I am really digging this whole "savings" thing, and keeping track of it has made me so motivated!
Savings: $514.55. Wow, amazing. Now I need to focus on need versus bargain. I am thinking of doing a week with no spending next month. We shall see!
Freebies: travel size toothpaste, travel size shampoo AND conditioner, medium pizza at Pizza Hut, 2 year subscription to Parents magazine, laundry detergent sample, granola bar, rice cake sample, 4 make-up samples, soyjoy sample, 3 bags of cereal, box of granola bars, 6 "bowls" of cereal, lotion sample, 1 year subscription to Woman's Day
Total Freebies - 25!
Payouts: None yet from Ebates or Mr.Rebates or those ones, but I did get my $500 gift card. Going to try and do another one when we get back from vacation.
Total Payout: $500!
Wow, that really helps our bottom line and these are all things I would not have had or done 6 months ago, before I started reading thrifty blogs. It is AMAZING.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Savings - Week 5 Jan 26 Feb 1
I think I will post a monthly update post....that should make me feel good.
Freebies:
Savings:
Earnings:
What I did to make some money for my family:
Freebies:
- Soyjoy sample in the mail
- 21.5 oz bags of cereal (Frosted Flakes. Blueberry Muffin Tops)
- Little Bowls of Toasteos
- Box of granola bars (Chad got these and the previous 3 from a recruiting gig at the U! Apparently at the end everyone goes around and grabs up the freebie! Yippee)
- Sample of Gold Bond lotion (was the worst sample EVER. There was barely enough for me to use on my hands!)
- 1 year subscription to Woman's Day
Savings:
- $10 off Oriental Trading.com - ordered some baby shower cuties for my friends shower in March!
- $35.15 off at Rainbow (spent $51.68). That is 40%! Plus, they charged us wrong on two of the items, so that will be less, and we have 2 rebates for things they were out of.
- $18.39 at Walgreens (only spent $10.22!)
- $14.07 at Rainbow (some things the hubs missed last night)
Earnings:
- $10 Gift Card to JC Penney from Coinstar offer (back in Dec - put $40 in change onto a gift card, get $10!)
- $1.12 from Ebates
- $5.60 from Mr. Rebates
What I did to make some money for my family:
- Logged into my survey account and did some surveys
- Sent in my P&G rebate for $120 in coupons
- Sent in my Colgate products rebate to get $15 in samples.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
How Things Are Going
I can't believe that over 4 weeks have gone by since my massive overhaul...well, in my thinking, anyway. It has been less of an overhaul in my real life, because I have problems following through, illness creeps in and other mundane reality things I let get in the way. However, there have been changes. I am doing this - no, not on the massive scale that I went into it with, but pretty extraordinary, I might say. And considering that 30% of people have given up their new year's resolutions by now and I am still going strong...well, I am dang proud of that.
Goal #1: Get our financial house in order. We are doing pretty good with that. Are we the gazelles that Dave Ramsay talks about? Uh, NO. But it is hard for me to focus that intently and still lead a contented life. But we are doing his steps and it feels GOOD. We started the snowball and have already paid off a couple hundred in monthly bills with the hopes to pay two of the other three off in the next few months. That makes me proud...and a little sheepish that we didn't do this a LOT sooner. Live and learn, I guess.
And I am doing what I can to save money. I do a yearly photobook to put together the past year, and due to my blog ready of the thrifty category, I got one for free (only paid shipping!). That was fantastic. I am working hard at sticking to a weekly grocery budget and finding deals...the latter part is going far better than the former, however I am working on it and I am conscious of it, which is more than I could say a few months ago. I am trying to "run to the store" way less, saving those $7 or $12 here and there. I have gone overboard on shopping a bit, due to all of the deals, and our upcoming vacation. But I have really tried to put on the brakes in the last week since I have pretty much everything I need and/or want for vacation. I am not looking at the promo emails and am just staying put! Save that money for the actual vacation, honey!
Goal #2 - Get my healthy self in order. This one has been harder for me to implement, probably because it only affects me (it affects everyone if I am not healthy, but really only I am the one getting myself together for this one). It is also the first one to go when someone gets sick or I get my period or we have a busy day. If I get into a routine and committ to it, it goes well. And the last few weeks have been good. I do the treadmill M W F (W is iffy, sometimes have to move it around since W is my "bad day"), then yoga through iTunes on T Th. I am trying to get off my butt a bit on the weekends and treadmill a bit, but it is spotty. Mostly I do that when I see my husby running on it and then I guilt myself into doing it, too. Whatever works! Anyway, I can already tell the difference with both the yoga and the treadmill. My legs are back to where they were a few months ago and yoga is getting easier (as is the treadmill - have already kicked it up a notch!). I want to add weights on T Th, but I have Oren those days and it is mentally exhausting for me and I am wiped out by day's end. Maybe someday.
