slippery slope (not soap, blue's clues fans)

so nate and i have purposed to not spend money going out to eat lately. one, because we should be spending our money more wisely than dining out. and two, because we felt that our kids had become "too comfortable" with going out to eat all the time, when its actually a blessing to be taken out, so it should be a reward.

anyways.

so this past weekend, friday namely, nate and i met up in plymouth to hang out while parker was at a birthday party at pump it up. every parent has suffered through this once or twice, so you do the best to stay busy. we decided to go to leann chin. YUM! what a treat, considering we hadn't been there in such a long time. so we eat dinner, bum around michaels crafts for a while, and then pick up parker.

but after we get him, we're feeling "peckish". so we decide we need dessert from wendy's. namely FROSTYs!




not too bad, right? keep reading.




then on saturday, after i get off work to find out i have a flat tire (bummer!), we head up to Tires Plus to get a spare put on. they tell us they're going to order one, so kill the time letting the kiddos spend their birthday $ at target. but let's get some snacks at the cafe first.

cha-ching

then sunday, through all sorts of lack of planning, it becomes 2 o'clock before the kids haven't even eaten lunch. i am running out the door for the 5th, so i tell nate just to take them to BK.

double cha-ching

after the 5th, since i never ate lunch, nate and i decide to get some chipotle and have a mini date night. fun?? yes. romantic? yes. budgety?








no.

fast forward to monday morning, when i balance the checkbook every week. it balances, but i can't figure out why i don't have any grocery money.

oh yeah, its because i spent $97 in three days on things that (through planning and a little effort) i could have made at home.


like i said, its a slippery slope. nate and my new favorite catch phrase:





"lesson learned"

its a budget, people!

well here's my attempt at a second "riveting" post. nate and i were paying the mortgage ( i love it!) today, and looking at our upcoming bills for the month. its interesting, looking at how things have changed since we moved in. for instance: diet coke, although a staple in my book, goes unreplenished if my grocery money has already been spent. and the bills, well, in the apartment, it was cell phone, cable, and electric (all totaling less than $200 a month).

now, its garbage, water, electric, heat, cable (extra awesome cable with a dvr!), home phone, and insurance. and i am looking at all these bills, and like most people, trying to figure out a way to cut them back a bit. i could lose the dvr and super+ cable, but its my one luxury item in life. did i just say that? then our cell phones, i could cut back to less than 200 txts a month, but i would end up paying more just because my sisters and i are addicted to txting a few times a day, so its cheaper just to keep the plan.

groceries. yep, 6 people, four of them being starving children. haha. nope, that ain't it.

then it occurred to me today that i enjoy watching my super+ cable (on our 50 inch plasma) when i come home from work at 230ish. and then i watch when my shows are on around 7, until 9 or so. then we clean up, load the dishwasher, and get in bed around 11. then i watch tv (on my 13 inch) for an hour or so more, and then set my sleep timer on the tv for 90 minutes so i can fall asleep to it (melissa knows what i am talking about!) overall, i figure that i watch tv or have the tv on for 6 hours a day, on a productive day. on my days off, its not unusual for me to keep the tv on while i watch old 90210 reruns while cleaning up or running laundry, so add a few hours more. i know, its disgusting, but bear with me here.

so while i am pondering all this over while paying bills, nate mentions to me that with winter approaching, our gas bill will only get higher as we heat the house (its on no setting right now, since the house stays perfect without heat or cool). this gets me thinking: i wonder how much my constant tv watching affects our electric bill? so i get a great idea to challenge myself (and hopefully, my budget):

for the next month, i will no longer be watching tv during daytime hours, and will limit my tv watching time to 7-9 pm. that means, no more 90210, no more late night "seinfeld" or "will and grace" reruns while i fall asleep. and if its not a tv night where one of my "shows" is on, the tv won't get turned on. overall, i think i will, cut our electric bill by a quarter (or maybe a third!). right now, our electric bill is about $121.00 a month. this a good chance for me to change my very worst behavior (mindless tv watching), and maybe improve my budget a bit. i think it will be great.....i hope! thoughts???