This money saving one is a no-brainer to some, and a difficult one to others. It's not a sustainable way to get some (or save some) extra cash, because eventually you'll run out of stuff to sell. Unless you're a recovering hoarder. Then good on you for having the never ending closet to start selling.
When my husband and I got married, we essentially had 2 households merging which also means 2 households of junk, boxes and duplicates. (think toasters - although his always set off the fire alarm so we just trashed his and used mine...which died a month later and he thought was poetic justice for the loss of his.)
We also had things that we just never used anymore. We had an popcorn machine, some old tools, board games, clothes the kids long grew out of, an ice cream maker...
You get the picture. Our laundry room/pantry room was a hideaway for everything that we didn't use. Out of sight out of mind.
So, last December, we started taking pictures, writing happy descriptions and posting online onto Kijiji. It took some work, and we also discovered the benefit of delivery fees. We live outside of the big city of Winnipeg, and the majority of our "clients" lived in Winnipeg. They didn't want to drive (most city folks think that the world falls off into an abyss at the perimeter), and my husband drives in every day.
Very easy way to tack on $5 for delivery. It's not that convenient to deliver (organizing drop off times and such), and this was a nice way to compensate and get a bit more cash. Win win.
We paid for our garden door from our bedroom onto our deck with Kijiji cash. Seriously. $600 worth of stuff was in our basement. We sold an old dresser that was in the basement that we'd painted red for $30 (the lady who bought that was SO excited), my husband sold his Assassin's Creed games after he finished the games, I sold my Sims 2 PC collection. We sold stuff that even though there were happy emotions attached, we didn't use anymore.
Oh, sell your old exercise videos. The best time is now: January. People love to work on those New Years Resolutions with Tony Horton.
We sold a large garbage bag of brand name boy clothes for $35. Jeans, tshirts, sweaters - it was a fun bag of stuff!
Get creative. Look around and see what you can live without. Decluttering helps keep your head and mind clean, so see what you can do without and earn a little cash.
In 2011, we bought our garden door (like I mentioned), and this year we did another spurt of purging and we are currently up to another $500 earned.
My husband had an old boat motor in the shed, I had some more exercise videos (don't judge me), more video games, toys, small appliances...it adds up.
One note, don't overprice your goodies. You might think that even though you bought that couch 10 years ago for $1500 and it's in great shape, it's not worth $1000 now. It's worth $50. If you had it wrapped in plastic wrap and didn't let anything sit on it for more than 10 seconds, then go for $100. Let's not get ridiculous.
Look online to see what certain items sell for new (video games/board games), and mark it down accordingly. Also look at grouping items together, but prepared to sell separately.
Be prepared to compromise, but don't sell yourself down the river unless you packed a raft. What I mean is you'll be selling a beautiful lamp at a reasonable price ($20) and someone will email you and say "I'll give you $5".
To that I often say to the person "what's wrong with you?!" out loud, then I check myself and email back "give me $15 plus $5 delivery and it's yours".
I have given deals and have been willing to compromise, but if it's more work for you and you're spending more time working out delivery times or pick up times, it's not worth it. No deal is worth the hassle of someone who doesn't know buying/selling etiquette.
Remain positive, in touch, and personable. I don't recommend the "what's wrong with you?!" approach unless it's just to get it out of your system before you act rationally.
A lot of people will offer you half price. Be prepared for that and decide early on what you're willing to settle for. A good bargain is one both sides are happy with.
So that is this Tuesday's Money Saving Tip!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Money Saving Day (One Day Late) - Thrift Store
Things are still nutso at our house. Still trying to get things to calm down. I'm think that by this Friday, things will have settled (at least the first part of the stress and deadlines is caught up) and then if everything goes through, I'll have news by next week.
Yikes!
So, Friday I did NOT finish my project with recipes and meal plans and shopping lists. Not that I didn't try. I wrote out recipes, and wrote out all the ingredients, and matched pricing and tried to make economical choices per week.
It was all taking forever to put together between life.
Then last night I had another moment. I really want things to be reasonably healthy, easy, and decently quick. I don't have a problem with some meals taking extra prep work, but I really don't like wasting my entire day cooking.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow I've cut carbs out of my diet, so last night I made a FANTASTIC stirfry. I would share the recipe, but I don't know how I did it exactly. It was a Mongo's mashup in my kitchen. (those of you who don't know the restaurant Mongo's - it's a Mongolian style restaurant where you scoop different flavours: oils, ginger, garlic, premixed sauce; onto your personally picked veggies and meat). Mongo's is one of my favourite restaurants because you can eat as clean as you'd like.
Anyway, the recipe consisted something of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, dark sesame seed oil, coconut oil to fry in....sea salt...ginger, garlic...all things I always have on hand. It was a smashing of flavours and fun.
But anyway, last January, my husband and I went on a carb free diet. If you've ever been on a carb (and sugar) free diet, you understand the agony of trying to find food that isn't just good for you to eat, but tasty enough for the rest of the family to indulge in. The most brilliant idea we had was to create a Mongo's in our kitchen once a week. We bought beef, pork, and chicken. We sliced and diced and froze the meat. Then once a week we would chop and julienne our veggies and store them in containers in the fridge.
It was glorious. Once a week, we'd pick a meat to fry up, pull out the veggies for the kids to fill their bowls with, and threw together stirfrys with little prep time. We spent hours several weeks before prepping all our meat, and every week was simply topping up our veggie containers.
So my moment yesterday, was why not do that again? Have a day of the week where it's just a empty-the-fridge-of-veggies day?
While that moment of insight is no excuse to my delay on getting my meal plans done, I really liked the thought of it. Vegetables are not all that expensive, but they do add up. I'm rethinking some of my meal plans so I can incorporate the veggies into the other meals without any waste.
And yesterday was my cheap day....er, money saving day. :) I ended up driving into the city impromptu due to my husband forgetting his wallet. I had some errands to run anyway, but it consumed my day and I was disappointed that I missed Project Friday AND Money Saving Tuesday.
Here's my tip that was due yesterday:
Visit A Thrift Store Once and a While
Yes. I am serious! I currently own the best pair of BONGO jeans I have ever owned. They fit really well, are so comfortable, and are very stylish...and I bought them for $6 at a Thrift Store.
Offering this suggestion kinda makes me laugh because 1) the song Thrift Shop is now popular and is currently running through my head, and 2) I used to scoff at the idea.
I used to think I was above Thrift Stores. I was like "ew, someone else was wearing it" or "I make enough money that I don't need to go there", or "only certain types of people go there".
All of the above statements are true. Yes. Someone else farted in those jeans. Gross? Yes. Irrational? Yes. Put them through the washer 10 times if you want. I only needed to do once because I trust my detergent and I blasted them with hot water.
If you're a germaphob?
Yes. I do earn enough money that I don't need to go there. I also don't earn enough money that I get to be snobby about it.
And yes, only certain types of people do go there. There are people who can't afford anything else, and then there are smart people who figure that getting a brand name at a hair of the cost is probably worth it.
One of my closest friends introduced me to this "sport" and actually I'm currently sitting here, wearing an awesome wrap around sweater that I picked out there. Or maybe she picked it out for me. I can't remember now.