The eating hasn't been great but I did have a breakthrough this week. I have cut out the soda and am drinking sparkling water. The pop really makes me munchy and makes that need totally uncontrollable for me. But with the water, it is much more manageable and that is a relief. It is still hard in the evenings, mostly because my brain is racing for something caloric and I am telling myself that I need/deserve/have to have something, but for now, that is ok. Maybe it is something I can work on down the road.
Goal #3 - Getting my house in order. This one is a bit of an ongoing process! With a house of 5 people, 3 of whom don't "get it", it is a 100 hour a week job to keep up on the house. However, I did do my closet, which has been awesome. The house is kind of together right now, since we just had Jack's birthday. We cleaned out the mudroom which is also AWESOME. Our bedroom is next....just not sure when.
I am getting there. I can do this, I feel that. These are not unreasonable goals and I am actively working on them...maybe not every minute, but definately everyday and I think that is amazing. I am very proud of myself and my family.
Goal #1: Get our financial house in order. We are doing pretty good with that. Are we the gazelles that Dave Ramsay talks about? Uh, NO. But it is hard for me to focus that intently and still lead a contented life. But we are doing his steps and it feels GOOD. We started the snowball and have already paid off a couple hundred in monthly bills with the hopes to pay two of the other three off in the next few months. That makes me proud...and a little sheepish that we didn't do this a LOT sooner. Live and learn, I guess.
And I am doing what I can to save money. I do a yearly photobook to put together the past year, and due to my blog ready of the thrifty category, I got one for free (only paid shipping!). That was fantastic. I am working hard at sticking to a weekly grocery budget and finding deals...the latter part is going far better than the former, however I am working on it and I am conscious of it, which is more than I could say a few months ago. I am trying to "run to the store" way less, saving those $7 or $12 here and there. I have gone overboard on shopping a bit, due to all of the deals, and our upcoming vacation. But I have really tried to put on the brakes in the last week since I have pretty much everything I need and/or want for vacation. I am not looking at the promo emails and am just staying put! Save that money for the actual vacation, honey!
Goal #2 - Get my healthy self in order. This one has been harder for me to implement, probably because it only affects me (it affects everyone if I am not healthy, but really only I am the one getting myself together for this one). It is also the first one to go when someone gets sick or I get my period or we have a busy day. If I get into a routine and committ to it, it goes well. And the last few weeks have been good. I do the treadmill M W F (W is iffy, sometimes have to move it around since W is my "bad day"), then yoga through iTunes on T Th. I am trying to get off my butt a bit on the weekends and treadmill a bit, but it is spotty. Mostly I do that when I see my husby running on it and then I guilt myself into doing it, too. Whatever works! Anyway, I can already tell the difference with both the yoga and the treadmill. My legs are back to where they were a few months ago and yoga is getting easier (as is the treadmill - have already kicked it up a notch!). I want to add weights on T Th, but I have Oren those days and it is mentally exhausting for me and I am wiped out by day's end. Maybe someday.
The eating hasn't been great but I did have a breakthrough this week. I have cut out the soda and am drinking sparkling water. The pop really makes me munchy and makes that need totally uncontrollable for me. But with the water, it is much more manageable and that is a relief. It is still hard in the evenings, mostly because my brain is racing for something caloric and I am telling myself that I need/deserve/have to have something, but for now, that is ok. Maybe it is something I can work on down the road.
Goal #3 - Getting my house in order. This one is a bit of an ongoing process! With a house of 5 people, 3 of whom don't "get it", it is a 100 hour a week job to keep up on the house. However, I did do my closet, which has been awesome. The house is kind of together right now, since we just had Jack's birthday. We cleaned out the mudroom which is also AWESOME. Our bedroom is next....just not sure when.
I am getting there. I can do this, I feel that. These are not unreasonable goals and I am actively working on them...maybe not every minute, but definately everyday and I think that is amazing. I am very proud of myself and my family.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Menu Plan Monday - Week of 1/26
Why is this so hard for me every week? It should be easy....planning, I love planning! Sigh...
Monday: spaghetti with ground pork, salad, crescent rolls
Tuesday: leftovers (lots from the party this weekend!)
Wednesday: pork chops
Thursday: Jack's birthday, prolly out to eat
Friday: crockpot chicken
Saturday: Jack's friend birthday party
Sunday:
Monday: spaghetti with ground pork, salad, crescent rolls
Tuesday: leftovers (lots from the party this weekend!)
Wednesday: pork chops
Thursday: Jack's birthday, prolly out to eat
Friday: crockpot chicken
Saturday: Jack's friend birthday party
Sunday:
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Savings - Week 4! Jan 19 - 26
Savings:
Freebies
What I am doing to make money for my family
- $1.04 from Old Navy Order
- $12.05 at Cub Foods (I always find this misleading, since since several of the items I purchased were also on sale, but isn't listed at the bottom as savings.)
- $2 (40% off coupon) at Michael's for a ball of yarn to make a baby blanket for a friend.
