Money Monday...

ah, money monday.

how i kind of hate you for keeping me somewhat accountable & guilt ridden when i mess up.

so here we go again.

i think i'll simply say this:

cut up your credit cards!

while everyone knows credit cards are bad,bad,bad, it seems as though we all still fall into the trap.

i know we have.

while we've never gone and bought extreme things on the card, we have bought clothes, food and gas.

our income is pretty skimpy.

and to be honest, we just had no room in it for squeezing in new tennis shoes or winter coats.

so out came the evil card.

we have since paid it off,

and are trying very hard not to ever go back there.

2 things i try to think of while buying:

how many hours of work would it take my husband to pay for this item (and then is that worth it?)

and , when using a credit card,  how much is this item when i add the 15% interest (or whatever) to this item?

for the month of Jan i was able to stay in budget for food,

but i did go over on household items.

i've since realized i need to readjust, and crunch some numbers on that one.

$60.00 is simply not happening when i have a child still in diapers and 4 cats

i hate put up with feeding and litter boxing (?), plus all the other stuff.

we go through lots of toilet paper around these parts!

so i'm not sure how much i'll keep this going,

probably not weekly.

but i will continue to let you know how i'm doing on food items, deals, etc.

New menu on the side bar.

Yes, Sundays meal got bumped to Monday because we had an unexpexected date night;)

which blew both the budget and diet, but hey, time with the hubby is always worth it!

God Bless,

Mandy

Money Monday...

this will be a short post.

i've painted a fence,

 went to 2 different stores,

baked muffins,

cornbread,

made chili.

oh ya,

and 2 kids are pukey.

so i'm tired :)!

anyhoo,

a big suggestion I have is buying in advance.

i'm not talking about  warehouse stores and buying a lifetime supply of paper towels.

i'm talking about if your grocery store has a good sale,

plan ahead!

today i went over my weekly budget a little.

because my local safeway had an unadvertised sale on chicken for .99 a lb.

so i bought 3 packages that weren't on my list,

but i have dinner meat that won't have to be on next weeks budget!

Make up your own rules as you learn.

if i find cereal for less than $2/box

bread less than $1.00 for whole wheat

meat less than $3/lb

coffee less than $6

milk under $2

cheese less than $5 for  2 lbs

etc.,

i buy in advance!

you'll learn as you go where to spot the deals.

before i very rarely noticed when there was a sale,

because i simply bought what sounded good for dinner that night or the next.

now i am much more aware of spotting the deals, and taking full advantage!

by the way, the only pre-boxed/packaged food i buy regularly is boxed macaroni and cheese.

i usually buy Kraft.

today at wal-mart i noticed a new brand, for 38 cents a box!

i'll let you know if the savings was worth it!

God Bless,

Mandy

A Budget...

Okay here we go...

remember how i said that we'd talk money on monday?

first order of business,

grocery shopping.

in a family of 6 our grocery bill can get to be quite astronomical. 

let's just say i usually spend more than our mortgage.

and that's never going out to eat!!!

my new grocery goal?

$125.00 / week = $500/month for  a family of 6.

and i was successful in the first week!!!

i take cash and a calculator!

i really believe the key to this is planning, planning and then planning.

on sundays i sit down and write out a menu for the week, including each meal and snacks and drinks.

i look at the store ads to see if there are any good deals that i can build a meal around,

or cheap snacks.

i usually shop at wal-mart and safeway.

safeway for the sales and meat, staples and whatever else wal-mart.

then i pull out recipes if needed, or by heart,

and look through my cupboards and make sure i have everything i need on my list.

be sure to check little things, like baking powder, flour, oil, etc.

there are items that are on my list every week,

such as 2 gallons of milk,

at least 2 boxes of cereal,

etc.

when you go to a store with a list in hand it's amazing how much less you buy!

and i'm telling you,

running in the store once a week, my day is mondays, sure beats running in 4 days/week and then grabbing 10 other items you hadn't planned on.

another thing i do to keep the kids from asking me what's for dinner,

or what their snack choices are, is write it up on a white board in the dining room.

they can see the whole weeks menu.

this gives them the chance to complain on monday about the enchiladas you're making thursday.

hey, i'm always here to help.

well,

i'm off to shop.

if you haven't jumped on the  dave ramsey  bandwagon, check him out!

God Bless,

mandy

Discipline...

2011.

Here we go.

Of course I make the traditional "resolutions".

Loose weight.

Keep the house cleaned up more.

Spend more one on one time with the kids.

My WORD for this year?

Discipline.

Admittedly not a pretty word.

But one I need.

Somewhere over the course of the last 2 years I've lost all discipline.

Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm dealing with  4 kids all day and getting old.

Cough cough.

Anyhoo,

one area in which I really feel the Lord calling me to is in being more disciplined with our finances.

It's a struggle,

but one we're buckling down on.

So to share my financial peace journey,

and maybe help someone else,

I'm going to have Money Mondays.

Every Monday I'll share my plans, executions,

successes and failures.

Hopefully we'll both learn something along the way...

God Bless,
Mandy