I recently went shopping for my husband who wears out jeans like it's a competitive sport, and spending $100 on jeans every few months just wasn't working anymore. We picked out 2 pairs of jeans, 3 sweaters, 2 pairs of shoes and some other items for $60 . I had a frequent flyer card which helped pay for half of it I think, but in the end it was $60.
A few tips:
1) Set aside a few hours. If you don't, you'll get stressed out and overwhelmed. Finding nice things takes time and patience. Remember what my motto is? "the effort has to equal the savings" For me, I'll make a day out of it with a friend. I'll meet up with my friend for coffee, and then we'll head over to the store and look for things for ourselves, our families, and for each other. It's a social event. I have done it by myself, but it's harder for me to stay focused and not get frustrated with the 50th disco shirt I've had to move aside.
2) Get to know your store. Walk around each of the aisles and familiarize yourself with what they have and the areas to find it. It cuts down on frustration as well.
3) Be realistic. I have sometimes come across prices that I could get in a store selling new clothing. Just because you're in a thrift store, doesn't mean that everything is a good deal. If a shirt is selling for $10, it should be a shirt that is hard to find, one that you can't live without, or a matter of convenience. Don't just assume it's a good deal because it's on the rack.
4) Check the product out. Check the zippers, check the hems, check for stains. It's used. Be smart.
5) Have a plan when you go in. I will often make a list of the things I want. For example: white tanktop, longsleeved sweater, blue jeans. Otherwise the sea of clothes may make you temporarily forget why you are there. And if the sea of clothes doesn't do it for you, then the flipping through shirts one by one certainly will. Daydream land is not a place you need to visit when shopping.
So that's my Money Saving Tip one day late. I don't shop for my kids there a lot, as I find things are reasonably cheap for kids clothes at Old Navy and such (and my SS is very Brand-Name oriented so he would be HORRIFIED that I got anything besides West49 and DC for him). I have picked up sweaters for my daughter as she could care less about such things and could potentially be a future Thrift Shop partner herself.
It's good to be smart about everything. It's also good to go and buy yourself a new shirt, or new dress as well. This isn't a way to a poverty mentality. It's just a way to help shave some bucks off here and there. I don't do all my shopping there, but I do when I'm in between sizes, or I just want something "new" and feel like splurging without splurging.
Yikes!
So, Friday I did NOT finish my project with recipes and meal plans and shopping lists. Not that I didn't try. I wrote out recipes, and wrote out all the ingredients, and matched pricing and tried to make economical choices per week.
It was all taking forever to put together between life.
Then last night I had another moment. I really want things to be reasonably healthy, easy, and decently quick. I don't have a problem with some meals taking extra prep work, but I really don't like wasting my entire day cooking.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow I've cut carbs out of my diet, so last night I made a FANTASTIC stirfry. I would share the recipe, but I don't know how I did it exactly. It was a Mongo's mashup in my kitchen. (those of you who don't know the restaurant Mongo's - it's a Mongolian style restaurant where you scoop different flavours: oils, ginger, garlic, premixed sauce; onto your personally picked veggies and meat). Mongo's is one of my favourite restaurants because you can eat as clean as you'd like.
Anyway, the recipe consisted something of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, dark sesame seed oil, coconut oil to fry in....sea salt...ginger, garlic...all things I always have on hand. It was a smashing of flavours and fun.
But anyway, last January, my husband and I went on a carb free diet. If you've ever been on a carb (and sugar) free diet, you understand the agony of trying to find food that isn't just good for you to eat, but tasty enough for the rest of the family to indulge in. The most brilliant idea we had was to create a Mongo's in our kitchen once a week. We bought beef, pork, and chicken. We sliced and diced and froze the meat. Then once a week we would chop and julienne our veggies and store them in containers in the fridge.
It was glorious. Once a week, we'd pick a meat to fry up, pull out the veggies for the kids to fill their bowls with, and threw together stirfrys with little prep time. We spent hours several weeks before prepping all our meat, and every week was simply topping up our veggie containers.
So my moment yesterday, was why not do that again? Have a day of the week where it's just a empty-the-fridge-of-veggies day?
While that moment of insight is no excuse to my delay on getting my meal plans done, I really liked the thought of it. Vegetables are not all that expensive, but they do add up. I'm rethinking some of my meal plans so I can incorporate the veggies into the other meals without any waste.
And yesterday was my cheap day....er, money saving day. :) I ended up driving into the city impromptu due to my husband forgetting his wallet. I had some errands to run anyway, but it consumed my day and I was disappointed that I missed Project Friday AND Money Saving Tuesday.
Here's my tip that was due yesterday:
Visit A Thrift Store Once and a While
Yes. I am serious! I currently own the best pair of BONGO jeans I have ever owned. They fit really well, are so comfortable, and are very stylish...and I bought them for $6 at a Thrift Store.
Offering this suggestion kinda makes me laugh because 1) the song Thrift Shop is now popular and is currently running through my head, and 2) I used to scoff at the idea.
I used to think I was above Thrift Stores. I was like "ew, someone else was wearing it" or "I make enough money that I don't need to go there", or "only certain types of people go there".
All of the above statements are true. Yes. Someone else farted in those jeans. Gross? Yes. Irrational? Yes. Put them through the washer 10 times if you want. I only needed to do once because I trust my detergent and I blasted them with hot water.
If you're a germaphob?
Yes. I do earn enough money that I don't need to go there. I also don't earn enough money that I get to be snobby about it.
And yes, only certain types of people do go there. There are people who can't afford anything else, and then there are smart people who figure that getting a brand name at a hair of the cost is probably worth it.
One of my closest friends introduced me to this "sport" and actually I'm currently sitting here, wearing an awesome wrap around sweater that I picked out there. Or maybe she picked it out for me. I can't remember now.
I recently went shopping for my husband who wears out jeans like it's a competitive sport, and spending $100 on jeans every few months just wasn't working anymore. We picked out 2 pairs of jeans, 3 sweaters, 2 pairs of shoes and some other items for $60 . I had a frequent flyer card which helped pay for half of it I think, but in the end it was $60.
A few tips:
1) Set aside a few hours. If you don't, you'll get stressed out and overwhelmed. Finding nice things takes time and patience. Remember what my motto is? "the effort has to equal the savings" For me, I'll make a day out of it with a friend. I'll meet up with my friend for coffee, and then we'll head over to the store and look for things for ourselves, our families, and for each other. It's a social event. I have done it by myself, but it's harder for me to stay focused and not get frustrated with the 50th disco shirt I've had to move aside.
2) Get to know your store. Walk around each of the aisles and familiarize yourself with what they have and the areas to find it. It cuts down on frustration as well.
3) Be realistic. I have sometimes come across prices that I could get in a store selling new clothing. Just because you're in a thrift store, doesn't mean that everything is a good deal. If a shirt is selling for $10, it should be a shirt that is hard to find, one that you can't live without, or a matter of convenience. Don't just assume it's a good deal because it's on the rack.
4) Check the product out. Check the zippers, check the hems, check for stains. It's used. Be smart.
