Oy, two straight days of unwelcome spending and what the rest of the month looks like

My change purse is feeling the pinch right about now. As anyone who owns a house knows - there is always something that needs to be fixed. Last month, I had a plumber out to fiddle with the toilets (all 3 had their own little issues going on), deal with a leaky shower head and repair a pin hole leak in the sump pump piping. The toilets and the shower head were repaired that day (to the tune of $437 - labor and parts included), but the sump pump pipe was a tougher cookie and instead of being repaired - it needed to be replaced. Which finally took place yesterday - to the tune of an additional $259.90. Plumbing labor time is really a pain to the pocketbook.

In addition, Bridget, Gidget and the Widget have active social lives (averaging about 3 birthday parties a month each). Which means approximately 10 birthday gifts every single month. At $15-20 a pop - that's $150 to $200 out the window every month. Gidget and Widget are the popular partygoers this weekend and that meant $39.68 spent on 2 gifts including the wrapping materials.

On the more restrained side, Gidget and I went grocery shopping this afternoon and managed to get the rest of the week's groceries bought for the bargain price of $53.51. I love Trader Joe's.

The meals (dinners) that we are planning for the rest of the week:

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese (recipe from The Gift of Southern Cooking)

Roasted Eggplant Spread (recipe from The Barefoot Contessa)

Homemade white pizza with ricotta and mozzarella (recipe from friend)

Baked Potatoes (with choice of sour cream, bacon, cheddar cheese, and/or chili as toppings)

Breakfast and lunch will be filled in with leftovers, fresh fruit and veggies and homemade baked goods such as banana bread, bran muffins, corn bread, and cranberry bread.

This month is looking pretty tight cash wise. A potential job loss scare on Mr. Boss Man's part meant a re-jiggering of the budget to increase the amount we are putting towards savings. It was a $500 across the board cut - which means a stripped down meal plan, less babysitting hours for our amazing babysitter, and no meals out this month. What that turns out in terms of hard cash numbers - $200 a week for food for 5, gasoline for 1 car, babysitting hours (need to give our babysitter at least 3 hours a week so we don't lose her - that's $30) and any other miscellaneous expenses that come up like birthday presents for friends of the kids, or friends of ours.

Not to mention the 3 events we have already committed to this month - Thanksgiving Dinner, Afternoon Tea with the girls' Nonna during Thanksgiving break and a dinner party to which I have been charged with bringing my famous Sangria. The $200 a week budget must stretch to accomodate the $100 for Thanksgiving, the $75 for Afternoon Tea and the ~ $15 for the Sangria ingredients. Hmmm - well, we will see if we can do it!