- $30.34 from Cub (for Jack's party, so I do want it separate!)
- $15 at Target
Freebies
- Tide Sample and $1 off coupon
- Yummy Chocolatey Delight Rice Cake sample (was seriously good!)
- Cascadia Farms granola bar sample + one dollar coupon!
- 4 make-up samples from DHC (I love their make-up but have never bought any and they always send 4 samples with their catalog!)
What I am doing to make money for my family
- Earned 1 swagbuck from following them on twitter! Still not totally getting twitter, but trying!
- Logged into surveys account and did some surveys. Also did my mypoints and sendearnings paid emails.
- My $500 Gift Card came!!!! WOWZA!! I am SOOOOO excited! Did that through moneysavingmethods.com and her directions.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Orging Update
I began the great closet org-ing project soon after the new year. I think the sheer vastness of it and the fact that I knew I had over a month to complete it (never mind that I had a million other things to do as well, so that month was misleading) caused me to really drag my feet! But, it is mostly done. Done enough where if my mom came tomorrow, I would be happy with it (not ok with anything else in the house, but with this!). I still want to clear out my underwear drawer, plus Chad's side is NOT organized (which is funny because before his looked ok, but now his is glaringly messy) which should be done, just not sure if it should be done by ME. Then I have the dresser in my bedroom along with all of the just CRAP in my bedroom. Ugh, it never ever ever ends around here.
Part of my procrastinating has been just not wanting to do it. But a big part of it has been my youngest. She had the stomach flu literally as we ushered in the new year. Then that parlayed itself into getting molars (so no sleeping there, either). Then we had a couple good days until she got sick again, this time with a raging ear infection and borderling pneumonia, diagnosed last Thur. She is on antibiotics to clear everything out (I hope) but it has made for most of these last 20 days to be sleepless, and when not sleepless, a constant fight with her. I almost think that she is working on her upper molars now, just a week after the bottoms, because she was up ALL. NIGHT. LAST. NIGHT and there is no reason! Luckily, Chad bears most of the brunt of it, since Lucy won't have anything to do with me (he is more easygoing and not around all day), but I feel awful since he was up most of the night, is exhausted, and what is the point of your wife staying home if you get to stay up all night with the kids? Ugh, it isn't good.
So, all of that has really snowballed itself into me not doing a whole lot around here. I am tired, not exercising either, not eating great, and cranky. Plus, we have a ton going on in the next few weeks right up to our vacation.
So, having said that, here is what my MLK day will be spent:
Part of my procrastinating has been just not wanting to do it. But a big part of it has been my youngest. She had the stomach flu literally as we ushered in the new year. Then that parlayed itself into getting molars (so no sleeping there, either). Then we had a couple good days until she got sick again, this time with a raging ear infection and borderling pneumonia, diagnosed last Thur. She is on antibiotics to clear everything out (I hope) but it has made for most of these last 20 days to be sleepless, and when not sleepless, a constant fight with her. I almost think that she is working on her upper molars now, just a week after the bottoms, because she was up ALL. NIGHT. LAST. NIGHT and there is no reason! Luckily, Chad bears most of the brunt of it, since Lucy won't have anything to do with me (he is more easygoing and not around all day), but I feel awful since he was up most of the night, is exhausted, and what is the point of your wife staying home if you get to stay up all night with the kids? Ugh, it isn't good.
So, all of that has really snowballed itself into me not doing a whole lot around here. I am tired, not exercising either, not eating great, and cranky. Plus, we have a ton going on in the next few weeks right up to our vacation.
- Jack's family birthday party is Saturday afternoon. That means a clean house!!!! At least the downstairs.
- The next weekend we are going to have a friends birthday party for him - clean house still needed, however probably the upper levels, too!
- My mom arrives on Feb 5th. That means a REALLY clean and organized house!!! Probably not attainable....but it CANNOT be like this.
- I think that having all of those things will help since we don't have a lot of time in between to destroy the joint, however it also doesn't give us a lot of time to do the actual cleaning, save for ME. And there are those little people who run around behind me, destroying the joint as I am putting it back together!! It is so fruitless somedays and just makes me sad.
So, having said that, here is what my MLK day will be spent:
- Yoga. start out the day with some calm and exercise. Take care of me first.
- Clean out the mud room. Poor Jack can't get to his shoe box, it is dirty and a dump site. It is also small and can be done in about an hour (perfect for ME!).
- Grocery Shop (with 3 kids, sure, but needed nonetheless).
- Laundry. There is a giant pile upstairs, Jack needs his uniform for tomorrow, the boys don't have underwear and I am going out tonight.
Menu Plan Monday - Week of 1/19
Happy MLK Day! This is going to be such an exciting week, what with the inauguration and all. I am really looking forward to sharing that with my kids. I am interested to see how interested they are and to hear what they have to say. Maybe nothing and maybe they won't even watch anything! But maybe not....
