Another very tough month for us savings wise, but for an expected and necessary reason.
This month, we paid the school fees for Poopsie’s kids. At a little over $4000 it took up a significant chunk of our salary for the month. This is a once a year cost and we prefer to cash flow it rather than pull it from savings. Poopsie’s daughter is only in grade six, so we have at least another six years of this to go. Admittedly, it will reduce once Poopsie’s son graduates in a few years which will be a nice relief.
I went to Melbourne for the weekend for my best friend’s bachelorette weekend. We had a fantastic time. We did an Alice in Wonderland themed escape room. I was not at all looking forward to it, but actually had a really great time. We managed to escape just in time and it’s definitely something I would do again. We also saw Aladdin. I did enjoy it (particularly the Genie) but it’s not something I’d see again.
Melbourne from the 57th floor.
Myself and the two other bridesmaids paid for everything for the bride and, apart from my flights and tickets to Aladdin, my share was about $350. Not too bad, considering we had a great time with lots of great food and delicious bottles of wine.
Poopsie spent a lot of October away with work, but we did spend one of our weekends gardening. Poopsie built a vertical garden out of some old pallets and we planted it out with some succulents we had in other pots. Hopefully they take off and a nice garden will form.
Over the last year or so, I have developed what appears to be an allergic reaction to red wine. This is a real shame, as I love red wine, as does Poopsie. A friend recommend I try an organic red wine but unfortunately, I still had a reaction. It’s nothing debilitating, but it’s something I’d prefer not to experience so I will be swearing off of red wine until I can find a solution. The organic wine didn’t cost too much more than a normal bottle which I was pleased about.
If anyone has any suggestions on how to get rid of this allergy, I’d really appreciate it!
Lastly, we had a couple of wedding related expenses. We got our invitations printed, ordered envelopes and booked our hotel room for the first night of our honeymoon. Due to flight times, we needed to stay one night somewhere other than where we will spend our honeymoon. Fortunately, this only came in at $121. Our invites have now been posted, so it’s definitely becoming more real. Less than two months to go!
Invites done!
Onto our savings rate for October:
Not very good. However, if we hadn’t paid school fees this month, we would have been around the 60% savings rate, so we’re not too disappointed.
How did you go with your savings rate in October? Share in the comments below!
What a great idea for an activity! I’d love to try an escape room. How many were playing? How difficult was it to solve on time?
That is a reassuringly small pile of wedding invitations. Think of the money you’re saving just in postage by keeping it small.
Sucks to be allergic to red wine. I’ve got a totally non-evidence-based solution – exposure therapy! I prescribe a sip a day until your tolerance rebuilds (totally not a health professional and you shouldn’t listen to a thing I say.)
Oooh the Alice in Wonderland themed escape room sounds cool! I’ve done one before but it was spy related or something….they are a good bit of fun 🙂
There is an additives/preservatives in wine that some people are allergic to, particularly sulphur dioxide (preservative 220). Take a look at the label and make sure it has no additives. Temple Bruer, Thistle Hill and Botobolar specialise in low-preservative and preservative-free wines so maybe check them out.
I too have recently developed an allergy to red wine. I take an antihistamine before I go out if I know there’s going to be red wine and that usually does the trick. Or I just have to avoid drinking it.
Alice in Wonderland escape room sounds cool. I’ve done 5 escape rooms and escaped out of 3. One of them, I was handcuffed to a window and my friends’ first task was to find the key to the cuffs! Fortunately, they did!
One of my relatives also has a bad reaction to red wine. Their face gets a little red and a bit blotchy. Could probably save a bit in the cost of wine, but there are some expenses that shouldn’t be saved 🙂
I’m a huge, huge, huge fan of Escape rooms. I’m curious to know why you weren’t looking forward to it tho?
At some point, we were actually considering opening our own Escape Rooms. We came up with the puzzles and room designs etc but in the end decided the capital was too much and it was right when the hype was building so we didn’t have faith in the Adelaide Market. Looking back, it was probably the right decision for us. Not because of the market, but because of personal circumstances!
Despite all that, you still achieved quite a great savings rate, so I think you did great!
There are 2 possible causes to your red wine reaction. !. Silver Nitrate….wine makers use this to darken the wine and it is nasty stuff. The other is 2. Sulfites….some wine makers proudly display that their wine is sulfite free.
I haven’t been to an escape room but I’ve always been curious. (A bit scared though. Haha!) Alice in Wonderland theme would be nice.
That vertical garden looks great! Progress pics in coming months, please? 🙂
Sorry to hear about your reaction to red wine. I don’t get any but my face blushes after a sip of any alcohol. I think this is common for Asians though. I did use to get allergic reaction with seafood, but I did what Mrs. ETT suggested above – I ate a tiny bit regularly until I could eat a normal serving without getting any allergies.
Still a great savings rate despite your huge expense, well done!