Cheap Challenge 2013- Week 1 Update

August 1-7 Spending total: $49.29 Groceries  Eating Out Gas Household  Entertainment Clothing Dog Needs $25.10 $13.86 $0.00 $5.34 $4.99 $0.00 $0.00 The household purchases we made were for the hooks to hang Dec's swing on the back porch ($2.07) and a new sippy cup after one cracked ($3.27).

$4.99 was to watch a movie over the weekend on Amazon Instant Video. This is definitely not something we could do every weekend of the challenge.

The grocery bill was low thanks to our pantry being so well-stocked from past purchases. We didn't have to purchase any meat this week because we had salmon, chicken and beef in the freezer. There is a little left, but we will likely have to buy some on the next grocery trip.

No gas this week, but we both started this with less than 3/4 tank and with a trip home to see some of our family this past weekend we used up more gas than planned. I am really proud of myself for doing zero online shopping this week and not browsing at stores for clothes for me or Declan. Yay!

Jake couldn't avoid eating out on Friday because he was at a conference and couldn’t pack lunch. He also bought sodas and had hot dogs from the cart at the dental school one day this week. I managed to pack lunch everyday! Week 1 really was not bad at all. I had hoped we would spend a little less than this in the first week so we would have more room in the budget later on, but we really did not get anything outlandish this week. The only expenses this week that were not necessities were Jake's one lunch at the hot dog stand, the movie we rented, and Dec's swing hooks. The kid has been waiting a month for us to put it up because the first hooks we got were the wrong size so this purchase was definitely worth it to us. Budget remaining: $200.71