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Ask the Readers: But HOW Do You Track Every Penny You Spend?
Published on - July 8th, 2011 (by J.D. Roth)
It's tough to dig out of debt (or make other changes to your spending habits) if you don't know where your money goes. I tried for years to turn things around, but was unsuccessful until I started tracking every penny I spent. Armed with info about my actual spending habits (instead of perceived patterns), I was able to make a realistic budget.
But getting started with expense tracking can be overwhelming. There's so much data! Where do you begin? That's what Crystal wants to know. She writes:
I'm a little confused. How do you track every penny you spend? Isn't that what receipts are for? I'm confused (or maybe I'm overthinking it). Let me explain.
Say I stop at a gas station and spend $30 on gas, $2.15 for a Red Bull, and $4.10 for a gas treatment. My receipt already says that, so why rewrite it?
Or at the grocery store, what do you do here? $X on dairy, $X on meat, $X on lunch stuff, and so on? Do I count eating with co-workers as networking? What about fast food that I buy because I'm too lazy to cook? Should this be lumped into the food category or separated out?
How do you actually track your spending? Could you or your readers share some examples?
This is yet another question for which there's no one right answer. Different people need to track their spending in different ways. That said, I can offer some general guidelines.
First, a tracking system is only effective if you actually use it. You can design the greatest tracking system in the world, and it doesn't matter a whit if you never enter your expenses. Because of this, you need to do what works for you. By that I mean that Crystal should try a system that seems promising and if that doesn't work, try something else. Don't give up if the first method doesn't work. There's always another method that might do the trick.
From talking with GRS readers, it seems clear that the more complex a system gets — the more detailed the tracking — the more likely it is to break down. I've certainly found this to be true in my own life.
I like the idea of breaking my food category into subcategories like:
- Meat
- Dairy
- Produce
- Beverages
- Junk Food
- Entertaining
- Restaurants
In reality, though, tracking this level of detail makes my head hurt. It makes me not want to do my finances. Instead, I track just two food categories: Groceries and Dining Out. That's enough detail for me to spot trends and to make changes. By tracking only a couple of dozen categories, I'm able to spot trouble without being overwhelmed by unimportant stuff.
This leads us to the cardinal rule of expense tracking: Track the stuff that matters. Decide which categories you need the most information about and track them. For me, that means tracking how much money goes to books and comic books. I know these are my weak spots, so I have to monitor myself. Each person will track different categories. For instance:
- If you don't care how much you spend on books, don't have a separate category for them. Lump them into your general Entertainment category.
- But if you want more detail about a category, create a subcategory. For instance, you might want to know how much you're spending on iTunes; if so, create an iTunes subcategory in your Entertainment category.
In general, it's best to start with broad categories and add detail as needed.
It's also important to record your expenses often. If you set aside a few minutes every day (or maybe half an hour every weekend), it's vastly easier to track your spending than if you have tackle the task only once a month. In my own case, I've found it's best to designate an hour a week for "doing my finances". At this time, I record the week's transactions and pay my bills. This is what works for me.
Lastly: Why doesn't it work to just use your receipts for expense tracking? Well, for some people it might, but I suspect those folks are few and far between. I know that for me, just having the receipts doesn't accomplish anything. Yes, I could look at them to see how much I spent, but there's no way to organize this data or to get an overview of my spending habits unless I categorize it somehow. Receipts are a temporary record of your spending; for this information to be useful, you need to store it in a more permanent way. (In the olden days, this meant using some sort of ledger book. Nowadays that means using a spreadsheet, a software program like Quicken, or an online tool like Mint.)
What about you? Do you track your expenses? If so, how? What level of detail do you go to? What categories do you use? Have your methods changed over the years? Or do you find expense tracking just too much overkill? What words of wisdom can you offer Crystal?
This article is about Ask the Readers, Basics, Budgeting
Crystal asked: "Say I stop at a gas station and spend $30 on gas, $2.15 for a Red Bull, and $4.10 for a gas treatment. My receipt already says that, so why rewrite it?"
Personally, I would need to know where every penny went at the gas station. So I would break it down like it is on the receipt. I would not need to do that for a grocery receipt, though, as my menu would tell me what I spent it on. Impulse purchases like the Red Bull do me in so I would need to document those.
I knew I skipped a point in my post. I want to second this motion.
I never break apart my grocery bills. I used to but now I don't. I consider everything in the grocery store to be a grocery item with a couple of exceptions.
One: Gift Cards.
Two: Personal Care Items.
I usually don't stress number two because I usually buy all personal care items at CVS and pay very little to nothing because of it. If I do end up buying Personal Care items at the grocery store, it's usually because it's free or just a few cents (hooray coupons) so I let it sneak into the grocery bill that time.
The gift card is easy to break out from a receipt since it's a nice round number and I plug into it's appropriate category.
Publix had a sale on Gas gift cards. I bought one for myself and took the amount out of my grocery spending and put it in Gas (then I didn't track when I used it to actually put gas in the car– make sense?).
Right now, the receipts I hate the most are Target because Target is the place of Everything. But I take the time and break them apart into their correct categories because Target can really throw off everything (too easy to "hide" things).
I use Quicken and have a few broad categories set up, with subaccounts just because I'm a dorky accountant and like to do this stuff.
My main accounts (subaccts) are:
Housing (mortgage interest, insurance, taxes utilities, repairs)
Transportation (gas, repairs, insurance, taxes)
Food (groceries, restaurants, coffee/soda)
Shopping (clothes, household/personal items, pets, gifts, etc)
Entertainment (books, music, movies, sporting events, bars, etc)
I tend to focus on the wants since they are variable. Are we eating out too much, getting too much coffee, buying too many clothes? We have weekly "limits" we try to stick to so we don't have a surprise at the end of the month.
Stuff like real estate tax, insurance, isn't going to change much so I just review those as they renew/come due to make sure they are optimized. You really have to know these costs before signing up so you don't blow too much income here.
I use MoneyWell. LOVE IT. It uses the money jar/bucket idea and builds on it. I liked that I could keep track of certain amounts in my savings account in separate buckets (but still only have one savings account).
To be honest, I haven't tracked my spending for a few months. I did it for awhile, to get a feel for what I was spending my money on so I could create a budget. Then I tracked for a couple more months to make sure my budget was working. Then I became comfortable with what I was spending and when without tracking.
I'm moving sometime in the next few months and will start tracking my spending again then, as I will need to adjust my budget for new living conditions, along with having a rental property (and the need to track those expenses, etc).
Just my two cents
My system is bizarrely complicated, and I've only stuck with it for 8 years through brute force and determination. But I've found that the categories I like most are pretty simple.
Finance Charges
Monthly Entertainment
Payments & Credits
Recurring Services
Regular Purchases
Groceries are "regular purchases" but any time I eat out, drink, etc, it's "Discretionary"
This works, though, because I already have a budget set aside for Discretionary. You don't want to look back and say "oh darn I spent $600 on Disretionary but have no idea what trouble area is gobbling up my money."
For a month or two, consider more detailed tracking, to get the information you need to make a good budget, but definitely consider simpler categories once you have a better idea of your spending, so you can continue tracking and adjusting without driving yourself crazy.
I buy as much as possible on credit, which will show up on my mint.com page.
However, that's only my double-checking system. At the end of the day, I quickly enter my purchases into You Need A Budget and then check my budget categories for often-used things like food. This helps me have a big-picture idea of how I'm doing throughout the month. I love this software.
I track literally every penny I spend & earn. If I pick a nickle up off the ground, it gets recorded. I'm that crazy.
What I do is keep receipts from everything I purchase, whether it's cash or credit card. Once every few days, I put them into my budget spreadsheet. For each month I have two tabs, one "budget" tab, and one "expenses" tab. Fixed expenses, or categories that I rarely spend anything on (like vacation) get entered directly into the "budget" tab. Regular expenses go into the "expenses" budget under their respective categories (gas, groceries, dining out, entertainment, household, hygiene & beauty, other vehicle expenses, baby, and the all-inclusive "other"). These expenses sum up and auto-populate back into the "budget" tab.
This way I'm recording my expenses and budgeting all in one step. By entering my expenses every few days (sometimes I go a week or even two if I haven't been buying very much), it doesn't become cumbersome and it's easy to see how much I have left in every category at any given time.
I've found that You Need A Budget (YNAB) is the most useful budgeting program around. It acts as a checkbook, so that you can keep track of your balances, which keeping track of your spending and where you stand with your budget. It takes a lot of overthinking out of the equation with the automatic expense register — tell it that you pay $100 to your car loan on th 15th and it will automatically pop it into your register for you every month. Plus, there's an iPhone app that makes it much easier to enter expenses when you don't have access to a computer.
If you're not looking to pay the price tag for YNAB, or the number of features is overwhelming, I would check out Pearbudget (I believe $4 a month or $40 per year when paid up front). It's a much simpler interface, and they have a mobile website to enter expenses from as well. It doesn't have the reporting capabilities of YNAB, as it will only really tell you how much you've spent each month and how much room you have left in your budget.
A free site that I've recently found is Adaptu. I haven't gotten a change to get into all the nooks and crannies, but it definitely looks promising. They have a budget section, cash flow statement, net worth statement, and other neat charts and graphs to tell you where you're at. It downloads all of your info from your bank accounts for you, but some people feel uncomfortable with this option, or 'feel the burn' of seeing what they're spending if they have to enter it themselves.
