We continued our summer here at home with more sports camps and concluded tee-ball games for the boys. Mr. MMD coached the kids games and we celebrated the last game with my sisters watching the games. We went to our local restaurants after to celebrate. The kids also had swim classes for 4 weeks. MBP can now tread water and AHP is finally bobbing down and not screaming when water reach his face.
We tried to take advantage of everything that our local PNW weather has to offer and overall enjoyed being outside.
Let’s take a look at our spending. Last month, we spent $5,724. Another month over $5k. Let’s take a look.
Electronics – $1,082.86
Another electronics purchased for us. Mr. MMD bought a new apple iPhone. We also bought a couple of fitbit for myself and Mr. MMD.
Gym – $819.17
Mr. MMD signed up for a Hockey league. We also paid for our monthly membership for the Y.
Groceries – $786.73
This is a normal amount for a month.
Entertainment – $632
This is our staycation purchase. MBP asked to go to the Family Fun Center. I also bought season tickets at Wild Waves for next year. They are having a deal which includes free entrance for the rest of the year. I was able to meet up with my friend and her kids and we all had fun.
Restaurants – $367.53
We ate out quite a bit this month as well. This is another spending that I’m glad we are spending on.
Utilities – $332.17
Water, sewer, garbage, electric and gas. These are all the utilities for the month.
Healthcare/Medical – $296.16
This is for our health, 2 months of dental insurance and my eye insurance. I also had a doctor visit and lab work done and have to pay for co-pays.
General Merchandise – $264.69
This is a catch all for any items that I’m just too lazy to categorize. Most are from Amazon and Costco. This month, we also visited our local bookstore and got the kids some books.
Pets/Pet Care – $246.35
A bag of kibble and medications for our furbaby.
Home Maintenance – $238.7
I bought an air sensor that could detect if Radon is in the air. Apparently, radon can cause lung cancer and I’m in a “I can’t die and don’t want my kids to not have a mother” phase. It is really just for my peice of mind.
Kids Activities – $214.85
The boys are signed up for soccer this fall. I also bought the annual pictures for MBP and Campfire T-shirt.
Dues and Subscription – $102
Our Executive Costco Membership was renewed at $190 and Amazon Prime is $7.65. We did got a refund for one of the credit card that Mr. MMD closed for $95.
HOA – $84
Monthly HOA. I guess we are back on using the trails so it’s not so bad.
Gasoline / Fuel – $78.47
Gas for our Prius.
Gifts – $76.91
Gifts for 2 kids for MBP and AHP’s friends. Also, a gift for my god daughter.
Home Improvement – $27.55
Stuff from Ikea. We got knobs for the built ins, twin sheets and some container.
Education – $26
School supplies for MBP. His school doesn’t give out supply list, but asked for a fee / donation to buy for the supplies. I definitely prefer this because I do not like to shop. We don’t do back to school shopping. MBP and AHP are still using their old backpacks.
Mobile Phone – $25.26
Xfinity mobile increased their rate. This is still good for 1GB of data for 2 lines.
Clothing/ Shoes – $4.37
I got AHP some swim trunk from Goodwill.
Online Services – $2.12
Monthly payment for Google Cloud Platform to host this site.
We spent our July locally. Pacific Northwest is beautiful during the summer and I enjoyed spending time here and getting to know our community. We started with a local 4th of July celebration in the neighborhood. The kids decorated bikes, scooters and strollers and we all had a 4th of July parade. We enjoyed our burgers and fries and watched some of the fireworks from the neighbors. I’m not a fan of these fireworks and we never participated in it. Luckily our 2 adjacent neighbors were not in town and didn’t put up a “show”
The kids also attended summer camps. MBP had a basketball camp from our local high school. The girls basketball team were all there, teaching them. He also attended Camp Invention. It was a full day camp hosted by the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He already wants to go back. If we are local again next year, I will for sure sign them up. AHP will also be eligible for it.
We also went camping with our Campfire Friends. It was our first time camping with other families and I have to say, it is definitely the way to go. The kids just play amongst themselves. There were a couple of activities that were adult-led, like ice cream making and lantern making but for the most part, they just play together. We definitely need more camping trips next year.
The highlight of July is probably our Tee-ball community. Mr. MMD coached the boys team so we were in the field for 2.5 hours every Saturday. I thought it will be awful but I ended up having a lot of fun. Families were there enjoying the sunshine, and running with the kids through out. MBP’s team have quite a bit of kids from his school as well so we know the families there. I also saw some families from our old cooperative school.
And lastly, we completed our built in project! The playroom was officially open after 2 weeks. We even hired Stanley Steemer to cleaned the carpets in the room and in hallway. It turned out really well and I’m really proud of Mr. MMD to have completed this. I painted the entire built ins too, so it was a family project!
I really like staying local every summer. We also attended the weekly kids concerts, enjoy our lakes, playgrounds and trails.
Onwards to our spending — we spent $5,172 in July. I really don’t look at this too much anymore, until I write in here, so let’s take a look.
Categories
Sum of Amount
Electronics
1,313.99
Groceries
819.14
Home Improvement
741.95
Healthcare/Medical
449.90
General Merchandise
391.60
Home Maintenance
292.03
Utilities
280.79
Gym
250.52
Gasoline/Fuel
107.71
Dues & Subscriptions
102.65
HOA
84.00
Personal Care
76.90
Restaurants
70.43
Kids Activities
65.17
Mobile Phone
45.12
Travel
42.80
Clothing/Shoes
21.23
Hobbies
8.72
Internet
5.51
Online Services
2.01
Grand Total
5,172.17
Electronics – $1,313.99
We bought a 65 inch LG OLED TV. Mr. MMD did the research and I purchased it at Best Buy, stack up with some Rakuten savings. We usually get the latest electronics since we rarely buy it. Our current TV is 14 years old. This TV is for the built ins upstairs. Or family officially have 2 TVs
Groceries – $819.14
A little higher this month, probably because of some food for fourth of July and maybe inflation.
Home Improvement – $741.95
Some more items for our built ins. Quote for these type of built ins are over $10k in our area!
Healthcare / Medical – $449.9
This amount includes our monthly insurance for health, dental and eyecare (for me). I have some doctor visits this month and have to pay for some copays as well. This also includes lab copays.
General Merchandise – $391.6
Some items from Costco/Amazon/Walmart and basically anything else that I don’t bother categorizing.
Home Maintenance – $292.03
We hired Stanley Steemer to steam 2 rooms for $230. We also bought some vacuum bags for $62.03.
Utilities – $280.79
This amount is for our electric, gas, water and sewer.
