Continuing good habits

We are officially one week into April and I have continued the financial planning from last month.  With the help of a financially smart fellow blogger (thanks Amy!), I have set up an online budget and I LOVE it!  I have officially set a budget for each category of spending for the first time in my life and boy was it eye opening!!  By the time I set a budget for everything I thought I'd need and a budget for 7% of my income going to savings, I had $3 per month left. :)   Unfortunately, I found out that I forgot to budget for car repairs, sports supplies for the kids, household goods and one other category which I can't remember at this time.  After figuring in the new budgeted items, it was obvious that I am over budget.  Time to make some necessary adjustments!

#1- grocery budget next month will be cut by $100.
#2- clothing budget will be cut from $80 to $40 will a rollover feature from month to month

I really didn't budget for entertainment and only budgeted $20 for dining out monthly so I can't cut from here.

This month will be spent closely watching spending in all areas of the budget and determining new dollar amounts for next month!

End of the 31 day challenge!

Boy, was March and expensive month to try this challenge!!  The best thing I can say about March is that:
#1- ALL of my bills were paid on time.
#2- I made a double payment to my student loan
#3- I paid off my car loan! Bye bye payment!
#4- I survived 2 birthdays in the family.
#5- My car registration is current for another year.
#6- Did I mention that ALL my bills were paid?!?!

I don't think I saved a single penny all month.  I did fill my gas tank on the 1st of the month, once mid-month and then again yesterday for a grand total of $150.48.  I think my monthly goal was $150 so I didn't do too bad!  I've never kept track of my spending for a whole month and honestly I thought I'd be way under on my gas budget.  It makes me wonder how much I used to spend on gas considering I've been carpooling at least once per week to work, haven't left town once on the weekend (except when we went to the pond just north of town) and no "second trips" to Storm Lake after getting home from work.  I DID have to drive to SL twice last week for trips to the ER with the kids.  One with a possible broken ankle and one with a possible broken hand.  Thankfully, neither was broke.  I better start budgeting for those bills. :)

My extra bills for the month were as follows:

snow removal $75
bridesmaid dress: $144.72
oil changes: 78.32
soccer registration: 37.00
baseball registration: $70
WarriorDash:$78.53
comp charger $28

Overall I am proud of how the month went.  Grocery bill was way over budget and I am sure it will continue to be high.  I've cooled off on the couponing and am taking my family towards a natural food diet and attempting to cut out as many processed foods as I can. Being March 31st, I feel ready to start April with a good start!

Crazy gas prices bring crazy ideas

My brilliant plan of the week:  I'm thinking about buying a scooter to ride to work.  haha! Seriously though, here are the pro's to buying a scooter:
#1- I have the money in savings to purchase it and not pay interest.
#2- It gets 70mpg and can go over 60mph!
#3- In theory, if I ride the scooter to work 50% of the time (6 out of 12 months), my car should last twice as long.
#4- Riding the scooter cuts down on wear and tear on my car and keeps my mileage down.

Cons to purchasing a scooter:
#1- I drain most of my savings to purchase it.
#2- I'd have to get a motorcycle license

I contacted my insurance agency to get a quote for insurance for the scooter I have in mind.  After all, if insurance is going to be high, it won't benefit me to ride the scooter since I wouldn't be saving any money.  The quote came back at $5.50 per month for insurance!  Even with a $100 registration fee, I would still be money ahead.  At 70mpg, I drive approximately 110-120 miles per week without trips around town for errands JUST to get to work and back.  In my car that gets about 24mpg, I would cut my gas usage by around 2/3!

Definitely a lot to think about.

Day 19 of 31

The birthday party went off without a hitch!  Jayden LOVED his gifts!  I decided to get him a set of golf clubs that came with a bag and covers for the irons.  I didn't think $70 was bad for the whole set.  I even got him some cute Spongebob golf balls and he was tickled pink.  :)  I lost track of exactly how much I spent on the birthday party but I know it was less than staying at a hotel and going out to eat.

