10 Months

 

   We are now 10 months into what I hope is a two year journey of being debt free (except for the house). I often feel like giving up, but at this point I feel like there is no going back. I can't feel the same way I did in the past, putting things on credit cards and not worrying about the future.


     This journey started late last year when we were discussing me going back to school. I wanted to quit my job and start dental hygiene school in the fall of 2014. My husband felt we just couldn't do it since he was always fearing losing his job. At the end of Aug, my husband felt the pressure that there were on their way to forcing him out so he put in two weeks. They only let him work one, before he was told he was no longer needed. Funny how that day he got two post cards in the mail congratulating him for making sales and how he was such a great asset to the team. This cut our income by $50-60,000/ year. He was thinking ahead but it will be a long road to be making that salary again. Currently I am paying all the bills and praying for no emergencies. He is bringing in money, but starting a small business and putting money aside for that, at least through December.

This is very stressful. I want so bad to be out of debt, but I also don't want to sell my car. Today was picture day for my son and my daughter's was a few weeks ago. We couldn't see how this would fit into the budget or that it was important, but I still cried thinking that this isn't how I want it to be.

With my daughter being in sixth grade, and we are paying for a cellphone for her, I would like for her not to go to daycare. She starts school at 9, and I work at 8 but she could just read for that hour at school. This would save us $216 a month. The only thing is, my husband can't commit to picking her up, and there have been a lot of report too close to home of "stranger danger".

My husband did apply for some part time work, but with me working two jobs, not sure if this will work. I also worry that at my full time job, I feel overwhelmed. I am planned to be a lead on projects, that will hopefully give me a raise. I know this raise won't be life changing, but it is hard to balance with a part time job and a family.

On top of all this I can feel how high my blood pressure is at most times. I also found out today my cholesterol is higher than it should. It is hard to focus on my health and my finances at the same time.

If I can plow through this next year I know we can do it, but that is still 15 months away.

Unexpected Expenses May and June

 

May

With the end of school also brings, school fees for next school year. I am the chair of school supplies at my daughter's school, so I get her school supplies for free. My son goes to a Montessori school so we just donate a set amount, and the PTA buys supplies as the teachers request them throughout the year. My son also brought home spring pictures. These are such a scam! I sent my daughter's form back to say we don't want her picture taken, but it is harder to get my son to return things to school. Well, he got his picture taken, and they send home 5 sheets for you to buy or send back. One sheet was an assortment of key chain discs, bookmark, calendar and door hanger. My seven year old son, thinking these were cool free items, tore them off and went around finding uses for each item. He was devastated when he find out we had to pay for these things. I knew it was an honest mistake, so I told him I would pay for them this time. At the end of May I had a race with my sisters, and we split the cost of a hotel and gas. I'm thankful I was able to control myself with spending around my sisters. We went to a casino and I didn't spend a dime. For Mother's day I got my mom a garden cart with my sisters and I also paid for a cheap bible camp.

Daughter's book fee- $50

Son's supplies - $45 (check not cleared yet)

T-shirts to support a cause $45

Son's Spring pictures - $26

hotel - $20

Mother's Day - $20

bible camp - $5

June

June started with the kids being out of school and my husband on vacation. We saved money on daycare that week, but we had to go out of town for a graduation. We gave my niece a gift and helped her mom pay for a DJ for the party. I think it would have been more worth it if the party was more of my nieces friends, but they didn't really dance and there were only a few there. For the area we were in we got a cheap, but kinda scary hotel. The family we had there has so much going on and only one bathroom in all their house/apt that it is hard to stay with them when we visit. The rest of the vacation was budgeted for in advance. For Father's Day I also got dinner for the whole family, and I got my dad a small gift which I bought with my Shopkick points. I also promised my son two sports a year and he wanted to do flag football. I received $5 off for early registration. I found $50 flag football but heard the program is not good and it is in a rough area. The YMCA if you are not a member is $120, plus a $15 jersey! We also were having trouble with our air conditionor (wire got disconnected!) and plumbing. My husband paid for these so I'm not sure how much he spent on plumbing since he did the repair. In the future we will need to fix the hole in the wall to the basement, which turned out the problem was under the sink (Uff da!).

