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Home > Archive: July, 2007

Archive for July, 2007

Weekly Spending, 7/22-7/28

July 29th, 2007 at 06:01 am

Because of the computer, an expensive week

grocery 159
dining 35
pets 272 (annual exams for 2 cats, with biannual shots)
dentist 190 (some of which will be reimbursed by insurance)
computer & accessories (keyboard protector, surge protector, VISTA book) ($150 expected back in rebate) 1040
Total spending: 1696

unplanned spending

July 24th, 2007 at 05:05 am

I got the bad news on Friday that if I had the repairs made on my laptop the bill would be $500-600. Since it was only a $700 machine, that was not worth it. And since I spend 4-8 hours daily on the laptop, it IS worth it to me to replace it. So I spent Saturday researching and bought one (Toshiba Satellite A135) on Sunday, and have spent the time since then getting used to Windows Vista, getting the new machine hooked back on line, tranfering files over, etc. For the same price (after rebate) as I spent for the old laptop 15 months ago, I got 4 times the RAM (and a dual core processor) and twice the hard drive (but somewhat weaker graphics as this one has an integrated card and the other one had a separate video card).

Now I'm trying to decide about an extended warranty. Normally I don't buy them but I feel like I got burned on the last machine so I will buy one this time around...trying to decide between one offered by the manufacturer (Toshiba) and one by the retailer (Office Depot).

belated entry, spending 7/15-7/21

July 24th, 2007 at 04:52 am

For completeness sake:

parking: $5
netflix: 5.29
watch (old cheap one broke): 10.59
personal care (cold meds): 7.62
grocery: 109.54
eating out: 29.05

Spent more on food than intended...maybe because I was sick all week and had no energy to cook, so bought more prepared foods both from convenience stores and the grocery

weekly spending apart from monthly bills: 159.47
monthly bills (mortgage, utilities, annual service contract for heating/water cooler, congregation dues): 1166.04

Spending, July 8-14

July 14th, 2007 at 08:56 pm

July 8: kayaking trip, $15
lunch, 7.90 + ice cream, 3.29
(all unnec)

July 9: grocery, 31.30

July 10-12: no spend days

July 13: 20.29 household
2.92 iced cappucino (unnec)
52.86 grocery

July 14: gas: 31.72, grocery: 28.44, household (flower baskets on sale, unnec, replacement fan for one that broke, 20% off): 52.98


Total weekly spending: 214.98
proportion unnecessary/"fun": 13.5%

A little bit over my 10% "fun" limit, but if I recategorize the flowers for the front as household rather than a pure "fun" expense, I'm still under 10% frivolous expenses.

Flowers are frivolous, but they also feed the soul!

Spending 7-2 to 7-7

July 7th, 2007 at 09:46 pm

My computer is being "held hostage" in the shop over the holiday week (I completely forgot the 4th was a holiday, and they took the rest of the week off), so I haven't been able to log in except by going to the library.

Spending since 7/1

July 2

Grocery: 20.17

July 3
Drugstore: 18.96

July 4
Dining: 6.25
Video rental: 1.75
Total: 8.00 (nonessentials)

Then I've been in "holiday weekend" mode since this is the only weekend I have with no class commitments looming over me, so I've spent a bit the past few days.

July 5
Veterinarian: $10
Auto-fuel: $29.32
Total: $40.32

July 6
Dining: $11.00 (nonessential)

July 7
Clothing: $98.32 (a swim suit, a pair of summer clogs, a pair of water shoes, and a shirt) at the sale at LL Beans) (items worth $134 if not on sale, so I saved over 25%). Arguably nonessential, except possibly the swim suit (I discovered yesterday that the old one is unwearable) but I'll get good use out of it. Also tomorrow I'll spend $15 for an introductory kayaking class that Bean's offers. I do like living near one of their outlets!
Dining: $12.59
Total: 110.91

That's $209.36 of spending so far this month, $19 of which is clearly nonessential. But that's less than 10%, and I think the "extras" of the couple of meals out, the video rental (The Da Vinci Code), and tomorrow's kayaking trip will help give me a sense of having had a tiny bit of real vacation during this generally hard-working summer. Hopefully this little bit of getting off track will help me stay on better track the rest of the month.

No Spend Day

July 2nd, 2007 at 02:34 am

I'm trying to limit my expenses this month to necessities. Off to an ok start with a no-spend day today.