Sunday, January 8, 2012

Scored!

My husband and I needed to run some errands on Saturday, so we took the opportunity to go to the Amish community that is nearby. We scored some major deals!

At the discount grocery store:

8 containers of frozen soup, 4 of Cream of Brocolli and 4 of clam chowder. None had passed the expiration date. With these,all you have to do is add 2 quarts of milk to one frozen container's contents and heat in a double boiler. Each container serves 4, plus enough for 3-4 extra leftover servings. Cost for all 8: $21.75!!!

Three large boxes of cereal for $4

8 packages of freezer bags(18 quart size in each box) for $1.30 each

3 boxed of large garbage bags, 84 in each box for $4 per box

At the regular Amish store:

50 lb. Bag of really nice white potatoes for $10

Box of 42 large green peppers for, get this, $6.50!!! Over half are already sliced and frozen, a few are in the fridge, the rest I will share with co-workers

Large shrink pack of active dry yeast for $4.95

I am very excited about these deals! I also went to or local store and picked up the following during their three day sale:

5 bags of lettuce for 0.68 each

4 loaves Whole wheat bread for $.99 each put them in the freezer

2 - 16 Oz. Cottage cheese for $.99

5 bags of doritos for $1.88 each, not a necessity, but at that price, we'll have some walking tacos, taco pizza and I'll use some for lunches

5 - 3.5 lb. Bags of boneless chicken breasts for $3.50 per bag

I used a total of $148 of my grocery budget, but got a lot for my money! I finally got my debt totaled, so I'll post that tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Day 3 No (Low) Spend Challenge

It's day 3 of the challenge and I have not spent one dime. Yea! Our local grocery store is having a three day sale starting Thursday, so I will be stocking up on a few things. Tomorrow I need to pick up bread and milk and will need to send the $50 lunch money to school with the kids for their lunch account, which I have budgeted for.

My budget, ugh.

I must say, I hate budgets. But, I have realized I must learn to live with one. Here is my basic monthly budget:

Expenses
Phone/Internet: $72.00
Satellite TV: $95.00
Water: $60.00
Auto insurance: $66.88
Cellular phones: $80.00
Electricity: $170.00 (budget plan)
Groceries: $450
Gas: $360
School lunches: $50
Base debt payments: $215
Misc. $40
Kids' allowances: $25

Total:$1678.88

Income for January:
Child support $350
Base pay (1/20/12) $650
Base plus commission (1/6/12) $1500

Total: $2500

I should have $822.12 left over. This may vary as my pay check for the 6th is still an estimate. I am also watching my account closely to make sure I haven't missed any other automatic payments and am tracking every penny spent this month. I am hoping to pay an additional $750 towards debt repayment. Tomorrow I will make a list of all my debt and the balances. This is obviously a work in progress and I have tweaked a few expenses after I double checked the last few bank statements.

I have not included any totals for auto payment or mortgage. At this point, i am not including them because those are the two things that my husband pays out of his account. Using his paychecks, he pays mortgage, auto payments, auto maintenance, his gas expenses and his spending money. My goal this year is to pay off all old debt and credit cards (2), as well as establish an emergency fund.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy New Year!

For the first time in quite a while, I am looking forward to the new year. Ever since I made the decision to pay off debt and get my spending under control, I am feeling much more positive. It's amazing how a change in your lifestyle and goals can make such a difference in your outlook on life.

I haven't felt well since Chrismtas and have bee laying low. About the only thin I have gotten accomplished over the past few days is I moved my food pantry cabinet from our mud room to the dining room. It is actually an antique wardrobe with built in shelves. It fit perfectly on one wall in our dining room. The hard part was taking all of the food I had in it out and carry it all out to the dining room, then put it back. I'll take a photo tomorrow and post it. It was a great opportunity to reorganize it and take stock of what I have on hand and what I need to watch sales for.

Another perk of not going any where is I haven't spent one dime since last Friday. There are a couple utilities that come out of my account tomorrow. Other than that, we may need some milk and bread, the car has plenty of gass for the week, so I'm starting the No Spend challenge well! I have a bit of grocery budget set aside in case my local grocery store has some great deals to stock up on. S far, so good!