The first quarter of 2021 ended. Unlike last year, I find myself more and more optimistic. AHP turned one year old last month and his schedule is getting more and more predictable. We are venturing outside more and more, enjoying the local parks and the trails that our neighborhood offers.

MBP started playing soccer. The “academy” was in our elementary school and we were thinking of more ways for MBP to socialize outdoors. I am 90% sure that we are not going to do this again. MBP was not really into it or perhaps just too young. Majority of the time, he was picking up grass or wants to play with other kids.

Spending

We spent $3,281.87 this month. Ouch!

I tried to deliberately spend a little more money this month because our spending last year was very low and I guess I succeeded!

Food – $902.08

We spent $902.08 on food. We usually spend between $600 – $700 a month. Our grocery spending was higher with more trips to Costco. I also ate quite a bit of fancy easter chocolate candies before easter. Those Lindt bunnies were tasty.

Health Insurance – $657.15

Health insurance for this month was $657.15. The kids are still under apple care because of COVID-19 act (?). I’m not really sure, but I won’t argue with the state plan on this. Mr. MMD and I are paying full premium at bronze level.

Gift – $477.06

We bought an iPhone SE for my mother in law as a birthday present for her. She loves it and it would be another medium for us to face time.

Utilities – $338.99

Utilities clock in at $338.99 this month. Out internet was charged for February and March so it cost twice this month. We paid $28.5 for our cell plan for 2 lines. This was the first time that we used more than 1gb for Xfinity mobile.

Auto – $289.66

We spent $289.96 for car this month. Our car insurance cost $230 for 6 months. This was higher than our last 6 months premium. I don’t know why! I got some other quotes and this was the cheapest. We only have one car and only carry liability. Oh well – maybe it is inflation?

Others are combination of shopping for items ordered from Amazon for some sewing materials. Hobbies are the cost to maintain this blog which includes the annual domain renewal and monthly hosting from Google Cloud Platform. We also bought some treats for our furbaby and paid for our monthly Amazon Prime Subscription.

And here are the detail expenses:

Categories	Description	Grand Total	Comments
Food	Groceries	707.79	Higher this month
Food	Restaurants	119.10	Take out Chinese Food
Food	Junk Food	65.19	Those Easter Candies!
Food	Alcohol & Bars	10.00	For Mr. MMD
Health	Health Insurance	657.15	2 person at bronze level
Gift	Gift	477.06	iPhone SE
Kids	529 College Fund	200.00
Kids	Kids Activities	119.87	6 weeks of Soccer for MBP
Kids	Kids Gadgets	63.38	New monitor for MBP
Kids	Baby Supplies	41.23	Diapers
Utilities	Electric and Gas	158.08	Hopefully this will go down as it gets warmer
Utilities	Internet	90.00	2 months of internet bill
Utilities	Sewer	62.41
Utilities	Mobile Phone	28.50	We used more than 1gb of data!
Auto	Service & Parts	4.50	Residual from tires
Auto	Auto Insurance	230.00	6 months from progressive
Auto	Gas & Fuel	52.46	Gas
Housing	HOA Dues	73.00	Annoying HOA
Housing	Home Improvement	4.90	Something from Lowes
Shopping	Shopping	75.63	Sewing materials and some other items
Hobbies	Books	13.09	Atomic Habits was 50% off
Hobbies	Hobbies	12.62	Blog annual domain renewal
Pets	Pet Food & Supplies	9.36	Treats
Subscription	Subscription	6.55	Amazon Prime
	Grand Total	3,281.87

How was your Q1 2021?

We celebrated 2 birthdays in February. It was my grandmother’s birthday and AHP’s birthday. We’ve been really good at low key celebrations with just the immediate family. We also went to a drive by birthday parade for one of MBP’s classmate. She turned 4 and was so cute about it.

There was also Valentines Day. This year we cut out rainbow colored heart shaped and wrote letters to the kids. We stick it outside their doors for a whole week before Valentines Day. MBP really loves it.

We also enjoyed playing with a LOT of snow this month. MBP got really into and even AHP joined in. I have to remind myself of the great fortune we have to own time and be able to play with the kids during snow whatever day it is and of course not having to worry about work. There were many snowman and snow angel involve.

Spending

We spent $2,480.01 this month.

Healthcare is our biggest expense, similar to last month and clocked in at $633.41. Mr. MMD visited the dentist for cleaning. We do not have dental insurance and Mr. MMD paid $140 for x-rays, exams and cleaning. It is still cheaper than paying for dental insurance. Health care premium is also cheaper because apparently the kids are still under Apple Care, and we over pay last month.

We spent $633.41 on food. We ordered buckets of chicken from KFC for AHP’s birthday and ordered a Costco sheet cake. The sheet cake was huge and delicious!

Utilities were high this month at $397.11. It was not unexpected since some of these utilities get paid every other month. This month, we did pay for all of them.

We still contributed $200 for MBP’s 529 plan and paid the registration fee for next year’s preschool of $60.

We bought two set of tires for our Prius. We only have one car and need to make sure that it is on top shape.

The rest are under $100 and are pretty straight forward below.

Categories	Amount	Comment
Health Insurance	539.82
Dentist	140.00
Groceries	560.68
Fast Food	47.15
Alcohol & Bars	19.99
Junk Food	5.59	Junk food is lower than last month. Yay!
Electric and Gas	153.41
Water	89.77
Garbage	75.21
Sewer	62.41
Mobile Phone	16.31
529 College Fund	200.00
Preschool Tuition	60.00
Auto & Transport	235.36	2 Tires for our Prius
Gas & Fuel	18.50
Service & Parts	2.00
Clothing	98.34	4 new pants for Mr. MMD
HOA Dues	73.00
Toiletries	33.00
Pet Food & Supplies	26.00	Doggie bag from Amazon
Personal Care	16.92
Subscription	6.55	Prime Subscription
	2,480.01