November Savings 2009

November brought Thanksgiving, Black Friday and lots of savings.

I started meal planning in Nov. I shopped Black Friday (I still have to find the time to wrap all of those). I no longer buy new Christmas stuff before Dec 26th. I wait and go the day it goes on clearance.

I am so thankful for my parents. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have the leftovers that I did. This helps out SO much in the end. We did turkey sandwiches with mashed potatoes and gravy, turkey wraps and turkey noodle soup, plus we have the turkey noodle soup that my mom gave us in the freezer.

That brings me to the freezer. We need one. Badly. So the savings being. I am not the greatest at putting money into a savings account (or envelope) and leaving it there. But the goal is to put $5 into an envelope anytime money passes our hands. So when we sell something, or I babysit or Jesse gets paid from work.

Things we need

• Jesse needs new glasses and an eye exam
• the cougar needs work done to it, but its just going to have to wait
• I need a new bra, the one I have is too big but the ones I had before the baby are still too small. Not cool.
• we both need to go to the dentist, but its going to have to wait

My overall goal is to make these things happen next year. One more reason why I started this blog. To keep me on track. We have two bills that are almost paid off. Snap On (tools) balance = $105.80 and Les Schwab balance = $100 ish (haven’t seen a current bill). The bad thing is, we took out a loan to pay for Christmas and to get Jesse much needed rain gear for work (since 4 out of 5 days he works outside). We were just going to do layaway at Kmart but it snowed one day and I knew it would be bad for him to be out in that without the proper gear. So that was about $200. On Black Friday I spent $200 on Christmas. So we have to make 7 payments of $105 to have the loan paid off. I hate doing it. It had been a year since we last had to take out one of these loans. I hope this is the last time we have to do it. Money will be tight for awhile but overall I am getting used to this. It bothers Jesse so much, and I understand where he is coming from. He works hard and feels like we never have enough. In reality, we could be doing a lot worse. Jesse is in no danger of losing his job and we are making it just fine without me really working. We can pay rent, we can pay the utilities, we have food to go on the table and gas to go in Jesse’s car so he can get to and from work. I just hate being in debt! Although, I can’t think of someone who enjoys it either. So it just makes me want to work harder at saving money and making what we have go as far as it can. This means being shopping savvy. Not easy. It takes work. But I need to do this. I want to do this. Slowly but surely our debts will get paid. Its just going to take a lot of hard work and the word NO.

Overall Savings for Nov 2009  = $368.36

That’s $97.50 more than Oct 2009

The word NO

Often it is used to keep our children out of something they are not supposed to be in. But how often do you use it on yourself? Or the purchases you make for the family. This is how I justify getting things I don’t need. “Jesse would really like this” or “I know I could make cookies if only I had this” or “I bet Jacob would like this”. Rarely do I stop myself and search deep down if it is something I need, or want. Many times I try and justify a want with a need. Or with the possibility of saving money. “ooh, I could buy this and SAVE $0.50!”. But if I have to spend $2 (or whatever it is) on something that would be nice to have rather than a true need, is it really worth it to save the $0.50? This is where NO needs to come in. NO needs to come in and remind me that its a want and not a need. I want a freezer but I don’t NEED one. I want a new bra (and could possibly need one) but I have others that work. So again, that’s not a need. Jesse NEEDS new glasses. That one is true. He scratched the lenses on his and its hard on his eyes to be looking through a scratch all day.

My big downfall with NO is my family. I have a really hard time telling Jesse NO if we have the extra cash. I need to get better about this. Jesse needs to get better about telling me NO.

My goals with the word NO

• make a detailed list to go to the store with. stick to the list.
• spend the time to match my list with my coupons and only use if cheaper than the store brand
• say NO more often, with reasons why
• make a list of things we WANT and save for it. put it into its own envelope.
• go back to using the envelope system, for everything
• make one trip into town (CDA) and get everything done
• don’t beat yourself up for saying NO to something
• don’t go to the store by yourself and without a list.

140 Free Address Lables

All you pay is shipping. For 7 day shipping I paid $3.70. Not a bad deal overall.  Here is the link to the blog that tells you about it.

The total savings for me was 15.98. So if you took advantage of the seehere offer, this would make a perfect pairing.

Balck Friday Shopping

I did it. I joined the millions of people who get up at the crack of dawn to hit up Black Friday sales. I got ALL my Christmas shopping done, with the exception of one or two small items that have to wait till closer to Christmas.

Target

Spent $20.54

Saved $4.60

Hastings (music and book store)

Spent $24.89

Saved $39.74

Kohl’s

Spent $20.61

Save $34.53

Walmart

Spent $58.60

Saved $43.97

K Mart

Spent $28.60

Saved $28.00

Shopko (they are the only ones that didn’t list any savings)

Spent $47.64

Total Spent $200.88

Total Saved $150.84

After seeing it all in writing I feel REALLY good about it! Will I go next year? Probably. Its nice going and getting some great deals and knowing that some places I saved more than I spent and that overall I saved almost as much as I spent for all of Christmas.

Grocery Shopping Nov 18

We went grocery shopping last night and manged to spend less than $100 for the entire month! So far so good and meal planning/ grocery shopping.

