[Spirit Deer]

Why not DIY a plain binder using manila envelopes? Then you can make it whatever size you need with as many pockets as you need, and inexpensively change envelopes as they wear out or are no longer needed. You can also fancy it up however you'd like.

I'm guessing Pinterest would have a lot of ideas for making such a system you could tailor to your exact needs.

 

[RedSpruce]

Why not DIY a plain binder using manila envelopes? Then you can make it whatever size you need with as many pockets as you need, and inexpensively change envelopes as they wear out or are no longer needed. You can also fancy it up however you'd like.

I'm guessing Pinterest would have a lot of ideas for making such a system you could tailor to your exact needs.

@Spirit Deer, that’s what I’m kind of doing now. I have an extra 8.5” x 11”binder that is 1/2” thick. It’s not thick enough for everything. A cheap new 1” binder will cost me $15 CAD with tax included. I am using manilla envelopes and sticking them in a sheet protector in the binder. But whenever I move the binder, if I’m not careful, they come flying out the top of the binder and I have envelopes everywhere. 😔. It’s frustrating. I think it’s because there are too many envelopes in the sheet protector. Off to check out Pinterest.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Hope you can find a solution.

 

[RedSpruce]

Looked at this month’s income and was pleasantly surprised. Figured out February’s budget and what denomination bills are needed to stuff the cash envelopes.

I caved and bought a budget binder with 12 zippered vinyl cash envelopes, divider, trackers and sticker (labels) for $24.95 CAD. I was feeling flush after looking at my income. It was cheaper and sturdier in the long run than a fix to my current situation.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Husby and I gave each other haircuts. One of us was more successful than the other. Time for me to haul out the Wild Band of Indians 'do rag, I guess. 🙄

I took HM chicken noodle soup to Mom's for lunch today, along with a fitty cent tube of close out crescent rolls an a sleeve of saltines. Cheap, comforting meal on a cold winter day.

Skipped buying groceries this week. Nothing we needed.

 

[RedSpruce]

Well I found another justification for the new cash envelope binder. Apparently taking the manilla cash envelopes in and out of the sheet protector caused it to sprout a hole in the bottom. That means it is basically useless. 😔. Amazon can’t deliver soon enough.

Figured out the final tally of my February budget, and the amount and denominations of bills I need to withdraw from the bank to put in envelopes.

I was going to post this month’s expenses, but it will have to wait. I have places to go yet this month that may require spending.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Husby is shopping Menards right now and called to say the clearance lights we need for the house are still there. They are $15 off. Two are display lights and will be marked down another $7.50 each. Total cost for 6 outdoor motion sensor lights will be $135+ tax, not bad at all.

 

[RedSpruce]

Went to a Farmer’s Market this morning. I was looking for a gift for my great niece/nephew. I don’t know which it is going to be yet. I didn’t buy anything because I didn’t know the sex. I guess I’ll have to wait until the baby is born to find out. The parents don’t want to know ahead of time. So no money spent on that.

However, I did find a lady who made a non-scented body lotion that was also good for chapped lips. I tried some and ended up buying a small container. It was $7.50 CAD. Pretty pricy, despite her claims it was “more affordable” than if you bought direct from her away from the market. Still, I need something that I can use on my hands and lips. She was an excellent salesperson and I bought the smallest jar I could get.

I realized I had no budget category in my personal allowance for things like body lotions. I think I will add a Miscellaneous category to my budget. I don’t buy beauty products as a rule, so this might be it for the year.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Husby is home safely, so that's a relief. He took the windows in and dropped them off, because it's such a rough ride up our hill at home.

Menards had Sheetrock screws on sale today for $4/lb, $5 regular price. There was also a $4/lb rebate, limit 20 lbs, making the screws free. Husby got 20 lbs, saving us a cool $100! I just love when that happens! It's not like we won't use that $80 rebate with the thousands of dollars we still have to spend there.

I've been surprised at the many small ways we've been able to find to save little bits of money here and there. It's not much, a little at a time, but everything does add up.

 

[RedSpruce]

Renewing our subscription to provincial pharmacare. We have crappy private health insurance. With pharmacare our drugs are covered 80% after we pay an initial $1000 or so.

 

[RedSpruce]

Set up my cash stuffing and budgeting for February. It might change, depending if the second part of Dad’s investment makes it by the end of the month. Usually it’s in my bank account by now. But I noticed the last major payment was Dec. 31st. So maybe I’ll wait yet before finalizing things.

