2/25-2/28: Living Frugally

I'm just now catching up on the last couple days. I have to say, we've been doing very well at not spending much money this weekend. A lot of that has to do with the fact that we've gotten serious about house shopping, and it really makes you think before spending money when you're saving for something so important.



Thursday was easy, it rained so David drove my truck into work and I didn't leave the house. He did spend $12 on lunch with co-workers but it came out of this $30 weekly blow money, so that's not a big deal.



Friday was payday and I went out to get the envelope cash and gas in the truck. My bank gives rebates for ATM fees, so there was no waste there. Before I got gas I checked http://www.gasbuddy.com/ so find out where the cheapest place in town was. It happened to be Walmart, which is great because it's only about a mile away and I used a Walmart Shopping Card to save $0.03 a gallon. I bought 16 gallons, saving me a total of $0.48. Doesn't sound like too much, but it was something I was going to buy anyway, might as well save a couple quarters doing it, right? Next stop was the vet to buy Bear's hear worm prevention. It was $55, but it came out of his envelope, so again it there was no real effect on the monthly cash flow. Pet care can be expensive but it's SO worth it to keep your pet happy and healthy. A little money spent to protect your pet now can save so much more expense and heartache later on. I cannot stress this enough!



Which brings me to Saturday. Weekends are always, ALWAYS a "budget buster" for us. I should say for me though, because most money spent is because I don't feel like cooking. I'd say 80% of our blow/entertainment money is spent on dining out. There really is no reason for this, especially when we have a house full of food. But I am really making an effort this week, so I cooked breakfast at home this morning instead of running to McD's. We had leftovers for lunch, then met friends for dinner. We went to a local deli, where I had coupon for a free appetizer and we got a military discount. We saved about $6, and the total bill was only $17. After that our friends came over to watch some movies and play Wii. We had a great time, and $17 is not bad for a Saturday spent with friends!

2/24/10: Living Frugally

Today started rainy and cold here, so not too much happened. I went to Walmart early this morning to get some grocery items I didn't get at the commissary. I spent $25, and only saved $3 but I bought a lot of things that don't have coupons like eggs, fruit and seafood.

I also marinated 2 pounds of meat I will be making jerky out of tomorrow. David is leaving the country soon for work and I'm trying to get a bunch ready for him to take with him. All together it cost about $6. I don't know how much it would have cost to buy store bought, but I know it would be more the $6, plus it wouldn't be the quality I can get from making it myself.

For supper I made fish tacos, and dessert was strawberries with whipped topping. After dinner entertainment is a walk around the neighborhood and American Idol, of course.

Also, my seeds that are planted in the "green house tray" have started to sprout!! I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can start planting outside!

**One thing I forgot to mention is that I am trying to cut down on my crazy soda addiction. Not only is it super unhealthy, but soda is not cheap! Today I only had 2 cans, which is much, much less then I normally drink, so that was pretty frugal, not to mention healthy!

2/23/10: Living Frugally

I've decided that in order to keep motivated and amp up my efforts, I'm going to try and keep track of frugal choices I've made for the day. In a perfect world, I would post my amazing frugality everyday. But the reality is, some days there just isn't much frugal-ness going on, and the some days I won't get around to posting. But I'm really going to try! I love reading about how everyone lives frugally on a daily basis. I get so many ideas, and I realize that in some ways I am making frugal choices and didn't know it, while other times I see that I can do so much more!

Yesterday I went with a friend to the commissary an hour away. It takes about 7 gallons of gas to drive there, and at the current price of $2.45 a gallon, it's a total of $17.15 to drive there. That sounds like a small fortune just to drive to a grocery store, but I easily made up for it in savings. Also, my friend and I switch out weeks, so every other week she drives. I spent a total of $105 (including a $2 bagger tip), and my total savings was $65! I am very happy with that, since I didn't go grocery shopping last pay period and we were low and just about everything. In reality, I saved much more then that, because the commissary is an average of 30% cheaper then Walmart.