Gym – $250.52
We signed up for YMCA this summer and have to pay for joining fee! We usually have this waive. Oh well! The kids were signed up for their swim lessons here which are included in their membership.
Gas – 107.71
We filled up three times. We usually drive more during the summer because of the kids’ activities.
Dues and Subscription – $102.65
A credit card fee that should be reimbursed next month and our prime membership.
HOA – $84
Additional cost of living here in our neighborhood. This should be paying for the trail maintenance.
Personal Care – $76.9
The kids had a summer hair cut. It was short for the swim lessons.
Restaurants – $70.43
We visited Jimmy Johns, Mod Pizza, Wendy’s and Menchie’s
Kids Activities – $65.17
I signed up MBP for some extra camps at the YMCA. MBP also bought his own Lego Sets. He paid for it but we haven’t deposited his payment yet.
Mobile Phone – $45.12
We have been using more than 1GB of data. Probably because we drove a bit in June and used Google Maps. This is still not bad for 2 lines.
Travel – $42.8
Mr. MMD and MBP watched the Storms Game. This is for the parking.
Clothing – $21.23
MBP’s fake Crocs from Target. He used it on camping.
Hobbies – $8.72
I bought the 1st A Court of Thorns and Roses. I got the other 4 books digitally from the library but not the 1st one. I just bought the first one so I can read the other 4. I finished all 5 books in 2 weeks.
Internet – $5.51
We are signed up for Internet Essential through Xfinity.
Online Services – $2.01
Cost of hosting this blog from Google Cloud Platform.
I’m not burying the lead here. I got sick which lasted all June and early July. The illness and the busyness of summer means that I didn’t get the chance to write. I spent a lot of my time in our bedroom or our couch last June. I’m thankful that I have an energy now and feel somewhat normal.
The month of May was spent getting back to our routine. It was the last full month of school for the kids. They also of course got some nasty virus, but they ended the month with just a little cold. My kindergartner had an art program in his school, run by the PTA and I volunteered for that. It was a great program. I’m really glad that our local school have a good PTA events.
We also went to birthday parties, and celebrated Mr. MMD’s birthday. The boys got him some sunglasses that we got from our neighborhood garage sale. For Mr. MMD’s birthday, we went to Chipotle, which is an upgrade from the previous year’s Taco Bell Celebration. We then top it off by going to Menchies for some frozen yogurt. Our May ended with a Spring Kindergarten concert and trip to the movies to watch Garfield with our Campfire friends. I finally used the Fandango gift certificate that my sister gave me last Christmas. Movie tickets prices are nuts these days.
I experienced some flu like symptoms early June and some fatigue, which lasted for almost a week, and then I experienced some joint pain and rashes. I went to urgent care twice this month and have seen a doctor twice. Apparently, I got the 5th disease. This is very common for kids and is consider a minor disease. AHP showed a slap cheek the day after I went to urgent care and his pediatrician diagnosed it based on my symptoms. I had multiple blood drawn because the doctors thought that it was some kind of auto immune disease. Good thing that my second blood test showed the 5th disease infection with my other inflammatory marker back to normal. I was still able to chaperone MBP’s class to his school field trip, attended a minor league baseball game for his school, planned and celebrated MBP’s 7th birthday party and attended both kids “graduation”. We have 1 more year of preschool for AHP and MBP will start 1st grade this September. Time is flying by so fast. Days are long but years is like a blink of an eye. I teared up on both graduation days. I’m definitely very thankful that we have the time to be with the kids day to day.
Just the day after the kids last day of school, my in-laws arrived for their yearly summer visits. They came while I’m sick so it was nice to have some help with the kids during the start of their Summer break. I was still able to go out with them and took the kids to some outings. There were visits to Chuck E Cheese, bowling, Super Jumps and neighborhood playgrounds. Our neighborhood had an annual Luau event and it was a good afternoon. We also went to the annual Rhubarb fest and had our annual Rhubarb Pie.
Mr. MMD and my father in-law also started on our built ins in the playroom. It was our most used room so I was worried that it will be out of commissioned for a long time. Mr. MMD worked really hard and it was built in just 2 weeks. We even had the carpets steamed. It was great and definitely more functional.
Onwards to our spending. We spent $13,288 for the month of May and June. Wowza! We had a surprisingly low expenses from the last 4 months of the year so it is not surprising that it is this high. We also had some annual expenses that happened during these months. So let’s take a look
Category
Amount
property tax
3,149.80
Home Improvement
1,605.23
Insurance
1,420.56
Groceries
1,393.35
Home Maintenance
1,076.60
Utilities
693.23
Education
677.00
Healthcare/Medical
667.73
General Merchandise
623.27
Kids Activities
403.96
Automotive
201.00
Charitable Giving
200.00
Entertainment
199.63
HOA
168.00
Gifts
164.22
Restaurants
163.57
Clothing/Shoes
124.30
Gasoline/Fuel
110.00
Pets/Pet Care
82.54
Travel
53.78
Mobile Phone
29.12
Internet
28.07
Alcohol
20.35
Business Miscellaneous
17.88
Dues & Subscriptions
15.30
Property Tax – $3,149.8
This is our first installment of our annual property tax for our house. Our state tax is based on the value of our home and it just so happen that we live in a HCOL area. We have the smallest and cheapest house in our block. Our second installment is due in October.
Home Improvement – $1,605.23
We bought 2 cabinets for our built ins and of course the materials and equipments to make it. There will be some more items this July as we finished the project.
Home Insurance – $1,420.56
This is for our annual home insurance. It just keeps on going up.
Groceries – $1,393
A typical groceries for 2 months. We also discovered an Indian grocery store and managed to get our spices cheaper. We typically order it from Amazon for twice the price. This is actually lower since my in-laws paid for our groceries when they were here. I don’t think twice on spendin
Home Maintenance – $1,076
We bought 2 appliances. Mr. MMD bought a Sebo Felix Vacuum from a local store and it cost us $769.6. We’ve been using our Dyson for more than 7 years now and it never does a great job on getting our dog’s hair. I can definitely noticed the difference using Sebo. It is pricey but hopefully should last us another 7 years. We also bought an air purifier from Costco. We had a year with some haze and smoke due to fire and we want to be more prepared for that in case it happen again this year.
Utilities – $360.98
These are for 2 months of water, sewer, electric and natural gas and 1 month of garbage. Our electric should be higher in the coming months as I switch our heat pump to cool. We’ve been using our A/C this time. I’m researching on steps to move to induction oven and hopefully get it converted before the year ends.
Education – $677
Two months of AHP’s preschool tuition. We have a break for the summer, but then, MBP are enrolled on camps, but those are on kids activities.