5) Have a plan when you go in. I will often make a list of the things I want. For example: white tanktop, longsleeved sweater, blue jeans. Otherwise the sea of clothes may make you temporarily forget why you are there. And if the sea of clothes doesn't do it for you, then the flipping through shirts one by one certainly will. Daydream land is not a place you need to visit when shopping.
So that's my Money Saving Tip one day late. I don't shop for my kids there a lot, as I find things are reasonably cheap for kids clothes at Old Navy and such (and my SS is very Brand-Name oriented so he would be HORRIFIED that I got anything besides West49 and DC for him). I have picked up sweaters for my daughter as she could care less about such things and could potentially be a future Thrift Shop partner herself.
It's good to be smart about everything. It's also good to go and buy yourself a new shirt, or new dress as well. This isn't a way to a poverty mentality. It's just a way to help shave some bucks off here and there. I don't do all my shopping there, but I do when I'm in between sizes, or I just want something "new" and feel like splurging without splurging.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Money Saving Tuesday
It's been nutso at our house lately and I'm expecting it to stay that way for the next couple weeks. I'm looking forward to announcing why it's so busy (if it all goes through), but in the meantime, I have to come up with a saving tip for my typical Tuesday.
This week I didn't do any homemade soaps, detergents, or anything really frugal.
I'll just share the biggest tip I have when it comes to money. It's not a fun one, but it is one that can change habits FAST.
It's simply this:
go on a CASH system.
I'm a fiend with my debit card. I don't use my credit cards much (mostly because they were maxed, and since they were in that position for a while, I broke that habit), but my debit card...well, I treated it LIKE a credit card.
I tried leaving my cards at home, or saying "I'll only spend this much on such and such", but I tell you, there was ALWAYS something that came up.
In my wallet I currently have all my credit cards, and all my debit cards. But, I now have envelopes at home that contain my cash. Every time my husband gets paid, I get to put a set amount into different envelopes.
The envelopes I have at my disposal are labelled as follows:
Groceries
Gas
Dog Food
Kid Allowances
Kid Hot Lunches (once a week they can buy pizza or a sub at school)
When the money runs out, the money runs out. That's it. There is no more. This has cut out some fun (unfortunately), but it's also helped us rediscover how to use the things we have in our own home.
Instead of taking the kids out for ice cream, movies, or an outing to get family quality time in, we have been pulling out the old board games.
Our kids LOVE that time. I may even venture to say that they might like it more than the gobs of money we dropped on them to have family time. We currently have a Sorry battle going on. Last night there was tons of screaming, hollering and tabletalk (all good) going on during the wild and crazy game of Sorry.
Yes. Wild and crazy game of Sorry.
I actually didn't think Sorry could get so wound up, but apparently our family brings it to new heights.
Because we are working hard on cutting costs so we can enjoy bigger things in our future, there is currently no Entertainment envelope. If you're in a different space than us, I would strongly suggest having one. However, because there is no envelope, we don't spend money on it. In a few months, we will create one, but right now it is one thing that has to be cut out.
So far the most difficult one has been Groceries. I've discovered that the things we took for granted actually cost us the most. Having friends over for delicious meals, the luxury of buying nice face moisturizer, filling our water jugs for drinking...all things that should come out of the grocery budget but never really have. They were always "extras".
My husband has a spreadsheet made out for the budget and has been recording "extras" that happen during the month. So far we've spent $200 on extras. $200!! Of course, $120 of that was for our Rottie's ear infection. But it's still something we wouldn't have accounted for.
Groceries have been helped by having meat in the freezer (we recently purchased half a cow of meat and that should tie us over for a few months), budgeting meals and carefully planning grocery lists. It's also helped that we are identifying what are needs and what are wants. What we can live without and what we can downsize.
Gas money has been good to budget. I've been lumping my errands into days of the week, and instead of driving to the city 2 times a week, I organize my errands around my appointments. Tomorrow I'm driving to the city for a dentist appointment. While I'm there, I'll do my errands and the rest of the week I'll stay home.
Dog food. You might laugh that we have such an envelope, but we spend a lot on dog food. We have 2 dogs with medium and large genes and we buy good food. I don't believe in corn fillers and by products. Food colouring and other chemicals don't only make our dogs shed, and have more gas, but they have bigger poops. Trust me, you do not want to be in our bedroom when both the dogs are gassing us out. It's like poison. It's rancid. We've had to open windows and doors. We were buying top of the line "blue buffalo" for almost 2 years, but just can't stand paying the price anymore. I found that PetSmart has their own store brand, and it is $15 cheaper than our regular brand. Considering we buy 2 bags (puppy and adult) a month, that's $30 savings. I still feel good about the food I'm giving them, but I also feel better about not digging our way into the poor house.
So, my tips for this week.
1) Be honest about what you're spending. Yes, that coffee at Starbuck's does count. Yes, you should still have a coffee at Starbuck's once and a while but put it into your budget.
2) Withdraw cash on payday and allot it to your expenses. Resist the urge to use your debit. Cash hurts more because you can see it leave your hands.
3) Debit is not imaginary money. There is a cost to it. And that cost could be embarrassing when you're somewhere and you don't have real money.
4) Take a look at what you buy. Brand names are great, but can you get them cheaper? If you sacrifice brand names, sacrifice it in areas that don't matter. I always buy no name baking soda, cream soups I use in meals, and such. I buy brand names when I'm serving a soup straight from a can as a stand alone. That difference I can taste. I can't taste the difference when it's mixed in with my casserole.
Get real. That's the first step to making differences in cutting your spending. See what you can improve on.
My biggest number one tip though? It's to work on this gradually. Yes, you might be able to cut down on EVERYTHING for a month, but you'll feel so deprived that you might spend twice as much in entertainment and food the next month.
Find an area, improve it, make it a habit, and then move on to another area.
Good luck on your money saving!!
This week I didn't do any homemade soaps, detergents, or anything really frugal.
I'll just share the biggest tip I have when it comes to money. It's not a fun one, but it is one that can change habits FAST.
It's simply this:
go on a CASH system.
I'm a fiend with my debit card. I don't use my credit cards much (mostly because they were maxed, and since they were in that position for a while, I broke that habit), but my debit card...well, I treated it LIKE a credit card.
I tried leaving my cards at home, or saying "I'll only spend this much on such and such", but I tell you, there was ALWAYS something that came up.
In my wallet I currently have all my credit cards, and all my debit cards. But, I now have envelopes at home that contain my cash. Every time my husband gets paid, I get to put a set amount into different envelopes.
The envelopes I have at my disposal are labelled as follows:
Groceries
Gas
Dog Food
Kid Allowances
Kid Hot Lunches (once a week they can buy pizza or a sub at school)
When the money runs out, the money runs out. That's it. There is no more. This has cut out some fun (unfortunately), but it's also helped us rediscover how to use the things we have in our own home.
Instead of taking the kids out for ice cream, movies, or an outing to get family quality time in, we have been pulling out the old board games.
Our kids LOVE that time. I may even venture to say that they might like it more than the gobs of money we dropped on them to have family time. We currently have a Sorry battle going on. Last night there was tons of screaming, hollering and tabletalk (all good) going on during the wild and crazy game of Sorry.