Graduation gift - $50

DJ - $100

Hotel - $160

Father's Day meal- $40
Flag football- $95
Air Conditioner repair - $100

I have also restructured my sinking fund for all the things the kids are involved in with school and extra activities. I planned out my next 6 months on my YNAB and everything is looking good. We were able to pay off my student loan in June and hope to have our house siding debt done by December. We are also saving money on daycare. My husband is off Monday, my sister off Tuesday, and I am able to be off during the day on Wednesday by working longer hours the other days, and making up hours here and there. It has been exhausting but I love saving money.

Upcoming expenses would be that Friday's at daycare are field trip days, so those will fluctuate. It is also 4-H fair time. My daughter will be part of a $15 challenge for shopping for clothes and will be making a fairy garden. I will use the clothing fund and the sinking fund to fund these.

April Unexpected Expenses

I have been enjoying going to the bank when my first big paycheck is direct deposited for the month. I get to go in and take out a big fistful of cash to fill all my envelopes. In April I decided I would combine my gas and my fun money. This did not work! I had the gas light come on the day before I got paid, and had no money left. I ended up filling up my tank and took out less cash for this May. I then made sure to put that money in an envelope in the safe until my gas gauge gets lower. Some other fails in April for us:
* My husband's cell phone stopped charging, so he spend $200 on a new iphone 5s and OtterBox cover ( This did not make me happy, I though $100 should have covered this, plus every time he gets a new phone Sprint seems to have a new fee to add to the plan)
*We did go out to eat, just us two at a restaurant
*I bought Dave's book for less than $14 off of Amazon.com. I paid cash but I was over my mad money at this point.

I was so hungry this month! Stress of so many things always going on at once, crazy hours and two jobs makes me want to eat all the time, but I don't feel like cooking. I'm glad my husband has really been stepping up to cook most night.

I also keep tweaking our sinking funds, and some months we add in items. In May we budgeted $20 for each of our Mothers. In June we will only need $20 for my dad, since my husband's father passed away before he was born. I have a friend's daughters birthday party which I plan on paying for gift out of my mad money. 

I am still fighting at times with my husband, esp after the cell phone. He keeps saying he should be able to spend "his money". We still have separate bank account, but I do have the information for his account and I will look at it at times. He has a variable income each week, but we only budget for a low amount for him to pay towards debt. For the most part before we started this Dave Ramsey plan he would keep a lot of extra money in his account, even if he had a balance on a credit card. I think he is having a really problem with how low his bank account gets at times. I just try and remind him, that he should know how much he needs if he is sticking to the plan and not pulling out money or using the ATM card off budget. This month I had a balance of $.64 in my account before payday! I wasn't worried because I don't use my ATM card much and I know what money is coming and going.

We also paid for baseball picture. I thought they would only be $15, but they were $25. We also got a lot of money back since we switched insurance companies. My husband paid his car tags. I find it weird that his car is one year older but the tags cost more, but it must be a heavy car or something.

May/June we have a lot going on again: baseball games will continue and I would love to buy more training supplies, but have been resisting. I have a run at the end of May: I have bought a shirt ($10) to decorate and socks ($14) to wear, plus splitting  a hotel with my sisters ($20/each). I also want to buy t-shirts to benefit a charity (3 x$15) in May. June we will go out of town for a graduation party, and stay in a hotel, which was $114 for two nights. Baseball and going out of town is also costing my pay from my second job. The debt snowball is still going strong though, and we are ahead of my projections so far.

found on pinterest.com (link wasn't good)

March 2014 Unexpected Expenses

My son's birthday was in March. We didn't budget for a gift. I had a Groupon that was to expire for a local science center. My husband didn't really want to go so I invited one of my son's friends. The best part was we got there half an hour before it opened, and meter parking is free on the weekend and we found one right outside, so I didn't have to pay for parking in a garage. He also just wanted chips and juice instead of a cake, which saved some money. We did have a family party and I bought the cake from Costco for less than $20. We budget for automobile gas and mad money, which we blend. The total of this budget is $170. I also allowed $100 to be put aside from my second job to go towards all these extra expenses this month. So here is what I spent in March:

I had $18 cash, which over half went to the church I attend.
Vending machines at work: $24.40
Field Trip: $15
School Play t-shirt, after party and group picture: $15
School play costume: $40.43
Gas: 64.55
Fast food: 33.72
Bean bag beans: 13.77
Violin Solo Competition: $5
Headphones: $13.77
Work pot luck: 13.68
Printer Ink, aluminum foil: $45.85
school year book: $15 
Total: $318.17
We also had to buy salt for the water softener but took this out of our vacation fund since my husband didn't use any of it during spring break.

