I was hoping February would be a low-spend month, but it's not turning out that way. Partly my fault, partly not. My fault -- I ordered a Levi hybrid trucker jacket from Macy's -- a good deal, but still $57. Because of the size I needed I had to order online; I hope it fits. Not my fault -- the college where I used to work, and from which I was an official retiree, retracted the perk I got upon retirement of free Microsoft 365. The IT person I talked to -- when I started having problems -- didn't even know that retirees were given this. Anyway, it seems that with changes in administration, the whole idea of this has gone away, and they disabled my account. (Hence, the problems!) I was hitting a brick wall when I tried to get them to understand that it was a legitimate account, so I gave up and took my laptop to Best Buy to get Microsoft Office loaded onto it. I opted for the one-time fee, which was $165. Ah well. It was nice while it lasted.

Other things -- my tollway pass replenished again -- that's three months in a row, $40 a pop. I guess I could avoid the toll road more; it's just so much easier than the crowded highways.  Also, I met BFF in the middle city and spent $51 on gas and food. I got a haircut -- $25 -- which is way cheaper than the salon I used to use. I was getting low on toilet paper so bought the big package at Sam's for $26. And after several months of very little grocery shopping I find I have finally started needing to stock up a little. Sigh. Variables are at 86% and I'm only halfway through the month. Well, a little more, since it's a short month!