Super Bowl & Budget Update

1.  Super Bowl Sunday!  Most of us were rooting for the Packers (notably O & I) but since none of us really had a team, we convinced the others to root for "the Belt" Rodgers and his boys.  I made chili in the morning and was so excited that I had fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, red peppers from the Bountiful Basket co-op we've been doing (such an amazing array!) for the chili that nothing but the beans (I have not been very successful with doing my own beans, too tough!) was canned.  After church, and a last minute inviting the Bunches, Andy heated up the oil and proceeded to make scones (he says "more like fry bread"), tortilla chips (from the co-op I got 4 lbs. of black, green, & yellow pre-cut ready to fry chips), even experimenting with frying rolled quesadillas (taquitos, right?).  I used some of the pears for Pear Cake, Megan brought some candy, and the kids were so excited to host their cousins, that was all the entertainment/excitement they needed!  A great time was had by all (even our darling non-Super Bowl fan home teachers that visited and treated to a few of our favorite commercials). 

2.  The Budget!  Despite one online purchase and an Old Navy trip (hey, they really needed lunch boxes!) I am doing really well!  I even, very reluctantly, passed on a Groupon today.  I completed and just mailed our tax information and surprisingly we are getting a little more of a refund than previously calculated (yeah!).  My "payment" for tax preparation to myself for that was a few visits to the Starbucks, but that is over for now.  We have been using mint.com as recommended, and I was reluctant and nervous about all of the information the site holds (everything!), but it is fantastic to see the whole picture, which could be more frightening, but actually made us feel much better about our whole financial situation (love company 401K & stock plans!).  I love how it notified us that I went $37 over my January budget for groceries (which doesn't account for cash back received for misc.), no seriously, I think it is great!