Yes. Wild and crazy game of Sorry.
I actually didn't think Sorry could get so wound up, but apparently our family brings it to new heights.
Because we are working hard on cutting costs so we can enjoy bigger things in our future, there is currently no Entertainment envelope. If you're in a different space than us, I would strongly suggest having one. However, because there is no envelope, we don't spend money on it. In a few months, we will create one, but right now it is one thing that has to be cut out.
So far the most difficult one has been Groceries. I've discovered that the things we took for granted actually cost us the most. Having friends over for delicious meals, the luxury of buying nice face moisturizer, filling our water jugs for drinking...all things that should come out of the grocery budget but never really have. They were always "extras".
My husband has a spreadsheet made out for the budget and has been recording "extras" that happen during the month. So far we've spent $200 on extras. $200!! Of course, $120 of that was for our Rottie's ear infection. But it's still something we wouldn't have accounted for.
Groceries have been helped by having meat in the freezer (we recently purchased half a cow of meat and that should tie us over for a few months), budgeting meals and carefully planning grocery lists. It's also helped that we are identifying what are needs and what are wants. What we can live without and what we can downsize.
Gas money has been good to budget. I've been lumping my errands into days of the week, and instead of driving to the city 2 times a week, I organize my errands around my appointments. Tomorrow I'm driving to the city for a dentist appointment. While I'm there, I'll do my errands and the rest of the week I'll stay home.
Dog food. You might laugh that we have such an envelope, but we spend a lot on dog food. We have 2 dogs with medium and large genes and we buy good food. I don't believe in corn fillers and by products. Food colouring and other chemicals don't only make our dogs shed, and have more gas, but they have bigger poops. Trust me, you do not want to be in our bedroom when both the dogs are gassing us out. It's like poison. It's rancid. We've had to open windows and doors. We were buying top of the line "blue buffalo" for almost 2 years, but just can't stand paying the price anymore. I found that PetSmart has their own store brand, and it is $15 cheaper than our regular brand. Considering we buy 2 bags (puppy and adult) a month, that's $30 savings. I still feel good about the food I'm giving them, but I also feel better about not digging our way into the poor house.
So, my tips for this week.
1) Be honest about what you're spending. Yes, that coffee at Starbuck's does count. Yes, you should still have a coffee at Starbuck's once and a while but put it into your budget.
2) Withdraw cash on payday and allot it to your expenses. Resist the urge to use your debit. Cash hurts more because you can see it leave your hands.
3) Debit is not imaginary money. There is a cost to it. And that cost could be embarrassing when you're somewhere and you don't have real money.
4) Take a look at what you buy. Brand names are great, but can you get them cheaper? If you sacrifice brand names, sacrifice it in areas that don't matter. I always buy no name baking soda, cream soups I use in meals, and such. I buy brand names when I'm serving a soup straight from a can as a stand alone. That difference I can taste. I can't taste the difference when it's mixed in with my casserole.
Get real. That's the first step to making differences in cutting your spending. See what you can improve on.
My biggest number one tip though? It's to work on this gradually. Yes, you might be able to cut down on EVERYTHING for a month, but you'll feel so deprived that you might spend twice as much in entertainment and food the next month.
Find an area, improve it, make it a habit, and then move on to another area.
Good luck on your money saving!!
Friday, January 11, 2013
Project Friday Edition 3
Today is a no school day. Blizzard warnings abound and the roads are super icy. I was going to go grocery shopping, but instead, I'm staying in with my girl. So far we've played 2 hours of Just Dance 4 on Kinect and I think I'm skipping my cardio for the day.
Pretty awesome day off!
Aaaaand:
Nope, haven't forgotten about my Project Fridays. I pretty much took all the time my husband was at home off (because I could, and who wants to immerse themselves in projects when the love of their life is available to hang out with?!).
But I will say that I'm caught up, and up to date with my projects, but I do need to assign some more for this week.
Meal Planning.
Yup. That is my goal. I've always done meal plans because it's way easier to do one shop once a week, than be stressed out over what to make at 4:00pm and there is nothing in the house.
About 3-4 years ago I had 6 weeks planned out. I had a pre-made shopping list and every week I simply printed out my list, added on new items that I needed (soap, hair gel, etc) and went shopping.
Easy peasy.
The past couple weeks I've been working on cleaning out my freezers with meals and staying within my $100/week budget. I'll be doing that until I actually have the freezers bareboned and I can start over with soups and meals to freeze.
But what I really want to do is create another 6 week meal plan for when I'm done demystifying my freezers. Why don't I just use the ones I used 3-4 years ago? Simple. Those were less healthy than I like to eat now. I was working full time, and I needed fast meals.
Fast doesn't always mean unhealthy, but in my case, I didn't have the time to sort them out to either make them healthier or nix them completely. I needed to feed my family and never wanted to eat later than 6:00. However:
Now I have the time!
So my goal this week is to prepare a 6 week meal plan, including shopping lists for each week. The goal is to keep the meals low-cost and within a budget (not sure if I'm sticking with the $100/week or upping it slightly) as well as provide a relatively healthy plan.
I'm not all about brussel sprouts and soy. Actually, that's a bad example because I hate both those things. But if I have a high carb meal, the next day should be clean to help minimize the damage.
I'll share my plans when I'm done. I realize that my tastes aren't always other people's tastes, but my kids and husband love my cooking and that's good enough for me. Plus, I've given out a few of my recipes to my mom-in-law, and that is a huge compliment seeing as moms cook the best food.
Cheers to PROJECT FRIDAY!
Pretty awesome day off!
Aaaaand:
Nope, haven't forgotten about my Project Fridays. I pretty much took all the time my husband was at home off (because I could, and who wants to immerse themselves in projects when the love of their life is available to hang out with?!).
But I will say that I'm caught up, and up to date with my projects, but I do need to assign some more for this week.
Meal Planning.
Yup. That is my goal. I've always done meal plans because it's way easier to do one shop once a week, than be stressed out over what to make at 4:00pm and there is nothing in the house.
About 3-4 years ago I had 6 weeks planned out. I had a pre-made shopping list and every week I simply printed out my list, added on new items that I needed (soap, hair gel, etc) and went shopping.
Easy peasy.
The past couple weeks I've been working on cleaning out my freezers with meals and staying within my $100/week budget. I'll be doing that until I actually have the freezers bareboned and I can start over with soups and meals to freeze.
But what I really want to do is create another 6 week meal plan for when I'm done demystifying my freezers. Why don't I just use the ones I used 3-4 years ago? Simple. Those were less healthy than I like to eat now. I was working full time, and I needed fast meals.
Fast doesn't always mean unhealthy, but in my case, I didn't have the time to sort them out to either make them healthier or nix them completely. I needed to feed my family and never wanted to eat later than 6:00. However:
Now I have the time!
So my goal this week is to prepare a 6 week meal plan, including shopping lists for each week. The goal is to keep the meals low-cost and within a budget (not sure if I'm sticking with the $100/week or upping it slightly) as well as provide a relatively healthy plan.