Healthcare/ Medical – $667
Our health insurance and co-payments. The big one is my allergy test that was not covered by insurance, followed by co payments from doctor visits and payment for some lab test. I’m hoping that we can get reimbursement from the lab payments as well.
General Merchandise – $623
Our catch all items coming from Amazon, Walmart and other items. It would be interesting to see the total amount we spent on these items by year ends.
Kids Activities – $403
Basketball camp for MBP and Tee-ball for both MBP and AHP. Mr. MMD is coaching their teams and it is so fun to watch, but also exhausting.
Automotive – $201
We got a ticket for speeding on a school zone. Apparently Mr. MMD is going over 20 MPH while the school zone light is flashing. The camera caught it and the city sent us a $200 bill. I didn’t bother contesting it. I paid online with a $1 fee to pay electronically.
Charitable Giving – $200
Entertainment – $199
Popcorn for movies. Mr. MMD also took MBP to watch the Storms Game. He also went to a woodworking workshop.
HOA – $168
2 months of our HOA bill.
Restaurants – $163
Wow — we actually ate out. This is for our dinner out at Chipotle for Mr. MMD’s birthday. He also met up with a friend in Seattle for brunch. I attended my first FI meetup as well. We also took the kids to Menchies, McDonalds and Wendys. We are loosening up on this spending. It’s good. We just discovered a good Indian restaurant close to us and I would definitely visit again.
Clothing/Shoes – $124
I bought some items from REI, but ended up returning it. I also got the boys some down jackets from eBay. Mr. MMD bought some new pants from GAP and I got MBP and AHP some clothes at Goodwill. MBP is getting into all kinds of sports and wanted some jerseys. I found a Golden State Warrior Jersey, a Washington football shirt for $3.99. I also got the boys some shirts for 4th of July.
Gas – $110
Four trips to Costco for gas.
Pets – $82.54
We got our furbaby her food from Chewy.
Travel – $53
I got AHP a Kindercone Sleeping bag from REI. I purchased a gift card from Raise to stack up some discounts.
Mobile Phone – $29
We are still using Xfinity Mobile.
Internet – $28
This is for 2 months of internet.
Alcohol – $20
Mr. MMD met up with a friend for drinks.
Dues and Subscription – $15
Two months of Amazon Prime.
Gifts – $164
We got $150 of Amazon Gift Card as gifts for the kids teachers. The rest are for birthday parties.
Misc – $17.88
Annual renewal of this domain and a $5 annual fee for a meet up group.
We had one of our worst months this year, health wise. I was overwhelmed and cried, but it also made me appreciate the good days and the life that we have. We are lucky and I’m grateful that I have the time to recover at home with my family.
We spent 9 days in Oahu for Spring Break. It was the longest flight that the kids have taken. I started planning this trip a year out. I booked the hotels, on points once I know that dates of the kids break. Being in Seattle, most families spends their break in Hawaii (or Mexico) and I know that it will be a high season. For this trip, we spent $2,483.30. It is low because our flights, hotel and car rental were all booked with points. Without these, we will probably need to add an additional $5k on that amount.
I am also officially retired again. I completed my second year, managing a Tax Site for VITA. It was a pretty good and a very relax gig. Our site was not as busy as my previous tax site, but I prefer that. I never felt “taxed” coming home. We had our end of year celebration at a local Mexican place. The food was better than I expected and the company was great as well. I hope that majority of my volunteers come back.
We also attended AHP’s friends birthday party. We are at a point that we are attending more of our kid’s friends birthday party than hanging out with our own friend. That said, it is nice to see some families at our previous coop. Lastly, MBP’s campfire troupe had a Pinewood Derby at our local park. He had a lot of fun decorating it and looking at the brackets. He narrated what’s going on for everyone.
This month, we spent $4,958.09. It’s about time that we spend more than $4k. Let’s take a look.
Description
Amount
Travel
1669.16
Healthcare/Medical
714.79
Groceries
488.48
Home Maintenance
382.55
Education
323
Pets/Pet Care
229.69
Utilities
210
Automotive
178.25
Clothing/Shoes
137.21
Gasoline/Fuel
118.77
Home Improvement
101.58
Kids Activities
97.3
HOA
84
General Merchandise
65.16
Gifts
55.53
Charitable Giving
41.3
Alcohol
17.55
Mobile Phone
17.2
Internet
13.92
Dues & Subscription
7.65
Service Charges/Fees
5
Total
4,958.09
Travel – $1,669.16
This is the amount of money we spent in Hawaii during our trip. We spent $444 for a valet parking in our hotel. I could have parked next door and spend half the price or even less, but I like the convenience. I drove around the block with the intention of parking on the next door garage, until I realize that it is not worth it. At least not to me. I prefer the convenience of having the car in front waiting for us once we are ready for the day’s adventure. Even with this cost it didn’t really break the bank. I also find myself “spending” and fighting my nature to be frugal on everything. We ate out for dinner on all nights except for one where we order in a pizza. I had the best poke bowl and the best ramen in front of Waikiki. Yes, those are expensive, but it is ok. We spent $40 on 1 coconut and 2 mangoes from a street vendor on our way from Kualoa Ranch. That is also ok. I actually prefer to spend my money giving it to the hands of locals. Oahu, just like any other cities in the US, are not immune to social issues even though they are living in a paradise. You can tell that there are parts that are pretty run down. If you look at Waikiki, I’d be willing to bet that majority of the people who own the condos were not locals. This means, that the money doesn’t really stay in the community. When you look at houses in Oahu, the school rankings around it are very low. I feel that Hawaii is a playground of folks living in the West Coast (mainly California) or Japan. The rest of our spending was for food, transportation, souvenirs and tips. I paid for our GoOahu Pass in the previous month, so it is not here.
Anyway, I’m already planning our trip back next year. This time in Maui. I’m getting better at getting more value on our points, but Maui will be trickier. There are less hotels in the island and I’m still not sure if they are back to normal after the devastating fire in 2023. If not Maui, perhaps Florida coast.
Healthcare/Medical – $714.89
We are still paying some bills from Mr. MMD’s colonoscopy that happened last year. The last bill was $498.8 We also paid our health insurance for $99.48, vision insurance for $5 and our dental insurance for $77.52. Our dental insurance is actually good through end of June. I bought another box of eyedrops from Costco for $20.25 and some gummy vitamins for the kids for $13.74.
Groceries – $488
This is low because our “grocery” spending in Oahu were categorized as travel related.
Home Maintenance – $382
We hired a plumber to fix our outside faucet so we can water our front yard. My hope is to xeriscape our front yard at some point. It is small, but I’m not sure if HOA will allow a no grass front lawn.
