Can you believe April is already over? We can’t. This year is absolutely flying by.
We had a pretty expensive month, but still managed to achieve a 50% savings rate. Phew!
Travel was definitely our most expensive category. We are attending a wedding in Newcastle in November, of which I am the Maid of Honour. As such, we will be staying there for five nights, so that I am available to assist as needed. This accomodation was quite reasonable, but still looks like a big number when viewing it as an expense.
I also took a last minute return flight to visit my sister and nephew in Townsville. Spontaneity can be fun, but it usually comes with a high price tag!
Worth. Every. Cent.
Our groceries were very high this month. Part of that was because I purchased a new moisturiser (we classify toiletires as groceries) which cost a pretty penny, and we also purchased some delicious seafood and wine for our Good Friday and Easter meals. Aside from that, however, we aren’t really sure why it was so high. We didn’t throw anything out, so we definitely used everything we purchased. Hopefully this is just a one off, high spending grocery month.
Eating out was very high for us this month. Poopsie spent about the first week of April away with work in a small mining town. He went out for dinner and drinks with his colleagues a couple of times, and when he returned we splurged with take away pizza (even though we love our homemade pizza!)
We had some car issues this month. Boy oh boy! While Poopsie was away, I got a flat tyre. I’d driven over a nail and discovered the slow leak when I got home. Unable to change a tyre (that has now been rectified) I got the assistance of my friend and she was able to change it for me. Fortunately, the tyre was repairable and only cost $35.
Not even two weeks later, this time while I was in Canberra for a work trip, Poopsie got a flat on one of the other tyres. Unfortunately, we misplaced the locking nuts and thus, had to purchase some master nuts to get the tyre off.
When we bought the car, Tony, the man we bought it from, replaced the two front tyres. We knew we’d have to replace the back tyres pretty soon and, when Poopsie’s flat proved unrepairable, he replaced it with a brand new tyre. We also got the other one done at the same time, which certainly added to the expense. While it was some pretty bad luck to have two flats in two weeks, we’re pleased with the new tyres and hope we won’t have to replace them anytime soon.
Finally, Entertainment! We bought tickets to see The Nutcracker in December which we are really looking forward to. We also spent $25 on tickets to the Australian Swimming Championship heats. Less than an hour later, I found out that the Davis Cup was on in Brisbane that same day.
As big tennis lovers, we decided to forgo the swimming and bought tickets to the tennis instead. Yes, we wasted $25 but it was definitely worth it to us!
Here’s the rest of our spending for the month:
| Category | Amount | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Gifts | $107.50 | Poopsie sent me some flowers while he was away with work. We also posted a couple of gifts which add up! |
| Internet | $57.73 | NBN is going well! |
| Groceries | $527.46 | Another high month. We will have to work to get this back down. |
| Car Costs | $516.76 | Two new tyres, the patch of a third tyre, petrol and tolls. |
| Kids | $1,547.09 | Standard. |
| Mobile | $36.00 | Standard. |
| Household | $37.30 | The travel mug that I use every single day broke (I may have accidentally dropped it) so I replaced it. We also took advantage of a sale on LED bulbs and picked up a few. |
| Miscellaneous | $48.00 | Poopsie is a member of his work's social club and had to pay his dues. |
| Mortgage Interest | $758.44 | Nice! |
| Eating Out | $103.95 | Poopsie's work trip, celebratory pizza and some laziness. |
| Entertainment | $322.55 | Swimming tickets, tennis tickets and tickets to the Nutcracker. |
| Clothing | $35.00 | I had a hole in the sole of my favourite pair of shoes. They are otherwise in excellent condition so I had them resoled. Worth every penny! |
| Travel | $1,093.50 | Whoa! Accommodation and last minute flights to Townsville. |
What were your April expenses like? Do you like tennis?
Nice work keeping that 50% savings.
I just need to know what the plastic tub pyramid is? That photo needs a caption!
It was in the sculpture garden of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. We liked the look of it 🙂
That was a busy month. Cars are so convenient, until something goes wrong. Dad taught me to change a tyre when I first got a car. The last time I tried, though, the nuts were on so tight I couldn’t loosen them. I had to ask a strong male colleague, and even he had to stand on the tyre iron to get them off! It’s going to be the NRMA for me from now on.
Can you sell/give away the swimming tickets?
My sister tells me that dad taught her how to change one too. I asked him and he said I must have been busy the weekend he did it. Lol. I wasn’t a particularly busy teenager, so I think he just forgot. Oh well, I know how to do it now.
Unfortunately we weren’t able to do anything with the swimming tickets 🙁
Running over something sharp and getting a flat tire is one of my biggest fears! lol. I’m always glancing at our tires when I get in/out of the car to make sure they are inflated appropriately.. and every few months I do try to go and fill them up at the air station at the petrol station.
Our car is going to be a little costly for us in May – my sister noticed that one of our headlights wasn’t working, it clicked that was why a few people had flashed their high-beams at me when I drove at night recently haha. Anyway, so we need to get that fixed and it’s due for a routine service so we are hitting 2 birds with one stone by taking the car in for both on the same day.
So sweet that Poopsie bought you flowers whilst he was away!
Mrs DDU
Getting a flat while Poopsie was away was one of my fears, Mrs DDU! And now it has been realised.
Good idea hitting the routine service and the replacement light at the same time. It may not save you any money, but it’s much more convenient!
Wow, what an exciting month! Congratulations on still keeping 50% of your income despite all that spending. We also had major car expenses last month, it was major service time and a lot of parts had to be replaced. But with some luck, we ended up winning a few hundred bucks from the lottery and instead of spending that for ourselves, we used it to pay the car service. We also have the same story with groceries last month. Toiletries are always expensive, but the good thing about it is that we don’t have to buy it every month (we get ours from Costco). Also, gotta love spontaneity, I’m sure they were stoked to see you!