Fiscal Fast Update Week #2

Week #2 began with a decadent outing with Ashley.  We went to Starbucks (which I had a gift card for) and then to the Public library followed by Spasation for a deep tissue massage  (Ashley had given me a generous Spasation gift card months ago for helping with the wedding).  It was a bit  tough not to shop especially with all of the January sales throughout the mall that always seem to call my name, but I focused on the good company and the great day of pampering instead.  The total for the day cost me $0.00.

On Sunday Ian and I went to No Frills to replenish our supply of fruits and vegetables and pick up a few other items for the week.  It was dollar days so I didn't anticipate that  it would be much of a problem to stay within our budget and it probably wouldn't have been if I had stuck to my list exactly. I was disappointed to see that our total rang up at $148.24 instantly putting us $1.13 over our budget for the month. A few more quick trips to the grocery store throughout the week totaled $65.98 which has resulted in us being  $67.11 over our targeted grocery budget to date.  I menu planned relatively carefully trying to make use of what we had in the freezer and cupboards but there were a few items that we bought that we didn't need.  I should add that we are eating healthy, well balanced meals as usual and not ichiban and macaroni and cheese. Despite the fact that we have gone over, the challenge isn't over for me as I want to see how close we can stay to $200.00 for groceries over the next two weeks.

Gas totaled $103.47 and other than our regular expenses, we have not made any other purchases this week.

I would be lying if I said that this challenge has been easy and we haven't been tempted on more than one occasion but doing it has motivated us to say no and has definitely made us more cognizant of how we use our money.


"Don't tell me what you value, show me your budget and I'll tell you what you value."  - Joe Biden