Having said that, here is my MPM for this week (always a work in progress, I say):
Monday: I am going out with friends, but since I was also out on Sat night, I feel bad so am going to make corn dogs and tator tots! I hate them (well, tator tots, anyway) and they are easy and he will be happy. I am trying to make him happy cos he was also up all night with our toddler!
Tuesday: Roast Beef (actually, leftover meat) Cheddar Pockets, Salad? Frozen Veg??
Wednesday: Baked Chicken Wings, Potato Skins, Carrot and Celery Sticks
Thursday: Stew
Friday:
Saturday: Jack's Family Birthday Party. Just got a frozen turkey, so am thinking sandwiches with all the fixins, salad, chips....simple but good.
Having said that, here is my MPM for this week (always a work in progress, I say):
Monday: I am going out with friends, but since I was also out on Sat night, I feel bad so am going to make corn dogs and tator tots! I hate them (well, tator tots, anyway) and they are easy and he will be happy. I am trying to make him happy cos he was also up all night with our toddler!
Tuesday: Roast Beef (actually, leftover meat) Cheddar Pockets, Salad? Frozen Veg??
Wednesday: Baked Chicken Wings, Potato Skins, Carrot and Celery Sticks
Thursday: Stew
Friday:
Saturday: Jack's Family Birthday Party. Just got a frozen turkey, so am thinking sandwiches with all the fixins, salad, chips....simple but good.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Savings - Week 3 Jan 12 - Jan 18
Things I have done to make money for the family (not actual money - YET!)
Savings this week:
Total Savings to date: $327.51! Wow.....ok, that feels good.
- Sent in rebate for Bayer 1/2 Price Offer! Bought 2 pkgs of Aleve and an Alka-Seltzer Cold, got $10 in RR from Walgreens and then saw this rebate offer in the paper! Woo-hoo! It is up to $10, and I spent $23 (which came off of our flex spending account...this was my best deal to date! Nothing out of pocket and a whole lot back) and it says up to $10. But hey, works for me!
- $2.22 in drugstore.com dollars. Not real money, just savings off for next time so I thought that I would put this in this area.
- Signed up to get $10 in coupons
- Requested a coupon to get a free suave product!
- Got 3 Swagbucks from following Twitter and using Swagbucks!
- Ordered a 2 year subscription to Parents magazine, FREE! Moneysavingmethods.com ROCKS.
Savings this week:
- $14.04 at Rainbow (great deal on Quaker Oats!)
- $4.35 from Ebates! I am TOTALLY loving Ebates!
- $34.97 from HOORRAY.com and got a FREE photo book!! Woo-hoo! Had to pay $7.99 for shipping is all! This was an offer I saw on one of my other money saving blogs that I frequent; MommySnacks.net. I order a photo book every year to recap the pics and just the year for us. I have learned to wait until you can get 50% off or similar, never knowing that I would get one for FREE!
- $.11 from BigCrumbs.com. Another site that offers you cash back for shopping through them (like Ebates). My oldest's birthday is next week and we ordered him a Highlights Calendar through Ebay and this $.11 is from shopping through them! Every little bit, right?
- $9.30 from Alloy.com. Ordered some great priced clearance items for my vacation in a couple of weeks and used a 20% off coupon.
- $102.31 from OLD NAVY!!! WOWZA. I hadn't added that one up yet. Now, that is original price versus what I paid. However, I also had a code that was 50% clearance, which is why I ordered the things! Got a few things for myself (SERIOUSLY NEED TO STOP SHOPPING, EVEN IF GOOD DEAL) and a couple for my hubs.
Total Savings to date: $327.51! Wow.....ok, that feels good.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Exercising - Days 1 and 2
Ok, so I totally derailed the first 11 days of the month....but I am back! And that is the most important thing, that I keep going, no matter what happens!
Last week Lucy was just recovering from the stomach flu and then started getting in her 2 year molars! Gak! While I understand that exercise helps work out those futile times, when you are just getting back into the swing of things, exercise just feels like another thing ya gotta do. So, I took an extended leave of absence! For now, this is what I am looking at my schedule to be:
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays:
Tuesdays and Thursdays:
One last thing, I am working on replacing my pop intake with sparkling water. I have a HUGE addiction to pop (diet, but still it isn't good and I know that and plus it is EXPENSIVE!). So, I am starting by replacing one pop a day with a sparkling water (I need the fizz. I am such a head case). I have tried this in the past (not the slow replacement, just replacement) and haven't totally succeeded, however I hope that a slow decline might help. I am such a mess and need to get myself sorted OUT!