On the way to the commissary we stopped by McD's where I ordered a biscuit from the Dollar Menu. I spent $1.09 but saved another $1 by bringing my own soda from home.

Our next stop was Old Navy to see what deals we could find. Sadly, there weren't many. I did buy a pair of pants for $10 and 2 pair of flip flops. Total spent: $16

On the way back to our town we picked up lunch at Chik-fil-A. I know! Eating at 2 fast food places in one day is neither frugal nor healthy. But we had a great time, and we don't have a Chik-fil-A in our town so it was a real treat. Total spent: $6

Then we stopped by the local grocery store for a few things. I got a couple grocery items, and used several Marcal Tissue Paper coupons. Total spent: $12, Savings $6

For dinner, David grilled some steaks for him and shrimp for me. I made hush puppies from scratch and a side of green beans. Total cost of the meal was about $7 compared to $30+ at a restaurant.

$2 Date

Have you ever heard the old wives tale that what you do on New Years Day is what you'll do all year long? Well this year I didn't want to take any chances! And what do I want to do this year? Spend time enjoying my family, and save more money! So we spent the day at out local state park, including a picnic lunch. We had a great time, David had never been to this park and it's one of Bear's favorites. Going to State Parks are a wonderful time. Not only are they cheap-in our case just $1 a person!-but the are so informative. You can learn so much about the history of your area. And the monies made on admission go back into the parks to help with up keep so others can enjoy. Add in that going for a walk and "exploring" is healthy and it's a total winner!

You can go here to find more information on State Parks in your area: http://www.nps.gov/index.htm

Valentine's Day is coming!

I love Valentine's Day! I know people say it's too "commercial", and to a certain degree I think they are right, it can be. But it's also one of the most simple and sweet holidays. It's easy and cheap to show someone you love them, and it's IMPORTANT. Especially now, with so many families facing hard times, it's necessary to tell the people who love and support you the most just how much they mean to you. They are the ones you can always turn to, and the ones who take this journey with us. In this economy, with some many outside stresses, the relationships with our significant others aren't always as cared for and nurtured as they should. With the pressure of getting out of debt, performing well so you can keep your job, kids, housekeeping, and other things that need our attentions, it's easy to lose sight of what is really important and what you really are fighting for.

I stumbled across this blog, written by a lady named Cher and her husband. I think it's wonderful and so, so important. She offers such great ideas and inspiration-on a budget!! So go check it out, and share the love!

http://www.blogger.com/Love,%20Actually

6/24/09 Deals

I haven't done much shopping in the last few days. It's been well over 100 degrees every afternoon, and frankly, that's just too hot the leave the house unless you need to! On top of that, my very energetic bulldog has to stay outside when we aren't home and there is no way I could leave him in this heat. So he and I just hang out in the air conditioned house and read blogs all day, and LOVE it. I have run a few errands after David gets home in the evenings (so he can stay with Bear). On Tuesday I ran to Walgreens to drop off my ink to get refilled. It cost me $12.99 to get a full ink cartridge, compared to $25-$30 to buy a new one. It was the first time I'd ever tried it, and I am very pleased. I've heard that Walgreens sometimes has coupons in their flyers for ink refills, so I'll be on the lookout for those. Total savings from that was anywhere from $12-$17, but I won't had it to my weekly savings since it's an ongoing price with them. While there I did the Coke deal, and got 4-12 packs for $13, plus $3 Register Rewards, plus those 4 packs will earn me 40 http://www.mycokerewards.com/ points! I also cashed in my rain check for a free Walgreens cloth bag. I LOVE those bags, they hold so much more then a plastic bag!
We also used a free code at Redbox to rent "New In Town", it was cute. I just love Renee Z. and Harry Connick Jr.
Yesterday I received 2 coupons for free Velveeta microwaveable cups, and one BOGOF coupon. David LOVES these cups, and so do I. They are quick, store well in the pantry, are great to take to work, taste just like the real thing...and you toss the bowl when you're done! NO dirty dishes!! Try them out, they are fantastic.
I have been tweaking our plan for the Envelope System we'll be starting on July 1st, but I think I'll make a new post about that.
Take care, and have a great day!!

