Ready to start a new year!

I've spent the last few months reading and following frugal lifestyle and money saving blogs and decided it was time to start my own. Here are some things I have learned:

I have changed the way I grocery shop over the past few months and am really starting to see the benefits of shopping from the sales flyer, stocking up when something is on sale and sticking to a budget. My stockpile is growing and it is so convenient to make meals based on what I have on hand.

I have read a lot about Dave Ramsey's philosophy of living debt free and am ready to pay off our debt by going gazelle intense. I will outline our debt in the next post.

I have been using the envelope system and have a budget in place. So far, it is working great and helps me keep my spending under control.

Now, a little about me. My name is Cathy, I am 41 years old and live in Iowa. 7 years ago I purchased the home and 10 acres that I grew up on. I can't imagine living anywhere else. I have been married to my husband Todd for 5 years. I have a 14 year old daughter from a previous marriage, a 13 year old step-daughter and a 6 year old son with my husband. Overall, we have a great life! We also have three dogs, three house cats, three horses, one donkey, two calves,chickens, one duck and some farm cats. Needless to say, we stay busy. I work in advertising sales full time and my husband has a good full time job that requires him to work away from home about 6-8 weeks a year and lots of overtime in the fall.

Hopefully this blog will help me keep on track with my goals and possibly help some others succeed!