6 Months In

Happy Canada Day fellow Canadians!  I am so glad my parents decided to move here when I was six months old, in my opinion, the very best place in the world to live.

I decided a couple of months ago no longer to post my monthly grocery tallies as it was a bit boring - but I will still post a mid-year and year-end report - here is where the year stands at the six-month mark:

Grocery budget $575/month = at the six-month mark I should be at $3450

I am at $3,645.20 - $195.20 over the year to date.

Here's what we spent it on:
$2,624.34 Food
$280.69 Nonfood (all cleaning products and personal care products ie soap/shampoo/makeup)
$650.69 Over the counter meds and vitamins
$89.48 Tax

Groceries are simply more expensive this year due to trade tariffs and the high cost of fuel.  I have been refusing to buy celery due to its high cost (blame this on the current juicing fad) but last weekend broke down and bought some at Costco as had a BBQ for family and friends and really wanted it for the potato salad.

I doubt that these figures will look any better by the end of the year - it is what it is.  I maintain a budget so all hell does not break loose in the spending department.  Fortunately, I can move money from other areas to accommodate this - unlike many families who may have to go without something to afford to feed their families.

My tallies would have been a little lower but there was no way I was going to miss Canada Day sales this weekend to make the figures look a little better.  Right now the fridge and freezer are full and there are only a couple of items on the grocery list.

Our freebies/points redemption at the six-month mark looks like this:
$1126 Avion points used towards tickets to Mexico January 2020(actual amt saved)
$5.49 Free Milk through Quality Foods
$95 Free amazon GCs through Swagbucks (most through rebates)
$0.92 SCOPE (mispriced oranges for free)
$5 London drugs extras
$22.60 Checkout 51 rebate cheque
$10 Starbucks GC for commenting about website errors with a business

Total $1,410.60 YTD

I only count freebees or points when they are actually redeemed or cash is in hand.  We are currently saving our Avion points for 2 tickets to Ottawa next June or September to visit my Stepson and his girlfriend and we will also rent a car there and visit Quebec for a couple of days. For those that don't know, Ottawa is right on the Ontario border with Quebec so it makes sense to combine it to see a part of Canada we haven't explored.

In July news Mom got her 2nd eye cataract surgery date which is right before our annual fishing trip so although we are very happy to have a date it looks like she will sit this year's fishing trip out.  You have to be very careful after the surgery to not open your eyes up to too much glare and there is huge glare off the water.  My stepson is flying in for a few days and will be fishing with us as well.

In mid-August we will be driving a couple hours north and then taking a ferry to a place called Malcolm Island for 4 nights in celebration of my 50th birthday - we are both looking forward to that immensely.

Now that Mom has her eye surgery date sorted I was able to plan our Mother-Daughter trip in September.   I have booked a 2 night getaway to Salt Spring Island.  I managed to get a crazy good deal through travelzoo (deals all over, not just Canada) which was 60% off a place we were thinking of staying - even cheaper than even considering an AirBNB.  It even includes breakfast which is a huge bonus.  That island is very popular and rates are usually quite high so we are very lucky to have found that.

That's all I've got.  We are not attending any frivolity today, tend to avoid parades and crowds.  I went thrifting with Mom Saturday and Hubby went golfing.  Yesterday we went kayaking and today we intend to do little if anything.  Time to relax!

Happy 4th of July to those in the USA and have a great week to everyone else!