When I track spending, I assign categories depending on what I'm interested in potentially cutting. For example, I lump all household supplies, toiletries, and food into "groceries" because I don't think I can really decrease spending there. But I track eating out in several categories–whether it's mainly me going out in the evening, or if it's an eat-out event for my kids, or if it's my lunch at work. I want to track if I'm going out too much, or being too spendy with lunch etc.
I also track all entertainment for me and my kids separately–whether it's buying movies, going out to movies, buying itunes for me vs my kids, buying birthday presents for my kids going to other kids' birthday parties, etc. Then I add up everything each month for my entertainment and also for the kids entertainment because I'm trying to keep those categories at $60/month each. I like being able to "see" how much money we save by for example watching DVDs at home instead of going out to the movies.
I use an excel spreadsheet, one per year, with separate lines on the spreadsheet for each month and each column is a spending category. I fill it in every day or so when I spend something, checking it with Mint to make sure I don't forget stuff I spend on the credit cards.
It's very simple but it is a hassle to enter lots of little spending–which is good! Because it makes me not spend. For example, I'd never buy a Red Bull at the gas station because I'm too lazy to go into the station and also to save the receipt and enter it on the spreadsheet. The charge for gas at the pump shows up automatically on my credit card–so it's easiest to just buy gas.
I pretty much track my expenses the way JD does. Mostly because I learned from him ! The smaller the category – the better. I do however break-down my groceries into two,food and household items. Since I do buy cleaning supplies at the grocery store I don't want that getting my food allowance off balance and these items are not bought every week. I also have a little trick I use so I can use credit and let the credit card company work for me & get the bonus points. I use my credit card as if it were a debt card. When I make a purchase I record it in my check register as if it were a check. I only charge what I know I have out of pocket & when the bill comes I can pay in full with no worries. I set a side every Saturday morning to pay bills, balance my account and check the credit card on-line to be sure their is no problem. Living on one salary and having still in place a pay cut at work ,this has made a huge difference with my cash flow. Everything is paid in full and I'm never over-drawn at the bank.And before reading JD's advice and coming up with my own system I was ALWAYS over-drawn and in a credit mess. It took me two years & I'll never go back again – Thanks!!! JD .
Receipts are awesome except when you don't get a receipt. They are also time-consuming to go through; you have to enter that information again somewhere. As you've seen, many people like the automation of trackers based on credit card spending.
As for categories, this is where everyone is different. I never separate out gifts or clothing—it's all part of my "fun" category. But I do separate food into "groceries" and "eating out." A chocolate milk at a gas station could go in either category, depending on whether I feel that I'm buying it because I'm being lazy (I should have brought my own food) or whether I feel I'm buying it because I'm being good (I could have gone to a fast-food place instead). And I'll always note whether the eating out was alone or socializing. I try harder to minimize the lone eating out, but if I notice eating out a lot (or at expensive places) with a particular group, I'll try to think of alternatives to suggest. When my workplace started offering flexible spending accounts, I started tracking health costs (which used to be part of "fun").
I also separate out tools (regular tools but also things like appliances, eyeglasses, toothbrush, and knitting needles—anything semi-permanent that helps me accomplish tasks). And I separate out supplies (paper products, cleaning supplies, anything that needs to be replaced on a regular basis).
I use YNAB for my software program, and love it! I tend to lean toward tracking more detail than most people (like saving $5/mo for furnace filters), but I do keep more general categories as well (I have Groceries and Restuarants categories, just like J.D.). I broke all my categories out into this post, if anyone's interested:
I use an excel spreadsheet for my budget with some simple formulas set up. When I first started trying to figure out my budget, I had a lot of categories and was trying to carry a notebook with me to record each penny I spent. Totally did not work for me – which I thought was interesting because I am a note-taker/ list-maker and all about the details.
I keep my receipts in my purse or toss them on the desk by the computer and every few days or at least once a week, I'll enter the rounded up totals in my spreadsheet from the receipts or the entries in my checkbook.
I have 3 broad categories of variable expenses I track (grocery, gas, other) each week. Groceries are *anything* I buy at the store. This includes food, toiletries, household items, and pet supplies. 'Other' encompasses cash, eating out, booze, entertainment and anything random we buy like clothes, fishing licenses, or a bulb to fix the blinker on my car. I'll often make a note next to this category to get a general idea of what we bought for the week. I know that sometimes random stuff makes it into the grocery category that is not a household item, but I decided not to sweat it – the overall picture was enough. It's all good so long as the combo of grocery/gas/other stays within the total budget for variable expenses that week.
However, sometimes I do feel the need to track closer and will break a category out on a separate sheet and track more closely – using the receipts. When I feel something is getting wonky, I'll track specific items, such as my hubby's energy drink habit from a few years ago. I got tired of him wondering where his cash went, so it helped to sit down and point it out in detail. Ha!
I'm not too interested in itemizing spending into a bunch of different categories. I'm more concerned that I don't bounce checks at the end of a payperiod because of purchases that my husband or I made. So I have a Word calendar template that lists mine and my husband's paydays (which are only one day apart so I treat them like one payday). Total amount of our combined paycheck at the top, then everything that comes out of that: mortgage, car payment, utilities, haircuts, a little self-created escrow account to set aside money for our six-month auto insurance premiums –> basically, all recurring, known bills. Then $1000 per pay period for gas/groceries/dining out/pet food/oil changes/everything that's not a bill. We keep track of the spending of that $1000, whether we pay it via CC, debit, or check, by saving receipts and entering them in a notebook at home, with one page per pay period. (I simply enter the date of the purchase, CC/D/Chk, name of store or restaurant [or simply "Gas"], the amount of the purchase, and then a running total, subtracting from $1000. No categories entered at all.) The purpose of that notebook is so that we both know when we are getting down to the end of our funds for the payperiod. When we get to the end of the $1000, we stop spending. It's a little more simplistic than a lot of the complex budgeting tools, but depending on what Crystal's goals/needs are, it may be all she needs. It keeps our spending in line, period, and that's all I need. If I ever want to look back and really track my spending, such as for clothes or dining out, I can go through the notebook and just by lookat the names of the stores/restaurant. When the credit card bill comes in, I reconcile it to the notebook to make sure that we entered everything. The purpose of the Word calendar is if know I have a large expense coming up that's not part of the normal stuff, I plug it into the calendar under several future paychecks so I can start saving for it. I'm sure budgeting software can do the same thing but this works for me just as easily.
At first I wrote down every item individually. I figured it would help me go back and see which expenses could have been reduced and removed. It also helped me know, for instance, how long a bag of litter or catfood would last.
Then I ended up just writing the total as written on the receipt, and the receipt number (and numbering my receipt for the month) and keeping them in a plastic pocket in the binder, one for each month.
At first, I separated through type: food, housestuff, etc.
But later on it became a bit of a problem. What's the use of having a different enevlope to take money from for bread and toilet paper if I buy both at the same place? So I reorganised it to be more by place, with one "groceries" that included food and nonfood stuff you get at the grocery store, while "eating out" was recorded separately.
In the end, the money you pick from is the same no matter what, so how you divide your budget is a personal preference. You can have "eating out" expenses lumped together with movies because you only eat out as part as your "meal and a movie" dates, for instance, or put it with food because you find it encourages you not to eat out too much, or have it be its own category.
The main interest of writing things down rather than just keeping receipts is that you can know how much you spent as you go or altogether, while each receipt only gives a small idea. You might not realise how much it adds up to. On top of that, you might not realise if you misplace a receipt (that's why numbering them is good, provided you keep track of that) while if you write the total down as you get home, you'd need to lose part of your binder or computer or whatever to lost track of your total.
Initially, tracking everything you spend the first month is a good way to start a spending plan. But after that, use more general categories for tracking. I find that to be most useful.
J.D. – Have you ever considered having the links (at least the external ones and especially the comments section) on your blog set to open in a new browser window, instead of the way it currently re-directs you to that web page on the page you are viewing. Sometimes, I like to click on the link in your article and check things out and when doing so, sometimes, I want to look around that site for a while, but I also want to continue reading your blog. However, currently if you look through too many pages on another web site, it is sometimes hard to get back to the get rich slowly blog because you have to hit the back button numerous times. You may have addressed this somewhere along the way, but I may have missed it.
if you are enrolled with Yodlee or Mint you have almost all credit/debit card purchases covered, now you only need to track your cash expenses. If you have a budget created, just make another column for 'actuals' on the budget, and all your expense tracking is covered. You can prepare a simple budget quickly. I mentioned it in my blog as well. See below http://onecentatatime.com/how-to-prepare-an-annual-budget/
"Track the stuff that matters"–I like that! A good phrase and rule of thumb. That's our philosophy. We track in broader categories and it works for us. We may not know where every penny was spent, but we at least have an accounting for each penny.
We use a budget (http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/money-management-template.html) to keep track of these general categories. We'd agree with you that it's better to keep track by using categories like "Grocery" and "Eat Out" rather than dissecting each subcategory.
Tracking categories didn't work for us. We have a weekly cash budget that is part of the monthly budget and we track it all in Excel.
So in Excel, we'll have a list for the current month (with dollar amts)
city utilities
student loan
cash for the week
cash for the week
cash for the week
my paycheck
my paycheck
hubby's paycheck
hubby's paycheck
Those are all the same — or very close to the same — every month. We agreed on what expenses will be paid out of weekly cash and which others will be charged and added to the spreadsheet.
