WIS in the Week, September 5th, 2026

         Life is expensive these days and this past week was no exception. Hold your wallets because this week was a money explosion above and beyond static expenses. I know I help out my kids, my youngest in particular, a lot. I can afford to in the overall allocation of my resources; I'm supporting in ways that make a difference in their lives today, not after I'm gone. Yes, my fall is really going to be expensive, but knowing my kids have safe homes, cars, and health care, is good for my well being. I try using my resources wisely and my kid's don't ask me for financial help. It's my prerogative to offer or just cover an expense. But, I confirmed lack of planning isn't a good financial strategy.

 I'm tracking my variable, discretionary spending to get a better grip on any spending that isn't adding value or giving peace of mind. While boring blog content, it'll give me a good view of where my money is going,  not necessarily a challenge. Here's What I Spent, WIS, in the last week, rounded up to nearest dollar.

Saturday: $449

Charge came through today for the tune up items and oil change for my youngest's car. She's stretched mentally and financially with her move and I budget for car costs.

Sunday:$255

I bought Thai food and later sandwiches for the moving and cleaning crew at daughters apartment. I picked up and paid for her meds on the sandwich run.

There's still chaos and job orders not completed at the new apartment. We switched cars and I took daughters cars home with me while others finished clearing the old. I noticed her gas tank was quite low so filled up. She's going to stay here off and on this week and next as they hold off setting up bedrooms until complete, plus they both really need to purge as they unpack...yes, should have been done before moving. See what I mean about lack of planning is expensive! At least two trips probably could have been avoided had they purged ahead.

Monday: $67

My car needed a top off of gas $46, plus I needed just a few fresh things, plus sausages were on sale so two packages were added to the freezer $21.

Tuesday: $602

 

I prepaid with tip for 20 weeks, technically 22 because after 9 there's a free day, of doggie daycare. This was holdover from my one office day a week. I use the day now to do out of town errands or projects that are more difficult with the big dog, plus this gives him a very needed socalization day to run and play with other dogs. There's a long back story to this but I feel grandpup was my husband's dog as much as my daughters, so gladly share care of him. Here's a case though where planning saves nearly $5 a session if we just paid week to week.

I also used the McDonalds app for free medium fries and a McChicken for a late lunch. Not the best choice, but needed something easy on route.

Wednesday: $7

My butt stayed home other than walking dogs. I paid all my regular bills yesterday so used the day for a  checkbook review and plan for the month ahead. However, I ordered a two pack of replacement remotes as one has disappeared, likely thrown by accident in a haphazard attempt at purging, and for over a year I've been sharing between two rooms. I like putting YouTube on in the background when working in rooms. Yes, I have more televisions than any human should.

Thursday: $93

I was completely out of laundry soap and know I have a lot of laundry and cleaning to get done. I needed chickpeas for a curry, wet dog food to get to next Tuesday, more cat litter since I'm a crazy cat lady for the long weekend, and wanted diet Coke. The rest jumped into my cart. $67. Ordered panini's for my son and me as we met about some financial and condo business and had an outside meeting. $26

Friday: $0

I'm hoping for a no spend weekend especially after getting any gaps filled Thursday.

Saturday: $0

I went to my sisters for an early Labor Day weekend cookout. and brought along food from ingredients I had at home, chicken salad ( pasta kind with grapes and apples) and some oreo cookie bars from a box mix bought ages ago.

Grand Total: for the week $1,473

     I'm promising myself the rest of the month will not be like this past week. I say that but life will happen. The frequency of take out meals was highly unusual and inspite of two big expenses, was still 1/4 of my spending. That is not my norm at all as I can see from looking at past weeks. Seeing the anomolies and understanding why and where they fit is part of why I'm tracking for a bit.

I added this Saturday as I'm going to move my tracking Sunday to Saturday, so this was an 8 day spending summary. I often use Sunday or early Monday as life admin days, so a real calendar week aligns a bit better. If you track, were you on or off plan in your spending?