So as you can see even though I extended my budget I still went over by $48.17. I could have not participated in the potluck, waited on the headphone (although can't really say I regret it took much since I use they every day at work), and not bought bean bag beans. The field trip was a "suggested" donation, but I still felt I had to contribute. The sheet also noted you could add more money to pay for another child, but I think $15 is a lot for a field trip in the first place, especial since parents are driving. I did a lot better last month and was able to put extra money towards the debt from groceries and gas. I'm going to try a lot harder in April. Having two jobs is really exhausting. I haven't had a day off since January. I am working 60-70 hours a week and so is my husband. I just keep telling myself: It is only two years, and I'm making money. We are slated to have our first debt paid off in April and that is really exciting. We should have our second debt paid by August if we stay on track. My husband's work is to pick up in the summer which is nice, since we will also have more daycare expenses.

In April we also have to bring snacks for 25 students for 5 days, but I plan on taking this out of the grocery fund. Other than that I also hope to buy Rachel and Dave's book during pre-sale, but I plan on waiting to see how much money I have by April 15 before I buy.

I feel like a kid on a debt reducing road trip: "Are we debt free yet?"

Expect the Unexpected

January's budget went OK. I always thought I was doing OK, but a written zero based budget is working so much better. On Dave Ramsey's blog he has post on things you might forget to budget for the month which is helpful. Here is what we missed in our budget in January:
Drivers license renewal 21.50 for a 5 yr (paid less on debt)

Groupon use cost $6 for tip $13 food ( paid from mad money and gas fund)

Boy scout go see it wrestling $8 (used change jar)

School play skate party fundraiser $13 (my husband paid with his mad money and daughter paid from her money)

Birthday at school ( I used my birthday money):

Cake $27.98

Plates $1.99

Juice $7.49

Field trip $5.25 ( this was an optional donation so we didn't because we didn't have the money)
Total: $79.96
I received $50 for my birthday. I thought about putting it all towards debt but my husband said to spend it on myself. I ended up spending most of it on snacks and my daughters half birthday to bring treats to school. I have a hard time telling my kids no and I already promised her that about a month ago, before we started budgeting.

February Extras:
Car tags $177.50

Baseball $90

Girl scout world food day: ~$5
Tax Pro: ~$200
Donation to Jump for Heart- $5 ( already paid from mad money)
Total: $477.50
I have picked up a second job which I hope to fund all the above and to use my mad money. My husband and I each get some mad money each month. Last month I went over so I took out that much less this month. When I went to the bank I took out $10 less than that for just in case, which is how I paid for the Donation already. The grocery and extra money in my gas fund we are putting towards debt. We were planning to use extra grocery money towards some more expensive food, but I reasoned that we did eat out when we went out of town so we did have that treat.

Zero Based Budget

I did not plan a menu for this week since we were out of town and it was a busy week for me. I am trying to plan grocery shopping starting on Tuesday when the ads come out. I go through Hy-Vee, Fareway and Dahl's, sometimes Aldis, to look for deals to make meals. On Tuesday I was only able to go through one ad so I definitely need to work on this and make it a bigger priority. We are well stocked and have leftovers to eat in the fridge so it shouldn't break the budget by not planning.
As far as the budget we are doing great in my mind. All the years I had a budget, sometimes on paper, some times in my head, but having a zero based Dave Ramsey budget is really helping put things in perspective. My husband and I printed the Monthly Cash Flow Plan from Dave's website then I also have it on my computer to easily change the numbers each month.

The following is our budget. I won't give numbers but percentages. The percentages will be of the total planned monthly income unless stated.

Budget

Food

Groceries: 2% weekly of our monthly income. So this can vary depending on how many weeks are in the month. Every week this month we have had a little left over in this category, but have been rolling it over.
Restaurants: 0%. We ate out once because I had a Groupon that was to expire. I used my gas money and mad money to pay for tip and other amount not covered by Groupon. This weekend when we went out of town I purposely spent only 50% of our weekly grocery amount so we could get food on the way there and out of town. We used coupons and were conservative on what we bought. It wasn't fancy, just fast food. We stayed with family so our meals were covered when we got to our destination.

