Friday, April 15, 2011
My husband always files our tax returns early, so we actually received our state refund this week. We also received a $5.00 rebate on a kitchen mopping device I bought several months ago, and two paychecks: the full-time check on Wednesday and today’s part-time paycheck. We actually have money left over after paying bills this pay-period. Well, not actually, but I’ll explain that later. Here’s the breakdown:
Starting balance: $23.15
Income: $1885.74 full-time paycheck
350.00 state tax refund
5.00 rebate
169.53 part-time paycheck
Total: $2433.42
Expenses: $200.00 Home Equity payment
200.00 Gecaf (oven payment)
11.42 cable TV
203.00 life insurance (quarterly)
275.00 church donation
70.37 annual tax on car
In addition to the bills above, we spent $9.99 on a haircut for Mr. Struggle and $100 on out-of-town travel for a meeting he attended, which will be reimbursed later. He picked up his shirts from the laundry, $9.60, and topped off the gas in his car before driving to the airport: $20.83. I bought a few groceries for $35.59, which included some candy for Easter baskets, and a small gift to tuck inside one of the kid’s baskets, for $10.76. Also, Mr. Struggle and I pocketed $20 each for incidentals. This leaves a nice, healthy balance of $1246.86, but unfortunately, it is time for my confession………
I mentioned previously that we are traveling next month to attend the out-of-state graduation ceremony of our oldest daughter. Last week, after finding airline prices had fallen and gasoline prices had climbed yet again, we broke down and bought airline tickets. And yes, we put them on the Visa card that we had just paid off. (Old habits are hard to change, I guess!) I also had to use the Visa to recharge Struggle, Jr.’s campus meal card, so he could eat for the rest of the year. I only put $50 on it, but may need to supplement with some cash before the semester is over. Point being, nearly half of the surplus in the checking account is already spent, and the rest will be as soon as I book a hotel room. At least we have the cash to pay for it all this time; that’s a big change for us. I’m just waiting for the Visa bill to arrive so I can pay it off. In the meantime, I’ll move most of the cash ($1000) to our savings account, leaving enough for some groceries next week, when the kids will be home for Easter, and some to buy gasoline for my car, which is almost empty.
It’s hard to calculate the cost differential between flying and driving when you don’t know what the price of gasoline will be in the future, but it looked like the price of flying would be only $100-$125 more than driving. Our daughter has a car, so we won’t need to rent one when we arrive. We decided it would be well worth the extra money to avoid the ten hour drive each way, not to mention avoiding the wear and tear on our older cars. I think we made a good decision, although I have to admit I’m a bit nervous about flying. I haven’t flown in over ten years, but the logical side of me knows it’s actually safer than driving. I have to admit safety was a factor in our decision also, given our high medical insurance deductible.
Are you planning to fly more this year?
No comments:
Post a Comment