I'm not all about brussel sprouts and soy. Actually, that's a bad example because I hate both those things. But if I have a high carb meal, the next day should be clean to help minimize the damage.
I'll share my plans when I'm done. I realize that my tastes aren't always other people's tastes, but my kids and husband love my cooking and that's good enough for me. Plus, I've given out a few of my recipes to my mom-in-law, and that is a huge compliment seeing as moms cook the best food.
Cheers to PROJECT FRIDAY!
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Some Running Songs
When we set up our Christmas Tree December 2nd, we plugged it in, and we plugged out the treadmill.
I then decided it was Christmas and I deserved a break.
Here is a hint to anyone exercising: you never deserve a break around Christmas time. Maybe you deserve a break in summer when you're at the beach, but if you are surrounded by refined sugar, you do NOT need a break nor deserve one.
After my jeans let me know that either they were disallowing my legs into their fabric or I had to get my butt in gear again, I picked up working out again. Best decision so far of 2013.
My husband also threw out a ridiculous amount of baking. We just had to. I was working on financials for the company with brownies and cookies by my side and then I had no idea who ate them. That's bad!
Anyway, for anyone who is getting into running again after the floury massacre called Christmas baking and overindulgence, I have some more songs that I added to my running playlist and you might find them fun to run to as well:
Gangnam Style - PSY - as you know, my kids are ridiculous with this song, and I was actually totally sick of it. I had my playlist on shuffle the other day while running and found this song was actually soothing and inspiring (funny word to use I know). Something about the way the verses all pull into each other I guess. Weird. But effective.
Stutter - Marianas Trench - I just like this song. The beat is all wrong when running, but it seems to take my thoughts elsewhere and that's the point.
Daylight - Matt & Kim - I heard it first on my Sims 3 game while my Sim was making supper with the radio on. Very catchy. Warning - this song sticks in your head even if you aren't familiar with the lyrics yet. I catch my husband whistling it or singing "and go down Grand Street in daylight" and that's it for my brain thinking about anything else but the tune.
Little Talks - Of Monsters & Men - Nothing to say except very good song.
Some people can only run to the rhythm they are listening to. I find it's refreshing to have a break with a song that I'm not running the beat to. Sometimes I'm inspired to push myself to meet that beat and other times I just fade into the song and forget I'm running.
And as for progress report for running, I have run 5K (3 miles) a few times, hurt my ankle (I think I run funny), and now stick to running 1.5-2 miles so I don't overextend my ankle abilities before I put muscle on them to help with the injuries. It keeps my cardio time low, but allows me to stretch out my legs.
I'm also weight lifting which is ESSENTIAL for a woman. And no, you won't bulk up like a female version of the hulk. You need more testosterone to do that. But you will develop tone, and that's the point. Put down those 2lb weights and start lifting real weights. I just started and lift 25lbs for my bicep curls. That's not a lot, but once I discovered that the "girl" weights don't do anything but make you look like a wimp, I moved up.
Also skinny is not the point. Healthy is. Building muscle helps your bone mass. Do yourself a favour and stay away from the goal of getting skinny.
My goal is to be in shape. I know several women who are "bigger" and can outrun, outlift, and probably outlive some "skinny" ones. My goal is to refine my body into what I'm happy with. That and keep some fat on for my husband. The census is men actually like to be able to grab onto something.
I've heard from several women that their husband's favourite parts are the parts that "jiggle". Funny, I know. I don't get it, but my husband often warns me that I shouldn't lose too much weight.
So anyway, progress report completed. Those who are running to get themselves into shape, I tip my hat to you. I know it's not always fun and sometimes motivation is hiding in the back of the fridge (ok, it's not, but sometimes I look anyway).
I then decided it was Christmas and I deserved a break.
Here is a hint to anyone exercising: you never deserve a break around Christmas time. Maybe you deserve a break in summer when you're at the beach, but if you are surrounded by refined sugar, you do NOT need a break nor deserve one.
After my jeans let me know that either they were disallowing my legs into their fabric or I had to get my butt in gear again, I picked up working out again. Best decision so far of 2013.
My husband also threw out a ridiculous amount of baking. We just had to. I was working on financials for the company with brownies and cookies by my side and then I had no idea who ate them. That's bad!
Anyway, for anyone who is getting into running again after the floury massacre called Christmas baking and overindulgence, I have some more songs that I added to my running playlist and you might find them fun to run to as well:
Gangnam Style - PSY - as you know, my kids are ridiculous with this song, and I was actually totally sick of it. I had my playlist on shuffle the other day while running and found this song was actually soothing and inspiring (funny word to use I know). Something about the way the verses all pull into each other I guess. Weird. But effective.
Stutter - Marianas Trench - I just like this song. The beat is all wrong when running, but it seems to take my thoughts elsewhere and that's the point.
Daylight - Matt & Kim - I heard it first on my Sims 3 game while my Sim was making supper with the radio on. Very catchy. Warning - this song sticks in your head even if you aren't familiar with the lyrics yet. I catch my husband whistling it or singing "and go down Grand Street in daylight" and that's it for my brain thinking about anything else but the tune.
Little Talks - Of Monsters & Men - Nothing to say except very good song.
Some people can only run to the rhythm they are listening to. I find it's refreshing to have a break with a song that I'm not running the beat to. Sometimes I'm inspired to push myself to meet that beat and other times I just fade into the song and forget I'm running.
And as for progress report for running, I have run 5K (3 miles) a few times, hurt my ankle (I think I run funny), and now stick to running 1.5-2 miles so I don't overextend my ankle abilities before I put muscle on them to help with the injuries. It keeps my cardio time low, but allows me to stretch out my legs.
I'm also weight lifting which is ESSENTIAL for a woman. And no, you won't bulk up like a female version of the hulk. You need more testosterone to do that. But you will develop tone, and that's the point. Put down those 2lb weights and start lifting real weights. I just started and lift 25lbs for my bicep curls. That's not a lot, but once I discovered that the "girl" weights don't do anything but make you look like a wimp, I moved up.
Also skinny is not the point. Healthy is. Building muscle helps your bone mass. Do yourself a favour and stay away from the goal of getting skinny.
My goal is to be in shape. I know several women who are "bigger" and can outrun, outlift, and probably outlive some "skinny" ones. My goal is to refine my body into what I'm happy with. That and keep some fat on for my husband. The census is men actually like to be able to grab onto something.
I've heard from several women that their husband's favourite parts are the parts that "jiggle". Funny, I know. I don't get it, but my husband often warns me that I shouldn't lose too much weight.
So anyway, progress report completed. Those who are running to get themselves into shape, I tip my hat to you. I know it's not always fun and sometimes motivation is hiding in the back of the fridge (ok, it's not, but sometimes I look anyway).
Money Saving Tuesday - Homemade Dishwasher Detergent
Alright. A few weeks ago I talked about homemade laundry detergent and how that was an easy way to save a few bucks.
Now I'm going to do the math on if homemade dishwasher detergent passes the grade as well. I bought the ingredients yesterday and mixed it up this morning.
