You are going to see lots of red on the budget this month, in some cases we spent money to try and save money down the road. In other cases we just spent alot of money 🙂 Details are listed below.

Clothing – I have been buying mostly thrift store clothing for seven years, but COVID has thrown a bit of a wrench into that, because most of the dressing rooms are closed. That left me to trying inexpensive items in case they didn’t fit, which eventually led me to Croft & Barrow. This is a Kohl’s brand I have never worn before, but it turns out their clothes fit my new “grandma shape” pretty well. Since I liked them so much and the new versions are relatively inexpensive, I decided to splurge and get several pieces. I made three visits to three different stores over three weeks and by taking advantage of sales and Kohls cash I was able to stock up completely for the $300. It’s nice having new clothes for a change. Haven’t given up on thrift stores, but for an additional $4 a shirt I will also continue buying new once in awhile.

Entertainment – Our friends Kelly and Bill came into town and Lee and Bill spent a day at Patriots Point. We also have been trying to get out a little more and have some fun.

Dining Out – We went over by several hundred dollars this month but that was mainly one meal. We splurged with Kelly and Bill and had a very fancy steak dinner at the restaurant my son-in-law manages. We knew going in we were going to blow the budget, but some things are totally worth it.

Groceries – To be honest not really sure what happened here. Lee is, as I write this, doing a cost comparison between Costco and Sam’s Club. Not sure that will make a difference. I also implemented some changes to reduce the number of K-cups we are buying but that shouldn’t take effect until May.

Home Equipment – Speaking of the K-cups. It was driving me crazy not being able to make a regular pot of coffee so after much discussion we bought a combination Hamilton Beach K-Cup and regular coffee pot. Unfortunately Lee hated the K-cup side (in fairness it exploded the cups quite frequently), so we ended up buying another slim Keurig and this time I got an electric percolator. Turns out this makes me super happy. My Elite Gourmet percolator makes coffee in 5 minutes and has a built in warmer. I just love the way percolated coffee tastes (reminds me of my grandma) and now Lee and I both have a workable solution. We also bought a new Cuisinart Air Fryer. Kelly has one and we absolutely love it. It bakes, broils, air frys, and toasts. Buying this allowed us to get rid of our Air Fryer and our toaster and freed up some space. Highly recommend it, but make sure you buy the right one because they come in multiple sizes.

Truck Fuel – We went over this month but we took a couple of trips including one that I did to see my sister and niece in Columbia. Lee also had to go to Florida twice. It’s the most gas we have spent in a long while.

Speaking of fuel, many of our categories really dont matter so much when you look at them monthly so Lee made a picture of our YTD costs. It will show you how we are trending 33% into the year. We already blew our optional home equipment budget 🙂

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