So the list might also include
car repair
dentist bill
dog to the vet
tickets to ball game/theatre/orchestra
A/C tune-up
cash from gig
reimbursement for travel expenses
But it will never include gas, eating out, groceries, small household items, generic prescriptions, dog food, etc. Our general rule of thumb is anything under $50 gets paid out of cash. We've made exceptions for weeks when, between the two of us, we've had two or three doctor appointments with $35 copays each.
This way, it's easy to know if we can make the little purchases: we have cash on hand. If not, no little purchase. We don't track the cash at all except to account for it in the monthly budget. There's a lot less to keep track of and we've saved a ton of money (by carefully choosing the cash amount and making it less over time as we consistently had money left over at the end of the week — we've gone from $250 to $200, then back up to $220 when gas hit $3.50).
Also, with a simple sum at the bottom of the list, we know where we are for the month as far as incoming vs. outgoing.
I have four spending categories:
- Groceries
- Eating out
- Entertainment
- Others
And that's it! All my variable expenses pretty much fit into these categories. I used to separate the grocery receipt into different categories and it overwhelmed me so I stopped doing that.
I also enter the data the day of the purchase…that in itself is a bit of a deterrent to spending too much money…because you have to see the bill at the end of the day & enter it into Excel.
When it comes to tracking I find that Mint or WellsFargo's tools do a good enough job with our Credit card info, except when it comes to big-box stores. Was WalMart or Target groceries, gifts, clothing or something else?
Until CC companies and stores get a little cozier and can display show me the actual products purchased, I'm afraid I'll have to enter those stores' info in by hand.
I had been using Quicken Essentials, which was working OK until a couple weeks ago, when it just stopped importing things from Chase bank. So, now it's pretty much useless and I see no indication that it's going to start working again.
As of right now I have fairly detailed categories in quicken for Mac, but the budgeting feature is really poor so I'm considering going to YNAB for monthly budgeting. Overall, im trying to keep my system as simple as possible but while still manually entering it myself….keep things honest with yourself.
I've quit tracking cash because I had following the change in my pocket etc….if I have cash it's not tracked, cards are tracked to the penny, and moving farther and farther from debit cards because I can't stand the pending/on hold for 3 days I have to look at when it's already cleared in my register.
In trying simultaneously to get control of my spending and my food consumption, a few years ago I created a ridiculously complicated spreadsheet which broke down groceries into tiny categories (i.e. "milk" vs. "cheese" vs. "other dairy" and "beef" vs. "chicken" vs. "pork" etc. etc.)
I found I was entering the figures and then ignoring the results, as it was all too much. After I simplified the food categories (meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables, bread and pasta, liquids, prepared foods, other) I found I was able to use the sum totals to see where both my money and my waistline were going.
Keep it as simple as you can without sacrificing results.
I used excel to track spending for three years, but I just switched over to using mint.com.
I actually use Google Docs to track my spending. Hey, it works!
Here are my categories: Rent; Utilities; Savings; Groceries; Dining Out; Entertainment; Hobbies; Transportation; Medical; Clothing; Gifts; Other.
We do a printed budget at the beginning of each month that contains almost all spending except rent. We plan our savings in that budget, and then spend the rest. I will occasionally raid certain low-priority categories, but we never go significantly over budget (knock on wood). We record all spending (rounding to the dollar) and subtract it from the numbers in the monthly budget.
We prorate certain yearly expenses (insurance, email account, etc.) to make them easier to deal with. We also have created virtual savings funds, so that for certain categories, any unspent money will be saved for later (car maintenance, home maintenance, etc.).
Here are most of our categories:
–private school
–life insurance (prorated)
–car insurance (prorated)
–Amazon Prime (prorated)
–email subscription (prorated–I find google creepy, so I pay extra for my privacy)
–long distance ($2 a month for peace of mind in case of emergency)
–cell phone
–natural gas
–dental/medical (save surplus)
–school lunch
–sales tax (for online purchases and our own sales–we pay our state yearly)
–Netflix (prorated)
–uniform savings (we should be saving up for the beginning of the school year)
–Amy's fun (usually $40)
–husband's fun (usually $40)
–grocery store purchases (everything, both food and stuff like toilet paper, scotch tape, etc., any surplus can be spent on dining out)
–Christmas/travel (we need to have $600 for Christmas)
–kid pay
–car maintenance (save surplus)
–home maintenance (save surplus)
–camp savings/extracurriculars (save, mostly for summer)
–magazine subscription renewals
–replacement fund for electronics ($25 a month)
We insert other categories as needed. A single person or a DINK household would have a budget with fewer moving parts.
For categories that change from month to month (like utilities), we find it best to budget whatever amount we needed last month, give or take a few bucks.
I do track everything. My inspiration was "money or your life" by R. Domingues.
In the beginning I thought it was a bit too anal to track all the change. But seems like it all adds up. Stores and banks know that
I went through collecting receipts, but then I realised that it takes too long at the end of the month to sort them out. I wrote few basic categories on a sheet of paper and recorded absolutely everything I bought. In the beginning it was scary to see how much money I wasted on stuff that I barely remembered later. Writing everything down really helped me to be more conscious about my spending. I can actually spend more on things that I like if I don't on other unimportant things. I have been doing this for almost a year with very good results. Our family is debt free, with a bit of savings. Instead of feeling deprived (what I thought I would be) I feel in peace and in control.
With few adjustments I have 9 main categories, some of them have subcategories. Like FOOD is devided into Groceries, Out, Drinks, Farmers/CSA. Few inicial categories were eliminated (like credit card payments- Yay!)I save receipts and record the expenses as soon as I get home (the latest- next day). Somehow being more conscious and not practicing recreational shopping anymore it's really not that much to record. At the end of the month it takes like 15-20 minutes to add things us and reflect. I don't mind doing that anymore (it did make me nervous in the beginning though), actually it's a pleasure to see how well we are doing.
I use 3 main tools: no/minimal cash transactions (check, credit card, or online whenever possible); excel; my bank's website. I log income and expenses about 3 times a week.
My spreadsheet categories may change from month to month, but generally include: rent; utilities; internet; food; gas/tolls; auto&rent insurance; entertainment; health and home supplies; husband's fun money; my fun money; social obligations (wedding showers, going out to eat with co-workers, etc); charity; savings.
When I first started tracking my finances, it was in an excel spreadsheet. A glorified calendar, tracking income and expenses–no category tracking. It worked for a while, enough to get a handle on making sure bills were paid on time, and to see how much we had for each paycheck (for example, if this paycheck is $400 and we have $200 in bills out of it but the next one is $600 in bills, then I'm still breaking even–no spending money). That's what I did living paycheck to paycheck, but it took us from "drowning" to "barely making it."
Then that spreadsheet got a little more sophisticated, until I was tracking checking & savings & cash. I was managing but getting frustrated, and when a used computer happened to have a copy of Quicken on it, I decided to test it out. I haven't gone back. Quicken helped me get from paycheck-to-paycheck with $2000 in debt to debt-free and saving almost 50% of my monthly income. That, sadly, didn't last long, but as I started getting back into debt (legitimate expenses and a stress-induced thrift-shopping addiction) I at least knew about it every step of the way. I'm convinced that is what kept my debt from becoming completely unmanageable.
I crawled out of $3000 in debt again, by fanatically tracking every penny and getting bills paid right when they came in and separating my spending money from my bills money. Saved enough money to get myself moved across the country, lived off the savings and the tax return for a while, finally got a decent job.
Got so busy I stopped tracking my finances so much. Paid off most of my debt, but then medical issues erupted and I am now unemployed once again. I lived off my credit cards for the first two months, thanks to depression and stress and shopping for all the things I'd been meaning to but never had time for. Then one day I was driving a friend around and realized I had to check every credit card balance to know which one was safest to buy a $10 lunch. Panic ensued, I went home and caught back up in Quicken to find that I had tripled my debt in 2 months, and all my credit cards were "maxed out".
I've been strictly tracking spending again since then, and knowing that I'm close to my (now much smaller) household expenses budget has helped curb the excess spending "for the house" that doesn't come out of my personal spending money.
I track pretty broad categories of discretionary spending, but my "budget" does include all the bills. I like to know that Rent is 27% of our spending so far for the year, I like to see that expenses have been less than income for all but one month so far, and when I was doing my taxes it was easy to see what to claim for the medical deduction. Anything that is a tax-deductible category gets tracked as such. Each recurring bill is a category, of sorts (Utilities: cell phone does include any phone accessories that are necessary such as a blue-tooth headset, but not application purchases or decorative cases; those are under entertainment and clothing/accessories, respectively). The money given to me by roommates to cover their portion is listed as the spending category (not income), thus negating some of that "expense" so my reports only show my portion spent but I still have a record of receiving that money. All the bills are budgeted high (internet is only about $35/month split 4 ways, but we assume we pay it all until we actually have cash-in-hand from roommates; cell phone has a $20 buffer from it's average).
But outside of bills, I don't have much in the way of discretionary spending categories.
* Household (sub-cats: groceries [including TP and alcohol for consumption at home], shared entertainment [aka Blockbuster by mail], maintenance, and laundry);
* Transportation (sub: gas, car repairs/maintenance, bus fare, bike expenses);
* Personal (sub: Partner's spending [the $20/wk allowance, which I don't track except to say that he got it], and my own spending broken down by dining out [including food and beverages consumed outside the house], clothing/accessories, and misc. [anything else that comes out of my allowance]).