Overall we spent $86.63 on 76 items. Thats almost $1.00 an item! I figured it out and for a week (we shopped for 4 weeks) we spent $24.50 for the family. Thats $8 per person for 1 week! I love it!

We saved $15.78 and used 25 coupons. Chicken breasts were the most expensive item at $5.00.

Our loot!

This is going to get us through until Dec 19th. :=)

Being a good wife and mom

What exactly does this mean?

Being a good wife

To me its keeping my house picked up, cleaning up after my son, picking up my own messes, paying the bills, sometimes even making dinner. I try to think about what I do during the day as my “job”. Its a job that I do actually enjoy. I have a deadline to meet everyday, and certain “chores” that I do daily. I like to have everything done when Jesse gets home. This isn’t so he doesn’t have to help out, its more so we can hang out as a family without worrying about the things that need done around the house that I can do while I am home.  I’ve been reading about the quiverfull movement here lately. Now don’t go thinking I’ve gone off my rocker, its not that. I think its important to be the homemaker. I believe its paramount to have God as a focus in your life. I also, feel its important for Jesse to feel like the breadwinner and man of the house (which he is), with out losing any part of myself. I am a strong, outgoing woman. I love my husband and family dearly. I want to provide the best that I can for them. I am certain that this is my main reasoning and focus for starting this blog.

Being a good mom

This one is a bit harder to define. And it differs from mother to mother.  I want to know that my son is happy, well loved. I feel like I am on my way to accomplishing this. Am I doing things against the norm? Totally. I go more on the signals my son gives me and my own instincts. Do I get all the socialization that I would like? No. This is as much my doing as it is anyone else. I want my son to speak his mind. To know what is right and wrong. Not just in the eyes of the law, or in the Lords’ eyes. But also in the social and moral world. I want him to know that NO ONE should ever treat him like he is less than he is. That true friends are the people who are there for you no matter what. Those people are few and far between but when you find one, they are worth it to hang on to. I want to teach him the meaning of being loving, kind and giving. To be able to ask for help when he needs it, and to give it when and where he can. I want him to learn that life is not a free ride, you have to work hard and earn, but when you do, the rewards can be great. I know that he will feel sorrow, pain and hurt. By his own actions and the actions of others. As a mother, this hurts me greatly, but the rational part of me knows that this is one of life’s greatest lessons. Good family will always be there, but not all family is good. I may never know that I have taught him these lessons. But I will know that as a mom, I did my best, tried my hardest, and loved him the most.

Meal plans and recipes

I am putting my meal plans up for the next month since we plan on going grocery shopping tonight. Yay! I’ve also added two new sub pages. Extra meal plans. These are meals that I do plan on shopping for but not using during my week because I usually babysit every three days, however, this week I am off and am now trying to figure out what to fix for the rest of the week. I thought that having a section with two or three “extra” meals set out in it would help in those situations.

I also added a sub page for recipes. Right now there are only two on there, I hope to add more as I add recipes. All recipes will be on the main page, but if you are searching for a certain type, the sub pages are a great place to start.

Its been a long time

I’ve been super busy with the holidays coming up, Jacob not feeling well, and the craft fair last week.

www.seehere.com has a great deal on Christmas cards. Use code newbaby at checkout (need to be a new member) and get 50 4×8 or 50 5×7 prints and envelops plus shipping for FREE! The sight has been overwhelmed so it may take several tries. I did mine Sunday night and they shipped Monday morning!

Later today or tomorrow I will be updating my meal plans. Grocery shopping is this Sunday.

Stains on the highchair tray

Just the other night my parents took me out for a Lacey only night out. I got to feel like ME, not MOM, not WIFE, but ME! It was wonderful! However, I left the husband in charge of the baby. Which isn’t a problem because he is a wonderful dad. He just sometimes forgets to pick up after feeding the baby (it happens to all of us). This led to a late night internet search for me. I had a faint yellowish stain on my son’s highchair. I am a total FREAK about stains!! I hate them with a passion. So I grab the dawn with bleach alternative. Nope. I think “oh, a magic eraser will work”. Nope. So off to the computer I go. Goo Be Gone and Oxy clean. And then, pure vegetable oil. Really? Well I don’t feel like getting in to my car and driving to the store, so sure. I don’t know about any of the other moms but there are just some cleaners I will not use on my son’s highchair. The vegetable oil comes out and I get to work. Amazingly enough, it worked!! Now his highchair has a nice shine to it and is clean and stain free. I didn’t take a picture of before and after because it was really late at night, but it looks SO nice now!!

Savings Oct 2009

So I saved almost $300 last month, my first month of tracking my savings. I feel great about this! However, next month I want to do better.I would like to see my savings almost double.

Last month I did not include the many samples and coupons that I received in the mail.  Nor will I this month. But I love samples! Actually, I love anything I can get for free or cheap. :=)

I got more baseball card holders today, so I’ve have spent a few hours today re-organizing my coupons. Thankfully I was able to get Jesse’s help with this.

My coupons! A lot of work but it can be SO worth it! There is a lady in the Northeast who is feeding her family on $4 a week. One day I hope to be close to that point. Its a bit harder in the Northwest with few stores doubling coupons. Even when they do double them it is only for a few. However, this just makes me want to work harder at getting the items I need and use for next to nothing.