Education – $323
AHP’s preschool tuition. This will go up to $355 next year. I can’t believe it’s almost summer. One more year for him and he is off to Kindergarten.
Pets/Pet Care – $229.69
Our furbaby had vet visit for $145. We also ordered her food from Instacart (affiliate link). This is the second time that I ordered her food there. Petco has a same day delivery with in-store pricing for Instacart. They also usually run deals. I was able to stack it by buying a discounted GC at Raise (Affiliate link). I got $100 GC for $84.69.
Utilities – $210
Water, sewer and garbage. Nothing new here. Our electric and gas were paid in May.
Automotive – $178.25
Annual registration for our 2011 Toyota Prius.
Clothing / Shoes – $137
I got the boys a minimalist shoes from Amazon. AHP has a very wide feet and I’d like to keep their feet on a wide splayed shoes, zero drop shoes. I found one at Amazon that is reasonably priced and bought 2 for $72.9. I also got the 3 of us (boys and I) some flip flops from target to use in Hawaii. AHP ended up hating them and didn’t even wear it in Hawaii. I got them some toe socks as well, a biker shorts for me from Costco on sale at $10.98. Lastly, I paid $15 to consign the kids stuff at a consignment store. I think I’m getting $60 back. I’m not sure if it is worth it, since I have to tag all the items and put it in the system. That said, it is nice to finally get rid of all their stuff in one go. The Prius was packed! I can’t believe we accumulate those items, considering I’m very careful on things I buy, since I know that I need to store them somewhere!
Gasoline/ Fuel – $118.77
We gas up our Prius twice and our Jetta once.
Home Improvement – $116
Some stuff from Lowes and Costco. I think it is the soil for our garden bed.
Kids Activities – $97
4 tickets to the Tacoma Rainer’s game and painters tape from Home Depot.
HOA – $84
To pay for our playground and trails. I do hope someday it will go away.
General Merchandise – $59.61
Random stuff from Costco, Amazon and Walmart. Delta also broke a wheel on our Uppababy Vista. Luckily they reimbursed us for it. They are also very quick to respond. One wheel was $51.45. Mr. MMD also bought some games.
Gifts – $55.53
Gifts for MBP and AHP’s friends. I typically spend $20 per person for gifts. Sometimes less if I can find something interesting at the dollar store.
Charitable Giving – $41.30
MBP has another fundraiser at his school and he just need to get those key chains. We donated the minimum. I don’t mind the charity drive, but I don’t think it is teaching the kids that it is for a certain cause. MBP just want the key chains!
Alcohol – $17.55
For Mr. MMD. I do get wine from Trader Joe’s as well for my monthly book club.
Mobile Phone $17.2
We are still at Xfinity Mobile. This is for 2 lines using about 1gb of data.
Internet – $13.92
We should be getting lower internet package from Xfinity going forward.
Subscription – $7.65
Monthly Prime Membership
Fees – $5
Chase fee of $5 for the Savings Account that I opened to get the sign up bonus. I received $900 sign up bonus by opening both Chase Savings and Checking account and having my paycheck directly deposited to it. I closed it now and transferred the balance to a high yield CD. I still net positive even with the fees.
Overall spending for April is less than I expected considering we went to Hawaii.
We visited Kualoa Ranch twice during our trip to Oahu. The area was very beautiful, especially for a private ranch. The owner of the ranch used the funds of the tours to maintained the ranch as a sanctuary.
I picked 2 tours for our trip. Our first tour was the Grown Farm Tour in the morning. I used our Go City Pass to reserve our tour. First, you have to go to their website. The cost starts at $54.95 for adult and $41.83 for kids. Go City will give you a promo code which will bring the cost down to $0. The ranch charges $1 per person to reserve which are then refunded back to your credit card after the tour.
I received several emails confirming my reservations. They also asked me to send my Go City QR code the day before the tour to expedite the check in process.
The check in process was a breeze. I went in there and showed my ID and they printed out my ticket for our group. We got lucked out because there were only 2 other groups in the tour. It wasn’t long until we were in the trolley for our first of the three stop.
During our first stop, we saw some birds native to the islands, my favorite being the red crested cardinal. We also saw some native farming process for both plant and fish. During our stop we sampled some poi, smoked fish and pineapple. Our stop has a great view of the Kualoa Mountain Ranges.
Our next stop was all about the large man made fish pond that were maintained my the ranch. It was pointed out that several movies were shot there, like 50 first dates. I don’t recognize the rest. It was of course beautiful. During this stop, we get to sample a Macadamia Nut and we have to open it ourselves. It was my first time seeing a macadamia nut in a shell. Apparently, you need a special tool to open it. It was delicious and tasted very buttery.
Our last stop was to see more of the farm and also the place they shot Jurassic World. This ranch is actually very famous because of all the movies that were shot here, most famous is probably the original Jurassic Park. We sampled some cocoa and again it was my first time eating eat. It’s like eating rambutan because you don’t really eat the beans. MBP enjoyed it. I find it too slimy.
We then went back to the welcome area, just in time for lunch. Overall, I enjoyed this tour. The movie tour is so popular but this tour actually has some sites as well without the crowd. There were plenty of time for the kids to run around and chase the birds.
The next tour we took also in Kualoa Ranch is the Secret Island Tour. Since we are using our Go City Pass, we have to go on a different day. It works well for our schedule. We took a more scenic route to go to the ranch on our way. We also picked the best day because it rain just the day before that. The Secret Island Tour was probably my favorite activity that we did in Oahu. Similar to Grown Tour, I made a reservation in advance and was charged $4. The $4 was refunded on my credit card on the day of the tour. They asked us to checked in at 11AM as the bus will leave at 11:30. Similar to Grown Tour, I received an e-mail asking for my Go City Pass which I sent a day before. This must be a popular time because there was a line to checked in. Once I got my pass, we sat down on one of the benches to eat our pack lunch. We also changed to our swimsuits and put on our sunscreen.
The tour was running late and there were probably 60+ people. It was a bit crowded waiting in line. We took a bus to the pond and took a 10 minute boat ride to the island. The ride gave us a great view of the mountain. It was really cool. Once we got there, a guide showed us the bathroom, changing room and told us the do’s and dont’s — really common sense for everyone. We also signed up for a boat tour to see some turtles. Once we got there, the kids went to the ocean right away. There were plenty of sand toys for the kids. There were also plenty of shelter, volleyball court, horse shoe, ping pong table and corn hole. MBP played it all except for the horse shoe. When it was time to board the boat, we saw a spectacular view and about 10 or so turtles. They’re like showing off! It was really cool. Back on the beach, Mr. MMD and I also tried stand up paddle boarding and we took the kids on a kayak ride. We didn’t go far, but it was really cool to get to do all these water activities. MBP also watched some family play beach volleyball. He apparently kept score for them. We stayed there until 3PM and were the last one to board the boat back.