Here's the blog I snatched the recipe from:
http://www.thriftyniftymommy.com/2012/12/homemade-dishwasher-detergent-recipe.html
Alright here are the ingredients:
Borax ($6.99)
Washing Soda ($6.97)
Epsom Salts ($6.29)
Lemi Shine ($4.49)
Total out of pocket: $24.74
I mixed:
5 1/2 cups Borax
5 1/2 cups Washing Soda
1 1/2 cups Epsom Salts
3/4 cup Lemi Shine (it was half a bottle and the bottle was 12 oz)
I used almost half the box of Borax ($3.50), almost half the box Epsom Salts ($3.49), 1/5 the Espsom Salts ($1.26) and half the Lemi Shine ($2.25).
One batch = $10.50.
With my measurements, that gave me 13.25 cups of dishwasher detergent. At 1 tablespoon per load, it should make me approximately 212 dishwasher loads. Shnikeys! That's a lot of loads.
I'm used to spending $5.47 on Finish. That has 1.6L in it = 6.76 cups. I fill up my dishwasher dispenser and to be generous to Finish, I'll say I only use 2 tbsp dishwasher detergent per load. That's 54 potential loads I can get out of it. I would say that is pretty accurate, if not on the high side.
Homemade dishwasher detergent = $0.05/load
Commercial dishwasher detergent = $0.10/load
Another win for homemade detergent!
A bonus is I use Washing Soda and Borax for the laundry detergent, so I can either make another batch of dishwasher detergent, or another batch of laundry detergent with my leftovers. That makes me a happy camper.
Now I'm going to do the math on if homemade dishwasher detergent passes the grade as well. I bought the ingredients yesterday and mixed it up this morning.
Here's the blog I snatched the recipe from:
http://www.thriftyniftymommy.com/2012/12/homemade-dishwasher-detergent-recipe.html
Alright here are the ingredients:
Borax ($6.99)
Washing Soda ($6.97)
Epsom Salts ($6.29)
Lemi Shine ($4.49)
Total out of pocket: $24.74
I mixed:
5 1/2 cups Borax
5 1/2 cups Washing Soda
1 1/2 cups Epsom Salts
3/4 cup Lemi Shine (it was half a bottle and the bottle was 12 oz)
I used almost half the box of Borax ($3.50), almost half the box Epsom Salts ($3.49), 1/5 the Espsom Salts ($1.26) and half the Lemi Shine ($2.25).
One batch = $10.50.
With my measurements, that gave me 13.25 cups of dishwasher detergent. At 1 tablespoon per load, it should make me approximately 212 dishwasher loads. Shnikeys! That's a lot of loads.
I'm used to spending $5.47 on Finish. That has 1.6L in it = 6.76 cups. I fill up my dishwasher dispenser and to be generous to Finish, I'll say I only use 2 tbsp dishwasher detergent per load. That's 54 potential loads I can get out of it. I would say that is pretty accurate, if not on the high side.
Homemade dishwasher detergent = $0.05/load
Commercial dishwasher detergent = $0.10/load
Another win for homemade detergent!
A bonus is I use Washing Soda and Borax for the laundry detergent, so I can either make another batch of dishwasher detergent, or another batch of laundry detergent with my leftovers. That makes me a happy camper.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Learning How to Budget for Groceries
Okay, as I stated in a previous post from this morning, my grocery budget is being chopped. It's being chopped maliciously, brutally, and painfully.
Actually, it's not that bad, but it is definitely a learning curve.
How I started this heinous task, was I started off by writing down our toiletries and such things that sprout up once and a while, often causing me to go over my budget as I've allotted more for food, than things like toilet paper. On my list I have things like:
dish soap
shampoo/conditioner
toothpaste
hair gel (for the boys)
face wash
face moisturizer (for me)
Bounce
paper towels
garbage bags
toilet paper
Borax (for homemade detergent)
Washing Soda
Ivory Soap
Lemi Shine (for homemade dishwasher detergent I have not yet tried)
Epsom Salts
I found a recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent, and looking at the costs associated with creating the mixture, I will be better off making it myself. Plus, the chemical smells when the dishwasher goes off is enough to make me nauseated.
So beside each item I priced out what I normally would pay for the items if they are not on sale. I added them up and discovered that per month I am paying approximately (and rounded up) $120 for the things we use and need, but don't account for.
What I ALWAYS do, and would advise anyone to do, is inflate your prices when you're writing them down. Not anything super crazy, but for example, take dish soap. I can probably pick up the store brand for around $2 or $3. I know that's what the tag says, but there is tax on top of that, and I don't like going to a register with only cash in hand and being surprised there. I have had to take things off the belt because I can't afford them, and that is neither fun nor good for the pride.
So on my list, I wrote down dish soap for $5. I don't inflate everything so high, but I always round up. I also like numbers without decimals. Toilet paper is usually $8 something. I round it to $10. So on and so forth.
Then I took my list total ($120) and divided it by 4. So now I have $30 to spend off my normal grocery list. That's $70 left to spend on food. Uh oh. I decided to put that aside for now.
Moving onto the next task. Figuring out what I need for kids' lunches. Sandwiches, juice boxes and snacks are the usual staples in kid lunches. They eat at school for hot lunch once a week ($4/kid/lunch) and that amount does not come out of my groceries. That's factored into my husband's budget. It does however give me 4 instead of 5 school lunches to provide for. That's good!
At my first glance, I figured I usually spend $6 on bread, $7 on meat, $5 on cheese (condiments are in the fridge already and bought for other uses), $4 on juice boxes, and $10 on snacks. That's $32 a WEEK on kid lunches. I don't think so. Not anymore anyway.
I bought a huge, and I mean ridiculously huge, bag of sub buns from the store the other week. It cost about $6 and there are about 24 buns in there from my remembrance. That's $0.25/bun. That would then be $2/week on bread. $4 savings from my previous spending. Cheese I only buy every 2 weeks, so that is then $2.50/week. (let's round up. I hate that $0.50 lingering) I still spend $4 on juice boxes, but we don't always have SS. We only have him every other week. So my weekly spending on juice boxes goes down to $3.
And meat? Well...I have a hard time trimming down meat unless it's on sale. Sandwich meat isn't the healthiest option to start with, and I really don't want to feed my kids complete garbage.
Snacks. Oh, snacks. The kids each take 2 snacks to school. I'll take into account that we have SS half the time. It's 20 snacks per week on the weeks we have SS, and 10 snacks a week when we don't. Granola bars come in packs of 8 ($4), puddings in packs of 4 ($2), and raisins in packs of 8 ($4). That's $10 a week on the weeks with SS.
New lunch total: $10 (snacks) + $2 (bread) + $7 (meat) + $3 (cheese) + $3 (juice boxes) = $25
I for one, cannot believe I'm spending $25 a week on lunches. It's those darn snacks. Let's see. I could cut up carrots or other veggies, and give them ranch dip. Then I'd buy a bulk box of chips. I bet I could get that down to $5/week. Much better. $20/week max for school lunches.