 

[RedSpruce]

I just spent approximately $30.00 CAD on my cc for a new case for my iPad mini. The current one is 10 years old and falling apart. This is considered a business expense.

 

[RedSpruce]

Okay. Last spending over and done with for the month. My personal income and expenses looks like the following:

Income
$231.00 from gallery for work they sold
$14.18 from my Ko-fi site
$29.15 first deposit from Dad’s investment
$200.00 allowance
$79.31 second deposit from Dad’s investment
$4.00 rebate on bank fee
$557.64 TOTAL INCOME

Expenses
$7.07 membership #1 - hobby related - on cc
$13.99 membership #2 - business related - on cc
$17.00 membership #3 - business related - on cc - cancelled
$14.95 socks from Walmart
$34.46 online webinar - business related - on cc
$45.00 haircut
$25.47 paper & sheet protectors from Staples - business related
$4.00 monthly bank fee
$24.95 cash envelope binder and inserts from Amazon - on cc
$7.50 body butter from Farmer’s Market
$29.89 iPad mini case from Targus - on cc
$224.28 TOTAL EXPENSES

$557.64 - $224.28 = $333.36 left over. Very good!

 

[RedSpruce]

I created and printed out my own “label” inserts for the cash envelope binder, which should arrive tomorrow. No need to spend money on those…or much time.

I will post February’s budget tomorrow.

 

[Spirit Deer]

We both worked on demolition in the bathroom while J rebuilt a wall in there and got the last pocket door frame ready to install, saving some money. We also got a good start on demoing the laundry room.

We got out the partial 5 gallon pail of exterior paint the former owners left for us. It's very thick but I'm pretty sure I can thin it down and use it. I need to pre-paint four 4x8 sheets of siding to use when we rip out a door and all the old windows and need to patch in new siding. I'm happy not to have to buy paint.

 

[RedSpruce]

I just went back six months on my bank account statements and cc statements to get an idea of how much I’ve been spending and in what categories. Trying to get a handle on a realistic budget. The reality is my income is highly variable. Plus I had a new website created and paid for in that time frame. It’s sobering. I created a new budget based on my minimum income, using more realistic budget categories. We’ll see how it works out. I already took money for envelopes out of the bank for February, so this budget will come into effect in March…barring any unforeseen situations.

 

[RedSpruce]

My new cash envelope binder arrived this morning. I spent time creating the card stock label inserts and category tracker cards. I put it all together, but before I added any actual cash I went through my budget again and realized I have a major problem. One of the deposits for Dad’s investment did not arrive in my bank account, and it’s the $80 one. I’m not impressed. So my income is actually short about $80.00. Grrr…

I also figured out I spent about $150 more per month than what I brought in during the last six months of 2022! I am beyond annoyed with myself. Most of that was business expenses, primarily the new website. Hopefully that won’t happen again.

 

[RedSpruce]

So..given the above, I’m going to try the following…

February budget
$20 savings
$20 charity
$0 planner
$0 haircuts
$40 clothing
$40 footwear
$50 business
$0 education
$20 gifts
$10 miscellaneous
$0 art supplies
$0 sewing
$0 philately
$200.00 Total

 

[Spirit Deer]

All this budget talk makes me glad we've never really had one. 😁 I hope you can get things settled to your satisfaction.

I got the paint back to a better viscosity, I think. I'll find out tomorrow when I start painting. If not, I can thin it some more. Easy. After opening the kitchen wall today, we found out 2 of the old windows we will be removing have framing that will make it impossible to complete the kitchen wiring until they are removed in the spring. Frustrating.

I realized the paneling we removed from the bathroom today is a good match for the knotty hickory cabinets we're putting in the kitchen. I'm going to cut some of it into 4" wide strips to make the toe kicks we'll need on the base cabinets. That will save us $160 plus tax vs buying toe kicks. I do love a good freebie.

Again today, we spent a good share of time cleaning up after the electricians. That's huge savings for us not only in not paying them about $200/hr to clean, but also in cleaning time by having less mess being tracked throughout the house because things get cleaned as soon as we can do so without interfering with their work. If they were cleaning, they'd do it all at the end of the day instead of throughout the day like we do. Cleaning is an easy way to save big on remodeling involving demolition, so we're happy to do it.

 

[dlrcpa]

I am going to need new boots and end of winter is sale time. Kohl's sent me $5 birthday cash and I found Totes brand waterproof boots for $32 (reg $70) with good reviews. I hope they are comfortable enough for dog walking. If not, I will return them.