As I said, this was probably my favorite activity. The beach was calm and the island gave us plenty of opportunities to do some water activities. It also never felt crowded.
Overall, I definitely recommend visiting Kualoa Ranch. I can’t speak for their other tours but I enjoyed the Grown Farm Tour and the Secret Island Tour.
We visited Oahu for the kids’ Spring Break Vacation. We stayed in Waikiki for 9 days as our “home base” but we drove around the island during half of our stay. For this trip, I purchased a Go City Oahu 3 day “All Inclusive” pass. I bought 2 adult and 2 child tickets.
While planning our trip to Oahu, I know there are certain things I want to do with the kids like the Luau, Polynesian Culture Center (PCC) and a visit to Kualoa Ranch. Individual prices cost more than the Go City Pass as you will see below.
How does Go City Pass Work?
There are two types of Go City Pass. An Explorer Pass and All Inclusive Pass. The Explorer Pass let you choose the number of attractions to visit for a set amount. Once you visit your first attraction, you have 60 days to use it. This make sense if you have a specific attraction to visit in mind. The All Inclusive Pass let you visit all the attractions that Go City partnered with for a set number of days. You can pick from 1, 3, 5 or 7 days. Once you visit your first attraction, your pass is “activated”. You then have 14 days to use the pass before it expires.
All Inclusive Pass Itinerary in Oahu
We purchased 3 days All Inclusive Pass for our vacation. This all inclusive pass includes a “Premier Attraction” which is only available for all inclusive option. Our itinerary looked like these.
Day 1 – Travel Day
Day 2 – We used our Go City Pass to visit Kualoa Ranch. We did an early Grown Farm Tour. In the afternoon we visited the Polynesian Culture Center
Cost of Individual Tickets for 2 adults and 2 kids: $551.72
Go Pass Tickets: $814.14
Day 3 – Beach Day in Waikiki
Day 4 – We took a Catamaran Tour in the morning and a Luau in the evening
Cost of Individual Tickets for 2 adults and 2 kids: $982
Go Pass Tickets: $0
Day 5: Beach Day in Ko’Olina
Day 6: Secret Island Tour in Kualoa Ranch
Cost of Individual Tickets for 2 adults and 2 kids: $198.74
Go Pass Tickets: $0
Day 7 and Day 8 – Beach Day and a stroll in Waikiki
Day 9 – Travel Day
The total cost for individual tickets were $1,732.46 while the Go City passes were $814.14. Our savings were $918.32.
We could have save more by visiting more attractions, but with 2 kids, we like to lay low and stick to a couple of attractions per day.
The Go City Pass is vary easy to use. Go City Pass will ask you to download the app and redeem your tickets. Once redeemed, it will show your QR Codes. I took a screenshot of the QR code and saved it on my photo so it is easy for me to find. Once activated, it will also show you the expiration date. The expiration date is the 14th day once you activated your pass.
Go City Typically have sales going on ALL THE TIME. During the time I bought my pass, Undercover Tourist is the cheapest. You can also check out Groupon because they sell it as well.
Overall, I recommend using Go City. You have to plan ahead, but it can be totally worth it with some big savings in the end!
March brought us the start of spring. These are the days that makes it worth it to live here in the Pacific Northwest. We might endure the long and gloomy days but the gorgeous days like the ones we have in March totally make up for it. We have more appreciation of nice weather and we were outside as much as we can utilizing our neighborhood playgrounds.
This month, MBP was invited to a birthday party with his friends at an arcade/bowling place. The kids got some cards to play with the arcade for a couple of hours, pizza and cake. We also went to a local high school for “Easter Egg”. The kids saw the Easter Bunny and some princesses.
This month, we spent $3,912.8. Another month under $4k, which is good. Let’s take a look.
Description
Amount
Groceries
823.92
Healthcare/Medical
538.63
Automotive
447
Education
323
Utilities
306.99
Kids Activities
293.34
Home Improvement
289.14
General Merchandise
203.52
Charitable Giving
200
Alcohol
110.3
Dues & Subscriptions
104.21
HOA
84
Restaurants
69.68
Clothing/Shoes
33
Gasoline/Fuel
26.58
Gifts
20.13
Mobile Phone
17.2
Pets/Pet Care
14.16
Travel
8
Total
3912.8
Groceries – $823.92
Our grocery spending in February was low, so this probably average out with 2 months. We didn’t buy anything out of ordinary this month. We still shop at WINCO and Costco and hardly price compare.
Healthcare/Medical – 538.63
Mr. MMD got a new retainer. This is specifically fit him by his dentist. It cost $450. He also paid $50 deductible for his last dental cleaning. I paid $5 for my vision insurance and $33.63 for some lab exams. We paid our health insurance through a gift card by having enough rewards from preventative care. Our dental insurance was paid February.
Automotive – $447
I switched from Geico to Progressive. The last bill from Geico was $673.37 for the same policy. We saved over $200 by getting other quotes. I thought about getting our insurance from Lemonade which charge you a “per mile” insurance. We might go camping this summer and might drive more. I ended up signing up for Progressive. The bill is the 6 month insurance for our 2011 Toyota Prius and 2011 Volkswagen Jetta. We only have liability and personal injury protection.
Education – $323
AHP’s preschool tuition. He goes 5 days a week for 3 hours.
Utilities – $306
Our electric and gas were $181.72. This should go down as the weather warms up. Our sewer is flat at $69.41 and water bill was $55.86.
Kids Activities – $293
I signed up MBP for a summer camp for a week this coming summer. We like to stay local to enjoy the glorious weather here in the Pacific Northwest, but it will be good for him to go to some camp at least for a week. I also got some stuff for easter from the dollar store for $19.16. We got the kiddos some items from the Scholastic Book Fair for $13 and lastly, we got MBP’s class some items requested by his teacher for $11.18.
Home Improvement – $289
Some more items for the yard, some wood for another planter and some plants from Costco.
General Merchandise – $203.52
Catch all from Costco and Amazon. These are items like toilet paper, paper towels, new pan or anything that we don’t want to categorize.
Charitable Giving – $200
Church offering for March. Both MBP and AHP joined me to church on some Sundays. They get a choice if they want to go. Sometimes they do, but sometimes they don’t.
Alcohol – $110
A wine for my book club and Mr. MMD’s liquor and beer from Costco.
Dues and Subscription – $104.21
I signed up for a year of ad-free HBO max. They are having a sale and I was able to avail a $25 statement credit from Chase. Total for the year were $89.96. Our Amazon prime were $7.65. I also paid for a month of Paramount Plus. I forgot to cancelled my free subscription.
