Let's Review June

Again, I did not set any goals for myself for the month of June except to get outside as much as possible to keep the yard presentable. I tried, but I am not doing very well. I did get out, even on rainy days, to get at least one hour in. But we have had so much rain, that I am quickly falling behind. There are still areas that have not seen me at all this year. I have given up on those areas until I can get some more bodies to help. Yesterday I waited until afternoon to go out and try cutting the grass. It was still wet but I managed to do the front and back lawns up to the veggie garden, and then I ran out of gas. I will refill my gas can when I go fill up later today.

I did not get any veggies planted this year at all, but I did manage to harvest some strawberries. I used four cups to bake a double batch of freezer jam. I put 1 cup of berries in with some strawberry Jello to make a dessert one week. I used 2 cups to make Nathalie's strawberry cake, and another cup or more with whipped cream to eat with the cake. I froze a total of 10 cups (five bags of 2 cups each) to use in my baking later in the year.

 I had my brother and sister-in-law (Rick's brother) over to the house to visit. My daughter and two grandchildren came one weekend to visit. I usually have my son and his GF over for dinner on Saturday. I have gone over to my son's place for dinner once in June, and accompanied them to Kiwi Gardens to see the "Art in the Garden" tour. We went to dinner afterwards in Perth.

I made my two medical appointments. The first appointment with the eye doctor was last week and went very well. I do not NEED to change my eyeglasses, but if I decide to get a pair of computer glasses (I still haven't decided), then he will make them up according to my slightly changed prescription. My medical doctor's appointment isn't until next week.

I made cards. I mailed out 10 at the beginning of the month, then 3 for this past weekend, 12 for gifting, and 16 to sell....41 at least, unless I am forgetting some. I need to make at least 4 more this week

When it came to spending money, I had some successes and some failures. I spent $313.13  for household expenses, at least. But that isn't set in stone either because I didn't keep track religiously of every penny. I was sloppy. Groceries cost 164.06 and household expenses cost $149.07 The total for my household expenses comes from my non-food expenses at the grocery store at $74.39, my trip to Perth (admission, my succulents, and dinner out that day) at $41.90, the $15.83 cost for postage, and the $16.95 to top up my cell phone.  The phone is topped off automatically on my credit card, which I pay off with household expenses. I was able to meet all my expenses because I budgeted $160 for Hydro, but it came in at $103.84 (Yay) and I budgeted $200 for gas for the car, but I only put in $50 this month. I put $50 into my Emergency Fund and $50 into savings. I need to do better.

So I guess my goal moving forward is to find more ways of cutting down household expenses. I used to budget $25 per week per person. The cost of groceries has indeed gone up, but I need to clamp down harder on my expenses so I can put more away into savings, which is basically my gift fund. One thing I have done right (imo) is paying an equal amount every month to those bills that I only receive once every two months or once every three. That way there is no big surprise bill waiting for me in the mail. And I am basically only shopping once a month with the occasional need to pick up just a few basics like milk and eggs. Staying out of the stores is my one biggest frugal success.

So there you have it.....a month in review. I can tell this year will be quite the learning experience.