It's also the season of turning on the heat (though thanks to thick walls we have not done that much). Cooking more warm food for my family, not being able to cook only once, but twice for dinner because of my hubby's work hours, then all the hot showers from all those darn leaves that I have been picking up with the mower! (Word to the wise, do NOT buy a soft bag bagger, if you have ANY dirt in your yard you will end up COVERED in dirt!). So, furnace+Stove+Water Heater= Propane. We bought our house in August and when we bought it we had 25% if the tank, I've been watching it and it has been slowly approaching 15%. I decided to call and get it delivered. Bye Bye $920.
~*~ P.S. The 'budget' plan they offer is NOT smart at all! They want $220 a month from us for roughly 600 gallons of propane a year. (The average the people we bought the house from used.) I have a brain and a calculator and was using both while the woman at the office gave me the whole 'the budget plan is really the best way to go' spiel. I decided to just fill the dang thing and save myself about $60 or more, still doing the whole math thing, in the long run.~*~
Anywho..........
We moved from North Carolina to Michigan. Though my husband and I have lived in Michigan for all but 5 years of our lives, our kids have lived in North Carolina for the last 5 years, so they are more climatized to North Carolina. Our 3 year old has only seen eastern NC snow, which, while impressive one time normally only got to an inch and closed EVERYTHING down, and our daughter probably does not remember the last winter we were in Michigan, and the 2 weeks we were here that winter were mild.
We moved from North Carolina to Michigan. Though my husband and I have lived in Michigan for all but 5 years of our lives, our kids have lived in North Carolina for the last 5 years, so they are more climatized to North Carolina. Our 3 year old has only seen eastern NC snow, which, while impressive one time normally only got to an inch and closed EVERYTHING down, and our daughter probably does not remember the last winter we were in Michigan, and the 2 weeks we were here that winter were mild.
Wow I tend to go on, don't I? Point of my story is, my kids are sooo used to North Carolina (and the free heat we got in the townhouse we rented) that I don't want them to freeze this year!
Next: I love Christmas, my house always has lights on it. My husband loves a clean roof. Compromise? A ladder! More money, ugh! We got one of those multi-position ladders so we can use it where ever we need it, it actually didn't cost all that much, thanks to the military discount and a gift card from a friend for our housewarming party it cost just over $125.
To top it off, my husband was changing the oil in his vehicle and he noticed that the coolant reservoir has a hole in it and the A/C in my van died. Both happened the same day! We got hubby's fixed, junk yard part that we had to drive an hour to get (which worked ok, we had to drive there to get the ladder...and we went to Hooters and had some wings, Lots a Tots, Fried pickles and some drinks...yum but bad for the budget!)
Here's where the budgeting comes in:
Here's where the budgeting comes in:
We've decided that next year we are getting a leaf blower. We are also in desperate need of grass (and possibly soil) in some locations of the yard. I would like to grow and plant some flowers and we want a vegetable garden with a fence around it. Sitting down and figuring out how much it will cost to get fencing, soil, seeds, tomato holders, grass seed, etc will help us figure out how much we need to save per month to meet our goal to get all of it. If we don't meet the goal, that means we'll have to take out of savings and put it on a credit card...ick!
We also LOVE to go out to eat. I'm thinking if we utilize that propane I got delivered today and not go out to eat for a while, we can save money each month to go out to eat.
Hubby says that I need to get the A/C in the van fixed otherwise it'll freeze up this winter (soo not sure if that's true!). So after that is fixed, I'm going to save a certain amount each month just for car maintenance!
We are obviously going to need propane again, more than likely before winter is over. I need to figure out about how much we will use a week/month and save x amount of dollars per month so I have cash on hand (or in checking account) to give them!
I'm not a fan of budgeting, but seriously, starting on Saturday (I have to start on a 1st or 15th so it's easier to remember), all receipts will come to me and be put on a spread sheet so I can figure out what we buy and how much we spend every month. I already do the same for bills, but haven't been able to stick with receipts as well.
On that note, all bills for the month have been paid, or are scheduled to be paid. I'm going to say this again: More on that later. :) I intend to show people my system for figuring out bills in the near future, then how I am making sure they get paid. Later, I will show how I plan dinner and shop and pay for that! It will be a lot of typing but maybe it will get other people excited about saving money and using it wisely!
On that note, all bills for the month have been paid, or are scheduled to be paid. I'm going to say this again: More on that later. :) I intend to show people my system for figuring out bills in the near future, then how I am making sure they get paid. Later, I will show how I plan dinner and shop and pay for that! It will be a lot of typing but maybe it will get other people excited about saving money and using it wisely!
