We spent about $48 today on groceries to take with us when we go skiing. We still have a few things left to buy, but that is most of what we'll need, given we already had some things at home we can bring. I'm going to make a few things before we go - applesauce cake (recipe was given to me in the forums - thank you!), baked tofu (it's been marinating in soy sauce), and possibly some chocolate chip cookies.

Blew $4 today on a box of Thin Mint cookies. I wish those things weren't so good!!

I set up some online bill payments earlier today, just to make sure that nothing gets overlooked while we're gone. We are only going to be gone for a few days, but I'd hate for something to be late.

I'll take the car in for an oil change this week, and I need to make vet appointments for all of our pets sometime in the next few weeks. I'm also long overdue for a dental check-up, and DD is due next month. Lots of spending coming up. Oh, I need to go get more cat litter tomorrow, too. And we owe the deposit on next year's tuition. I think that's due by the third week of this month. I need to loook over those forms and fill things out.

Bills, bills, bills. I'm glad we are able to swing two days of skiing - we can all use some R&R around here.

One more thing - I did 5 more reviews at InsiderPages, so hoepfully that will be another $5 for Target.

For 2/1 - 2/20:
Groceries: $362.87 (goal: $300)
Dining: $151.18 (goal: $160)

Disclaimers/Rationalizations
All of the food and supplies for DD's birthday party are in the groceries category, and if I really wanted to, I'd separate that out and classify it as entertaining. Also, we went out to a nice dinner to celebrate her birthday and mine before going to the ballet. I'm feeling unmotivated to do get real picky about it all and will just accept that February's food spending is going to be higher due to her birthday and mine.

Money saved today -
1. all three meals at home
2. coffee at home
3. carpooled
4. bought two toothbrushes on sale and with a rebate - ended up costing $1 apiece
5. found some shampoo and conditioner to try for $1.24 each

I'll spend some money tomorrow on coffee and/or lunch, but overall January has been a good month for the food budget.

1/1-1/30:
Groceries: $257.52 (goal = $300)
Dining: $136.02 (goal = $160)

As others have been doing, from glancing at blog titles, DH and I spent some time this weekend getting our tax stuff together. We've got everything filled out for our CPA, and DH will be handing the pile of papers over to him. Keeping track of things in Quicken and Quickbooks, along with a spreadsheet for medical expenses, really saved us a lot of time. If you're reading this and have no way of tracking things, I would highly recommend making 2006 the year to start! It's amazing how much easier it made the process. We have two sole proprietorships and itemize our deductions, and being able to fill in the worksheets from our CPS in an hour and a half is great. I can't imagine how laborious the process would have been had we not had so much information right there at the click of a mouse.

1/1-1/29:
Groceries: $257.52 (goal = $300)
Dining: $136.02 (goal = $160)

We went out to breakfast this morning and were pleasantly surprised when one of the others offered to treat us. We offered to pay, but he insisted. It was a very nice surprise.

Went to a potluck last night. We brought a layered bean dip and tortilla chips. We had refried beans and cheese already, so I bought some salsa, sour cream, avocados, and chips. It was easy to make, vegetarian, and yummy too.

DD's birthday is coming up. We have tickets to Swan Lake as a 'big' present for her birthday and mine, but we're going to do a low-key party for her and some friends. I'm planning on making cupcakes this year, and we're hoping to have the party outside at a park, if the weather will cooperate.

1/1-1/21:
Groceries: $230.25 (goal = $300)
Dining: $113.78 (goal = $160)

Some December food totals:

Groceries: $434.64
Dining Out: $208.59
TOTAL: $643.23

Wow. Can you tell there was a lot of food spending going on surrounding the holidays? Potluck dinner at school, took both sets of grandparents out to eat after The Nutcracker, hosted Christmas dinner here, made dinner for friends for New Year's Eve, went to Disneyland and had dinner at Downtown Disney...

I'd like the total to come in around $460 this month. So far I've spent $2.15. I don't know what DH has spent.

As an aside, DH and I still need to look at numbers and up the 401k contribution. We upped it a bit after his raise, but we could stand to increase it some more, which would be the wise thing to do.

Dh and I bought a new frig last night. We'd been talking about it, and one of his coworkers who has recently relocated to CA is looking to buy a used refrigerator. We're going to sell him our old one for $100. The new one comes tomorrow. It's a bottom freezer, and silly as it may sound, I'm excited to have it. We signed up for a Sears card to get 10% off, and there's a rebate on the delivery charge.

11/1 - 11/5:
Groceries: $85.37 (goal=$295)
Dining: $10.05 (goal=$160)
Total: $95.42 (goal=$455)

Quiet, rainy day here.

We've maxed out our medical reimbursement for the year, and we still have three dentist appointments coming up. We estimated conservatively this year, being our first year of having such a benefit. I've been tracking our medical expenses this year, so we ought to have a better idea of what to set aside next year.

10/1 - 10/17:
Groceries: $191.69 (goal: $295 or less)
Dining: $69.07 (goal: $160 or less)

Total: $260.76, or $15.34/day (goal: $455, or about $14.68/day)

Gas: $78.31