As expected, I am in the red for month of June spending, coming in at a whopping $11,740 spent due to the redo of my new patio. I budgeted $5,000 for home improvements, so technically, I exceeded this line item by $4200.

If I don't include the patio redo at all, then my spending came in at a reasonable $2540, just $24 over this month's income. (It helped a bit that I had 5 paydays this month instead of 4.)

Still, I spent a little too liberally in the categories of "household," (the new fountain for patio), clothing ($100), entertainment (my Ancestry renewal, at $100, and taking dad out for Father's Day, $83), and over $100 on various annuals, hanging baskets, grass seed and so on.

So year-to-date, I wiped out my modest savings of $4300 and am now at -$7385 YTD. I hope to return that to the black by year's end.

We got lots of much-needed rain this morning, with more to come, with strong thunderstorms, this afternoon. I was able to bring all my cacti and succulents inside this time, because invariably they get soaked, even sitting under the front entry overhang.

Today's agenda includes filling up the gas tank and a stop at BJs and Aldi's. I saw a cheap laundry cart on wheels that's narrow and meant to fill the space between washer and dryer. Just $8, and I was thinking this could be good for some of my cacti, which tend to be in small pots. It's small enough I could easily lift it to sheltered area when it rains. That's my thought, anyway.