We started the month of April by celebrating the kids’ Spring Break. MBP’s classmate turned 5 and he was invited to a birthday party. The party was held at some bouncy houses / trampoline indoor playground. The kids had fun, but for the most part they didn’t really play together. I also have to follow AHP to make sure that he’s safe as he could easily be smashed by older kids. The birthday party was fun but I really prefer the good old fashion house party. You can invite everyone, have games and pinata and actually talk to some adults instead of following your kids everywhere.
We stayed in for Spring Break. I didn’t get the chance to plan it ahead. We still did quite a bit of stuff for the week. First, visited the YMCA, local playgrounds, and took the kids to the grocery stores! We renewed our YMCA membership in anticipation of Spring Break. The kids were able to play in the pool. We also took them to Costco. A Costco trip is a fairly big deal for the boys and they always enjoy it. They get to try different samples (yes, some are junk).
We also went to Hands On Children’s Museum. This is a really big children’s museum. It was Spring Break and they had some special exhibit. We almost the full day here and I’m sure we can spend a whole day. We got a discounted tickets. We did have lunch in the cafe. On hindsight, we could have easily pack some lunch. The food there was a typical lunch food, and not really that special.
On one of the days, we went Chuck E Cheese. The one closest to us was newly renovated. We got the kids timed tickets and they were able to play whatever game they want for 2 hours. I went to Raise and bought a discounted gift card.
MBP also got his second COVID shot and AHP got is first one. These 2 primary shots are actually harder to find. We have to go to another county. Good thing that it was in the mall. We just made a day out of it. We got a pretzel from Auntie Annes and the boys loved it! The boys didn’t get any reaction from the shots. We finished off the Spring Break by celebrating Easter at home and at my parent’s place. The boys got tons and tons of candy!! We are just finishing off their Valentine’s day candy and we got more replenishment.
So in total, we spent $4,010.45. Our spending for the last months were trending to be over $4,000. It’s looking like a new normal for us. This is actually pretty high, considering we don’t have a mortgage and car payments. Let’s look at where our money went in April.
| CATEGORY | Spending |
|---|---|
| Auto & Transport | $820.08 |
| Food & Dining | $735.42 |
| Travel | $532.00 |
| Bills & Utilities | $453.11 |
| Kids | $431.43 |
| Health & Fitness | $361.80 |
| Shopping | $192.63 |
| Gifts & Donations | $160.18 |
| Home | $148.54 |
| Pets | $83.53 |
| Personal Care | $55.66 |
| Entertainment | $24.23 |
| Business Services | $11.84 |
| Total | $4,010.45 |
Auto and Transport – $820.08
Another high number for this category. The biggest one was for our 6 months auto insurance for $463.96. We have a liability insurance for our 2010 VW Jetta and 2010 Prius. I also renewed the tabs for our 2010 Prius. It’s been a year since we bought the Prius. So far we’ve put in less than 10k miles and hasn’t had any issues so far aside from the regular change oil. We bought 2 new headlights for the Prius as well and my husband installed it himself. We spent $126.16 for gas and about $20 for parking for the Mr.’s night out in Seattle.
Food and Dining – $735.42
We spent $511.09 on groceries. We spent about $700 per month on groceries. It looks smaller this month because it doesn’t include the VISA gift card that we purchased last month that we used for shopping at WINCO. We also spent $171.52 on restaurants. We ate out a couple of times as a family at the Children’s Museum and at our local’s farmers market. We also got a $25 gift card at a local cupcake place. It was part of an auction for AHP’s school. I also paid for dinner for a friend and Mr. MMD ate out in Seattle with his friends.
Travel – $532
We bid on a 2 night beachfront condo for the summer as part of AHP’s auction. It was $450. We know the family and she mentioned that we can stay for 3 nights. $82 were for 2 night camp site at Sunlake State Park.
Bills and Utilities – $453.11
Electric and Gas is at $220. There was a day that it hailed here and it was still cold. I’m hoping that it goes down. Garbage is at $87.1. I should receive a credit next month since this was higher than expected. Sewer is constant at $66.46. Water is at $47.56. Mobile phone for 2 lines were $17. We only used 1gb this month. Internet was $14.99. We received some credit due to outage.
Kids – $431.43
This includes MBP’s monthly tuition fee at $294. I also included a $40 business fee that I paid for AHP’s school. I haven’t received a reimbursements yet. I also paid another $10 for the auction item for AHP. We spent $50.96 at Chuck E Cheese and $10.5 for the tickets and parking at the Children’s Museum. The rest are for some kids gadgets.
Health and Fitness – $361.8
Gym was at $224. This includes our monthly YMCA gym membership at $154. I also won a one month free for the same YMCA at $70 for AHP’s auction. Dental insurance was $82.8 for 2 months. Mr. MMD played pick up hockey at $35. Mr. MMD also have a $20 copay for lab fees.
Shopping – $192.63
I bought some clothes for Mr. MMD and the boys at the GAP. I try to get the boys clothes used as much as possible, but I can’t really find good pants for them. I really like the GAP because it has the adjustable elastic that can fit the boys better. We also bought some household supplies like paper towels etc. All of these are categorized as shopping.
Gifts & Donation – $160.18
$112 was a donation for AHP’s school. We got some flowers for my mom at the farmer’s market. It was $30 for a beautiful bouquet. I also bought some gift for AHP’s classmate. We went to another birthday party at a jump place in a mall.
Home – $148.54
Typical monthly HOA for $80. We also bought a Google learning nest. Puget Sound Energy gave us a steep discount for the earth month and we got it for $53.61. We also bought some stuff from Home Depot and Lowes
Pets – $83.53
Food for our fur baby
Personal Care – $55.66
Some toiletries/ lotion
Entertainment – $24.23
Our entire family watched the Super Mario Bros. We got a deal at Regal. Admission every Tuesday is only $5.50 and a big popcorn is only for$5. We have the entire movie theatre ourselves. We enjoyed it except for AHP. He cried and got scared on some of the scenes so we have to leave the theatre and walk around a bit then come back.
Business Services – $11.84
This is for another year makinmoneydance.com domain at namecheap.com.
We are spending more. At this rate, we will definitely spend more than $60k this year. We already spent almost $8k this year. Everything is more expensive this year. We are also eating out and will travel more. It will be interesting to see our total spending this year. My gut feel is about $70k.