Weekly spending wrap up

My goal for 2011 is to keep my monthly flexible spending (i.e. what I charge on my credit card & includes: groceries, dining out, gifts, clothes, lessons for the kids, etc) to $1750/month. This nets out to around $58/day, which is pretty eye opening. I am regularly overspending the $1750/month, so I need to start keeping a close eye on this figure. Keeping the monthly spending in check is a critical part of paying off my 401K loan in 2011.

This week was a little spendier than usual, as I was at home & getting a bunch of post-holiday errands done.

• Monday -

- $14.92 - Grocery store for basic dinner ingredients - mostly fresh produce.
- $22.98 - Gap for a birthday gift for a friend. However, I returned two shirts there for a refund of $28.45, but it is a store credit. I'll use it to buy jeans when the boys shred the knees on their current pairs. :-)
- $119.24 - Costco - basic groceries for the next week or so, plus a few extra treats as we're having an overnight guest on Wednesday, & my parents will be staying over on New Years Eve.
- $13.69 - Bath & Body Works for the handsoap that we use (on sale for 75% off - I bought 10).
- $12 - Nordstrom bar for my annual holiday lunch with M. I had a gift card for the rest of the balance. Total spend for the day = $182.83

• Tuesday:

-$7.50 - Panera for a salad to go with a soup I brought from home. The soup was delicious, but not particularly filling after my workout.
+$39 - Returned a Christmas gift that we didn't end up needing
- $37 - Hair cut (it had been 7 months since the last cut, so I desperately needed one - $25 + 12 tip = $37). Total spend for the day after adding in the credit = $5.50

• Wednesday:

+ $10 - I took a bunch of kids books over to Half Price Books today,& made $10.
+ 22.76 - I also returned a toy to Fred Meyer. I used the Fred Meyer store credit to purchase a few items we need for New Year's Eve (champagne & orange juice + hair clip, as I got a hair cut & my hair will no longer fit into a pony tail at the gym). I spent almost  the same as my gift card & got $.76 back in change.
- $3.80 - Party store. I picked up three rolls of Christmas wrapping paper to save for next year.
- $4.11 - Old Navy.  I bought my oldest son a fleece at Old Navy that he needs for skiing
- $.87 - Michael's for a Christmas craft for next year.
- $14 - McDonalds - dinner for me +the kids after a bunch of evening drama required us to leave the house. Total spend for the day is $12.02(after adding in the $10 book credit & $.76 from the leftover Fred Meyer).

• Thursday -

- I returned some makeup (a gift) to Sephora today & got a $43 credit that I'll use when my existing items run out.
- $1.37 - Hallmark for Christmas wrapping paper
- $6 for coffee & breakfast at Starbucks, but I used a gift card.
-$5.41 - I replaced a knife that went through the disposal (used a Crate & Barrel gift card so total out of pocket was only $5.41).
- $4 -  toll
- $52.06 - Costco for Kleenex & a couple of other random items
 Total out of pocket spend for the day is $61.47

• Friday:

-My parents were in town for a little NYE party, and they treated me for lunch.
$58 - Pizza for dinner (4 adults & 2 kids)
$26.11 - grocery store  (beer, ice cream, and party favors for our kids)
 Total out of pocket spend for the day = $84.11

• Saturday - No spend day! Finally. :-)

• Sunday:

-$44 - movie tickets for me + the kids to see Tangled, as well as popcorn, water, & a box of candy. Holy moses - since when did the movies get to expensive??
  Total out of pocket spend for the day = $44

Total spend for the week = $389.93, which averages to $55.70/day, just under my goal of $58/day. Wow! I'm pretty excited.