April was still a pretty good month, despite some unexpected expenses.

Housing - $677
Entertainment - $216
Utilities - $138
Fares/Parking - $126
Groceries - $114
Eating Out - $67
Gas - $63
Fees/Services - $59
Phone - $50
Gifts/Charity - $38
Vacation/Travel - $36
Medical/Health - $32
Personal - $17
Household Supplies - $16
Vet/Pet Supplies - $15
Laundry - $14

Grand Total - $1678

I spent 88% of my post-retirement variables budget. That includes a renewal of Ancestry.com subscription, a parking ticket, a late fee, a weekend trip to Michigan, and a weekend guest. So yay me!

The workshop on Friday was fantastic -- too bad I'm retiring so I can't use all that wonderful knowledge! In financial terms, I had a free breakfast and lunch, and, essentially, a free dinner, since I was so full I didn't eat that night. I did not have to pay for parking after all; the board covered it.

We went out for a happy hour afterwards, and I did spend $14. (On one drink!) A good time, though.

On Saturday I did two loads of laundry ($3) and spent $37 on groceries. (Bread, tuna, tortillas, eggs, cheese, frozen veggies, frozen yogurt, wine, ground beef, sourdough loaf) The tuna was free because of a coupon I won. My overall savings was $6.01, or 14%.

After I went to my grandson's little league game, I stopped at PetSmart and bought fish food and kitty litter for $14.

My menu for the week:

Beef tacos (probably twice)
Cheese quesadillas
Tuna/egg salad sandwich (probably twice)
Omelet
Grilled cheese sandwich

I got a $7 refund for transit cost and an email saying they are holding $192 for future reimbursements. I think that means I will only get $100 more returned to me, since I will have only two more paydays, and they only put $50 a month into the account. Oh well. I didn't put enough in the account, but at least I know there won't be money unspent. (This is flexible spending money.)

I drove today, in order to do some post office business. I'm mailing two packages. I'm also mailing some dog tags I found on the street to the owner. (Well, not to the dog!) They had their phone number on the tags, so I called them and they gave me their address. I would just take them over if they lived in my neighborhood, but they live in the city.

Lots of entertainment plans in the works -- not only do I have the Ravinia tickets, but a friend wants me to go to a musical based on Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility (with the promise of reduced tickets) and there is a free museum day in my work town in the middle of the month. The grandkids might like it, since it also involves a trolley ride!

And I have to brag a little on my productivity in the kitchen this weekend. I bought 3 lbs. of ground beef and made one pound into taco meat, cooked one pound and froze it, and froze the other pound as patties. Next week I'll have hamburgers and sloppy joes on the menu! Then I made Ranch dressing and poppyseed dressing from scratch, a batch of granola, and two loaves of applesauce cinnamon bread! I froze one whole, and froze the other as individual slices.

Boy did I generate a lot of dishes! Filled the dishwasher three times, which is unusual.