Not much going on around here these days. Halfway through the month, we've spent about $119 on groceries and about $25 on dining and entertainment (excluding Netflix). We went to a potluck on Saturday evening, and I pulled together a dish with things I had on hand. Brought home essentially an empty dish, so I'd say it was a success. We went out to breakfast last weekend using a gift certificate, so the three of us had a pleasant, sit-down breakfast for a total of a $12.

Our tile should be in next Monday. I think we're going to buy paint and start on the house this weekend. DD's birthday is in a couple of weeks, and it would be nice to have the painting outside done and the tiling in the bathroom done as well before family comes over to celebrate. If it isn't done, that's fine too, but it's a worthy goal to aim for.

When I first read Your Money or Your Life, I wanted to make a chart like they suggest showing income and expenses and the path towards becoming financially independent. I never did it. I created our savings spreadsheet, showing our savings balances each month, and that is helpful to me in providing feedback about how well we're meeting (or not meeting) our savings goals. It also helps me see how quickly we manage to rebound from big expenses (for example, our dog's surgeries). Now I'm thinking of making the income/expenses chart, as well as an investment income chart (or maybe show that as a separate line?). Might be interesting to see.

We ordered our tile this morning for the bathroom. It came in just under $700, and that includes a nice inset of 1"x1" glass tiles to give it a little extra something. We need to get grout, but other than that I think we're set. It wasn't as much as I thought it would be, which is nice.

DH is picking up some groceries right now, with a short list from me. We actually had more at home than I thought, but needed a few things to round out some meals. I spent about $17.50 yesterday on snacks. I'm tired of not bringing something to work and then being hungry, so I stocked up on things that can stay in the bottom drawer of my desk. It'll be handy for the days DD goes straight to ballet from school, too. I need to have food available. Not having it sets me up for weird scarcity/binging thoughts.

DH set up a couple of ING savings accounts for the money from his raise. One is a vacation account and one is a gifts account. So part of his raise is going towards those things, and part of it is going towards paying extra on the car loan. Seems like a good balance, to me.

DD and I browsed in the dancewear shop this morning while we're out, but left empty-handed. Sometimes it's juts fun to look. I still want to add a second class a week for myself but haven't taken any concrete steps towards finding out times, locations, etc. and then making a plan to make it happen. I enjoy my one class so much. I'm very glad I started taking it.

Spending this month continues to stay under tight control, with nearly every dollar spent a planned expenditure. (The unplanned spending included floor cleaner and shampoo and conditioner that I got for a dollar per bottle.) Grocery spending is still at $57 for the month, although I need to go get milk for DD as well as for me and DH, so that's a good $12 right there. We could use some other things too, but it's been a good challenge to try and eat at home, cooking whatever we have on hand, trying to stretch out the time between trips to the grocery store. Aside from the surprise windfall and trip out to dinner, there hasn't been any other dining out, including snacks or stops for coffee. Every time I've been tempted, I think about it and decide that the fact is, I'd rather not go.

Home improvements: we need to buy tile for the walls around our tub/shower in our bathroom so that we can finish that project. I'm pretty sure we'll pick out the tile Saturday. Once the tile is in place, we can paint. We're going to turn the old shower stall into a storage cupboard, so that will be a job unto itself, but at least we'll have a fully functioning bathroom again soon and can stop cramming all three of us into our tiny guest bathroom. We'll cram ourselves into our slightly less tiny main bathroom.

We also need to buy exterior paint, prime all the spots where the insulation was blown into the walls and then patched and then paint. Paint is relatively cheap, thankfully. It's the time involved that I'm not looking forward to, having painted the house ourselves once before, 6 or so years ago.

In saving news, I increased the automatic transfer to DD's 529 plan today by $25. It isn't so much that it will feel like a big chunk out of the monthly budget, but it's an extra $300 a year that we might not have saved otherwise for college.

Financial news of late... I was looking at a gift I got for my birthday last year and inside the box, I found some birthday money I must have tucked away. $70! I also got $10 last Sunday, unexpectedly, from someone reimbursing me for something (I'd basically written it off). So I took DH and DD out for dinner Sunday night with some of the money and have the rest put away for a couple of planned purchases - a craft purchase and a garden purchase. I also have a $15 B&N gift card from Christmas that I haven't used yet.

Not much else to report. Haven't done any unplanned spending since I last wrote. Groceries are still at $57. The only dining out has been Sunday night, and that was paid for with found money.

There are plenty of things I want, but ultimately I'm having a hard time justifying buying them, given my other desire to save money and rebuild our savings. I'd like a coffee pot with a time on it, but our current coffee maker works just fine. I'd like a small salad spinner, but I may ask for one for my birthday. I like a cookie press to make cookies, but again, that would make a nice gift item. I could really use a new robe, as the one I have was a gift from DH the first Christmas we were dating, 11 years ago.

Want, want, want. Aside from the repairs that need to be done at home, I'd like to get a new front door and re-do the kitchen counters. That really needs to be done sooner than later, as we have a gaping hole behind the kitchen faucet from where the plumbing work was done. That is connected to the backsplash, which is connected to the counters...

I do need to get new glasses and contacts. I'd given up wearing contacts because my eyes are so dry, but now I'm wearing them once a week to my ballet class, and I'm down to my last pair. We do have vision insurance, so at least one set of lenses (glasses or contacts) is covered this year. The rest can be reimbursed through the medical reimbursement plan.

All these big expenses, all these wants. I plod along, trying to save here and there, spending on the things I value most instead of frittering it away on junk.

Did I mention I haven't gone out for coffee since 2006? Doesn't mean I won't go this month, but it does mean I haven't gone so far. A couple of dollars here and there isn't going to pay for a new door or a new fence.