Updates and Necessities

We continue to do great.  I almost feel like I'm on a weight loss diet.  We're seeing the pounds come off and it's so encouraging to keep going!  I think we are even going to extend this fast into February because it's been so effortless and we're seeing such huge results.

A few updates:

1. I have gotten a really good average of what our spending would normally be each month.  It's disgustingly high considering almost all of it is non-necessities.  But as of right now, we are about $500 less than where we would normally be.  We are 1/3 of the way through the month (our Discover month which starts a week into the month).  If we can keep this up, we can expect to see about a minimum of $1500 savings this month.  Neither John nor I expect to jump into February spending like crazy so we are fairly certain this is a savings we can see sticking around.

2.  We had a few things pop up we didn't expect.  The I Pass needed replenishing and it's automatic.  John takes toll ways to work so there is no way around it.  We also had our vehicle registration due.  Another no way around it expense.  Finally yesterday our garage door broke.  Like it might fall on our heads broken and we can shut it so go ahead and rob and murder us in our sleep broken.  Thankfully we got it fixed this morning and thankfully it was so affordable.  We thought we might be in the hole several hundred for a new door entirely but he was able to adjust a few things so our total bill was only $80.  So while all those things were completely necessary to pay it was still $230 we were not expecting to put on the Discover.  We are hoping we can make the rest of the month without anything popping up so we can end on the best possible note.

3.  Finally I went off budget yesterday and had my first break of not spending.  Now it's small but it was still a cheat.  I bought $4.50 food that wasn't on the list and wasn't instantly needed.  There was a huge bag of frozen strawberries for $3.50 on sale.  Libby hate eating.  She is the embodiment of the little boy in A Christmas Story. So I've been making her smoothies for breakfast because that's about the only thing I can get her to eat without a fight.  I got the strawberries as a treat for her but in all honesty didn't *need* them.  There were also 2 cans of sauerkraut I bought.  They were on clearance for $.50 each.  I know I want to make a soup with one can and use the other can in sandwiches.  The price was SO cheap and they don't expire for well over a year I justified it.  Now I know both purchases were good ones.  I didn't go over the $50 cash to buy them.  So I don't feel horrible about cheating.  I just know how easy it would be to continue to cheat and justify it so I'm hoping that was my one and only this month.