Last week Lucy was just recovering from the stomach flu and then started getting in her 2 year molars! Gak! While I understand that exercise helps work out those futile times, when you are just getting back into the swing of things, exercise just feels like another thing ya gotta do. So, I took an extended leave of absence! For now, this is what I am looking at my schedule to be:
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays:
- Treadmill it! I am doing this 20 minute course where you do a steep incline for 2 min, 0 incline but fast for 2 min, then 1 min to recoup, rinse and repeat 3 more times! Tried it out yesterday and I liked it. My biggest problem is that my treadmill doesn't go as steep as it should for this workout. I am not sure if I should look for a new treadmill or just keep on with this. I might shop around and if I can find something cheap or a good deal, maybe I will leap on it. But not gonna worry about it for now, because I am not even sure if I will keep on this exact treadmill course for long.
Tuesdays and Thursdays:
- Yoga in the morning with a podcast. I have done this beginners course twice now and really like it. It is challenging for me right now, because my arms are weak and I am SO not flexible! It is a lot of stretching and beginner poses but I think it works awesome for me! Plus, it gives me a great feeling to start the day. iTunes has a bunch of yoga podcasts so I am thinking that this will be a good thing for me to do for some variety into my routine.
- Weights in the evenings. Chad is also on an exercise kick right now, but he is not a morning person and does it in the evenings, after the kids have gone to bed. While that totally doesn't work for me (I have very low energy by then!), I do enjoy when we do weights together, and I do need to incorporate some of that into my regime. So, I think I can handle 2 nights a week, especially with him to spur me on! Plus, it is a little us time and ends up bringing us closer which is also a nice bonus.
One last thing, I am working on replacing my pop intake with sparkling water. I have a HUGE addiction to pop (diet, but still it isn't good and I know that and plus it is EXPENSIVE!). So, I am starting by replacing one pop a day with a sparkling water (I need the fizz. I am such a head case). I have tried this in the past (not the slow replacement, just replacement) and haven't totally succeeded, however I hope that a slow decline might help. I am such a mess and need to get myself sorted OUT!
Menu Plan Monday - Week of 1/12
Day late and a dollar short. Don't know what is up but I am low on energy and motivation right now. Pretty much a 180 from last week! I am still excited about saving money and organizing, less so about losing weight (doing it, just not all gung ho!) but I am just feeling blah this week. Oh well. Here is my menu for this week:
Monday: French Toast with Sausage
Tuesday: Chicken Parm with Spaghetti, Cheesy Garlic Flatbread, Salad
Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken-Lickin' Good Pork Chops, frozen peas, rice?!?
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Homemade Mac and Cheese, corn or peas (can you tell what kinds of veg I have right now?), fruit maybe?
I don't know why I bother planning the weekend. It never turns out like that! We eat so oddly on the weekends! So, I think I will skip it today.
Monday: French Toast with Sausage
Tuesday: Chicken Parm with Spaghetti, Cheesy Garlic Flatbread, Salad
Wednesday: Crockpot Chicken-Lickin' Good Pork Chops, frozen peas, rice?!?
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Homemade Mac and Cheese, corn or peas (can you tell what kinds of veg I have right now?), fruit maybe?
I don't know why I bother planning the weekend. It never turns out like that! We eat so oddly on the weekends! So, I think I will skip it today.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Savings - Week 2 - Jan 5 - 12
Still fun! Lots of less shopping this week, as last week still had some gift cards from Christmas, etc, to use. Plus, did the lion's share of my grocery shopping on Sunday last week.
- $20.70 at Walgreens (only $.92 OOP! Whoop Whoop!)
- $1.60 at gas station, using $$ off incentives from shopping at grocery store! It was $.13 off a gallon; not too shabby!
- Head and Shoulders Shampoo and Conditioner
- Medium Pizza at Pizza Hut!! (They brought us a pepperoni, not a pepperoni and sausage, and before we could say anything, they said that they will make us another one, free of charge! And they just brought it out all boxed up, too! So, one night at PH is usually 2 meals for us, now stretched to 3 or 4!! Woo-hoo!)
How Can I Afford Them?!?!
Lucy is on her 2nd banana in almost as many minutes (she asked to buy bananas at the store when we went to get a paper and I obliged, not knowing that she intended to eat ALL of them [I only bought 3 because they were expensive]). Chad informed me this morning that she ate 3 bowls of cereal (ok, not much of bowl #3 that HAD to be filled to the rim) and the box that I opened yesterday or Friday is almost gone. GAH!
Now, Lucy is the cereal bandit at the moment. She had the stomach flu last week followed closely by her 2 year molars, and I think a growth spurt, so she is eating a TON. Cereal is her favorite thing to eat, and while I keep it to low sugar (that is another post all together) it is still expensive and not chock full of fruit and veg or anything, just carbs!! This little girl is so stubborn and it is very hard for me to fight her when she has it in her mind specifically what she wants to eat! Hmm, now that I think of it, it is hard for me to argue because I am the SAME WAY!!! lol.