HOA – $84
Our HOA fee to maintain the 20+ miles of trails and numerous playgrounds in our neighborhood. I’m still not a fan of HOA, but we uses the trail almost every day to go to school. We also definitely enjoy the playgrounds.
Restaurants – $69
We went to our local Diner after the easter egg hunt. The kiddos also visited the same place for some milkshakes on one sunny Saturday. Included here as well were MBP’s hot lunches for school. We started letting him having hot lunches from school once a month. I put in $11.25 on his account. This is about 3 lunches.
Clothing – $33
I got MBP new shoes from REI, which we might return. I’m still not sure.
Gas – $26.58
One tank of gas for our Prius.
Gifts – $20.13
A gift for MBP’s friend for his birthday.
Mobile Phone – $17.2
A gig of data for 2 lines from Xfinity Mobile. I just received an e-mail that this will increase soon.
Pets – $14.16
Our furbaby’s compostable poop bag.
Travel – $8
Deposit for our Catamaran Tour and Kualoa Ranch Tour for our trip to Hawaii.
Another month had passed and we are slowly starting to get out of the gloomy season. This month, we celebrated Valentine’s Day, AHP’s 4th Birthday and MBP’s first time selling Campfire Candies.
Valentine’s Day is a big day at the kid’s school. This day is basically all about them now, with all the hearts, sweets and classroom celebration. The boys handed out some Valentine’s Day cards for their classmates. I printed out some Valentines Day Cards at home glue it on a construction paper. AHP wrote his name and MBP addressed 24 cards for his classmates. I have to bribe AHP to write his name and hold the maker correctly. There were some tears involve doing his cards. The boys got a ton of kisses from Christmas. I taped one per card. The kids came back home with more sweets and they are not even done with their Christmas Candy.
The next day was AHP’s 4th birthday. He was so excited! We brought some donuts to his school per his request and had a celebration at home that weekend. I went to the dollar store and got him some balloons and a couple of truck for his birthday gift. The balloon was such a hit! I have to keep reminding them to take turns. It was a solid effort for them. The boys helped me make some cupcakes for the weekend celebration. MBP got a new marble run, some more cars and $$$.
We also got busy with the annual fundraising for Campfire. MBP sold some candies. He sold quite a bit of boxes at the grocery store. We also went door to door here in our neighborhood. His goal was to sell 45 boxes of candy and he ended up selling 125. He was very upbeat in the grocery store and wasn’t bother with some rejects. He had fun, but I’m glad its over.
We also had a long weekend to celebrate the Presidents Day and I continued preparing taxes for VITA. I also completed ours and my brother’s tax returns. We got another refund this year, mainly because of the energy rebate for our heat pump.
Our spending is the lowest at $1,957.64. I’m pretty sure that the last time we spent under $2k was during the pandemic. I’m just seeing this now too, so let’s take a look at our spending.
Desrcription
Amount
Groceries
550.76
Utilities
346.92
Education
323
Kids Activities
157.33
Home Improvement
93.38
General Merchandise
86.86
HOA
84
Gasoline/Fuel
70.14
Clothing/Shoes
68.98
Healthcare/Medical
64.01
Restaurants
45.71
Internet
26.44
Mobile Phone
17.2
Dues & Subscriptions
7.65
Gifts
6.02
Hobbies
5.24
Travel
4
Total
1957.64
Groceries – $550.76
It’s low, probably because there’s less days in February. Nothing unusual here aside from the Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies. I bought 3 boxes from the girls that knock on our door. Cookies are now $6 per box, just like our Campfire candies.
Utilities – $346.92
Our electric and gas was $142.14. It was a bit higher because it was cold. Our garbage was $81.24. Sewer is flat at $69.41 and our water bill was $54.13
Education – $323
Monthly preschool tuition for AHP.
Kids Activities – $157.33
We donated $100 for MBP’s Readathon. We also got some campfire candies ourselves. I got MBP a tennis racket and 18 tennis balls from Walmart all for $27.33. We went to our local high school tennis courts and the boys tried to hit some balls.
Home Improvement – $93.38
I got a dozen of solar path lights from Costco. Turned out that I don’t like it, so this will get return in March. Mr. MMD got some stuff from Lowe’s
General Merchandise – $86.86
These are catch all which includes Amazon orders, household supplies from Costco like toilet paper, paper towel, etc. I don’t really track this too much.
HOA – $84
Flat fee per month that will most likely increase next year. We do enjoy the trails and playground.
Gasoline / Fuel – $70.14
We filled up twice, one for Jetta and one for Prius
Clothing – 68.98
Mr. MMD ordered a bunch of shirts.
Healthcare/ Medical – $64.01
Dental insurance was $38.76 and my vision insurance was $5. I also got some preservative free eye drop from Costco. It was on sale and cost $20.25 for 100 vials. This should last me for at least 3 months.
Restaurants – $45.71
We went to McDonald’s once after MBP completed his Campfire Candy Sale. The donuts for AHP’s birthday were $27.41
Internet – $26.44
Xfinity has been charging me for an equipment rental. This should be lower next month.
Mobile Phone – $17.20
We are still on the same plan at Xfinity. This is for 2 lines using under 1GB per month.
Dues and Subscription – $7.65
This is for Amazon Prime. We get the most use of this through music using Alexa.
Gifts – $6.02
Dollar tree gifts for AHP.
Hobbies – $5.24
I bought the Kindle version of Fourth Wing. I found this book through the book club and got a bit obsessed with it. I probably read this book more than three times by now. I also read the 2nd book, Iron Flame. I got the book from the library.
Travel – $4
Deposit at Kualoa Ranch for our tour this upcoming Spring Break.
February has been good so far and I’m looking forward to Spring! How’s your month?
First month of the 2024 felt very long and short at the same time. We had a low key New Years Eve Celebration. Our local library had a Happy Noon Year celebration. The kids did a countdown and had some bubbly drink. It was surprisingly nice that day so we also visited our local playground. For the actual New Year’s countdown, we watched the London countdown on You Tube so AHP can see it before his bed time. We also watched the New Years countdown for MBP. For dinner, we had burgers and tots. The grown ups were also in bed before midnight. It was glorious. It is actually hard to think that I used to go out on parties for New Years pre kids.
The kids went back to school and I welcomed our daily walk routine. MBP now built a stamina to walk back from school. The hill was hard to begin with, but we took it slow and I’m glad that I don’t have to push the stroller from school.
