I will not spend anything today, so I did my January recap. I ended up spending 99% of my variables budget. I went to the grocery store yesterday and spent $21. Two reasons: my grandson called me yesterday and I ended up inviting the whole family over for hamburgers today -- and while I was at the store getting buns and cheese and sherbet, I decided to get dry cat food and kitty litter in preparation for my trip. I also had neglected to log a restaurant meal in my variables budget, so all that pushed the total up to 99%. Still didn't go over!

So here's the recap:

Housing: $677
Care Repair/Maintenance: $612
Insurance: $304
Groceries: $211
Vacation/Travel: $179
Utilities: $143
Vet/Pet Supplies: $81
Gifts/Charity: $59
Eating Out: $48
Medical/Health: $32
Furnishings/Equipment/Décor: $28
Household Supplies: $27
Entertainment: $22
Personal: $22
Laundry: $17
Clothing: $8
Fares/Parking: $2
Grand Total: $2587

Not the great beginning I was hoping for, but there's nothing you can do about a car repair, which is the real wild card. And groceries -- twice my usual! Got to reign in there. Pet supplies should be low next month, as I am pretty stocked up.

I made the order to OTC Essentials yesterday. I "spent" $49 (free to me) on a Colace generic, a Zyrtec generic, mucus relief tablets, and 2 packages of medicated corn removers. I am really delighted that I will have $150 more to spend this year on OTC items. I'm so glad I cleared out my medicine cabinet recently! I really knew exactly what I needed.

On Tuesday I leave for my trip. I am driving to my friend's house in Indiana, and I will fly out of Indianapolis, so that I can use Allegiant Airlines, which flies so cheaply into Florida. But there will be some gas cost. I hope that I can park somewhere free near my friend's house. She will drive me to the airport.

My cousin will be able to pick me up at the airport. Apparently she is driving again, because she is taking her dogs to the groomer, who is near the airport. So I don't have to worry about ground transportation there. My cousin will foot the bill for food. In return, I will do all the shopping and running. We won't do much besides hang out.

I hope my son will be able to come over the weekend. We will celebrate his birthday. He has already asked for money to put toward a tablet, so I'll write him a check. I'm going to put a $50 limit on birthday gifts this year, so I won't be too much help in that regard, but he will understand. And he has lots of rich relatives (not mine!) who will help out.

I had a terrible night's sleep last night, and Iggy didn't help a bit, with his big mouth. I will probably be dragging today when the kids come over, but I'm still looking forward to it!

Today's menu:

Breakfast: Toast
Lunch: Hamburgers, chips, veggies, sherbet
Dinner: Soup?