Now, Lucy is the cereal bandit at the moment. She had the stomach flu last week followed closely by her 2 year molars, and I think a growth spurt, so she is eating a TON. Cereal is her favorite thing to eat, and while I keep it to low sugar (that is another post all together) it is still expensive and not chock full of fruit and veg or anything, just carbs!! This little girl is so stubborn and it is very hard for me to fight her when she has it in her mind specifically what she wants to eat! Hmm, now that I think of it, it is hard for me to argue because I am the SAME WAY!!! lol.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Money Savings - Week 1
I think this is the resolution I am most excited for! There is such instantaneous payoff and it feels really good to accomplish it. Losing weight is the one I am most anxiously awaiting, however it is also maybe the hardest (that and the budgeting!!). Anyway, here is my very first week of money savings!!!
Total Savings (really was just a few days, since I wasn't keeping track all week)
$140.13 ($190.13 if you count that I almost bought my microwave online!!!)
- $.95 clothes (from shopping at New York and Co wicked good sale!)
- $45.01 microwave ($95.01 if I would have ordered it online like I was originally going to do through ebates)
- $1 - Freebie travel size Colgate Total Toothpaste
- $1 - Luvs on sale at target (if I had investigated could have prolly got a coupon, too, but was last minute since my sick baby was going through diapers FAST) - also goes towards $50 spent on P&G products to get $120 coupon savings booklet!
- $42.33 at Target (stockpiling gifts and wicked good holiday clearance items!)
- $23.89 at Cub Foods (40% of total! and received $2 catalina for next visit.)
- $3 at Walgreens (with a $10 RR) **note** we used out flex spending card for this (given by hubby's company to help offset the rise in healthcare cost this year! yea!)
- $5.56 at Cub Foods (15% of total, but also received $15 catalina)
- $29.65 at Cub (63% of total) (last trip this week! Promise!)
Total Savings (really was just a few days, since I wasn't keeping track all week)
$140.13 ($190.13 if you count that I almost bought my microwave online!!!)
Menu Plan Monday - Week of 1/5
Monday - Spaghetti and Salad
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Twice Baked Potatoes and Salad
Thursday - English Muffin Pizzas
Friday - Chicken something???
Saturday - Breakfast for dinner
Sunday - Leftovers
I am not hungry AT ALL, so it is hard to plan my menu! I think I spent too much time grocery planning this weekend and now I am off food. I am sure it will pass soon. ;)
Tuesday - Leftovers
Wednesday - Twice Baked Potatoes and Salad
Thursday - English Muffin Pizzas
Friday - Chicken something???
Saturday - Breakfast for dinner
Sunday - Leftovers
I am not hungry AT ALL, so it is hard to plan my menu! I think I spent too much time grocery planning this weekend and now I am off food. I am sure it will pass soon. ;)
Update - Week 1
I am so pumped about this year, I can't hardly stand it!!!! I am so motivated and excited about my resolutions that it is really consuming me. I spent a huge chunk of what could be a family day yesterday on planning my grocery trips for this week! In my defense, Chad has been home 10 of 14 days! So there has been much family time and I didn't feel like I was neglecting anything; quite the opposite! I felt like I was contributing and that it was time VERY well spent!).
My fitness/healthier eating initiative has been less exciting and focused on. I start the day with it forefront on my mind, however it easily falls by the wayside when I get distracted by something shiny!!! Even though I have not begun exercising (my last date plan to start has been tomorrow in my mind, so I think that is why it has been so easy for me to let it pass this week) I have been very mentally consumed and do not find myself snacking out of boredom, so that is a good thing. We will see what things look like when the old routine starts tomorrow and how I work everything out.
But the money part of my resolutions is going GANGBUSTERS! It is also the one I have really been focusing on, partly because a new year and month is a perfect time and partly because it has been in dire straits for too long and something needs to change here, fast. Chad and I are not getting younger (we are still young, I guess! But not for much longer!) and we have a lot of things we want to do with our lives. Kids don't have to be expensive, however college is and I don't want to put my kids in that kind of debt right out of the gate. And I dream of a home near a body of water. Not for now, but for later. I would love to get some land in a few years and work up to building a custom home that is tailor made for retirement. Ahhhh, bliss. And I am pretty certain that my beloved does not want to work 2, 3 or sometimes 4 (yes, this happened this summer!) jobs to support these things. It was hard enough when he worked that many jobs and we still kept going into debt! At any rate, getting our money house in order has really been fun for me.