We do have a category labeled "vacation" for making sure we didn't spend more than our vacation allowance if we go away or if we have a stay-cation when friends/family come to town, used a few times a year. Also one for tracking home business expenses, and one for professional development, all of which are left in the budget with $0 allotted so we can track them as they come up and to remind us that these expenses exist, and we should be saving for them.
And of course, the budget includes savings & debt payment expectations which in our Quicken set-up doesn't track as an expense but rather a transfer of funds. (Otherwise if we spent $200 on a credit card on vacation expenses and then paid $200 to the CC to pay it off, it would look like $400 in expenses when it wasn't.)
Putting all of this information together in one spot with our projected income is very helpful for determining expected cash flow. The fact that our projected income vs expenses leaves us $65 in the red at the end of the month means that we are much more careful with our spending and tend to give up our spending money until bills go through, rather than having $100 leeway and accidentally spending $150. It's purely psychological, but it works for both of us for now.
In our household, the trick is having a system that can be used as soon as the purchase is made. Since my wife and I both have cell phones that can send email messages, we prefer to use http://www.texthog.com (we are not comfortable with websites like mint having access to our bank accounts/credit cards/etc – just a personal choice) which includes a personalized email address for your account in order to send purchase information. Send an email with the description (optional category) and amount in the subject line while you're making the purchase and you're done. You can also use the web interface for adding expenses, creating categories and creating budgets for each category. There are some nice views, for example, listing the relative amounts you've spent each of the last four months and a pie chart showing the totals for the year or month, etc. in each category. The data can be exported into csv/pdf/etc formats for archiving or other analysis in a spreadsheet. This also helps with completing our tax returns.
We started entering each and every penny we spent but eventually we adjusted that process for cash purchases (actual cash bills not debit): instead of each individual purchase we enter $xx Cash into the misc category when we get the cash, since cash in our pockets is likely to be spent before the next month and the major cash purchases in our household are things that go in your mouth, lunches or coffee breaks. We don't try to kill ourselves with sub-dividing receipts unless there are significant purchases from different categories on one receipt. For example, $100 at Costco might be $20 for groceries, $50 for household and $30 for house maintenance. We would usually record the breakdown rather than total in this case. But in other cases, the majority of the purchase determines the category. Yes, this means sometimes the groceries category "pays" for some household things that aren't food related that happen to have been purchased at the grocery store. We are ok with this margin for error as long as the total spent for the month is accurate.
We reconcile our bank and credit card statements usually once a week to ensure we captured all of the purchases we made as well as any automated ones. Takes maybe 15 minutes a week.
This also means we don't need to keep the receipts – unless we need them for some other purpose, e.g. returns. We hate little bits of paper everywhere.
So in the example listed, the gas would be assigned to the "Vehicle Gas" category, the Red Bull to "misc." and the gas treatment to "Vehicle Maintenance." Although our system is flexible enough that if the entire amount ended up charged to "Vehicle Gas" that would be ok too although not optimal.
The real value in the tracking of purchases for us is often in determining 1) how closely the budget amounts are matching reality 2) seeing clearly how much discretionary purchases affect the month's total spent amount against the total income for that month 3) understanding how purchases are evolving in the budget. For example, we recently purchased a vehicle that gets better gas mileage than the last one. By tracking how much we spend each month on gas per vehicle we can see how much of a difference the newer vehicle is actually making to the budget (assuming the distance traveled doesn't vary wildly month to month).
I have tried that Mint program and I think it is more trouble than it is worth (for me). I had to keep correcting all of the categories that it associated my purchases with. It would keep sending me emails saying that I went over budget on "shopping" when I really just paid my insurance, or call my credit card payment a cash withdrawal and things like that…annoying.
I have a spreadsheet of my bills and grocery, gas, etc. budgets. I know how much I can spend every two weeks at the grocery store. I just mark off each row with color when it has cleared. I would also make payments for "allowance" that I can spend however I want.
I can see how tracking every expense for a certain amount of time can be very advantageous to people who don't know where there money is going every month. It's not for everyone; it just depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
I use Mint.com because it's free and lets me customize the transaction categories. For example if I go to Wal-mart and buy groceries, but also pick up printer ink, and get cash back, when I get home I split the transaction into (for example):
groceries $130
household supplies $30
cash $20
Also I set up a special category if I want to track something in particular, like home purchase spending.
Receipts alone don't work for me because I also need to know the reason for the purchase. I like to classify gifts separately and the receipt wouldn't always show that. Mostly I try and keep an idea on how much we spend on discretionary items (eating out, gifts, clothes) vs. necessities. Good luck!
I never want to keep track of that detail! Why would I need to?
I download the transactions from my bank and credit card to Microsoft Money. I do this every week, about. I go through each of the transactions and assign a category and subcategory. I generate a report at the end of every budget cycle to track how I'm doing.
I do keep reciepts but only for business expenses, and I'm even bad at that (which is embarassing since I'm an accountant, lol).
Mostly I download by debit and credit card transactions and rarely use cash, and when I do use it I often dump it into the "Misc" category and only sort it out later if I feel like it.
For categories: What is the item most likely to make you overspend? Track that! What is it when you buy it you feel guilty? Track that too! What is your biggest expense? Hmm… track that too…
From looking at my Quicken I track:
Bank charges/loan interest
Dining out
Gifts Given
Personal Care
Each has subcategories:
Clothing for example has my clothing, my daughter's clothing, and drycleaning expenses in sub categories.
Personal care is hair cuts, hair products (that aren't bought at the grocery), make up, medical, fitness memberships, etc.
Be as detailed as you like, but I'd start with some pretty basic categories and add "sub categories" later when you know what it is you want to track.
The first thing I'd do make the accounting easier would be to stop the stupid little purchases there. $2.15 for a Red Bull? Why? Couldn't get a thermos of coffee at home? (Or tea or whatever). $4.xx for a gas treatment? Why? They are much cheaper at Costco and they are a part of my car maintenance budget–Chevron Techron which is probably the only one worth the money from what I have read, though if you're already filling up Chevron gas (I don't) you don't need it (different grades may vary).
Anyway, it's lots easier to keep tabs on the money if you have a budget and spend within it. That way I avoid the tiresome bean counting. Yes, I tracked for a while, then stopped out of boredom, but I stay under budget because I already know what's what.
Rule #1 is avoid impulse purchases. They are stupid and they will bleed you to death.
Just last week at Costco I was almost talked into buying a bottle of their house bourbon. Their vodka is good but I knew nothing of this whiskey. The lady was nice but I politely refused saying I don't do impulse purchases and "my wife would kill me" (ha, I lied). Got home,read some reviews, it's brewed by Jim Beam which *I do not like* and the whiskey is poorly rated. Bullet: dodged.
Anyway, once your gas station receipt only shows the amount for gas it becomes much easier to account and you don't have to do so many split transactions for a few dimes.
One cautionary thing about relying only on reciepts — depending on how often you split the bill with people reciepts can be misleading in terms of the actual amount you spent or didn't spend. Let me explain! My social life consists of a pretty solid friends group. When we hang out it's usually at bars or restaurants and there's a lot of food sharing/pitchers of beer sharing and inevitably there is at least one person who doesn't have any cash on them and has to use a credit card which can make splitting the bill a bit tricky if the rest of us were planning to pay cash. We get by half on a barter system (complete with "if you pay for my drink, I will bake you homemade bread") and half on rotating who is paying with a credit card and who is paying with cash each night. So if I put the whole bill for dinner on my credit card ($60.25 let's say) and one person gives me $25 in cash to pay me back and one person gives me $20 and then some loose change, I write down that I paid $16 instead of $60.25. (The math is rounded up.) Most people don't have this problem, but for me the majority of my "fun" money goes to paying for things that are split multiple ways. I'm lucky in that my friends are all honest about splitting bills and paying people back, but even though everyone is responsible it gets complicated, which makes tracking money a lot harder and, IMO, more important.
Anyway, in terms of how I actually go about tracking my money … because I'm using my spending plan as a guide to tighten the purse strings and keep track of the general trends in my spending, not as a means of balancing my checkbook, I round everything up to the next dollar. Both $10.05 and $10.95 get recorded as $11. When I slightly overestimate my spending I cut back on my spending slightly more than I would otherwise. It's a mini safety net. In my spending plan I track credit card, cash, and checks. When it comes to finding patterns I've found I need to track at least credit and cash — doing one or the other is fine to make sure that everything balances at the end of the month, but it doesn't help me make decisions re: where to cut back.
In order to remember what I have spent I either a) keep reciepts that have amounts that are equal to what I acutally spent, b) keep notes on my phone, c) tally up what I have spent at the end of the day when I write. I try to write every night before I go to bed and it's easy enough to jot down in the margins of my notebook what I spent that day. Then every few days I update the spreadsheet I made in open office.
I have three general categories: Savings, Fixed Expenses, and Variable expenses. If I had debt I would make that a forth category. Savings is split into long-term savings (emergency fund & retirement) and short-term savings (i.e. money to by plane tickets to visit my parents during the year). Even though the money that I put aside for savings isn't being spent right now, in my spending plan I consider it "spent" money, because I can't use it to buy other things this month.
Fixed expenses are rent, metrocard, etc.
Variable expenses are split into 16 categories, but my planned spending for some of the categories is perpetually low. "Beverages" for example is $5, so that if I buy one grande chai latte at Starbucks I won't feel horribly guilty. And I plan for just enough in my "Taxi" category that if I get stuck late at night and the subway isn't running I don't have to feel guilty about taking a taxi back to my place. Some of the things on the list are specific to my lifestyle — every Monday I meet my friends meet at the same bar to eat and complain about our work. So I have an extra category specifically for Monday nights.