Clothing

Adults: .2% (This is more of a build up fund as we don't need clothes every month.)
Children: .2% (Same as clothing for Adults, plus they received clothes for Christmas, and get hand me downs.)
Cleaning/Laundry: .1% ( We don't dry clean, so this will be for detergent and dryer sheets.)

Housing

First Mortgage: 5% weekly of our monthly income. Includes property tax and insurance. This is taking out of the bank account every week, and makes us pay more than is due each year to pay it off faster. This probably wouldn't be what Dave would suggest, but this is what we are used to and consider it part of the regular payment.
Home Improvement Loan: 3%
Repairs/Maint.: 0%. We do have a lot that needs done at this time but at this time are not putting anything in this fund. I think once we get going and I get a second job we well have separate envelopes for what needs to be done.

Transportation

Gas: .6% weekly of our monthly income for me, .8% weekly of our monthly income for my husband
Repairs & Car Replacement: 0%. We have new cars which will be paid off in two years and we have a good interest rate, so we did not sell them to get out of debt. With my second job I will start to think about tires for our cars in the future.
License & Taxes: Not due this month. Mine will be 3% next month. This is an easy one to take out of the budget, but we could/should make a sinking fund for this.

Utilities

Electricity/Gas: 2% which changes every 3 months. This is budget billing, and I know it has been a bad winter.
Water/Trash: 1%. This varies $5-10 monthly. I plan for an amount and if under the extra goes to debt.
Cell Phones: 2%. I have a plan with my parents which I have had for a while and they get a discount. My husbands is higher but he gets a discount through work.
Internet: .8%. Currently we have a promotional fee. We use internet to watch Netflix and Hulu and the kids have Xbox Live.
Netflix: $7.99 streaming only, no cable.

Medical/Health

Medications/Doctor Bills/Dentist/Other: 1%. This was just for this month. Most months will be zero. Every couple months I have a small prescription to fill. This will be part of the budget discussion. Obviously we will go to the doctor if needed but then we can start planning how to pay after. The bills take a while to get back to us then if a big amount we will make payments and can treat it like a sinking fund. If small it can be out of mad money or reduce our debt pay off for the month.

Insurance

Auto Insurance: 2%. Currently this is the only insurance. We need to add Life. Home is part of mortgage, health comes out of paycheck.

Recreation

Entertainment: .2%. We are planning to go to the movies for Birthdays and this will fund this expense.
Vacation: 1% going to see family. This will fund gas and food for the trip. This is more of a sinking fund and once we get to our goal we might stop.

Personal

Child Care: 2% weekly of our monthly income. This can fluctuate and this is for the school year, so will change when the kids are out of school.
Toiletries: 1%. This is high since my husband only like a certain brand of razors and shaves a lot.
Haircut: .1%. We try to let our kids hair grow and shave my son's head in the summer which we can do at home. I rarely get my haircut and my husband shaves his, see above.
Organization Dues: .3%. This is for boy scouts, girl scouts and 4-H sinking fund. This are due in the fall so after that it will go down to be broken down by 12 months.
Christmas: 1%. Last year I save Jan-Nov for my family. This year we are saving for both families since my husband and I are being on the same page and trying to be equals.
Pocket Money: 2%. A.K.A. Mad Money, Blow Fund. Used for random things, snacks and keeps us from feeling really deprives.
Pet Supplies: .3%. This pays for dog food which is bought every other month. We get a giant bag at Walmart.
Music/Technology: .3%. This will be due in May and then this sinking fund can go down to be split into 12 monthly payments, as long as we can rent from the guild when she moves up in grades.
Other: No other categories are being funding from Dave's worksheet.

The rest of our income will be debt payments. We are able to get our starter emergency fund fast because my husband has a fluctuating income. We looked at last year and took the week with the lowest amount to count on, so in actually we will be paid more then what is in our plan. See Dave's Irregular Income Planning sheet if you work on commission or in a seasonal job.