We sat up for 4 hours last night and hammered out the first few steps to Dave Ramsay's Total Money Makeover. How awesome it felt, I can't tell you!!! We are fortunate to get a nice chunk of money from family for Christmas, and that is also why now is a good time to get our money situation under control. So, we now have $1,000 in cash (stashed safely away for emergencies ONLY). We are current with our outstanding debts (my dear hubs is in charge of payments and when times get tough, he stops opening mail. That is sorta dangerous). The nice side benefit of this is a lot of the outstanding debt we had was misleading. Our insurance requires us to "check in" once a year, so we had all of this medical debt that was OBSCENE and the reason it was outstanding was our PPO was just waiting for us to call and say hi. What a pile of doo. It really ticks me off, but that is for somewhere else. Anyway, after we paid those, we were able to pay off one of our credit cards, the one with the highest balance! Wa-hey!!! And then we are either paying off our 401k loan (we had to take it out when we had 2 mortgages in 2006) or paying off most of the other credit card (and then snowballing those payments). We will be out of consumer debt in about 19 months, if we play our cards right and things go the way they are supposed to (taxes, Christmas, bonuses...etc). That is a huge step and a tiny one at the same time, because we owe may parents a bunch for a down payment on our mcmansion (it is interest free and they just want to be paid once, not in payments) plus a 2nd mortgage, but we are leaving those for steps 5 and 6. It is easy for me to feel defeated if I feel like the mountain is too high.
I am also really jazzed about planning my grocery trips, matching up coupons, using Walgreens and CVS. That has been fun. Also the ebates and big crumb sites; we have a gas station (tons of them, actually) that offers points with a loyalty card and it is SO easy to rack those up, so going to join that....
To be honest, I feel slightly foolish that it has taken me this long to get into all this stuff. The money I have wasted - whew! And it kills me now to talk to other people and see how they just don't pay attention to this stuff! It just seems to easy and I don't know why you wouldn't want to!!
Go 2009!
My fitness/healthier eating initiative has been less exciting and focused on. I start the day with it forefront on my mind, however it easily falls by the wayside when I get distracted by something shiny!!! Even though I have not begun exercising (my last date plan to start has been tomorrow in my mind, so I think that is why it has been so easy for me to let it pass this week) I have been very mentally consumed and do not find myself snacking out of boredom, so that is a good thing. We will see what things look like when the old routine starts tomorrow and how I work everything out.
But the money part of my resolutions is going GANGBUSTERS! It is also the one I have really been focusing on, partly because a new year and month is a perfect time and partly because it has been in dire straits for too long and something needs to change here, fast. Chad and I are not getting younger (we are still young, I guess! But not for much longer!) and we have a lot of things we want to do with our lives. Kids don't have to be expensive, however college is and I don't want to put my kids in that kind of debt right out of the gate. And I dream of a home near a body of water. Not for now, but for later. I would love to get some land in a few years and work up to building a custom home that is tailor made for retirement. Ahhhh, bliss. And I am pretty certain that my beloved does not want to work 2, 3 or sometimes 4 (yes, this happened this summer!) jobs to support these things. It was hard enough when he worked that many jobs and we still kept going into debt! At any rate, getting our money house in order has really been fun for me.
We sat up for 4 hours last night and hammered out the first few steps to Dave Ramsay's Total Money Makeover. How awesome it felt, I can't tell you!!! We are fortunate to get a nice chunk of money from family for Christmas, and that is also why now is a good time to get our money situation under control. So, we now have $1,000 in cash (stashed safely away for emergencies ONLY). We are current with our outstanding debts (my dear hubs is in charge of payments and when times get tough, he stops opening mail. That is sorta dangerous). The nice side benefit of this is a lot of the outstanding debt we had was misleading. Our insurance requires us to "check in" once a year, so we had all of this medical debt that was OBSCENE and the reason it was outstanding was our PPO was just waiting for us to call and say hi. What a pile of doo. It really ticks me off, but that is for somewhere else. Anyway, after we paid those, we were able to pay off one of our credit cards, the one with the highest balance! Wa-hey!!! And then we are either paying off our 401k loan (we had to take it out when we had 2 mortgages in 2006) or paying off most of the other credit card (and then snowballing those payments). We will be out of consumer debt in about 19 months, if we play our cards right and things go the way they are supposed to (taxes, Christmas, bonuses...etc). That is a huge step and a tiny one at the same time, because we owe may parents a bunch for a down payment on our mcmansion (it is interest free and they just want to be paid once, not in payments) plus a 2nd mortgage, but we are leaving those for steps 5 and 6. It is easy for me to feel defeated if I feel like the mountain is too high.
I am also really jazzed about planning my grocery trips, matching up coupons, using Walgreens and CVS. That has been fun. Also the ebates and big crumb sites; we have a gas station (tons of them, actually) that offers points with a loyalty card and it is SO easy to rack those up, so going to join that....
To be honest, I feel slightly foolish that it has taken me this long to get into all this stuff. The money I have wasted - whew! And it kills me now to talk to other people and see how they just don't pay attention to this stuff! It just seems to easy and I don't know why you wouldn't want to!!
Go 2009!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Leftover Rolls?
I bought a ginormous container of rolls for NYE, since we were crock-potting a roast and have beef sandwiches. It was $6.46 for 44 rolls and $5.88 for 30 frozen rolls...so I got the 44 rolls, knowing that we didn't need anywhere near that many but wasn't sure if we would need more than 30 (was figuring close to 30; these are small little ciabatta or bite size kind of sandwich rolls, not dinner rolls but same size-ish). I have about 15 left (I think I made the right choice) but now they are a few days old and getting kind of hard, not to mention the fact that I left them open most of NYE night! So what to do with these rolls? Here are my plans:
#1 Crockpot Bread Pudding for dessert tonight (side note: I would disagree about the difficulty level, was SO EASY).