In terms of restaurants and groceries, which are the two largest categories under variable expenses, I keep extra notes. For restaurants I jot down on the side of the spreadsheet where I went. For grocery stores I have a list on another page of the spreadsheet where I keep track of what I bought and how much the unit price was for each item. I'm not the best about updating the grocery list, but I try to do it semi-regularly just so that I have a general idea of what a good price is for items that I buy regularly.
I don't generally break up reciepts based on what I bought, but then again I generally don't have to. I think if I did, I would just make a note to the side of the spreadsheet that I broke up a purchase over two categories.
Mint is convenient but Excel is so customizable. Like you said in your post, "only count things that matter." Excel lets you do that best. I've written about the basic monthly method before http://www.modernsaver.com/create-budget
i track every penny, also. keeps me "honest." even a dollar i put in the salvation army bucket, it goes in "donations" natch. spreadsheet for me. normal budget categories, groceries, eating out, mortgage, doctor, property taxes, clothes (yikes!), personal care, like that. the bad things (like clothes and wine and eating out) go in the spreadsheet in their own section, with a budget amount on the left. i tried to stay within the budget. i'm getting there. i love working on my computer, so every morning when i get up and i'm having my coffee (that i make at home) I go into my online bank accounts (i have several..all tracked in the spreadsheet), check the balances, and in about 5 seconds my accounting is done. i tie it all out to my checking a/c balances. at night i simply enter the transactions when i check email, etc. so today i got take out for lunch (cash) and bought a bottle of wine(debit card) on my way home. no biggie, I just entered the amounts in the spreadsheet. tomorrow i check it against my bank balance. it's a beautiful thing.
Hi to J.D. — long time reader, first time commenter! I decided to start tracking every penny I spend, just for a month or two to see how I was spending. That was about 3 years ago and I've tracked ever since. What started out as curiosity became an addiction (but I consider it a positive addiction!). It would make me very uncomfortable now to stop tracking — I would feel like I had no idea where my money was going. But it's become such a habit at this point that I hardly even think about it.
My system is extremely basic — I keep a small notebook in my purse where literally every penny gets tracked. If I spend 50 cents on a toll, I track it. Just take a few minutes at the end of the day to make note of that day's spending. Then once a week or so I transfer everything into a basic spreadsheet. This way I can see what I'm spending in every category month by month, and I have it set up so that I can see what my monthly average is per category. I can also see what each category's monthly average is based on same month last year.
I have several categories but still fairly simple. As J.D. does, I split food up into two – Groceries and Dining Out. I have a Household category for items like paper products, laundry soap, etc. Clothing, Personal Items (would be makeup, shampoo, etc.), Pet Food/Supplies, Gas, Entertainment, etc etc.
I find it really helpful to see where my spending is in line, and where I feel I'm overspending. I think it's really all about feeling in control of my money, rather than it controlling me.
I track every penny with pretty detailed categories. Tracking things is kind of a personality trait for me, I like to do it. I use mint and check it at least once per day and love looking at the trends and sorting things in various ways to look for surprises or areas of change.
For food I use:
Dining out
work-day lunches out
coffee out
bars & alcohol
It sounds tedious, but for me these are all very different in terms of how/when I eat and the ways I might change that spending. For example, I strive to minimize lunches out because they are expensive without much pleasure and when I realize that they've become frequent I stock up or change up my stash of go-to meals at work. Dining out on the other hand is something I truly enjoy. I want to keep it reasonable, but not infrequent. Coffee out is something I get too often, occasionally I'll see that I spent an awful lot on that recently and the light bulb above me head will go on: Waiting for my favorite beans to go on sale before I re-stock at home is costing me more than if I just bought them at full price. If those numbers were added together it'd be harder for me to take look at how my spending for a given week/month/time frame could be improved.
I use Bank of America's "My Portfolio" feature and have every single one of my accounts linked to it, so I have access to ALL data, all the time. That is useful to me in terms of being able to look at big trends and general buckets.
BUT, it hasn't been that helpful to me as far as cultivating mindfulness. So I have recently started carrying a notebook in my purse and writing down all purchases as I make them. I add up the totals as I go, so I know exactly how much I have spent month-to-date. This has the effect of making me very aware of exactly how much I am spending and when. I probably won't even look at this data again, though, because I already have it tracked for me on the B of A website. But it's important to me in order to develop the awareness of spending.
So my answer is — figure out WHY you are tracking and that will help you figure out HOW to track.
I use a program called Simple Home Budget. It's simple as it's name implies but yet powerful and effective. Anyone else use it too?
I keep the receipts to record the items in my spreadsheet, broken down into their categories. If I shop at a superstore or anywhere that carries multiple (food, music, pet supplies) items I break down the receipt into the spreadsheet categories.
For the times I pay cash and places that I don't get a receipt I keep a slip of paper in my wallet to jot down the date, amount, and name or category of the item.
I also have a grocery, eating out, and a snack category. Snacks are not items that I buy during a grocery run, this is for the days I need a coffee or a trip to the vending machine or some other unplanned purchase.
i pay for everything using my (rewards) credit card. each month i can see my expenses on my statement and every quarter they send me a statement that is broken out into categories (groceries, gas, utilities…). i don't carry a balance, use the accumulated rewards at the holidays and have a fairly clear understanding of my expenses. i really wouldn't be able to track things myself.
While I definitely support people that live the cash only lifestyle, by using debit and credit cards (that you pay in full each month) there is benefit of being able to easily track your expenditures. Even if you buy a bottle of water from the gas station with a debit/credit card it can be easily tracked and budgeted for, however, paying for such a small expenditure with cash can cause it to be forgotten.
if it's tracked in your software but you never look at the individual numbers, it's just as forgotten in terms of changing behavior.
More, because if I bought a bottle of water then I would get where I was going and only have $24 instead of $25 and I would remember why. It just depends how you think about it.
I have tried tracking my expenses a few different ways over the years (i.e. pen and paper, software, budget forms) and had given up shortly after starting. After reading this post, I logged onto Mint.com and couldn't believe how easy it was to have everything in one place! I already do online banking, so I just had to link my accounts. It was cool to create a budget and set some saving goals too!
I have just recently started tracking all my money with GNUcash. It is a free program with a very professional, polished interface.
I started out with just general categories, but that is about to change. I am also about to start breaking down my receipts into their individual items…
I try to check my books on a daily basis. Once everything is under control, that might change; but I find it necessary to keep reminding myself what my financial situation is, otherwise I'll have a catastrophe.
Here are our categories:
Auto liab
The category Weekly has evolved from a desire for simplicty.
After we were good about sticking to our budget in these categories I lumped it. (Do I really care if I spent $ on gas or tp?!
It used to be broken down into groceries, household items (paper towels, haircuts), house items (light fixture, paint) eating out, auto fuel.
I use QuickBooks online free version for small business. I don't use assets/expenses. I use liability accounts. For example, I debit the account insurance monthly. At the end of 6 months it generally has the amount I owe the ins co. I pay it. Brings the account to zero.
If there is a credit balance in the account it means I'm behind. For example, if I prepay something like an auto repair (by borrowing from my other subaccounts) because I didn't have enough saved up then as I get the money to pay for it I put it in that account to bring it back to zero. So basically I allow myself to give loans to different accounts.


text:
Designed for Entertaining
Quick Facts
- Plan #:
- Style:
- Country
- Size:
- 3,158 Sq. Ft
- Stories:
- 1
- Baths:
- 3
- Width:
- 72'
- Beds:
- 4
- 1/2 baths:
- 0
- Depth:
- 70'
House Plans Pricing
- Blueprints - 1 study set $804
- Blueprints - 4 sets $824
- Blueprints - 8 sets $864
- Reproducible Master $954
This intriguing home is finished with a combination of wood siding and brick, giving it a warm, rustic look. Geared for formal entertaining as well as for family living, the home offers a dining room with a built-in china hutch and a living room with a fireplace. Both rooms are separated from the entry hall by decorative columns. The large-scale family room features 13-ft. ceilings, a fireplace and a built-in entertainment center. The sun room and the breakfast area include sloped, skylighted ceilings and French doors opening to the patio. The master suite has a 14-ft. sloped ceiling, private access to the patio and its own fireplace. The adjoining bath offers abundant storage space, a garden tub with glass-block walls and a separate shower. For an alternate version of this plan with Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) as exterior wall framing, see Plan E-3105.
Extras: Attic Space, Cabinets, Fireplace, Skylights, Split Bedrooms, Walk-In Closet, Wet Bar, Window Wall.
House Plans Images
House Plans Pricing
Complete Plan Information
- House Style
- Country, Ranch
- Bedroom Extras
- Dressing Room
- Private Patio/Deck Access
- Sitting Room
- Fireplace
- Dual Sinks
- Garden Tub
- Master Suite - Shower
- Water Closet
- Kitchen Extras
- Breakfast Nook
- Snack Bar
- Walk-in Pantry
- Foundation Type
- Crawlspace
- Key Information
- 3,158 Square Feet
- Beds: 4
- Baths: 3
- ½ baths: 0
- Stories: 1
- Garage Bays: 2
- Width: 72'
- Depth: 70'
- Room Summary
- Family Room
- Formal Dining Room
- Formal Living Room
- Laundry Room - First Floor
- Sun Room
- Workshops
- Special Features
- Attic Space
- Cabinets
- Fireplace
- Skylights
- Split Bedrooms
- Walk-In Closet
- Wet Bar
- Window Wall
Estimate Building Costs for this Plan
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
The North Attleboro location is now closed
Too expensive for our family of six people. Food is good. Menu isn't super extensive. Have dined here safely. Nice atmosphere.