Christmas Savings Plan

Family Balance Sheet is hosting a monthly post for Christmas Savings Plan on the 25th, Jan-Nov 2013. I just buy gifts for my side of the family, my immediate family, and for a few friends. My husband is on his own for his family since I got tired of having to go through him to find ideas and sizes etc. We also have split our money to have our own account, to stop the money fight.  I try to help his family when I can in my own way aside from gifts.
For my nieces and nephews we spend $30 on each, and then we don't buy for adults because it has gotten too hard. I usually do spend on my mom and dad, but they always say they don't need anything. Their birthdays and anniversary is also in November so this last year we did go in together to buy my dad a new laptop. For my mom I got her a few boxes of Keurig coffee which I get coupons and buy them from Bed Bath and Beyond.  I think my actual 2012 Christmas total was actually over $675, plus I was not counting eating fast food or any relaxation needed because of the season. This is why I added in the extra expenses $100 category in my chart.My husband did help pay for some of the expenses for my kids, he paid $200 towards the kindle. I want to be better about tracking my spending in 2013 so I can have a better handle on Christmas spending. I though about if I should not participate in the Secret Santa at work. It was only 4 days but I ended up spending $45. When I thought about it I decided to do it again if offered because it was nice getting gifts for those days.
So far I have been good in January about keeping to my budget. I will need to save $57.27 in 11 months or $63 in 10 months if I start shopping earlier. I received some money for my birthday so I was able to set aside $100 for the Christmas fund in January. One other thing that I counted on a lot this year was the rewards programs that I collect points on throughout the year. For the most part of 2012 I was saving the rewards for Christmas.
Next month we will need to have opened a separate account for the Christmas account. I think I will look into an online account. I have never had one and they do make me a little nervous but not having the money available so readily might be what I need to keep saving for the next 9-10 months.

Financial Expedition

I decided to start college again at the push of my husband and my grandma. I didn't like my job at the time, but I needed to provide for my family. I decided to go back to school for dental hygiene. I have already spent about $2500 on pre-requisite classes, and have about $15,000 in classes to go. During the course they don't recommend working more than 15 hours a week. I'm not sure how this will work out, having kids, trying to work and going back to school all at once. When I was in college before I just took care of myself and it wasn't too hard to maintain all my responsibilities.  Now going in to college again, I have car payments, a mortgage, old student loans, daycare, and all the things that cost raising two growing kids and then some.  I need to make sure that our household can take the hit of my not working 40 hours a week by the time I go back to school. I'm sure I'll take out student loans, but I don't want to go in debt otherwise, so at the end I can pay back school as soon as I can.

My plan is to pay off all my credit cards, and my smaller student loan by then end of 2013. I will then start working on cutting down on my car loan. This will leave me with the car insurance for around $130, $60 for water, gas in my car (eek! who knows how much that will be in two years?), and maybe child care depending on my class schedule and how mature my kids are in two years.

I need to cut up my credit cards for once, and cancel a lot of them since they always send you new ones every year it seems, just in case you forgot you had their card.  I need to make sure that I don't go over board on budget during Christmas.  This whole plan just frightens me because it seems impossible. I'm not good with budget and not getting freaked out about money. When I freak out that I'm going to be short on cash, I turn to my credit cards to use them as a buffer.  I will need to make sure to build savings to prevent myself from turning to my credit cards when I feel weak. I just hope in the end that I have decided to do the right thing for myself and my family.

Spending

I wanted to write this post Saturday, then I wanted to do it on Sunday, but it's Monday and here I am finally getting to it.

I had to return the Kirby attachment I bought the other week because I don't think my vintage Kirby vacuum is strong enough to make it work.  Than gave me a refund of $26.50, but I also bought a mirror/window cleaning cloth for $8.47.  I wanted to buy new curtain rods for my daughter's room so I could fit up her decorative rods.    That cost $2.06 at Walmart for two rods.  I went shopping on Friday with my sister and bought a pair of pants to work out in, cost $6.36.  I bet my daughter at the store that we already had this Skylander.  I lost the bet because we have one that looks similar, cost $1.  I had to buy my daughter deodorant (a post in itself), cost $2.46, Walmart.

Cost of misc personal and household items: + $5.61
Gas: $26.36 (I budget $40, so +13.64)
Groceries: $141.78 (over by $101.78)
Eating Out: $20 (over by $20 because I try to avoid eating out but seem to do it every week)

I spend almost $75 at Fareway this last week because ground beef hasn't been on sale for awhile, and they had 85% for $1.99 a pound.  I bought 20 pounds of that plus $9.53 of country style pork ribs.  Cereal was also on sale so I got 4 boxes.  I now have a good supply of chicken and about 3 months worth of ground beef in my freezer.

