We stuck with our goal to update the budget each night and balance out the categories. I kind of failed on this one however due to getting a due date on a bill wrong. The good point was that I had it set to direct debit so the company got paid, but the bad part was that I forgot to add it into our budget. It got paid but it sure did cause some scrambling on my part to get the budget back into line. Lesson learned and the budget is up to date for this month with the correct due date.
We ate at home throughout the week which lets face it sometimes is a massive struggle. It helps that we live 30min from "civilization" so not like I can just pop into a fast food place to get something to eat.
We stuck to our grocery budget and brought in our Thanksgiving dinner on budget at $11. It was very good and actually made enough food for 2 dinners and a lunch.
I skipped the Black Friday insanity and purposely avoided all email and online advertising. I did find 2 free ebooks about creative writing for the girls thanks to a sale on amazon. I couldn't pass up free! I spent Black Friday doing our grocery shopping for the week. More about this to come in a later post!
We have been using our cloth diapers more this week. I admit I tend to slide back into the ease of disposables when I am busy or behind in laundry. I am trying to get this under control since our son is a very big boy and finding diapers in his size is getting expensive.
After trying to find our daughters new literature book through an inter-library loan and failing miserably I gave up and ordered it via amazon. I did however buy it used and saved a few dollars. It showed up today and looks to be in brand new condition. I am sure she will adore reading it (not!). I am still looking for the last workbook in our handwriting curriculum for our oldest daughter. It retails for $15 with shipping which isn't a bank breaker but if I can find it cheaper I would like to do so. There are several book stores running sales for Cyber Monday tomorrow so I am hoping to find a really good deal.
I have been monitoring our electricity usage and have been driven a bit batty by all the lights left turned on. I lectured the kids that if they didn't start turning their lights off when they left the room I was going to turn the electricity off to the second floor of the house. The next day I turned their bathroom light off as I was walking to my room for a shower. After my shower I walk out to see the light on again. So I went straight to the garage to flip the breaker to the upstairs lights and outlets. I didn't get two steps in from the garage before I was met by a child informing me that their bathroom light wasn't working. *Sigh* I left the electric off to the second floor all day only turning it back on once it got dark outside. The shock value seems to have worked for the time being and I have only had to turn off a few lights here and there versus ALL the lights multiple times a day.
My husband received his paycheck on Black Friday (dangerous time to get paid!). I moved the required money to sinking funds for future bills and pulled out the cash we will need for this week and loaded up my cash wallet system. I am really liking having the cash on hand as it makes updating the budget categories much easier throughout the month.
All in all we had a really good week here and I am happy to be starting December with a plan in place. How are things going with you all?
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