Month End Update: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!!

Sometimes I like to type something into "google images" and see what comes up. I just typed in "end of October" and this "momento mori" appeared. I thought it captured how I'm feeling this week. A momento mori was a work of art which was supposed to remind us of our mortality. Here we see the grim reaper extending a welcoming hand to a somewhat elderly woman. She looks a bit stunned by the invitation...I guess she's not ready to go! 


Well, hell's bells neither am I. On the one hand I'm ready to say goodbye to October, an expensive month...yet on the other hand I'm not ready to say goodbye to trees covered in gorgeous colour, the last snapdragons in the garden and the warm sunshine on my shoulders. However, I don't have a choice - time marches on - this morning my car was covered in its first frost of the season and the temperature registered at -2c. When I came home from school it was a chilly 17c inside my house...I covered up with two afghans and made some chai tea but it wasn't enough. I ran the furnace for the FIRST time (I tried to make it to Oct. 31st) but just for a few minutes then I shut it off again. It's still a toasty 22c and I've pushed the afghans aside...for now.

Financially I'm saying goodbye to October. I've been a little lot preoccupied with numbers this week as retirement draws ever closer. It seems like just yesterday my countdown widget dipped below 1000 days, now it reads 975! Sometimes time DOES fly! I did some calculating and found we're living on 34.6% of our income, that's a good sign that we'll survive on a 50% income drop once I retire. Ok - now for the month end numbers...


The Good:

• the "no grocery shopping" for the last two week of October was a success! - in spite of major over spending for Thanksgiving we came in $12 under our $400 monthly food budget
• Kazi gave me $50 to cover her share of the monthly car insurance bill:)
• Michael directed $1000 my way to help cover monthly expenses - thanks honey - it sure helps out!!
• 4 No Spend days this week (would have been 5 but I spent $1.80 at Timmy's this morning for a much needed coffee!)

The Bad:

• slightly over our $200 gas budget but Kazi chipped in thank goodness or I would have been WAY over which was only right since she did a lot of practice driving to prepare for her final road test which she PASSED! 

The Ugly:

• way overspent on the Misc budget line and Entertainment budget line which includes a couple of trips to Talize (second-hand clothing) which I totally didn't need to do!! This meant less $$ into Savings...BAD Jane BAD!!

November Challenges:

• I am almost back to 100% health-wise so time to ramp up the exercise again, especially the scissors challenge with Sarah!   Ya hear me Sarah? I am going to start cutting up the air again with my razor sharp legs!! 
• For the first time ever I am going to plan a few meals for next week so I don't waste money on extra food. Our fridge looks so much less crowded now after NOT grocery shopping the last two weeks- we had to get a little creative with our cooking in order to just use what we had instead of making numerous trips to the grocery store - this was a great learning experience!
• Must stay out of TALIZE!! If I feel the need to shop I will start my Christmas shopping:)
• I am going to try for 3 No Spend Days per week for a total of 12 for the month!

Are YOU finished with October yet??