January Money Review

So here we are, one month into 2019, and I am feeling my way around money issues with a little more attention and thought this year. I'll still post about our monthly grocery bill, as well as our eating out costs. But I may also be commenting more about our money and where it goes, and about getting older and retirement. Warren turns 65 this April (I am two years behind him), and while he has no immediate plans of retiring from the Symphony, his and our financial futures are certainly on our minds and in our conversations more and more.

So the numbers first. What did January 2019 look like?

On the grocery front, we spent $153.63 on food items. Some of that was end-of-the-month replenishment of staples we'd made dents in: oats, different flours, things like that. We ate a lot (A LOT) out of our pantry and freezer this month, and I am pleased that there are still lots of meals in them, especially the freezer. On households items, which I categorize as cleaning supplies, toilet paper, and the like, we spent a whopping $7.68. I am thrilled beyond thrilled to note that $1.22 (counting tax) of that was spent on laundry detergent bought at CVS, of all places, because with my combined ExtraBucks Reward (which I earn as I fill prescriptions) and a 50% off coupon, it made the detergent come out to a cool .0122 per fluid ounce, which beats even Aldi's prices.

Grand total for January? $161.31.

Eating out was stunningly low on one hand and high (well, my high) on the other. Locally, we (I) spent a total of $4.20, from three coffee dates. However, as I indicated when I summed up December and looked ahead to 2019, we had a hard and fast trip to Mayo (more about that shortly) and spent  a total of $42.93 on three meals and one McDonald's mocha so I could stay awake while I drove. So the eating out came to $47.13. That's still below the almost $74.00 a month we averaged in 2018, but I'd like it lower. Warren had a conference in NYC towards the end of the month, but his food expenses were picked up by the Symphony so do not count.

Now, about that Mayo trip. We head to Mayo again in February for my quarterly appointment. However, after my Mayo oncologist convinced my insurance company to authorize a rather costly exam (a PET CT), the insurance company demanded that the procedure take place before January 29, despite the fact I would be there in mid-February. Moving my February appointment to the test date in January was not an option for many reasons; staying longer in Rochester was not an option because I am in the middle of attendance season and had to get back, and Warren was balancing grants due at month's end with the League of American Orchestra's Midwinter Managers meeting in NYC. So we did a 40 hour marathon: Delaware to Madison for a short night's stay with family, then Madison to Mayo to Delaware the day of the test. (Total time spent off the road: about 12 hours. Maybe.) For a Mayo trip, it was low cost. Besides the food, we had car rental of $78.00 ($77.00 and change), the aforementioned eating out of $42.93, Mayo parking at $6.00, and gas purchases of $94.46. Grand total? $221.39 (Cheapest Mayo trip ever since we started driving rental cars to take the strain off of our personal vehicles. February will not be as cheap as we'll have a hotel rental in there as well, but if we can keep it under $350.00, I'll be pleased.)

The start of any year holds, of course, my out of pocket ($250.00) and insurance deductible ($1500.00) to meet. As I noted earlier, with the PET CT, my return trip to Mayo, and my infusion therapy every four weeks, I'll cross that goal probably by the end of February. Thanks to my frugal ways, I have the money to pay it. (Warren and I keep separate accounts; our only joint account is a travel account, which is a little anemic right now.) I just filed my 2018 taxes now (we file separately as well) and hope to get my refund to help pare those expenses before the country shuts down again (as threatened by POTUS).

Frugal twitches that saw me and our household through 2018 will continue. With rare exception, all of the books I read in 2018 came from our library, and that trend is already off and running strong in 2019. (I just finished the second massive volume of Sylvia Plath's letters; Volume One was book #17 last year and it is a nice piece of symmetry that I read the second and final volume at about the same time of year.) My clothing purchases, except for replacement shoes, will likely be near zero for the entire year. (Shoes are a larger expense because my advancing neuropathy pretty much limits me to a small expensive selection. Fortunately, they wear well, despite heavy use.) Amy just gifted me two skirts, so my wardrobe grew a little. (On the flip side of that, I have lost so much weight due to diabetes medication, changes in diet, and the cancer that I will probably donate to Goodwill a beloved but now way, way too large skirt that I have been holding up with a large safety pin in the waistband for months now.) I continue to belong to the No Spend Facebook group, now the 2019 No Spend Challenge group, which provides me with both support and laughs.

Life is good. And frugal.