July Budget Results

July Grocery Budget 
$425 - Actual Spent was $524.77.  Way over again!

Includes all over the counter medications, personal grooming items, soaps, cleaners and household items for two adults who eat at home 99% of the time.



Previous 2013 year to date overage $132.81 plus this month's overage of $99.71 = $232.58 year to date overage.  Why so much over?  My Stepson was in town visiting this week and he works out = eats like two horses.  He is 21 and never tried crab.  We decided to give him that experience and we priced out going to a restaurant.  We were looking at at least $100-$120 for three of us to have a nice seafood meal.  Instead we bought two bags of crab legs for $40, still very steep but way cheaper than a restaurant.  We ate it with rice, garlic butter and a salad and hubby said it tasted just as good as a restaurant.  Stepson ate it, although I am not sure it lived up to his expectations but at least now he know what it tastes like. Hubby and I enjoyed it but it is so messy that I think we are good for a couple more years.

Coupons used  - $8.48

Some poultry in the form of chicken  legs, one breast, and a turkey left in the freezer.  Lots of ham and some smokies still left as well.  I stocked up on pork loin which I repackage into chops and stir fry mix.  We are currently enjoying lots of Vancouver Island peaches and cream corn which is so delicious, plus lots of fruit and vegetables from all over our Province.  This month I will try and find some deals on fish and skinless boneless chicken breast.

Hair Budget
Annual budget $250 -  Left in Budget $173.38
I spent $17.65 on a hair cut this month.  Due to 30 days of sunshine I am enjoying some natural highlights so no hair dying this month.    $155.73 left to go in the budget for the year.

Clothing Budget
Annual Budget $200 - $152.53 left

I bought  a summer top at Salvation Army for $2.60.  I really tried to look for some clothes for my new job but found little.  Perhaps things are a little picked over right now, so I will keep looking.  Fortunately I can wear almost anything to work as it is casual (within reason) but as I work five out of seven days I need more clothes so that I am not wearing the same thing all of the time.  I hope to do a prowl of thrift stores again tomorrow to try and fill this need.

Remainder of clothing budget for rest of year is $149.93.

Christmas 2013
I have a sealed pot (part of SFT's Life After Mortgage savings plan) that each week extra money I can find goes into the pot to help towards Christmas 2013.   I also have $90 in amazon GCs from Swagbucks that will also be used for gifts (link if you want to join - get points by doing daily poll, watching videos, playing games).  The first half of the year went really well on saving, this month not so much.  I need to step it up a bit.

Losing Weight Challenge
Starting weight June 1, 2013 = 150 lbs.  Weight July 1 was  145.6.  Weight today?  144.4  I only lost 1.2 more pounds but based on all the rich foods  we have been eating lately(think ice cream, BBQ meats and crab legs dripping in garlic butter) I was shocked to step on the scale this morning and see  the low number. Back to some healthy eating, less wine/cider drinking and more working out.  My energy level has been low since starting my job and entertaining family but this weekend is a long weekend and I hope we get at least one good workout or hike in to burn some calories.

After June having lots of rain and grey skies July was pure sunshine, no rain all month.  August 1 we had our first rain and it looks like it is going to rain again tonight, but frankly, everything is so dry and forest fire risk is so high I am happy to see it.

We went for a short hike with my Stepson yesterday afternoon before he had to fly back home today.  Due to rain in the morning we spotted some odd creatures - lots of these very long slugs. Sorry for the blurry iphone shot but you get the idea.

4 Inch Slug

Cheers and have some summer fun this week!