Towards the end of January our spending exploded. The phrase we kept using to describe it was that we were "hemorrhaging money." Really doing our part to help the economy. It all started with my buying a new phone because my old one was on the fritz. So that was $900 with all of the accessories. I like my new phone mainly because it takes pretty pictures.
Then, our computer literally started smoking. The speakers were sounding funny, so John took off the side panel to look at the sound card and then when we plugged it back in there was a nasty smell of burning electronics and smoke coming out of the back. That was bad. So we had to buy a new computer. That was about $600.
Then, there were a couple of repairs. One on our washing machine. We are really hoping the new part works this time. (The last part we ordered was worse than the one we are trying to replace.) There was a car repair too.
THEN, there were a bunch of travel expenses all at once. We booked all of our lodging for the New York and Oregon trips this summer. We also bought our flights for Oregon, although my mom gave us money for that. We also learned that when you need to rent a car, it's best to book it as soon as possible. I also played with the times and got very different rates.
And just to put the cherry on top, we decided to buy a big TV on a superbowl sale. There are several valid reasons why we did this, but I still feel a little guilty that we made a non-essential purchase while all of these other expenses were coming at us. I am surprised how much I love it though, especially the sound bar we got with it!
Happily we got our tax refund early, and it was more than we expected it to be. Also, John got an incredible raise this year, not in effect yet, but we are definitely thrilled about that. These are both really lucky considering the start of the year finances we were having. Fortunately, we are have curbed our spending this last month. So here's to building up that savings account again. :)