Great breakfast.
1196 Main St, South Yarmouth, MA 02664
Great place for GF.......My wife ate there 2 days in a row and got a great GF sandwich and she loved it and had no issues......We have been doing GF for over 10yrs now and know when a place is good and it was GREAT !!!!
Rte 132 & Bearses Way, Barnstable Town, MA 02601
Horrible customer service, the server was clueless about gluten allergy, and we found out why the tables were so thickly sticky when we saw the buser swipe a table once with a dirty cloth.
1196 Main St, South Yarmouth, MA 02664
The "gf" pancakes are made on a shared griddle and the "gf" bread is toasted in a shared toaster. I gave it 2 stats because some entrees and omelets might be ok but ask lots of questions. Fries and hash browns are listed as gf on menu but ate also made on shared equipment.
1196 Main St, South Yarmouth, MA 02664
My absolute favorite place to eat for breakfast. The harvest pancakes are amazing and they have a big GF menu. The Yarmouth location is the best to go to. They all know me and my husband there and are all so nice and bend over backward for you. It's a small New England chain that's better than it's rap. There is room for cross contamination but I've never gotten sick here.
Rte 132 & Bearses Way, Barnstable Town, MA 02601
Hearth n' Kettle is my favoirte place to eat. The food is great and the service is fantastic. Highly recommend it to all who like home cooked food.
Rte 6A & W Rd, Orleans, MA 02653
Good menu. Even the gluten free except dessert.
Rte 6A & W Rd, Orleans, MA 02653
Limited Gf menu, but the Mediterranean chicken was great! The rice was Moist and the chicken juicy. No gf bread offered. Good attentive service, quickly served, reasonable prices.
151 Main St, Weymouth, MA 02188
Quite good. Nice place for a family gathering. Gluten free menu is average. Happened to order the salmon and it was fine. Was surprised a bit by being able to order baked beans.
25 Summer St, Plymouth, MA 02360
good food, varied GF menu & goof service.
25 Summer St, Plymouth, MA 02360
They do have a gluten free breakfast, nothing fancy but it is OK. The restaurant looks like it really needs an overhaul.
Rte 6A & W Rd, Orleans, MA 02653
Apparently the locals refer to this place as the "barf and spittle". Colorful but accurate description. The food was gross and the restaurant and facilities were dirty. I would not recommend this place to anyone!
Rte 6A & W Rd, Orleans, MA 02653
The food was gross. Didn't get sick but it was not good at all. The restaurant and bathrooms were also very unclean. Just skip this place.
Rte 132 & Bearses Way, Barnstable Town, MA 02601
gross food!
1196 Main St, South Yarmouth, MA 02664
not reliably gluten free.


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text:
Tastes fine but it made too much to fit into the pita bread. Had to double the amount of pita bread to remedy that. Was too much effort for the sake of a sandwich however.
Peanut-Sauced Chicken Pitas
Photo: Levi Brown; Styling: Angharad Bailey
Here's a tasty way to use up leftover roast chicken. Dark meat stands up to the intense flavors in the dressing. For a change, try using a wrap or naan instead of a pita.
Yield: 2 servings (serving size: 1 stuffed pita half)
More From Cooking Light
Recipe Time
Hands On:
24 Minutes
Total: 24 Minutes
Nutritional Information
Amount per serving
- Calories: 275
- Fat: 9.6g
- Saturated fat: 2.4g
- Monounsaturated fat: 3.6g
- Polyunsaturated fat: 2.5g
- Protein: 21.4g
- Carbohydrate: 25.7g
- Fiber: 3.9g
- Cholesterol: 52.5mg
- Iron: 2.5mg
- Sodium: 620mg
- Calcium: 32mg
- 1 cup shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken thigh or drumstick meat
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
- 2 tablespoons thin red bell pepper strips
- 2 tablespoons peanut satay sauce (such as Thai Kitchen)
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon chile paste with garlic (optional)
- 1 (6-inch) whole-wheat pita, cut in half
- 1/2 cup fresh mung bean sprouts, rinsed, drained, and patted dry
- 2 tablespoons diagonally-cut carrot
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1. Combine the first 5 ingredients, tossing well to coat. Stir in chile paste, if desired. Fill each pita half with about 1/2 cup chicken mixture, 1/4 cup bean sprouts, 1 tablespoon carrot, and 1 tablespoon cilantro.
MyRecipes is working with Let's Move!, the Partnership for a Healthier America, and USDA's MyPlate to give anyone looking for healthier options access to a trove of recipes that will help them create healthy, tasty plates. For more information about creating a healthy plate, visit www.choosemyplate.gov.
My Notes
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Peanut-Sauced Chicken Pitas Recipe at a Glance
- COURSE: Main Dishes, Sandwiches
- CONVENIENCE: Entertaining, Quick/Easy
- CUISINE: Asian
- MAIN INGREDIENT: Poultry
- PUBLICATION: Cooking Light
More Recipes Like This
Curried Chicken PitasCooking Light
Roast Chicken Pitas with Cumin-Lemon DressingCooking Light
Chicken Pitas with Yogurt-Dill SauceOxmoor House
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Turn to Homebuyers Abstract in Eynon, Pennsylvania, for the legal services you need. We specialize in all aspects of real estate law, though we also deal with estate planning and business formations.
Our owner and operator, Mark Rudalavage, is a licensed title agent, a real estate attorney, and a professor of real estate law at Penn State Worthington Scranton campus. You can count on him and his staff to handle your case in the most professional manner.
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Internet: The Gateway to Cheating?
Guest blogger Dani Klein Modisett: Over the last 10 years, several couples I know have split. Not so unusual. What is unusual is that the impetus for the demise of these marriages has been sex outside the marriage. The genesis of this sex, pun intended, was contact made on the Internet. In one case, it was hardcore porn leading to hardcore whores, but in the other two, it was reconnecting with someone out of their past through one of the many popular "social networking" sites.
Even if you don't have a problem with sex addiction like Mr. Duchovny confessed to last week, (or if you have one and don't know it yet), home computers pose a very real threat to your home life.
"The Internet has provided a level of access (to pornography) that was previously unavailable. So many people have this problem and the Internet has driven that," said Rob Weiss, executive director of the Sexual Recovery Institute in Los Angeles.
Although I've never blown a stranger, I actually relate to this problem myself. For someone with a sex addiction, having Internet access 24/7 would be like me moving my bed in to a Dunkin' Donuts. I have a compulsive donut disorder. I seriously don't eat donuts because once I have one, they take hold of me and I can no longer find a reason to stop eating donuts.
To hear Dani's solution for sexual addiction go to PAGE 2.
drivel… the key to donuts is a little thingee adults call self control… but seriously, MomLogic, rather than come off like harpies, the net COULD be a gateway to all sorts of sex ills.. but considering the stats are tremendous in terms of percent of folks who access daily, it's a chicken and egg thing, to some extent… there exist stats of daily internet pron usage by active attenders or various christian churches? Shockingly high percent of the congregation are ALSO looking at porn daily.. is THAT cause and effect to church going and cheating? of course not….but this crud sells.. especially with the headlines of is your hubby a porn addict? yikes… ever notice it's just all puff?


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Ham Steak with Chipotle-Mustard Sauce
Photo: Ryan Benyi; Styling: Gerri Williams for James Reps
Yield: Serves: 4
Cost per Serving: $2.48
More From Allyou
Recipe Time
Cook Time:
Prep Time:
Nutritional Information
Amount per serving
- Calories: 410
- Fat: 32g
- Saturated fat: 6g
- Protein: 22g
- Carbohydrate: 0.0g
- Fiber: 0.0g
- Cholesterol: 61mg
- Sodium: 2622mg
- 1 bone-in fully cooked ham steak (about 1 1/4 lb.)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, split open, seeds removed, pepper finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons white wine or cider vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- 1. Using a sharp paring knife, score ham on one side to prevent curling. Pat dry with paper towels.
- 2. In a skillet large enough to hold ham flat, warm oil over medium-high heat. Add ham and cook until lightly browned and heated through, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
- 3. Combine mustard, mayonnaise, chipotle and vinegar in a small bowl. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Serve ham warm with sauce on the side.
Also featured in: Back to School Special, All You, July 2013
My Notes
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Ham Steak with Chipotle-Mustard Sauce Recipe at a Glance
- COURSE: Main Dishes
- CONVENIENCE: Kid-Friendly, Quick/Easy, Family
- MAIN INGREDIENT: Pork
- DIETARY CONSIDERATION: Low Carbohydrate
- PUBLICATION: All You
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From the point of. disappointment (by F.w.)
