First, some real life Lion King cuteness..

INCOME = $0
EXPENSES = $975.90
CONFESSION TIME!
Yes, I am under $1000 this month, but admittedly, I could have spent $400 less this month, as I already pre-paid my rent for May & June to BF, but … yeah I have no excuse for that.
Bad FB!
My budgeting style is more laissez-faire, because I seem to have an internal “do not spend over this limit” budget, which is $1500. I do try to stay under $1000, however, which I’ve succeeded in doing a good chunk of the time.
I’d consider my expenses to really be $1360.40

*So I’ve just noticed that I should really put that Grooming/Spa category under Toiletries/Makeup.
For me, Grooming & Spa means haircuts, pedicures, manicures.. or services. Not products. I’ve fixed that in my budget, but.. am too lazy to re-upload a new chart.

DETAILS
GROCERIES: Holy cow we ate a lot!
But really… I’ve been trying new things such as cashew butter & miso paste, in an attempt to introduce more vegetarian and vegan options into my diet.
Note: I am not going 100% vegan or vegetarian. I just want to try out new food options, because it seems like the quality of meats here has been atrocious lately, and they just don’t taste good/smell good any more. :\
So I had to buy new things. Which leads to spending more money to try new foods.
Now that I know what might and might not work, it looks like I am sticking to miso paste with seaweed and cutting out any kind of butters or fats (even nut butters are gone as I react badly to them).
Trial and error, folks.
Still, we should really watch this and get it back down to $150. I have to stop going crazy on binging on this summer’s crop of Ataulfo mangoes — they’re $0.99 each, and I eat about 5-6 a week.
Sometimes more.
Plus my other fruit intake — bananas, mostly.
EATING OUT: People came to visit
I spent more on Eating Out in this category, because Asian Pear & Co. came to visit!
I had such an awesome time going out with them.
It was really nice to have a girls day out in the company of really friendly and funny company. We ate All-You-Can-Eat sushi, then some macarons at La Maison du Macaron (highly recommended!), had a break for cold drinks at Second Cup, stopped by Schwartz’s for some smoked meat, and then spent the rest of the evening in Old Montreal.
It was a perfect day*.
(*Even when I freaked out near the end and abruptly ended things because I was afraid that the place where I left the car would be closed by the time we were done! :\
They were totally gracious about it, and even though they were all exhausted, AP insisted that they all accompany me back to my car in the empty parking lot to make sure I was safe, before leaving me. *heart*)
Oh and I also took BF out on Sunday to Bâton Rouge as a treat, and we had a delicious ol’ time inhaling steaks, in a pre-celebration (more details to come).
ELECTRONICS: This is why you have double & triple backups
One of my hard drives happened to die yesterday, hence the new purchase (I like having a few data backups).
Can you believe it? LAST DAY of the month, and it dies. *sigh* It couldn’t have waited until Tuesday Jun 1st?
This is why I keep a loose budget.
IPAD THOUGHTS
I also touched the Apple iPad while I was in Future Shop, picking up my replacement (Western Digital Firewire drive, because the cable is much better), but was disappointed in the product.
BF was enamoured with the iPad (being an Apple fanboy), but even he said it was not what he wanted — still a tad too heavy, and needs a USB port or two.
To me, it wasn’t all THAT and a bag of kale chips to me… but then again, I’m predisposed to enjoy flexibility in my electronics, rather than having a closed-system product.
I’m waiting for the HP Slate/Tablet. They better not disappoint me, and I’m happy they bought Palm, because their OS is pretty good (compared to Windows anyway).
TOILETRIES & MAKEUP, GROOMING & SPA: Went a little makeup-happy this month
This should really be ONE category — under Toiletries/Makeup. This is what happens when you rush creating a budget post.
I threw out some products that have been in my bag for.. gee, 4 years and counting now?
I also got travel versions of my favourite products in anticipation of Europe!
(Big thanks to Revanche for her help and Arianne for her suggestions or should I say, enabling??!?!)
It’s mostly out of my system, I think I’m makeup-ed out.
TRAVEL: It was a necessary expense because I have no sense of direction
After being warned by Gemma (my GPS) for the millionth time that I should update her maps, I finally bit the bullet when I realized that I took a wrong turn, but couldn’t get back onto the right road, because .. THE MAPS WERE OUTDATED!!!
It ended up taking me half an hour on the highway before I found an exit that would lead me back to Montreal proper and not towards Ontario (yes, seriously..)
Seeing as I am anticipating using my car & said GPS a lot more often in the upcoming months, I figured I might as well get ‘er done.
Note: The update to my GPS unit was for a lifetime pass at around $120 USD, and in comparison each individual update would have cost $50 USD.
And since I don’t plan on replacing my GPS within the next 5 years, this was well worth it to pay for the lifetime update & use Gemma until she gives up the ghost.
With 2 more updates, I’ll see a full ROI (Return on Investment).
Read my gushy loving review of how much I love my Garmin Nuvi 255W GPS here.
MISCELLANEOUS: Random stuffs
Postage was half of this, as I purchased stamps to mail the 6 letters I’ve written in this week alone to correct information.
I also had to mail a couple of packages *grumbles at prices*; it is surprising how expensive these little packages can be. I mean, $9 for something as light as an envelope!? *sigh*
Aannnnd I bought a Bag Clip, but was stuck for 10 minutes holding 3 options in Old Montreal’s store “Pashmina” before I decided on the very girly pink cherry blossom design.
(Yeah, another thanks to Asian Pear & Co for helping me decide!)

And I ended up buying this one, but with a pink background rather than a red one.

Pretty, no?
And now my purse will stay off the floor, be in plain sight & not on my lap or behind my back.
NET WORTH: $75,067.86 or -8%
Decreased: $6505.85 or by 8%
Reason: Living (spending!), prepaying my rent to BF, and disappointing stock market dips.
Good thing I only have $5000 invested in individual stocks
But overall, my index funds went down, and I’m just chilling out on them until they pick back up. Not like I’m planning on selling them anytime soon, anyway.
ASSETS
- Cash: $45.61
- Emergency Fund: $20,402.70 — In ING for the moment, earning 1.2%
- Savings: $2033.05
- Retirement: $25,139 — *sigh* Took a beating.
- TFSA: $9571.01 — *double sigh*
- Business: $16696.49
- Car: $1000
DEBTS
None.
There you have it. My deep, dark, money secrets