I really love food as well so i enjoy cooking and experimenting with all the different ways to get it in my face… i even stock up the ex’s freezer with stuff when he’s inbetween gf’s (he can only cook toast and I don’t want our kid to turn into a chicken Mcnugget)…..OMG that’s it!! you guys spring for the DD and I’ll stock yo’ fridge up! omnomnom…LOL

Mine is this monkey fighting car in the monkey fighting garage once again. I have an extended warranty but this year it has all been “normal wear and tear”. With the new tires next month we’ll be knocking on $2k this year… no fun

BTW J, food costs may come bite you in the backside when the baby comes… you’re both tired and it’s just easier to pick something up and that first month it can add up… SO… I recommend cooking double till baby gets here and freezing it, or if you have a relative that’s a wiz in the kitchen ask them to stock it up for you -saved us soooo much money and trouble when we had ours, it was so sad when the last lasagna was thawed/cooked haha… just a thought ;)

You would think that we spent the most on our house (which is kind of true), but on the month-to-month outlook, we have been spending the most money on kids for the last 4 years starting with being pregnant and most recently with the penny incident! I had no idea how much they actually charge you to have a baby between the doctor and the hospital(although I knew it would be a lot) and we wound up having an emergency c-section on top of things. Then pregnancy caused my gall bladder to go blewy and emergency surgery to have that out, then along came baby #2 (and another c-section). Just when I thought we were finally done paying off the medical bills, baby #2 swallows a penny that gets lodged in her throat and we wind up at Children’s in DC having emergency surgery to remove it. Our only healthcare options are an HMO or a high deductible and we like the options of high deductible plan (like choosing your own doctors and specialists) so we have met our deductible for the last four years! Hopefully we are done with meeting our deductible for awhile, but you never can tell with kids!

Our second biggest expense categors is Dunkin Donuts now that we are back East. After living so far away from them for the last 7 years, I can’t drive past one without getting a coffee. I don’t even want to add up the last month’s charges! LOL

@Lance@MoneyLife&More – Yup! Sure does add up… and lots of people consider their pets their kids too :)
@Yardwork – Well that’s pretty good! I try REAL hard to be minimalist but man it’s hard…. I am a lot better than I used to be though which is nice.
@graduate.living – Oh jeez I can imagine… I used to spend around $400 on commuting in to work every month, it blew. Esp since things always RISE over time! I wish you luck finding a great rhythm though! :)
@Mr. Everyday Dollar – Hey, there you go! Never even thought of those kinds of benefits, haha… good one :)
@KitchenPenguin – Yeah!! There you go!! You almost stumped me with throwing in “knife kit” there, haha… but then you continued on and talked about the cooking stuff ;) I find what you’re doing incredibly rewarding, you can use those skills forever! And one day cook me up something tasty too! :)
@Hannah – I bet! Eating healthy isn’t always so healthy on the wallet ;) But keep on working at it! You’re bound to find a good plan there.
@Poor to Rich a Day at a Time – I hear yeah – the roof over our heads usually do cost the most. I think $475 would only get you a bathroom here in the DC area though, haha… so it’s great you’re in an area with a low cost of living! It could always be worse :)
@Matthew Doyle – Oh wow, yeah – that stuff is CRAZY expensive!! We took a tour of a place 2 weeks ago and I about had a heart attack, haha… but you gotta do what you gotta do. Esp for the wee one! :)
@John Gordon – Awesome man! I’m glad you’re starting to track it all now – that’s great :) If you’re anything like me, you’ll find out a LOT about yourself and where you excel and where you need more work on. And it’s a great motivational tool to watch it grow and change over time too – esp as you look back over all the previous months! So def. rock it out yo!
@Jen – Good for you! That takes a LOT of time to sort through and figure out, so I give you mad credit for that ;) I do my best to do it once a year or so, but man I hate it usually, haha… unless I catch myself in a good mood and blaring music in the background – that usually makes the process better ;) Although last week I went to put on a pair of shoes I don’t wear much, and realized I had donated them away the year before!! I was pretty pissed at myself! Haha.. the ONE TIME I got excited to wear them, haha… oh well. Prob. best they’re gone anyway…
@Jenna, Adaptu Community Manager – Haha yup! “Free” puppies/kittens always cost a bit in the beginning :) Glad he makes you happy though!! Would love to meet him one day.
@FBIV – I am NOT looking forward to child care in the future, that’s for sure… but hopefully we’ve got a good 6 or 12 months until we start going down that route of thinking… I can’t tell if it’s going to be a GOOD thing or a BAD thing I work from home until then! Haha… hopefully good ;)
@Brittany – Awww, well I’m glad! Thanks so much for the positive words :) Your furry one seemed wonderful too! I can’t believe your baby lasted until 23 – that’s AMAZING! Wow. At least we both have their awesome memories in our heads today and forever! :)
@C The Writer – Oh jeez, haha…
@Tara – I bet! But I’m always glad when I hear people going on vacation because sometimes we forget how IMPORTANT they are in our lives. Not only to go and have some fun, but to decompress a bit and clear our heads of our work or stress/etc/etc. And I know how hard it is sometimes to step back and remember to take them too! I always need a few reminders myself ;)
@Squeezer @Personal Finance Success – Nice. We do the same thing – put everything on a credit card to reap the rewards (and only have to manage ONE bill there intead of like 10).
@Edward Antrobus III – That’s usually the case I think… wanna switch to a $2,000+ mortgage? ;)
@Country Girl – Awww, well I hope your barn cat is nice and happy again! Does she really hang out in a barn? Cuz if so, that is HOT! I’m loving me some country goodness these days – I’d love to live on an old house w/ barn one day… maybe open up an antiques shop in it or something :)
@Melissa@LittleHouseInTheValley – Awww, I bet the caskets were so cute though! I hadn’t even thought of that idea :) And yeah, I think we will end up getting another one soon, once our baby comes and we get settled. We have one other one too right now, but we want to make sure she’s settled with the baby first too, and then once everything’s good we’ll start looking again. Or maybe even get a dog, not sure yet :)
@Diane – YES! Exactly!! That’s what money is for :) To be used whatever’s super important to you, so I’m glad your wee one is getting a lot of care and attention! And hopefully the costs go down for a bit too so you can catch your breath :(
@Mac – HAH! You got that straight… I’m right there with you on home and car maintenance too – I HATE HATE HATE paying for stuff just to be fixed, it’s no fun at all :( But you’re totally right – we have to take them on head first and make sure we don’t make the situation worse! Which will then cost even MORE money! Always good to just keep saving MORE money than you initially think will cover something as these unexpected costs just creep up on ya every time. Better to be safe than sorry any day.

We spend so much time thinking about one expense (and usually as in this case one that matters immensely personally) that we get blindsided by another expense. Similarly, the internet is exploding with articles about preparing for babies financially because they rightly matter to people who want to be responsible, but pets don’t get as much attention. The ugly or annoying parts of a budget can easily receive less attention than the things we focus on all the time, but the annoying things will never go away and many times end up costing more than what we would rather focus on!

For me, it’s house or car maintenance. You know ignoring needed repairs will not make it go away, but dealing with it has a strong negative psychological effect because I don’t plan ahead in a budget for them. maintenance can get worse and cause worse repairs or debt overtime, becoming a major expense. I think the best thing to do for these expenses is face them head on and plan ahead of time for the unexpected with an emergency fund. There are other unconventional ways rather than an emergency fund to make room for these expenses when they come, but I just don’t think most people are ready for the weddings savings ideas you came up with just yet! :)

But I figure – this is why I save, and why I have money – to spend on things that matter to me. And my dear little fuzzy friend matters a great deal.