So we did go the beach today. Not the most frugal trip since it is 40 minutes away (I'm not sure of the miles, but 40 miles would be a good approximation). So that's about 2.5 gallons of gas round trip. Then, of course, we have to eat out. But we eat all you can eat seafood and to get this fresh of fish it is actually cheaper to eat out (we can buy the same fish they do, but they get a much better price). But, DH wanted to eat at the more expensive place and then let both kids order a meal, and the waitress was good, so we tipped well, so it was $27.60 to eat out (at the other place, with tip, it's $18).

We're over our eating out budget this month, by $60. Some of that is dh's business trip, we'll be reimbursed for that, but it will take a little while. Actually, we've been reimbursed for the first trip, but the 2nd trip is still on hold. There was also some traveling in that total and celebratory dinners (my bday, first day with the kids back, first day of school) but over is over. And I know that DH will want to eat out this week (well, he'll have to, he's travelling for work again) since his bday is this week. Maybe we can keep it under $40 (maybe we can use a restaurant.com cert) and keep our budget less than $150 over. So frustrating. I figured the amount with eating out 1x/week at our average cost rounded up to the next $50 (just in case). I hope we can get back on track for september, but I'm not that hopeful. I may have to tinker with the budget or have a "Come to Jesus" meeting with DH. We aren't going into debt by going over, but we aren't paying as much on debt as we could (that extra $100 could make a sizable dent).

This is why I keep track of everything I spend. I'm still working out my budget and making sure it fits our life and is realistic. The next step will be to post the amount we spend somewhere where dh can see it, but he thinks it's silly. He can't seem to get why I care. We're young and we have enough money to enjoy ourselves and "we work hard", etc. He just doesn't get it. It's so frustrating.