are you scared to do it like I was? Ha!

Amy