Oh, Target

The first steps in getting back on track to improve our financial health include:

1. Planning ahead for September costs.

2. Tracking our spending, very closely.

So with regard to Step #1, we have planned a very, very tight budget for the upcoming month. Not "planned" as in a one-size-budget-fits-all-months, but planned as in what-do-we-have-coming-up-this-month-and-how-much-should-we-allow-for-it. Here's the most bared down we could get, and this means a cash-only diet because this is about all we have to spare after paying mortgage/bills/etc.

Groceries (for the remainder of the month) = 300
Gas = 150
Health = 20 (I have to renew and Rx and F has her 18-month checkup)
Indy = 300 (my beautiful baby cuzzie is getting married in Indianapolis, the plane tickets have already been purchased, my dad is covering the rental car, and we are lodging with family friends, so this money is allocated for luggage fees, food, a hostess gift, etc)
Paul = 40 (it's his 60th bday, and we will plan to celebrate with him once we are all together again, so this money is set aside for some modest gift)
Al = 40 (same deal, except he's turning 70)
GWAC = 50 (this is Alex's monthly whiskey club
Misc = 100 (for whatever hasn't already been covered or we didn't plan well for)

As for Step #2, we are back on board for tracking our spending closely. We have this real fancy system - I put a blank sheet of white printer paper on a clipboard, leave it on the entry table, and incessantly ask Alex to write down anything he buys.

In the past week we've spent:

9/1/2013
$29 Alex haircut
$37 Alex watch repair
$28 Alex shaving cream and sunscreen
$70 registration for Race for the Cure
$66 groceries
$11 diapers
$34 boxes for new office/playroom shelving unit

9/2/2013
$0

9/3/2013
$3 Jo soda/gum

9/4/2013
$47 gas for Subaru
$10 produce/groceries
$22 NW Natural (gas/hot water) bill

9/5/2013
$68 Waste Management (trash) bill

9/6/2013
$4 Jo Ikea lunch
$4 Jo mexican dinner
$16 Alex pizza
$30 FedEx to mail a box of baby clothes to by BFF
$132 Jo hair cut/color
$38 PGE (electric) bill
($76 Ikea rug return)
$33 Ikea boxes/rug
($20 Ikea return)
$70 Ikea rug (final decision)
$40 Target for rug mat and beanbag chair for F
$12 face wash

9/7/2013
$56 Alex at Home Depot for electrical stuff to finish front porch lighting
$10 popcorn/candy at the movies for our 4th date in 1.5 years

9/8/2013
$13 accrued Capital One credit card interest/finance charge
$187 AT&T bill for Alex, Jo, and Al
$16 PBR for Alex
$78 groceries

9/9/2013
$0

So yeah, you can see that Friday was an all-American-day-of-"errands", but relative to my recent past, I wasn't so bad. Ikea got a few transactions out of me and my credit card, but really I only ended up spending an extra $7. And then there's Target. Oh, Target, you get me every time. I'm thinking you and I are just going to have to end our relationship. We can't even be friends. You're no good for me. Sure, you're exciting, you're attractive, you're a jack-of-all-trades. But you're like really great sex with that hottie waiter from The Brown Dog, and then finding out that he left me a fat bar tab and even took my emergency Xanax from my purse. This is only a hypothetical, for the record. Anyway, Target, we're through. Don't even call me. Or send me emails. I'm just glad we never opened a credit card together.

And really, who could resist a beanbag chair that makes their baby Bean look this cute?!?