I wrote down a whole whack of meals that I make and the prices associated with them (cost of ingredients). I then created my Meal Plan 1 assuming I didn't have any ingredients currently:
Mon: Beef roast with mashed potatoes and gravy
Tues: Chicken Fingers and Fries
Wed: Chili with Garlic Bread
Thurs: Beef Roast Sandwiches (leftovers from Monday)
Fri: BBQ Chicken with cucumber salad
Sat lunch: Kraft Dinner (CHEAP and easy. I try to avoid cooking on weekends)
Sat Supper: Sloppy Joes
Sun Lunch: Grilled Cheese
Sun Supper: Fish Burgers
Monday to Friday Breakfasts (oatmeal, texas eggs, bf quesadillas, muffins, fruit)
I tried to use similar ingredients within my week as well as leftovers. I have a lot more carb consumption this week than normal, but the next week should be better.
Anyway, that's just a sample week. I then wrote down the costs per meal and added it up: $122.
I took out the ingredients that I already have on hand and got it down to $65. However, that won't happen every time. I won't always have beef roasts on hand. So I haven't figured that part out yet.
Now my totals are:
$65 (meals)
$20 (kid lunches)
$30 (toiletries)
Total: $115
My budget is currently $100, so that won't do. Hopefully my process is going to help you, but it's back to the drawing board for me! My thinking is that I don't need to spend $30/week on toiletries. If I cut that amount in half to $15, I will just have to run through my list and check on supplies weekly and buy as needed. If nothing is needed, then I buy something that would be needed next. If I do that, I'm golden!
Now to plan week 2, 3 and 4, seeing if I can budget happier meal plans while saving more money and finding a way to replenish my roasts.
Actually, it's not that bad, but it is definitely a learning curve.
How I started this heinous task, was I started off by writing down our toiletries and such things that sprout up once and a while, often causing me to go over my budget as I've allotted more for food, than things like toilet paper. On my list I have things like:
dish soap
shampoo/conditioner
toothpaste
hair gel (for the boys)
face wash
face moisturizer (for me)
Bounce
paper towels
garbage bags
toilet paper
Borax (for homemade detergent)
Washing Soda
Ivory Soap
Lemi Shine (for homemade dishwasher detergent I have not yet tried)
Epsom Salts
I found a recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent, and looking at the costs associated with creating the mixture, I will be better off making it myself. Plus, the chemical smells when the dishwasher goes off is enough to make me nauseated.
So beside each item I priced out what I normally would pay for the items if they are not on sale. I added them up and discovered that per month I am paying approximately (and rounded up) $120 for the things we use and need, but don't account for.
What I ALWAYS do, and would advise anyone to do, is inflate your prices when you're writing them down. Not anything super crazy, but for example, take dish soap. I can probably pick up the store brand for around $2 or $3. I know that's what the tag says, but there is tax on top of that, and I don't like going to a register with only cash in hand and being surprised there. I have had to take things off the belt because I can't afford them, and that is neither fun nor good for the pride.
So on my list, I wrote down dish soap for $5. I don't inflate everything so high, but I always round up. I also like numbers without decimals. Toilet paper is usually $8 something. I round it to $10. So on and so forth.
Then I took my list total ($120) and divided it by 4. So now I have $30 to spend off my normal grocery list. That's $70 left to spend on food. Uh oh. I decided to put that aside for now.
Moving onto the next task. Figuring out what I need for kids' lunches. Sandwiches, juice boxes and snacks are the usual staples in kid lunches. They eat at school for hot lunch once a week ($4/kid/lunch) and that amount does not come out of my groceries. That's factored into my husband's budget. It does however give me 4 instead of 5 school lunches to provide for. That's good!
At my first glance, I figured I usually spend $6 on bread, $7 on meat, $5 on cheese (condiments are in the fridge already and bought for other uses), $4 on juice boxes, and $10 on snacks. That's $32 a WEEK on kid lunches. I don't think so. Not anymore anyway.
I bought a huge, and I mean ridiculously huge, bag of sub buns from the store the other week. It cost about $6 and there are about 24 buns in there from my remembrance. That's $0.25/bun. That would then be $2/week on bread. $4 savings from my previous spending. Cheese I only buy every 2 weeks, so that is then $2.50/week. (let's round up. I hate that $0.50 lingering) I still spend $4 on juice boxes, but we don't always have SS. We only have him every other week. So my weekly spending on juice boxes goes down to $3.
And meat? Well...I have a hard time trimming down meat unless it's on sale. Sandwich meat isn't the healthiest option to start with, and I really don't want to feed my kids complete garbage.
Snacks. Oh, snacks. The kids each take 2 snacks to school. I'll take into account that we have SS half the time. It's 20 snacks per week on the weeks we have SS, and 10 snacks a week when we don't. Granola bars come in packs of 8 ($4), puddings in packs of 4 ($2), and raisins in packs of 8 ($4). That's $10 a week on the weeks with SS.
New lunch total: $10 (snacks) + $2 (bread) + $7 (meat) + $3 (cheese) + $3 (juice boxes) = $25
I for one, cannot believe I'm spending $25 a week on lunches. It's those darn snacks. Let's see. I could cut up carrots or other veggies, and give them ranch dip. Then I'd buy a bulk box of chips. I bet I could get that down to $5/week. Much better. $20/week max for school lunches.
I wrote down a whole whack of meals that I make and the prices associated with them (cost of ingredients). I then created my Meal Plan 1 assuming I didn't have any ingredients currently:
Mon: Beef roast with mashed potatoes and gravy
Tues: Chicken Fingers and Fries
Wed: Chili with Garlic Bread
Thurs: Beef Roast Sandwiches (leftovers from Monday)
Fri: BBQ Chicken with cucumber salad
Sat lunch: Kraft Dinner (CHEAP and easy. I try to avoid cooking on weekends)
Sat Supper: Sloppy Joes
Sun Lunch: Grilled Cheese
Sun Supper: Fish Burgers
Monday to Friday Breakfasts (oatmeal, texas eggs, bf quesadillas, muffins, fruit)
I tried to use similar ingredients within my week as well as leftovers. I have a lot more carb consumption this week than normal, but the next week should be better.
Anyway, that's just a sample week. I then wrote down the costs per meal and added it up: $122.
I took out the ingredients that I already have on hand and got it down to $65. However, that won't happen every time. I won't always have beef roasts on hand. So I haven't figured that part out yet.
Now my totals are:
$65 (meals)
$20 (kid lunches)
$30 (toiletries)
Total: $115
My budget is currently $100, so that won't do. Hopefully my process is going to help you, but it's back to the drawing board for me! My thinking is that I don't need to spend $30/week on toiletries. If I cut that amount in half to $15, I will just have to run through my list and check on supplies weekly and buy as needed. If nothing is needed, then I buy something that would be needed next. If I do that, I'm golden!
Now to plan week 2, 3 and 4, seeing if I can budget happier meal plans while saving more money and finding a way to replenish my roasts.
Advent Activity Day 21-24
As promised in my last post, here are the Advent Activities for the last days before Christmas:
Advent Activity Day 21:
Activity Day 24: Unwrap new pajamas and wear them to bed
Advent Activity Day 21:
We watched MIB 3. I realize that isn't a Christmas move per se, but we enjoyed it! My poor daughter caught the flu the night before, so snacks weren't exactly that tantalizing, but I'm pretty sure my husband and I took care of her cookies for her. Have no fear. No cookie was left untouched.