I did spend a little money this weekend. :( eek!  I went shopping for a bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding and ended up getting the rest of my children's clothing for summer...one last task I need to complete.  After this weekend, I've decided it would be a wise idea to invest in some of the plastic envelopes to give myself a clothing budget.  I could have easily spent my entire monthly budget yesterday. :)  I DIDN'T, but I did spend more than I should have.

Weather has been GORGEOUS so the furnace has been shut off for about a week. I briefly had to turn it on the other day to circulate the air in the house, otherwise we've just been opening the windows and enjoying the fresh air!

Day 14- big decision day

After looking through the advertising guide, I've decided that the $100 monthly grocery budget is not a smart idea.  Granted, I could not buy another thing for the rest of the month and be able to live off my stockpile, but then my stockpile is gone and I start paying full price for items that we will need before it goes on sale again.

For instance- hamburger is on sale this week $2.39/lb.  If I pass up the hamburger deal this week, I'll end up buying hamburger for almost $4/lb.  How smart would that be?  Not very...

And cheese is on sale this week as well.  3 8oz. bags of shredded cheese for $4!  Last time cheese went on sale (4/$5 I believe) I bought 20 bags of cheese and we ran out long before this week.  Our family eats a LOT of cheese, so I'm really feeling the need to stock up when it's around 50% off.  This time I plan on buying 30 bags of cheese. lol   literally.....

Other than the grocery realization I still haven't spent money other than the 2 pairs of shorts. :)

Day 12 of 31

Well, I made it to day 12 before I made my first 'non necessity' purchase.  An online website had 2 pairs of Nike shorts that were my oldest son's size for $2 each so I had to buy them!  Do we need them? Eventually.  Is it supposed to hit record highs this week?  Yes.  Were they dirt cheap and well worth $4? You bet!  So I dug into my piggy bank with my 'fun money' in it and pulled out $4 to pay for the shorts.  He is set now for the season.  In the long run, it was a smart investment for the summer.

Grocery-wise we are doing good!  Since it's getting so nice out we are eating less sit-down dinners and more sandwiches, cottage cheese and fruit, that sort of thing.  Lots of food left and hopefully shouldn't have to buy anything the rest of the month except water, one gallon of milk and the food for Jay's party.  Saturday is Jayden's birthday party so my plan is to scope out the ads tomorrow and hope that pasta is on sale this week!

One more good note- I shut the furnace off today! WAHOO!!!  Even if we get a blizzard next week (which could happen) at least I get one week without running the furnace.

We've started making plans for fixing up the house this summer and it makes me even more excited to save so we can finance all the projects without the bank!  No bank loan= no interest.  :)

Breaking the budget...

Blew the grocery budget today but ended up with some much needed things.
#1- 24 double rolls of toilet paper.  Hey, you need to stock up when it's on sale!
#2- 6 jars of Prego on sale 3/$5 and I had 3 coupons for 0.75 off 2 jars.
#3- 4 Coke products for Jayden's birthday party.

along with 2 packages of italian sausage and $8 worth of cheese for Jay's party.  If I stop at this point, we may possibly break even for the month when the 'bday food' is subtracted from the grocery budget. Given all this, I'm still impressed with the amount that I HAVEN'T spent....not one pop to drink, not one coffee treat, no chips, no fast food and I haven't bought lunch at work since I started this challenge.  kudos to me. :)

End of Week 1

Today is March 7th, officially the start of week 2 and end of week 1.  Still haven't spent a penny!  Meals are starting to look a little 'interesting' already.  Tonight's supper was pancakes and eggs.  Who doesn't love pancakes for supper??

I'm actually enjoying not going to the grocery store daily.  It's nice to get off work and just GO HOME! No thinking about what I need at the store.  I've bought 2 presents for the boys' birthdays so far and will buy groceries for Jayden's birthday meal this week since pasta and marinara are on sale, along with awesome coupons.  These groceries will come out of the birthday budget.  Here's to a good start to week 2!