Tonight we were supposed to eat at home, but it was 6:40 by the time we were able to eat so I spent $12.32 on McDonalds.  Everyone, including me was so hungry by that time that I didn't even want to think about cooking.  I should have cooked something the night before, so we could just warm it up, but I just didn't make the time.  I'm going to try my best to not eat out for the rest of the week, hopefully even on Friday when we leave for out of town.

Changing to More Frugal Ways

I have been trying to find ways to cut back on cost around here.  Hy-Vee had a sale on boxes of Jello Pudding for $.69.  When I went to the store to buy a box I saw that they have the Hy-Vee brand was only $.49 for its everyday price.  I decided that pudding was pudding and brought home the Hy-Vee brand.  The box said it was worth 4 servings, but I was able to make 5 serving from one box for my daughter's school lunch.  Unfortunately she forgot her lunch today and was unable to give me her take on the taste.

I also found these deals at the stores this week:

Fareway:

 $3/2 Campbell's Chunky Soup

Fareway coupon $3/3 (limit 3, one coupon per customer)

Manufacturer coupon $1 off of 3 

Final Cost: $2/3

Hy-Vee Two Day Thur/Fri Sale

Rice-a Roni $.99 box

Manufacture coupon $1/4 (facebook like coupon)

Final Cost: $2.96/4

Making Improvement

When my car hit 100,000 miles.

So today I have done the dishes, and worked out for half an hour.  I returned the pens to Micheal's and plan to return the frame to Hobby Lobby.  I have done good on doing my daily chores of balancing checkbook, putting clothes from the laundry away, and cleaning the living and dining room.  Tonight I am going to a hip hop class and after I plan on cleaning both the bathrooms.  This will hopefully free up time on Thursday and Friday (no class, yeah!) to do some of my chores from Saturday so I can get other things done.  I hope to post soon about all the things I need to get done before Thanksgiving.

Today I am thankful for my husband who cooked dinner without me asking, my kids playing nicely while I write a post and the dollar in the mail from JD Power and Associate for me to take a survey.

So far my spending hasn't been too bad:
Friday: Costco $30
Saturday: $7 on Culver's ( I told you it is hard for me not to eat out on weekends)
Monday: $43 on gas

I didn't menu plan this week but so far we have had chicken alfredo from the freezer, tomato soup, and spagetti.  I plan on making some chili with cinnamin rolls, and something with chicken breast.  Hopefully I can keep winging it this week until I get inspired.

Totaling It All Up

$4.99/lb tilapia from Fareway

So I thought I would recap what I spent on everything this weekend.

Hy-Vee: $9.99+$10.27= $20.26 large can of almonds, generic Velveeta, coconut water, and soup
Fareway: $42.14 meat, ect
Aldi: $7.44 milk, chips, and
Bread Outlet: $4.16 3 loves of bread, hamburger buns
Halloween Express: $11.70 black wig
Redbox: $1.06 Hoodwinked Too
Apple Orchard: $25.61 balloon animal, paint squash, a "Queen's Apple",wine, apples and a root beer
Walmart: $61.99 costume, fabric, toy bow and arrow
Earl May: $5.47 pumpkin painting
Total: $179.83

Wow, when you put it that way that's a lot.  I still have to make shirts for a race that my sister is going to be in and some small presents for my twin nieces birthday coming up.  I'm sure there will be more too, Tuesday is a book fair dinner for my daughter's school.  I have been good that I haven't eaten out since I used a Groupon two weeks ago, unless your counting a meal that my sister bought for me.  I'm going to try to be better about not buying things, but I'm just not that good at it.

Sunday Spending

Today I went to the QT and bought some drinks which cost $1.67 on two drinks.  Then I bought a shirt for my nephew and myself some new sunglasses.  $13.55  I also decided to go ahead and buy the 5 drapes I need to finish that part of the living room/dining room.  They already went up in price once so I thought I should go ahead and get them.  $135.63.  I still need to buy curtain rods and I sure that will run another $100 or so.

Total for this week was $150.85.

I still want to buy some veggies from Costco so I'm not sure how much more I will spend this week.  I still want to buy my daughter a present too.  I know it won't be a good week but I'm still going to try to hold myself accountable.