The sensation of the sea in the eyes, the sensation in the body. Fibril oxygen pierces the sand, passing pagurus comes ran aground as a fundamental error. Passage of the pagoda. Night of the sea and even sea of night that advances. That hour becomes demanding, fulfillment of the loss to penetrate the horizon. One thing is humanity, everything in the grain of sand since _since strant to suspicion, core to the colonies of polyps. Serenity spells out his sheets, written with its effluvium of indigo snakes. The curds of foam, the drift of stars on the water. The feeling of calm just slow down time. The silence is creating another existence. We could have all ages, the blood does a beat. There is more space around the heart, the sea has invaded everything around. The face is lost.The mind has no law, the laws of induction. The body is him overwhelmed with an unreality. Every sense elude us, we miss nothing. There is no more rope to pull, there is no more disappointment than shipwrecks. We could lose all traces. It is the innocence of the wind that delete the names. It is the innocence face a force. No avail. The salt desires, the salt tears. We could be filled by disappointment. Where to drill the meaning? White smoke of seagulls. Cracks. Puddles. The vertigo of the night on a rain mirrors agonic. The old houses are elsewhere also to bear the heights. This absence is unlike a person only a metamorphosis until disease coincidences. You, you know to die altogether.
From the point of disappointment


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Mitsui Seiki USA, Inc.
Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417
Sep 05, 2013
Used for making precision lead screw type parts, VGE60A can perform thread, spline, gear, OD, surface, and edge grinding operations in single setup. Automatic grinding wheel changer, automatic wheel guard, and CNC-controlled wheel dresser promote productivity, while precision is enhanced via programmable grinding wheel tilt angles from +45° to -90°, vertical orientation of work, and elimination of workpiece sag. Machine accommodates max grinding length of 600 mm.
Jones & Shipman Precision Limited
Farmington, CT 06032
Jun 08, 2009
Holroyd Gear and Thread Grinder, model GTG2, offers precision grinding of helical/spur gears in diameters up to 350 mm. System enables users to grind small batches of gears to DIN and AGMA quality standards. On-board intelligence includes 3D scanning as well as stress prediction software which allows machine to optimize gear design. Machine can also produce master gears, precision prototyping, and timing gears for use in aerospace applications.
New Vista Corp.
Baltimore, MD 21205
Jul 12, 2007
Comprised of servomotor, servodrive, and motion programming, all-electric Thread Chasing Unit can clear weld spatter, chips, paint, or burrs from internal or external threads in production parts. Forward torque is adjustable up to 10 lb-ft and reverse torque is 20 lb-ft to assure tool will not stick in threads. Three sizes are available to chase threads from 3-50 mm.
Drake Mfg. Services
Warren, OH 44485 1147
Sep 12, 2006
Equipped with linear motors and ways, Model GS:TE-LM features 180° power helix, Fanuc control programmed with customer parts, acoustic touch dressing, automatically generated wheel forms, and mineral-filled cast polymer base. Auto load system consists of infeed conveyor, robot with dual grippers, and exit conveyor. When new part information is entered into menu during changeover, robot is automatically reprogrammed for part being presented.
Drake Mfg. Services
Warren, OH 44485 1147
Sep 11, 2006
Universal linear motor thread grinder, GS:T-LM350, accepts workpieces up to 2 m long and is designed to utilize superabrasives. It can be equipped with power wheel helix (A-axis) and for grinding external (±35° lead angle) and internal threads (±10° lead angle). Pre-programmed for end user's parts, grinder features acoustic touch dressing, automatically generated wheel forms, crash protection, automatic part location, and mineral-filled cast polymer base.
Drake Mfg. Services
Warren, OH 44485 1147
Sep 11, 2006
Featuring 100 x 100 mm work envelope, GS:TE-MINI Thread Grinder precision grinds threaded parts such as thread rolls, thread gages, worms, ballscrews, e-steering components, aerospace fasteners, and surgical bone screws. Grinder is 1.2 m wide x 1.8 m deep, weighs 3,000 kg, and can be integrated into manufacturing cells or moved around shop via forklift. PartSmart(TM) menu-driven software has parts pre-programmed into system, and requires no programming knowledge to use.
Drake Mfg. Services
Warren, OH 44485 1147
Sep 21, 2004 Featuring full 180° power helix, Model GS:TE-LM enables user to grind threads, splines, key slots, and rings on one machine in single setup. It features mineral-filled, cast polymer base; Fanuc CNC system; and 1/10 micron scale feedback. Smart Spindle⢠technology provides automatic balancing, touch dressing, and part feature locating, while Smart Form⢠technology generates corrected wheel forms for helical path interference and off helix grinding.
Drake Mfg. Services
Warren, OH 44485 1147
Jul 23, 2004 Full helix thread grinder, model GS:TE-LM, allows operators to grind threads, splines, key slots, rings, and other forms on one machine in one setup. It also enables users to optimize dress and grind process by monitoring acoustical emissions. Machine automatically corrects wheel forms for helical path interference or generates forms using standard plated wheels. Product incorporates tenth-micron scale feedback, Fanuc CNC system, and 180° Power Helix.
Junker, Erwin, Machinery Inc.
Chicopee, MA 01022
Apr 10, 2002 Compact Tapomat 1000 produces right or left hand threads from 0.8 - 4 mm, chucking lengths up to 100 mm, and grinding lengths up to 50 mm. Its hydraulic power pack, coolant pumps and electrical cabinet are inside enclosure and flush with machine's profile. Control system swivels in or out for operator convenience. Grinder has 6.5 hp wheelhead spindle motor. Operator can manually angle wheelhead with roller guides from +10 to -7 deg.
STANLEY Engineered Fastening
Shelton, CT 06484
Nov 08, 2001 Chase âem Back Stud Repair wrap-around thread chaser eliminates need to remove stud. Tool wraps around undamaged threads at base of stud and backs off to reform damaged threads. It contains repair tools for 21 different stud applications, including stud sizes from 1/4-20 through 1/2-13 and M6x1.0 through MI2x1.75. Tools are made from heat-treated tool steel. Set is packed in a rugged plastic case and comes with a limited lifetime warranty.
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Chris Duke shows you how to install sub-frame connectors, control arms, an electric fan/radiator, and sway bars on a 1987 Ford Mustang.
Chris Duke hosts an automotive improvement series showing you how to maintain your vehicle and install accessories step-by-step in layman's terms, in a typical garage setting, using common tools.
Discover the best in original web series.
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DOH Service Telephone Directory
Select directory to view the telephones number of the various DOH services.
HF0 Housing Finance Agency Chapter 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
HF0 Housing Finance Agency Chapter
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Jawa (Character)
from Star Wars (1977)
|Related Videos (see all 7)
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- The Jedi Child (2011) Played by Chrissy Conway
- TK421: Why Aren't You at Your Post? (2010) Played by Ethan E. Moore / William W. Moore
- You Can Draw 'Star Wars' (2007) (V) Played by Lukas Pintal (as Jawa 1) / Jillian Pintal (as Jawa 2)
- Imperial Chopper (2005) Played by Paul Bonell
- The Solo's (2004) Played by Ari Hodoyan (as Jawa 2) / Artemis Hodoyan (as Jawa 1)
- Run Leia Run (2003) Played by Byron Tsang
- The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards (2002) (TV) Played by Steven Melching / Dave Myers / Matthew Myers / Paul Pistore
- Troops (1997) Played by Dave Myers / Steven Melching / Matthew Myers / Paul Pistore
- Star Wars (1977) Played by Frazer Diamond / Warwick Diamond / Rusty Goffe / Mahjoub / Hal Wamsley / Tiffany L. Kurtz / Melissa Kurtz / Jack Purvis (as Chief Jawa)
... aka "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" - International (English title) (imdb display title), UK (imdb display title), USA (reissue title)
... aka "La guerra de las estrellas" - USA (Spanish title)
... aka "Star Wars IV: A New Hope" - USA (video box title)
- Star Wars: Episode I - Jedi Power Battles (2000) (VG) Played by Peter Vikin
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Discover Author
Laura Kinsale is a winner and multiple nominee for the Best Book of the Year award given by the Romance Writers of America. She became a romance writer after six years as a geologist -- a career which consisted of getting out of bed in the middle of the night and driving hundreds of miles alone across west Texas to sit at drilling rigs, wear a hard hat, and attempt to boss around oil-covered males considerably larger than herself. This, she decided, was pushing her luck. So she gave all that up to sit in a chair and stare into space for long periods of time, attempting to figure out What-Happens-Next. She and her husband David currently divide their time between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Texas.
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The Duchess of Cambridge has written the foreword for a book which reveals "what life as an RAF wife is really like".
Living in the Slipstream: Life As An RAF Wife (Book Guild Publishing) is written by Jill Black, Holly Jeffers and Alison Bairsto.
The book is a collection of "tales told by wives of...
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Publishers are marking the birth of the royal baby with a host of titles dedicated to the new prince.
Non-fiction publisher John Blake has announced a new title called The New Royal Family: William and Kate the Next Generation, written by journalist Robert Jobson with photos from Arthur Edwards. It will be released on 5th...
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Icon Books has refused to comment on reports that is is caught in a legal row over its book When One Is Expecting: A Posh Person's Guide to Pregnancy and Parenting, published on the 6th June.
The book, written by Mat Morrisoe and Suzanne...
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Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall has climbed the Amazon charts following saturation media coverage of her comments about the Duchess of Cambridge, with Alison Weir, Julie Burchill and A N Wilson the latest pundits to offer...
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Double Man Booker Prize-winner Hilary Mantel has made newspaper headlines today (19th February) following a lecture given as part of the London Review of Books Winter Lectures series in which she criticised the media's portrayal of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.
The Daily Mail has...
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Hodder has signed a title by Pippa Middleton's pilates coach Margot Campbell.
Campbell runs the Pilates on the Go studio in west London and is credited for helping the sister of duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, "achieve her fantastic figure".
Hodder Lifestyle publisher Nicky Ross bought world rights to...