Total Weekly Savings using coupons and codes: $31.56

Hulu and Dave Ramsey

I am addicted!

Recently we've been really thinking had about canceling our cable/DVR service. My goal is to eliminate and simplify where my money goes each month. In my opinion, cable TV is extremely overpriced and something we don't use enough to justify the $60 a month. I will still need my internet because it's how I do all my banking, and I DO feel like I use it enough to get the $40 a month out of it.
So once we cut out the cable what will we watch? We still have shows we enjoy and want to watch. My sister mentioned www.hulu.com. I had never heard of it, but after going to the site, I am hooked. It's completely free and so easy. We even have a cable that connects our laptops to the TV, so we can watch movies and shows together, rather then on our laptops alone. They even have my favorite show...BURN NOTICE!!! With www.hulu.com and free codes from Redbox, I see no reason at all to pay that extra $60 a month to a greedy cable company.

Another show I've recently found on Hulu-The Dave Ramsey Show. I knew who he was, and about his program, but since we didn't get that channel with out cable I'd never seen the show. But it's FREE on Hulu!!!! There are almost 100 episodes on there, and I've been watching them back to back for 3 days now. He's wonderful, and so motivating. I love hearing the stories of families that were so close to the bottom, and now are debt free, or on their way.

So go now and check out www.hulu.com, it's my new FFF (favorite frugal find)!

Frugal Fun

I mentioned earlier that I've had a lot of family visiting this week. It's been hard on my budget because I can't get over that mentality that I need take them out to eat, or to the movies, or zoo...all of which can get costly. But I've been trying really hard this week to cook at home and come up with fun, free activities. Sunday-Tuesday my Granny, my little sister (age 13) and my cousin (age 12) were here. We ordered pizza the first night, but that was the only time we paid for food. My Granny did by breakfast both morning, but other then that we ate at home. And you know what? No one felt like they were missing anything! We had a great time cooking together and sitting down at my table together. We could be as loud and silly as we wanted because were comfortable and alone. We also rented a movie free from RedBox and set up the projector in the den. It was JUST like being at the real theater. We had tons of popcorn and soda, and homemade brownies. What movie theater sales brownies? Only the free one at my house!!! We huge out in our jammies with piles of pillows and blankets and a blast, all for FREE. It would have cost over $42 for the 3 of us to watch a movie, complete with popcorn and soda, at the local theater. And once again we were able to talk as loud, laugh as loud and get up as much as we wanted. We could pause the movie if someone needed to get up, and we got to see deleted scenes. You can't get that at a normal, pricey theater. We also had a great time having a "Bowling Tournament" on the Wii. I can't even imagine how much it would have cost at a real bowling alley, since we played for hours on end, and all the drinks we would have needed. Again, totally free at home, and probably even more fun!
This weekend we plan to take a picnic to the local beach with our dog, our friends and their dogs, and my parents and sister. The dogs all love the beach, and the boys will skim board while we girls read and listen to music. I have all kinds of picnic food I've gotten with coupons, and I'll make a few homemade treats. We'll have a wonderful time, and make lots of memories...all for free.
I think it's fun to come up with cheap or free ways to have fun this summer, and I'd love to hear some of yours!

Gardening

So I got my last check today from my old job. It was $331, so I was pleased with that. I paid $200 to my credit card, and I'm keeping the remaining $131 for my garden, and other random things I might want or need now that I have all the time in the world. Last weekend, David and I prepped the area we'll be using for our garden. It's very, very small, but we have big plans for it! We know we're growing some tomatoes, both big, and small sizes, cucumbers, and maybe some spinach. I'm also growing some herbs, including cilantro, chives, and maybe thyme. I'm going out later today to buy the plants from a local nursery. I've never really had any luck with starting from seeds. Plants can get expensive though, and I'm going to try my hand at starting from seeds again. Now that I actually have the time to devote to it. I'll take some pictures when I get done tonight.

I'm so excited!!! And I'd love to hear any comments or suggestions you have.