Approximate spending

I just got a lecture from the in-laws about what to look for in a contractor. Ummm, yeah, I successfully navigated a bathroom remodel and a flooring job. It took 50 interviews to find the appropriate fit, but I got it done. I learned a lot from the experience, and I now think of myself as moderately good at picking contractors. However, I still got the lecture. Have I said my mother's main redeeming quality? She treated me like an adult even when I was 10. The downside was that I had to meet exceedingly high expectations, but the upside was that I was rarely treated like a "kid."

I need to put a lot of this baby/kid stuff on Craigslist. Seriously, this playpen has been used for about an hour total and is taking up a considerable amount of square footage. Then there's the infant bath, the play table, the sling, the infant gym, the bouncy seat, and other assorted crap. Don't even think of telling me I'm going to need it for my next kid. If I do indeed get knocked up, it will be my penance to have to re-buy all this crap over again (except for the playpen, which had absolutely even no use even with the bassinet - Julia hated it).

Still looking into something. It's something that's so seemingly ridiculous that I haven't even told my darling husband. And if I can't utter it to him coherently, I shouldn't ramble about it on here.

I'm thinking of starting the money blog in September. It will be weird to put all our expenses out there (and I might get overruled by Someone Who Shall Remain Nameless).

I've been told by the in-laws that S and I aren't really married due to how we arrange our finances. I just roll my eyes. No, we don't have that one marriage pot o' money. We have separate checking accounts and separate savings accounts, and our paychecks are deposited into our respective checking accounts. Then we each transfer equal amounts to our joint checking account each month to cover joint expenses. Then we have a joint savings account. So we have 6 accounts + Julia's savings. 7 bank accounts in total. Plus all our credit cards: S credit cards, my credit cards, joint credit cards.

This is all explanation to say that I don't even look at S's 2 bank accounts and his credit cards. I am the keeper of the joint accounts and my accounts. If I were to take up this exercise, I would continue as is. S could spend how he likes with his own personal accounts. Not that he really spends a lot, but it gives him the freedom.

Here's a rough outline of our expenses:
- No mortgage (that's a blog posting in and of itself), but our property taxes are roughly $3,800 a year
- Daycare is our highest monthly expense. $750 currently in the toddler room. If we switch daycares, it will go up to $1,000.
- About $400 a month in food.
- Utilities: $260ish every two months for water/electric/sewage/trash, $38/mo for cable TV, $325/year for cable internet, $125/mo for phone (eeek but we wanted those iPhones), natural gas varies from $30-$125 depending on the month. Average is about $400/mo for all utilities.
- Cars: fairly new so relatively little maintenance thus far, insurance of $1,400 a year, gas costs of about $150/month.
- Medical: Oh Miss J and all your medical costs. Maybe $100/mo for her.
- The catch-all of "everything else" is starting to creep up each month. I want to get a better handle of that and the grocery/entertainment bills. It seems like we spend $500 or so each month that's not related to any of the above areas. I want to start being more accountable. And frugal. I think I am fairly frugal compared to the average American, yet I'm finding myself more willing to lay down $30 on something frivolous than I was a few years ago.

*** I finally bought some new underwear. Target is having a sale this week. $2/pair. I bought 9 pairs. Boy shorts. Yes, I totally wanted bikinis but none to be found. I have yet to wear the boy shorts.