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Satirical photographer and filmmaker Alison Jackson will be focusing her eye on the Royal Wedding with a new book from Quadrille about Prince William and Kate Middleton's forthcoming nuptials.
Anne Furniss, Quadrille editorial director, bought world rights to Kate and Wills Up the Aisle: A Right Royal Fairy Tale from Jonny...
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Simon & Schuster is the latest publisher to offer a Royal Wedding title with a "unique" biography of Prince William's future wife Kate Middleton.
Kate by celebrity biographer Sean Smith aims to offer a "unique perspective" on Middleton. The title will look at what the future holds for the Royal couple...
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Mainstream has brought forward publication of its book celebrating the Royal engagement, releasing its title today (24th) rather than tomorrow.
Kate: The Making of a Princess by Claudia Joseph is a £7.99 b-format paperback, and an updated version of its hardback Kate: A Princess in Waiting.
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Anova has brought forward the publication date of its book on the Royal engagement, with it and HarperCollins releasing the first books on the same day.
William & Kate: Celebrating a Royal Engagement will hit shops on 26th November, a day earlier than previously announced. The book is by contemporary royal photographer Robin...


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Tea Party grassroots army readies for battle
Interviews with activists across 20 U.S. states indicate that Tea Party groups, far from fading, have evolved into an increasingly sophisticated and effective network of activists. They are working to unseat establishment Republicans who they believe have betrayed the principles of lower taxes, limited government, and free markets.
"Those who think the Tea Party is on the wane are in for a gigantic surprise in 2012," says Debbie Dooley, co-organizer of the Atlanta Tea Party. "We have built a grassroots army and we will be a fine-tuned machine next year."
The goal of these loosely affiliated but fiercely independent groups nationwide is to hone their electoral skills and build a "farm team" of public officials who can ascend through the ranks of government. It's a long-term strategy that looks past the 2012 election to a takeover of the Republican Party and the U.S. Congress.Read more at www.reuters.com


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GreatSchools Rating
Teacher quality
Principal leadership
Parent involvement
The school year has gotten off to a great start! It was nice to see nearly every student adhere to the uniform policy. The vast majority of parents are overjoyed. I do think it's unfortunate that some parents are putting their children in the mindset of not following rules. Using your child as a way to 'prove a point' is irresponsible parenting. Making your kid go to school without the uniform puts their child in the uncomfortable position of being different from his peers. As you mature, you find this to be a good quality however for your child, not so much. I really hope the principal finds the courage to ignore the nay-sayers and enforce the uniform policy otherwise, what would have been the point of working so hard to get this policy implemented. Please respect the majority choice of the parents. Let's put the focus back to learning, come to school ready, and that means being in uniform. So far so good, Vargas has gained 33 points in API score.
I was expecting negative experience at the time that my kid moved to Vargas last year because of many negative reviews and not that good community rating. However, with more time, I have to admit that Vargas is not a bad school at all. It has dedicated teachers and principle, and it has wonderful kids as well. I am very disappointed at the accusation against PTA. I would like to see all parents coming out to volunteer their time just like every PTA member does. Please pay respect to other parent s hard work, and make your own contribution as well.
A response to "PTA Board are Bullies and work against the system" I'm a parent and also a member of the PTA at Vargas. Whoever wrote the review is absolutely irresponsible and reckless. The current PTA members are dedicated parents who made sacrifices in their life so they can support the school and all of the children who attends the school. The current members are not associated with the past administration that was involved with the embezzlement of the fund. On the contrary, the current PTA members stepped up to replace the previous administration and were able to raise sufficient funding after it was stolen to support the children at Vargas. I will not hide behind my review and will be at the PTA meetings to let the members know who wrote this posting and I'll be more than happy to address the false accusation of the current PTA Board at Vargas. I'm positive that all current PTA members will support me with this accurate review.
PTA Board members our Bullies and work against the system. Current President and board are still part of the last one that stole from the kids. The PTA continues to act as though they control the parents interest but actually control only their own. No one wants to volunteer because the way they run things. Volunteer leadership should be respected not abused and used for personal gains. This is the current way this board works. Don't agree step away from their organization.
the front desk staff is super rude. I went to the school's office in hope of getting information about enrolling my child in the school but the front desk lady (with a big build) was not nice. she did not give clear information but when i asked questions, she scolded me to show her frustration that i asked questions. Every question I asked has been deferred to school's website. I wonder what is her responsibility as a front desk clerk? Before visiting the school office, I was so sure that i would give public school a trial by enrolling my child there. I walked out of the office and determined that the staff did not treat me as a potential parent at the school with respect. How are they going to educate and take good care of my little one? Private school it is! the director at the CDC next door is a lot nicer and helpful in spending time explaining about activities and programs at the CDC.
My son has been coming here for over a year now. The district gave a new principal that is great, had made sure that most of the teachers are pretty good, and the new PTA is reasonable good. They are trying to help Vargas. The problem is that there is no an interested community to build on. It is really hard to find parents that care about their kids education, so few people is up against a big wall of problems. Among all the problems the principal is up against, the latest PTA was secretive and wasted most of the kids money. Then, the little bit that was left got stolen. So the new PTA is trying to restore morale, trust and bring family participation, but is almost impossible. I see how teachers have to tell parents that it would help if they try to connect with their kids, read together and get involved in their day by day life. Apparently, it had to be said, but is not enough, they still don't do it. If the community is not involved in this, the test scores are not going to improve.
I am a parent who has a student that currently attends Vargas, my child really loves his teacher who is kind to all the children, but I am more worried about the low level work they hand out to the students what worries me the most is the people they hire to watch the students during recess, they dont even watch the students they just sit on there butts andtalk to eachother. They are also VERY rude and yell at all the kids for no reason. the office doesnt care when you put in a complaint about the issue because they are low staffed! they just dont care about your kids!
I had my daughter at this school. It sucks. My daughter's first grade teacher was very negative from the start. Didnt give my daughter a chance. I asked about the KLAS and how I can put her in that after school program and they said it was full already. KLAS is for kids to do their homework or get help in other subjects. When I passed by there all the kids were playing around. They abuse this program and use it as an after school daycare. My daughter goes to a way better school. I regret taking her to this school from the start. Everyone has their own opinion.
My first experience with Vargas,all I can say is grandaughter's Kinder teacher was great.My grandaughter did not go to preschool and she came out learning SO much. The dress code was wishy washy, the lice alerts were way too many. I feel the school needs more direction and leadership. Need to also do a website like Ellis does, keep parents posted via web. Time to update and keep up with the times..
I'm guessing the person below me IS on the PTA. Or they probably are the person everyone is complaining about.
From an exsetensial view I think the parents and leadership of Vargas would be honored to have a leader with a PHD from Stanford. Having a leader in the school that knows what it takes to be successful in education is an invaluable resource. The fact that a parent with credentials as impressive as the current PTA presidents has taken much of their personal time to guide the school toward success should be applauded. I think parents, faculty, and leadership would want to support success instead of settling for comfortable mediocrity that seems to be supported by many of these posts.
This school has some great teachers. However, the PTA is most horrible. The PTA president thinks that she owns the school. She screams at the principles in front of the students. Her kid is "my mom is the president of PTA" type. She drove away many good parents from involvement as if she was afraid that they would outshine her. She labelled the school a "Ghetto" and her entourage is a bunch of "YES" people. The teachers behind her are all brainless and have no common sense. It's a no wonder this school is forever in "PI" status having these kinds of teachers around!
I was a student at Vargas Elementary School now I am a first year college student. I had a good experience at the school but my good experience at the school turn for the worst when I went to the 5th grade, the teacher (who is still a teacher on the campus and is female.) I got was very mean to me in the form of tell me to stay after when the other would go play at recess then calling me very mean names for almost a full school year.
This school has very dedicated and highly committed teachers, but the new lleadership at this school is worrisome. I would think twice before sending my child back to this school. Many families have already left because of the new leadership. What an unfortunate circumstance to happen to a school that is so full of promise and discovery.
I wished I'd interviewed the faculty before moving my child to this school. After the fact, I'd learned from friends that when they'd interviewed the principal told them that they would not want their own family members at this school! Although my child's last two teachers were very good, my child felt many of the kids were "bad" and feared that ignoring them was not an option. I agree with a previous posting stating the faculty being passive and the lack of concern over students' behavior. I've heard that the school has a disciplinary game plan for next year.
Vargas is a great school. The teachers and the principle are wonderful. The students are amazing! :)
I have a child in this school and I am most disappointed in the lack of concern the school gives to the students behavior. It seems the teachers in the lower grades spend more than enough of their time trying to converse with children who do not know how to speak English. My opinion is that the teachers and adm. staff have a passive attitude.
The school is very good the teachers give personalised atttention to student's Progress. and we wildin new school
My son went to Vargas from K-2. It was a heartbreak. I agree with a previous post about non-english speaking students setting the pace for the class. He was unstimulated and pretty anonymous. My daughter was there for kindergarden only, thank goodness. I've met a few parents from Vargas and we've all agreed that the school is mediocre at best.
My 2 kids have been in this school for the past 4 years. The school neither encourage nor support bright kids.
Community ratings and reviews do not represent the views of GreatSchools nor does GreatSchools check their accuracy or verify the reviewers' identities. Use your discretion when evaluating these reviews.
The Community Rating is the school's average rating from its community members (e.g., parents, students, and school staff). The highest possible rating is five stars; the lowest is one star.
1054 Carson Drive
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Phone: (408) 522-8267
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