Boring Budget Post

I was dealing with the credit card yesterday.

I say "dealing" because our current budget system is this: Put everything on the credit card and then pay it off every month. When I get the statement I check for errors & do a quick breakout to make sure we aren't spending too much in any category. The general categories are:

Groceries
Target
Movies
Fun Stuff
Medical
Fuel
Lunch

Groceries seemed kinda high but then I realized all of the Costco bill was going to groceries and much of what we get at Costco is really "Target" stuff like toothpaste & toilet paper. My Target spending was far below the $150/month budget. Fuel costs are always a kick in the teeth. Lunch... I didn't eat lunch out at all in January and Hot Stuff got "confused" and used cash for all his lunches so I have no idea what he spent.... can't have been much because he didn't get out any cash this month and there was about $60 in the change bowl and I think $30 is still there. We spent a whooping $27 on movies... weekend rentals are $3.50 for new releases and $2.00 for regular movies... we've been splurging on new releases so that's about 2 movies a weekend plus the occassional kid movie. (Although Bob the Builder goes West & Magic Schoolbus from the library have been great for the last few weeks.) Good thing I bought a big bag of popcorn on sale or our entertainment budget would be maxed out. Our breakout for January was further complicated by the purchase of mass quantities of Musinex & Alka-seltzer cold (for Hot Stuff), chloraseptic cough drops (for me), Dimetapp (for Sweet Boy), and a very expensive prescription decongestant (that didn't do a damn thing) and antibiotics (for Darling Girl). It doesn't seem like much but it adds up. Not to mention the splurge for Puffs Plus with Lotion. Figured out the mystery $250 charge was a payment to the doctor's office. It covered medical expenses going back to September. Insurance was being nasty about paying and I had to take DG in so I just put it on the card.... got a reimbursement from them for $189 last week... so that wasn't as bad as it could have been.....I stayed on budget... less the $20.... For Valentine's -fabric to make wash cloths for DG, a few Valentine's cards, a plastic car case (ok, really a thread organizer) and a clearance bag of lollipops for SB. I also spent $20 on a toy chain saw for SB's birthday in June & $25 for 10 pairs of Vicky's Secret panties. What? I needed panties and 10 for $25 is a great deal. Hot Stuff is the one who blew the budget this month. hee-hee. He bought a CHAIN SAW. Not a toy one. Actually he did pretty well.... popped his ebay cherry and got a Stihl. But after that plus another $120 or so in accessories... well, the bill was a little higher than I like. So we will try to tighten the belts for the next month... problem is we have about 100 baby and wedding gifts (some for the same people!!) to get this month..... hhmmmm.... I wonder if they'd all like wash cloths???