Progress and Juice Diet

So this week has been busy, and I'm sure next week will be too.  It seems like a lot is going on next weekend in my town and I won't even be here.  Yesterday I went to Costco and stuck to the plan except I bought some apples since my sister requested them and I buy her food to watch my kids two days a week.  I ended up spending $45.94. Not too bad.  Next I went to the mall to get my wedding ring checked, and my daughter talked about how she had never had chocolate dipped strawberries.  We passed by Godiva and they had them in their display so I splurged and got them.  5 for $10 plus $.60 tax.  Ouch.  Next stop Target to get mouthwash and more cotton candy for the ugly cake which cost $4.76.  Not too bad.  After the fair we stopped and bought a juicer for $83.94 ( I'll explain this), and also my husband was sad that ice cream in our freezer melted so I bought sonic for $8.15.  If I wouldn't have really thought about this I would have said I spent about $80 to $100 today.

Total for Saturday: $153.39, yeah this is more of my typical weekend routine of spending money.  So my total spending for last week was $262.16.  Over $151.86 for the three weeks.  That is a lot and I'm not sure if I'll be able to make that up.

I might have to rethink my strategy.  They other day I watched Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  It was an Australian guy with an Australian juicer going around just drinking juice.  He lost weight and helped get himself  off medication.  He also had a few others try it and got them hooked on it too.  Now I like drinks so I thought "What an idea".  I'm not sure how it really works but I also found this website: Juicer Recipes.  The movie also has a Facebook page and a website to help you get started on juicing.  The whole problem is they said it cost $14 a day.  For us that could be times 2, plus I don't plan on putting my kids on this diet or giving them crap, easy food while we do it, so I'm not sure how  this will work out.  My plan for now is to start with food to help clear my skin, then do a two week detox, and then repeat again in 3 months.  I'm not sure what my husband plans to do, but he wants to lose weight.  If you don't want to invest in a juicer there is also this website: Green Monster Movement.

So I need a new plan.  I think this week I will just keep blogging about what I am spending.  It is my daughter's birthday so I want to buy her gifts and also it is my nephew's birthday and I still need to get him gifts.  I'm also still in need of 5 more window treatments and decorative hardware.  I think I will keep dwelling on these things till I buy them.  I have been doing well on my saving money on the side so I do feel good about that aspect of life.  Maybe by next week I'll have a good plan.

Anyone Can Shop Aldi

I couldn't resist snapping a shot of a Hummer in the Aldi's parking lot.

So I haven't posted for a few days but here is an update on what I've been spending.

Tuesday I went to the Party store to get table clothes for my daughters 4-H group and I ended up also buying the costume that my son has been wanting.  I ended up spending $24.84. My mom is making some curtains for my daughter's room, so I bought decorative curtain rods for $10.18.  I stopped at the gas station while we were out and I had a $.69 freezy drink and my daughter got an expensive shake for about $2.50, and our total was $3.23.  I also went to the grocery store and spent $10.20 on pork steak and 2 gallons of juice.  

Through out the work week I also spent another $4 at the vending machines.

Today I went to Aldi Foods:

12pk cherry cola $2.69 plus $.60 deposit

crescent rolls 2 @ $1.49 each or $2.98

skim milk $2.79

large eggs $1.19

trail mix 4 @ $.49 each or $1.96

taco mix $.39

baby carrots $1.19

meat stick $.89

ingredients to help make an ugly cake (pictures to follow Sunday):

starburst $2.25

werthers original $1.99

starlite mints $.99

chocolate frosting $1.29

Fudge brownie mix 2 @ $1.29 each or $2.58

Total with tax $25.73

Total for the week is $107.77.  Wow, more than I thought it would be when added.  I did have $39.30 in overage from the last two weeks so I would have $109.30 to spend this week if I add that in so I'm not over in these 3 weeks.  I still plan on going to Costco because I really need toilet paper, and I really hope they have the Kirkland frappuccino because they have been out for weeks.  I also need to buy Tampax and Always pads, and I hope I can resist everything else.  I would like to buy some cheerios and yogurt but I think I could get both of them cheaper.  Tomorrow will also be a busy day so I'm not sure how it will work, but I hope to keep the cost low there too.

Making Ends Meet.....So Far

Picture taken by my boy.