Free product is great!

My steal of the week:  FREE toothpaste at Walgreens!   This week they have Colgate toothpaste on sale for $3 with a $3 register reward. I bought 8 tubes of toothpaste for a grand total of $25.68 and got $24 back in RR, which means I bought EIGHT tubes of toothpaste for $1.68!!!!!!!!!!  

Plan for using the RR: bread, milk, cereal (if they have a sale), maybe some bananas, toilet paper and candy for the kids' Easter baskets.   Always love a good deal. :)

This week has been pretty easy honestly.  I've accumulated LOTS of excess bills already which I am keeping track of through the month.  Looks like I may have picked a great month to start saving.

31 Days of Nothing: Week 1

3 days into the challenge and I've realized I have several 'non bill' items I have to pay for, including my bridesmaid dress. OUCH!  I am keeping a running track of excess items and will post at the end of the month.

I ended up going to Fareway last night to do our first week of grocery shopping.  I'm trying to stay around $25/week to keep within my $100 budget.  Here was my shopping trip:

3 cartons of cottage cheese
4 bags frozen corn
4 bags frozen mixed veggies
2 bags baby carrots
2 dozen eggs
2 cucumbers
2lb. fresh strawberries
celery
10lb. potatoes

for a grand total of: $26.73.  Not too bad.  I don't normally buy 3 cartons of cottage cheese but they were super cheap and I can always take some for lunch at work.  It will all get used. No worries here. :)

31 Days of Nothing: Kick Off Time!!!!

OK, tomorrow officially starts my 31 days of nothing challenge.  Super excited to see how things go!  The past few days I've been coming up with my dollar amounts and here's what I've come up with:

#1- Grocery budget = $100.  Should be doable since we have a fairly well stocked pantry.  Bread, fresh fruits/veggies, milk, cheese and that's about it for the month.  Meals may be interesting to say the least. :)  I didn't even do a pre-challenge pantry stocking party although I really wanted to!

#2- Gas budget = $125.  With gas prices being as high as they are and the fact I work 5 days per week (out of town) I'm hoping this will be all I need.

#3- Entertainment budget = $250.  I would have set this budget to zero but Jayden and Todd both have birthdays this month.  Normally Jayden's birthday consists of a large party, whether it be swimming at King's Pointe or bowling followed by supper out but we will be doing a much smaller party this year.  This budget includes presents, food and entertainment for both parties.

#4- Being less wasteful.  My family is phenomenal for leaving the lights turned on all over the house.  We are going to work harder to shut lights off, reduce water usage and keep the thermostat a little cooler.  I'm even foregoing my nightly "hide in the bathtub and read a magazine" routine to help conserve on water usage.

#5- I will not be eating at work anymore.  All meals will have to be brought from home.  It is all too easy to eat at work 5 days a week and spend almost $100 per month on lunch alone.  If I forget to bring lunch I always have a jar of peanut butter in my locker.

If I think of any additional rules I will add to this list but for now this is my plan.  Here goes nothing!

Decision to be frugal

Back in November, I started couponing.  It has been great fun, but I quickly realized a few things:
#1- I wasn't saving any money because I was still shopping just as much as I was before.
#2- My family was eating a LOT of processed foods because quite honestly, what are most coupons for?  Lots of processed foods.

So I decided it was time for a change.  My family has agreed to eat less processed food and more wholesome meals.  I also decided it was time to be more financially free....hence the reason for the blog.  I've read several blogs and have been quite inspired to make better life choices, starting with finances.

My goal for the month of March is to acclimate to our new lifestyle and try to save as much as possible while following the '31 day no-spend challenge'.  It will be interesting to see exactly how much we save. I created a cute little sign and hung it on the fridge to write down every time I go to the store and how much I spend.  Seeing it directly will hopefully change my spending habits.  We have a nice stockpile of meat and rice, so hopefully shopping for the next month will only require perishable items.  March 1 will officially start the 'no spend' challenge.  Here's to saving!!