Bread Pudding
Serves/Makes: 6 | Difficulty Level: 3 | Ready In: 2-5 hrs
Ingredients:
Place cubed bread in crockpot. In a mixing bowl, combine the next 6 ingredients; beat until smooth. Stir in raisins. Pour over bread; stir gently. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours.
Recipe Location: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/39/Crockpot_Bread_Pudding4265.shtml
#2 Croutons!
Mmmmmmmmmm.
#1 Crockpot Bread Pudding for dessert tonight (side note: I would disagree about the difficulty level, was SO EASY).
Bread Pudding
Serves/Makes: 6 | Difficulty Level: 3 | Ready In: 2-5 hrs
Ingredients:
8 cups cubed day-old cinnamon or white bread
2 cups milk
4 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup raisins
Place cubed bread in crockpot. In a mixing bowl, combine the next 6 ingredients; beat until smooth. Stir in raisins. Pour over bread; stir gently. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours.
Recipe Location: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/39/Crockpot_Bread_Pudding4265.shtml
#2 Croutons!
Homemade Croutons Recipe #7785
15 min | 5 min prep
SERVES 2
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 5 tablespoons light oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 5 slices day-old white bread
- Melt butter in skillet then add oil.
- Mix in remaining ingredients.
- Cut 5 slices of day old bread and remove crusts.
- Cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Fry slowly until lightly brown.
© 2008 Recipezaar. All Rights Reserved. http://www.recipezaar.com
Mmmmmmmmmm.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year, New Me!
Well, a stomach bug plaguing my two youngest has put a damper on the big start I wanted to get on the New Year and my Big Plans. Oh well, that is what happens. The key is to just keep on truckin'!
The near constant laundering of sheets, towels, clothing and other random things, along with a need to monitor my little ones (especially my littlest one!) to make sure that they aren't currently puking on something new for me to launder, has led to a cessation of all things closet re-org related. I hope to be able to pick it up and do some more tomorrow, but I should for sure have some time this weekend to hammer it out.
We had a nice New Year's here. Some friends came over; we watched the Gophers lose their Bowl Game; had some cocktails and generally enjoyed ringing in the new year. But as a result, I have a mini-resolution addition - Less Drinking. I hate beating myself up the next day for all of the stupid things I do, and I realized today that part of the reason I drink to excess is because I am nervous and want people to have an AWESOME time. Not just good or happy but AWESOME. And I figure that if i get crazy I will be more entertaining. It just isn't great and it has a lot to do with my anxiety problem. At any rate, I think I am going to talk to my doctor about daily anti-anxiety med, instead of the high powered stuff that I take when I need it. Don't get me wrong - they have been awesome and I love how they totally take the anxiety away for me, but it has pointed out the fact to me that I have a general underlying anxiety problem that is the root of my flare ups. At 33 years old, I am sick and tired of second guessing myself, of being constantly critical of myself and of feeling icky a lot of the time. I know to some people, the fact that I realize this means that I should do behavior modification and that I don't need pills. However, I know that is not the case. And I figure that daily meds is something I at least want to try. Because it could literally change my life and that is something I am not willing to ignore anymore.
The near constant laundering of sheets, towels, clothing and other random things, along with a need to monitor my little ones (especially my littlest one!) to make sure that they aren't currently puking on something new for me to launder, has led to a cessation of all things closet re-org related. I hope to be able to pick it up and do some more tomorrow, but I should for sure have some time this weekend to hammer it out.
We had a nice New Year's here. Some friends came over; we watched the Gophers lose their Bowl Game; had some cocktails and generally enjoyed ringing in the new year. But as a result, I have a mini-resolution addition - Less Drinking. I hate beating myself up the next day for all of the stupid things I do, and I realized today that part of the reason I drink to excess is because I am nervous and want people to have an AWESOME time. Not just good or happy but AWESOME. And I figure that if i get crazy I will be more entertaining. It just isn't great and it has a lot to do with my anxiety problem. At any rate, I think I am going to talk to my doctor about daily anti-anxiety med, instead of the high powered stuff that I take when I need it. Don't get me wrong - they have been awesome and I love how they totally take the anxiety away for me, but it has pointed out the fact to me that I have a general underlying anxiety problem that is the root of my flare ups. At 33 years old, I am sick and tired of second guessing myself, of being constantly critical of myself and of feeling icky a lot of the time. I know to some people, the fact that I realize this means that I should do behavior modification and that I don't need pills. However, I know that is not the case. And I figure that daily meds is something I at least want to try. Because it could literally change my life and that is something I am not willing to ignore anymore.
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