I also turned 38 this month. I celebrated it with my family with a cake and a special dish request from my parents. Mr. MMD, MBP, AHP and I also went to Red Robbins for dinner. I got my free dinner. I also purchased a discounted GC from Raise right before we went. The total of our dinner out was about $10.
Tax season also started and I’m officially employed. I managed a tax site, preparing taxes for low income people. January was still slow, so I never worked more than 10 hours a week. The site is open 2 days a week for 4 hours. I’d say that it really is a great part time work for me.
So for January 2024, we spent $3,652. It’s been a while since we spent less than $4,000 and I was actually surprise. Let’s take a look at our spending.
DESCRIPTION
AMOUNT
Travel
901.32
Groceries
684.59
Utilities
417.14
Education
323
Healthcare/Medical
202.39
Home Improvement
202.21
Gasoline/Fuel
121.68
General Merchandise
138.22
Dues & Subscriptions
102.65
GIFT
100
Personal Care
91.19
HOA
84
Pets/Pet Care
77.32
Mobile Phone
53.2
Restaurants
49.52
Clothing/Shoes
46.64
Internet
22.87
Gym
22
Kids Activities
12.97
TOTAL
3652.91
Travel – $901
I bought four, 3 days All Inclusive Go City Pass for our Spring break trip in Oahu. The 2 adults and 2 kids price is $814.14. I bought the tickets at Undercovertourist.com and got some cash back from Rakuten. I priced out the single tickets for the attractions that we visited and we will save more than $1k by paying for the Go City Pass. Mr. MMD also got a TSA Pre check for $78. I finally had my Global Entry Interview. I paid $8 for the airport parking. Lastly, I booked our car for our Oahu trip. I used point but paid $$1.18 using my Chase Sapphire, to ensure that I get the insurance. Our trip to Oahu is set. Our airfare and hotels were all booked using points and cost us $0. I’m looking forward to this trip.
Groceries – $684
Our groceries were typical. We buy our food at WINCO and Costco. Lately, we’ve been buying some items at Walmart. I also bought a dozen spaghetti, a dozen spaghetti sauce, a couple of our wedding wine and some flowers at Trader Joes. My tax training was in Seattle, close to Trader Joes and I took the opportunity to stock up.
Utilities – $417
We had some really cold days and our electric and gas bill showed this with a spending of $214.89. Our trash bill was $81.24. Sewer was $66.46 and our water bill was $54.55.
Education – $323
This is MBP’s monthly preschool tuition expense.
Healthcare – $202
I visited an optometrist twice last January and paid $80. This is an in-network optometrist. I’m still trying to find the root cause of my sudden dry eye and unfortunately it is still on-going. I paid $38.76 for our dental insurance, $51.25 for various co-pay for lab exams. My prescription eye drop was $10. I also paid $17.38 for OTC eye drops for my dry eye. Lastly, I paid $5 for my eye insurance.
Home Improvement – $202
We installed bidets for our 2 other bathrooms. We only had it in our master bedroom, but decided that we really liked it and want to have all the toilets to have a bidet. The bidets were ordered from Tushy. I just have to write the name of the company because I think it’s genius.
Mr. MMD also have to go to Lowes to insulate our gas pipe outside. Houses in Pacific Northwest were not build for real winter condition. The weather has been changing and we are now experiencing REAL winter. The pipe froze and our furnace stopped working. Mr. MMD was able to diagnosed and fixed it. I hope that this doesn’t happen again for the rest of the winter.
General Merchandise – $138
Various items that I don’t even bother to categorize. This is the catch all.
Gas – $121
I’ve been driving more becasue of work and training so this is for the gas of 2 cars.
Dues and Subscription – $102
My Chase Sapphire Credit Card Annual Fee was $95. This card is a keeper. We also paid $7.65 for Amazon Prime.
Gifts – $100
This was a Christmas gift for my sister. She didn’t cash the check since January.
Personal Care – $91
Mr. MMD bought a bar for our garage gym and it cost $65.69. I’ve been using it as well for strength training. I also got a haircut and paid $25.5.
HOA – $84
This keeps on going up, but hey, we have a really nice trail and playgrounds.
Pets/ Petcare – $77.32
Our fur baby’s food from Chewy.
Mobile Phone – $53
We used more than 1gb of data in December.
Restaurants $49.52
Mr. MMD met up with his buddy in Seattle for dinner and Kracken Game. I purchase $50 Red Robbins GC at Raise for $15.14. I still have $9 left on the GC.
Clothing – $46
Some clothing for me, Mr. MMD and MBP.
Internet – $22
This should actually be lower since I found out that Xfinity was erroneously charging me for an equipment fee.
Gym – $22
Mr. MMD went to a pick up hockey game.
Kids Activities – $12.97
MBP’s school had a bingo party and asked for canned pet food as a donation. These are the pet foods. The event was actually pretty cool. We had chips, pizza and water. MBP won a book and was so excited when he got a Bingo!
We wrap up 2023 with some traditional and low key celebrations here at home. Although it is enticing to go elsewhere and escape the gloomy weather, we prefer to stay home and have our annual traditions, celebrating Christmas here with our family.
The month didn’t necessarily start well. I experienced another bout of pink eye. I was quarantined for almost a week in the room to prevent the kids from getting it. Luckily none of my family members got it. Just after that, Mr. MMD were out of commissioned for almost a week with some cough and chills. At first, I thought it was COVID, but luckily it wasn’t. It still didn’t feel good.
The kids, luckily didn’t get anything aside from some snot and mild cough. At home, they opened their lego Advent calendar and we light up our Menorah for the Chanukah. We put up the Christmas tree, played dreidel and listened to a lot of Holiday Favorites through Alexa. During the start of the break, we drove north and saw the Snowflake Lane in Bellevue. Similar to last year, we made a day out of it and went to Children’s Museum. This year, we also went to a toy store and the boys got something from us. Usually, we eat out at Cheesecake factory, but since this is the first day of the break, it seems that half of Seattle thought the same. We ended up eating an overpriced Greek food inside the mall. AHP was disappointed because he LOVE cheesecake, but luckily he was ok with it. We also got them an overpriced light up balloon, which broke the next day. Now, they know that we will no longer be buying those things next time. I also know to make a reservation at Cheesecake factory next year.
Aside from Holiday festivities, I also attended my book club and started tax training for the upcoming tax season. Similar to last year, I will be managing a tax site and prepare taxes for low income folks. I’ll only be working for 4 hours, 2 days a week. I usually clock in more hours and try to help out during busy times. It was a very rewarding experience. It’s not something that I do for a paycheck, but I do cash it.
For this month I will write about our total expenses for the year, instead of our monthly expenses. I’m still getting used to Empower to track our expenses. I’m not sure if I like it, but I’m giving it a try. For this annual expense, I used Mint, probably for one last time.