I think I did really well this last week, but that was also thanks to my sister.  As I mentioned I was going out of town, and my first stop was my older sister's house.  We went to Old Navy and I was in line to buy a shirt, but she was unsure if she would make enough to use her coupon of $10 off of $50.  I tried to pay her but she said she didn't mind paying for for it since she had her coupon.  So I got my son a cute shirt for $2 and didn't pay.  Then she treated me to an awesome dinner at a Japanese steakhouse.  You know the one where they put on a show.  I have always wanted to go to one, but you have to get there early to beat the crowd.  As mentioned I was in a rural part of the Midwest for the family reunion on Saturday and part of Sunday, so no money to spend there.  I didn't even have cell phone reception!  Once on our way home Sunday I spent $12 and some change, I'll round to $13 since I can't remember.  Today I spent $1.75 on vending machine at work since I wasn't really prepared, plus $4.23 on Lil Ceasars Pizza.  I went to Walmart and spent $2.98 on 5lb of sugar, and I bought $2.94 for about 4lb of chicken hindquarters, and I also had to buy anti itch solution ($4.69, cause I forget to buy at Walmart) after the weekend of giant mosquitoes.

So my total for the week is $29.59.  $40.41 left to spend.  I have $21.44 from two weeks ago and $17.86 from last week.  I plan on spending some money this week on some household item and more groceries so I'm sure to go over this week.  I'm glad gas is going down because I have a lot of running around to do this week, plus my daughter's birthday is coming up soon.  I'm winging the meal plan this week too!  I hope for things to be back to normal next week because we are back out of town after this coming weekend.  I'm in overload!

Timely Returns

So today I finally returned this tube of sealant I bought from the hardware store almost a month ago.  It took maybe five minutes, but I just never made the time.  I was able to get back $6.33.  I think the more time that passes, the more you will just hold on to the item, or the store is less likely to take the item back.  It is best to put the item in your car with the receipt if possible.  I just happened to be driving by the store and remember I had this return, otherwise who knows how long it would have been.  It wasn't a large amount, but every bit counts.

Today I did spend money at the  vending machine(ugh, it is so temping now that I have the cash in my wallet).  It was $.60 for a candy bar, and then I also visited Costco tonight and picked up some photos I had ordered.  I found that Costco was the cheapest for 5x7 photos, at $.39 each.  My total was $2.89, and I also bought a pop for $.75.  So my total spent today was $4.24.  I also priced some items since they have some coupons coming out soon.

Oh Boy! Oberto beef jerky

$14.49, coupon for $3.50 off

Kirkland Signature Diet Green Tea

$9.99 for 35 bottles, coupon for $2 off

Scotch-Brite Sponges

heavy duty 21 count $12.55

multi-purpose 18 count $11.79

coupon for $2.75 off

Kleenex 

Family 10 boxes of 260 count

$16.85, coupon for $3.50 off

Cheerios49oz 

Honey Nut

$6.79, coupon for $4 off of two boxes

37.5oz Multigrain 

$7.69, coupon for $4 off of two boxes

Cottonelle Ultra Bath Tissue

36 pack

$18.89, coupon for $3.50 off

Haagen-Daz Vanilla Milk chocolate almond bars

$11.99, coupon for $3 off

Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner

6 24oz bottles

$8.79, coupon for $2.50 off

Clorox Wipes

4 packages of 78

$11.99, coupon for $2.50 off

Glide Floss

6 pack

$12.99, coupon for $3 off

Tampax 

Pearl regular 96 count

$13.88, coupon for $3 off

Super 96 count

$13.88, coupon for $3 off

Duo pack 108 count

$12.99, coupon for $3 off

Always

Long super 90 count

$11.99, coupon for $2.50 off

Ultra thin regular or overnight 96 count

$11.99, coupon for $2.50 off

I always go online and look ahead to see what the coupons are at adamcos.com.  Next I will budget how much money to bring to Costco so I can bring cash, and not be surprised at the register.

$29.04 left to spend this week.  I will be going to the farmer's market Thursday night and hope to keep it $5 or under.  I also am leaving for out of town on Friday so I hope to just spend $10 on eating out that day which will leave me with $14.04 left to spend on Saturday, when I will be in a very rural area, with no where to spend my money except maybe a gas station. Well, we'll see. :0)