We are close to wrapping up another month! I worked hard on the side hustle, but in spite of that, we’re still close!
Do you want to know why?!
Plants. So many. Plants. 😩
I wish I could blame it on my stepmom (and she’d happily take the blame!)
But I simply spent too much on plants and yard decorations this month, $400 to be exact.
So that pretty much messed up our budget.
Was it worth it? YES! I have been loving that our yard looks so much better. But, I underestimated how much the side hustle would be able to cover the outdoor expenses.
Justin also caught a cold, and in lieu of that, I got us some takeout chicken soup from Carrabba’s (to help speed up the healing process, of course.) 🙂
Next week we’ll tally up where we officially landed.
Vegan, sugar-free, keto-friendly baking
I spent a little bit making some sugar-free, gluten-free, keto-friendly treats. I tried making strawberry cupcakes (they were more like muffins, but the friend I made them for loved them!) I also tried making lemon meringue cookies. They tasted good, but I don’t think I’ll make those again.
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I also made chocolate sugar-free, no bake protein cookies. Those are my new fav. The apple protein muffins I made were a win, according to Justin!
The fender bender
Have I mentioned we wouldn’t be able to have a car payment in early retirement?
Well, that is true, so we need to plan to have our car paid off. But in addition to that, insurance needs to stay low.
I was in traffic when I felt a bump, and I thought, “Was I just rear ended?! I was just rear ended!”
The older lady that got out of the car was flustered, and I felt so bad for her. She gave me her insurance, and we parted ways. Later I learned you need to ALWAYS call the cops. I didn’t. But thankfully, she was honest, and her insurance company is covering the damage. Our car is already in the shop, and I’m waiting to see how much the depreciation will be.
A new vacuum
Another thing that put a major dent (hehe) in our budget was that we needed a new vacuum.
Here’s the old one. I mean, it works, but it’s tapped together, and when you pushed the on button, a big poof of dust would emerge from the container.
Seriously, hanging on by a thread…
So we got a new vacuum. It works soo much better. And we need it for these fluffy pups!
It works great! It took 4 containers full to get most of the fur. Phew.
Though I included it in our budget, we likely wouldn’t be needing a new vacuum for our pups if we were only living on Social Security, because, as we discovered, it’s just outside the budget to have pets. (Or at least, two dogs like ours.)
Upcoming festivities
This week, we are doing something very special, a once-in-a-lifetime event (related to another person, so not like something we decided) that we would definitely need savings for if we were living on Social Security only. But it’s so once-in-a-lifetime that we must put a pause on this experiment to celebrate.
Will tell you about it next time! Hope you all are having a great week!!! 😊
ALT MONEY CHOICES 