In total, we spent $81,511.22. We spent 9% more or $7,582.69 more than 2022. I want to say that we loosen up on spending this year, but this is probably more normal. There were one time expenses, like putting up a heat pump but you can say that every year. Our house is 10 years old. I expect that we will need to replace some appliances starting next year. We also spent more on travel this year. We went on Alaskan Cruise and visited almost every theme park in Southern California. This is a lot different than our camping trips in 2022 and significantly more expensive. We also live in a state with high cost of living. Even day to day expenses are just more expensive in general.
Alright, so where did our money went and how did it compare to last year?
CATEGORY
2022 Spending
2023 Spending
Difference
% Difference
Home
$2,126.21
$21,143.00
$19,016.79
894%
Food & Dining
$10,483.75
$11,350.11
$866.36
8%
Travel
$2,405.73
$6,809.96
$4,404.23
183%
Gifts & Donations
$6,114.80
$6,623.83
$509.03
8%
Taxes
$27,224.42
$6,231.80
($20,992.62)
-77%
Health & Fitness
$4,743.79
$6,058.13
$1,314.34
28%
Kids
$5,317.24
$5,851.43
$534.19
10%
Auto & Transport
$3,527.41
$5,323.57
$1,796.16
51%
Bills & Utilities
$4,333.60
$4,163.80
($169.80)
-4%
Shopping
$3,102.42
$3,581.79
$479.37
15%
Pets
$1,620.28
$2,775.09
$1,154.81
71%
Fees & Charges
$954.74
$476.73
($478.01)
-50%
Business Services
$40.56
$444.15
$403.59
995%
Personal Care
$468.92
$399.55
($69.37)
-15%
Entertainment
$1,464.66
$278.28
($1,186.38)
-81%
Total
$73,928.53
$81,511.22
$7,582.69
Home – $21,143
This is the highest category of our spending this year, up by $19,016.79 from last year, an 894% increase. This year, we installed a new heat pump, added a shed in our backyard and bought a new couch, a new latex mattress and a new queen size bed. All of it definitely add up. That said, we also use all of it on a day to day basis. There were some small items we bought this year like 2 apple trees and 3 blueberry bushes. The rest are annual items like home insurance and HOA dues.
Food & Dining – $11,350.11
This is $866.36 increased from last year or 8%. This is not bad, especially since this includes food and dining while we travel. Groceries clocked in at $8,857.27 for the year. We ate out more as well with $1,715.8 spent at restaurants and $541.46 at fast foods. Coffee shops were only $84.52.
Travel – $6,809.96
We spent more on travel this year with an increase of $4,404.23 or 183% increase from last year. Our travel is a little different this year. We went on Alaskan Cruise, which is not the cheapest. We also went to San Diego and visited a ton of theme parks and went back to Disneyland in the beginning of the year. I actually prefer this type of long vacations instead of 2-3 nights camping trips.
Gifts and Donation – $6,623.83
This also increased by $509.03 or a 9% increase from last year. $5k were our annual gifts to my parents and the rest are donations / gifts for Christmas. I do feel more generous this year. We are pretty fortunate, so it is good to share it.
Taxes – $6,231.8
At least our taxes decrease significantly by $20,992.62. We only paid for property taxes. In fact, we received a refund on our 2022 taxes.
Health and Fitness – $6,058.13
Our health and fitness spending increased by $1,314.34 or a 28% increase. I spent $1,183.2 on Eye care. I had a couple of bouts on pink eye last year, which leads to dry eye symptoms. I’m glad it was caught early, but I had a hard time finding an in-network eye doctor. Fortunately, I found one this year, and I’m hopeful that this eye issue will be fix. We were also a member of YMCA for about 9 months last year and spent $1,052.92 this year. We no longer have this membership, but will most likely return during the summer to sign up the boys for swim lessons. Our health insurance were $884.22 for the year. We signed up for a gold plan with a monthly premium of $99.58. We received some “rewards” by getting our annual exam and having some preventative care. We used those rewards to pay for some month’s premium. We just got more rewards which will pay for at least 3 months worth of premium this year. Mr. MMD went back to play hockey. We also have some various doctor payments from various visits with a total of $874.88. We paid more on prescription this year, with the biggest one being my eye drop for my dry eye syndrome. I am hopeful that this will go down eventually with our spending mostly focus on preventative items.
Kids – $5,851.46
This also increased by $1,314.34 or 10%. The biggest one is preschool expenses which is $3,056. We bought a fancy chair for AHP and a fancy bike for MBP. The rest are random items. This is pretty minimal. It might go down once AHP is in Kindergarten, but might also increase since they might be interested on more activities.
Auto and Transport – $5,323.57
We spent 51% more or $1,796.16 this year on our cars. Our 2 cars needed some service this year. The Jetta’s parking break got stuck while the Prius A/C needed some repair. Our 2011 Prius might also need some service this year as it reach 120k miles. This is our everyday car. I’m hoping that we can get another 5 years with this car before we need to get a replacement.
Bills and Utilities – $4,163.8
I’m surprised that this decreased by $169.8. A decrease of 4%. We installed Google Nest this year and a heat pump, so perhaps we are more efficient.
Shopping – $3,581.79
This increased by 15% or $479.37 more from last year. This is just various shopping items, include clothings and electronics.
Pets – $2,775.09
We spent $1,154.81, a 71% increase from last year. Our fur baby had her teeth cleaned and had tooth extract, which is basically the reason of the increase.
Fees and Charges – $476.73
This decreased by $478.01, a 50% decreased. We closed a couple of credit cards with annual fee. We are still earning points. Our flights and hotels in Hawaii for this spring break are all paid by points. I just keep earning, so we should have enough for more trips.
Business Services – $444.15
I spent $403.59 more this year because it is a renewal year for my CPA certification. I also pay for a CPE subscription to get my CPE hours.
Personal Care – $399.55
Some toiletries and haircut.
Entertainment – $278.28
Some games, movies, our state park passes, etc.
We spent more, overall, but nothing extravagant. Unfortunately, I had some eye issue that I’m still dealing with and our healthcare expense seems to be increasing over time. Perhaps, this is a good preview as we age. I’m hopeful that with the right lifestyle, this spending doesn’t increase over time.
We are coming on our 5th year of retirement. I no longer think about going back to work full time. I like the slow paced lifestyle. I still struggle with the gloomy weather and we still haven’t find a community here. COVID of course didn’t help as everyone stay in. I am just now meeting more people through the kid’s school and my book club.
Happy New Year! Here’s to hoping for a great 2024, better health, finding real friends and new experiences.