Activity Day 22:
In Winnipeg, there is a beautiful light show put on, and we had never gone to it. What a great excuse to take part in it!
Activity Day 23: Pool Party!
We got SS early for Christmas, so we all headed out to the pool! It was a good time. Yes, my husband and I swam with them, but no, there is no way there were pictures to be had of that.
Activity Day 24: Unwrap new pajamas and wear them to bed
Who doesn't like getting new pajamas? Also, I found out SS never had received official pajamas. It's always been shorts or whatever was around. I thought that was strange (as I come from a pajama loving family), but he is now integrated into the pajama day society!
And then the activity for Christmas was, well, Christmas! We had fun and will do this again next year!
Happy New Year!
Well, that was a wonderful holiday.
My husband was able to stay at home for almost 2 weeks, and it was glorious. I got nothing done, but had a really great time having him around. I am going to miss him now that he is gone back to work. Boo.
I think I have 2 Advent Activity Days that I didn't post, so I'll do those right away.
New Year's Resolutions. Do you do them? I'm generally not a fan because I have a short attention span. I actually prefer making changes in my life around September. That's always the month that feels like the start of the year. Probably because I have kids, and that is the start of the school year after a long summer of entertaining.
This year, it's actually worked out to have our changes land in the way of the New Year Resolutions. My husband and I kicked exercise butt from September (see? best time to start!) to the beginning of December where I didn't just jump off the bandwagon, but I actually dismantled it into little tiny pieces.
Currently the muscle that I had built and toned is hiding in the shadows due to a fat apocalypse. There's a lot of screaming happening at the midsection.
So of course, after indulging in baked goods, fantastic family gathering meals and deep fried ice cream, getting back on track is a good move. Not because it's New Years, but because I'm fat (again).
The second "New Years Resolution" is getting back onto financial track. Ahhh, another popular one. Actually, my husband threatened to take the reins on this bad boy back in November, but he actually found the time to go through the accounts at the end of his holidays.
The reason for the hostile takeover has nothing to do with me or my abilities, it simply has to do with having a fresh pair of eyes. I budgeted and did the finances in my first marriage, I scrimped and scrounged when I was a single mom, and I've been scratching my way through the last 4 years of our life together. I'm tired, and I'm done. I'm getting sloppy and tired of being the Debbie Downer when it comes to money talk. Also, my husband doesn't see the day to day, so swiping his debit card isn't a big deal for him. That's not his fault, it's just we haven't been on the same page.
He could tell the whole budget and debt thing was weighing on me for the past few months, so he decided to take it off my plate on put it onto his. This, let me tell you, is a very hard thing to release control of. I've always done it, and I know what needs to be paid when. I know what goes into what account, what needs to be transferred by when.
It's a huge thing to give up control in that!
But this is what we are doing. We are also tightening our bootstraps and getting into a better financial position. The banks like us, and our credit rating is high, however I fear the credit cards enjoy our business more than they should.
So my part in the puzzle, is to not look at the whole picture anymore. That isn't my job anymore. If something breaks down, or someone needs something, it's not my job to figure out where the money is going to come from.
My new job is going to be focusing on 2 areas:
1) Groceries
2) Car Gas
My husband is going to give me $400 per month for groceries and $160 for gas. This will be a challenge!
I love to cook GOOD meals. I try to spend smart and I try to plan smart. However, this is going to stretch me to new bounds. Things like finding ways to do things differently like the homemade laundry detergent are going to come in handy (I currently have 3 months supply of detergent downstairs).
We also live about 5 minutes away from town, and 45 minutes away from the city. So going to the city a couple times a week, or even once a week, will have to be cut down. The trip costs about $15 to make, so if I only have $40/week, I'm going to have to get smart about this.
$100/week for groceries for a family of 4? Bring it on. I'll blog my meal plans and my discoveries along the way. I think I'm starting to tackle this one today.
My husband was able to stay at home for almost 2 weeks, and it was glorious. I got nothing done, but had a really great time having him around. I am going to miss him now that he is gone back to work. Boo.
I think I have 2 Advent Activity Days that I didn't post, so I'll do those right away.
New Year's Resolutions. Do you do them? I'm generally not a fan because I have a short attention span. I actually prefer making changes in my life around September. That's always the month that feels like the start of the year. Probably because I have kids, and that is the start of the school year after a long summer of entertaining.
This year, it's actually worked out to have our changes land in the way of the New Year Resolutions. My husband and I kicked exercise butt from September (see? best time to start!) to the beginning of December where I didn't just jump off the bandwagon, but I actually dismantled it into little tiny pieces.
Currently the muscle that I had built and toned is hiding in the shadows due to a fat apocalypse. There's a lot of screaming happening at the midsection.
So of course, after indulging in baked goods, fantastic family gathering meals and deep fried ice cream, getting back on track is a good move. Not because it's New Years, but because I'm fat (again).
The second "New Years Resolution" is getting back onto financial track. Ahhh, another popular one. Actually, my husband threatened to take the reins on this bad boy back in November, but he actually found the time to go through the accounts at the end of his holidays.
The reason for the hostile takeover has nothing to do with me or my abilities, it simply has to do with having a fresh pair of eyes. I budgeted and did the finances in my first marriage, I scrimped and scrounged when I was a single mom, and I've been scratching my way through the last 4 years of our life together. I'm tired, and I'm done. I'm getting sloppy and tired of being the Debbie Downer when it comes to money talk. Also, my husband doesn't see the day to day, so swiping his debit card isn't a big deal for him. That's not his fault, it's just we haven't been on the same page.
He could tell the whole budget and debt thing was weighing on me for the past few months, so he decided to take it off my plate on put it onto his. This, let me tell you, is a very hard thing to release control of. I've always done it, and I know what needs to be paid when. I know what goes into what account, what needs to be transferred by when.
It's a huge thing to give up control in that!
But this is what we are doing. We are also tightening our bootstraps and getting into a better financial position. The banks like us, and our credit rating is high, however I fear the credit cards enjoy our business more than they should.
So my part in the puzzle, is to not look at the whole picture anymore. That isn't my job anymore. If something breaks down, or someone needs something, it's not my job to figure out where the money is going to come from.
My new job is going to be focusing on 2 areas:
1) Groceries
2) Car Gas
My husband is going to give me $400 per month for groceries and $160 for gas. This will be a challenge!
I love to cook GOOD meals. I try to spend smart and I try to plan smart. However, this is going to stretch me to new bounds. Things like finding ways to do things differently like the homemade laundry detergent are going to come in handy (I currently have 3 months supply of detergent downstairs).
We also live about 5 minutes away from town, and 45 minutes away from the city. So going to the city a couple times a week, or even once a week, will have to be cut down. The trip costs about $15 to make, so if I only have $40/week, I'm going to have to get smart about this.
$100/week for groceries for a family of 4? Bring it on. I'll blog my meal plans and my discoveries along the way. I think I'm starting to tackle this one today.
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