suckerpunchdebt

Welcome Fall!

2011-09-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

The only corn we got from the garden! There's always next year!

And welcome back to those sweet people who have asked where I've been! I took most of summer off to spend with my family and during that time I evaluated our debt pay down, which has continued to go well.

We are continuing on our path and throwing $742 a month at our only credit card. It's really getting closer to zero! Next is the student loan.....had that since 1997.

The one thing that changed over the summer was my couponing. I took a break and enjoyed the time it freed up to spend with family. I didn't miss some of the food I purchased, but it did cause our grocery budget to go up (how could it not!).

As of now, I'm focusing more on what nutrition my family is getting rather than getting the greatest deal. It's become more important for me to provide healthy meals that don't have an ingredient list 100 items long of things I don't recognize. Part of the change has been my willingness to make and grow more of our own foods. I also read Food Rules by Michael Pollan, which is a great read and guide. One of my favorite rules: If your grandmother wouldn't recognize it, don't eat it. So my beloved Twinkie Pancakes don't count?

Debt Paydown Update

2011-06-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here's where we are in our debt paydown:

Starting amount: $65,798.23

Amount paid off: $18,568.71 (since November, 2009)

Amount left: $47,139.52

Still a long ways to go, and I think we would be further along, but we are setting some money aside in case the state budget cuts keep coming closer to my husband's job. Also, we are paying cash to connect to the sewer (I've never been happy about this one, but it's mandatory). We are still plugging away with a payment of $740. 02 towards our current debt, and it feels so good!

May Grocery Totals

2011-06-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I have nothing to report for this month since my receipts got thrown out right in the middle of the month! But, I do know that I came in under budget, since I had some money left over (yay!).

It's the middle of June and I'm trying something different this month. I'm taking out my $400 for groceries and household in $100 increments. I'm not sure if I like it yet. I will give it another month to see how it works out. I will say this: I have to think through my purchases even more before I buy.

image credit: Bram Meijer/photoxpress

April Grocery Totals

2011-05-11T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I put this post off because I was way over budget and laying it out for everyone to see isn't too fun! Anyway, here it is:
Total Spent on Food: $503.49
Manufacture's Coupons Used: $30.24
Two things-my coupon use has been down, and we were out of almost all staples. I headed to Costco with my mother in law (we let our membership go in July) and I seriously stocked up to the tune of $130. Oh, and as I'm sure you all have noticed, the cost of most foods has gone up. Yet, I'm still trying to keep my grocery budget the same. I'm optimistic that I won't need to raise it, at least that's the plan.

Target Clearance

2011-04-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

I stopped by Target today and found a lot of their summer clothes on clearance for toddler girls. So here's what I got:

Shorts were $2.25-$3.15 and dresses/sets were $5.60. Tops were $3.15. Not bad for new. I can't find these at the consignment store for much less. Since I can't hand down most of the clothes from our 14 year old daughter to our two year old, it helps to hit the clearance at the right time!

Tipping Point Payments

2011-04-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

We knew when we paid off our van last month that it would be the tipping point for us in our debt pay off. How about a $741 payment on our current debt, the one and only credit card?! That's a lot of money each month, and it starts going down fast. I looks like we'll be able to pay the $741 amount every month (when looking at the tightened budget) to knock out the current $8426 balance on the card. Slated to take a little less than a year, we'll pay it off sooner by throwing any extra income at it as it comes along. It feels so good to see it going down by so much each month!

March Grocery Totals

2011-04-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

Total Spent On Food: $398.20
Manufacturer's Coupons Used: $38.75
Store Savings: $69.59

A high month for me, but I knew it was coming! Last month was $202! So to recap, we have seven people in our family, and even on a high month, we came in under budget ($400). I'm happy for that, but know that if I'd used coupons a bit more, it would have been lower. This is where real life comes in! I haven't had quite as much time lately to devote to coupons between watching children in our home to training for a half marathon and all the things that come with having five children. I don't feel bad for this, but I do hope for a lower month in April.

Made In America

2011-03-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge reader. I read all the fine print on a label, sit and read cookbooks for enjoyment, read fiction/non-fiction, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, read with my book club, worked in a library, etc. So, one of the things I always look for is to see where something is made. And it never ceases to amaze me how little of it is made in the USA.

I make an effort to buy items that are made in this country because it gives me a sense of pride and makes me feel like I'm helping our fellow workers at the same time. From time to time I decided I'm going to high light items that are made in the USA. Here are two I bought this week:

It seems most pantyhose sold in the US are made here too. $3, Walmart.


I got these for my almost 7 year old son at Big R-great rain/mud boots, which he seems to find a lot of. Northerner brand, $14.99.

If you want to read more about made in the USA, ABC news did a great series a couple of weeks ago, you can click here to watch.

There are also two blogs of note where the authors tried to live (one still is) for a year with only items made in America that you might want to check out: chinaatemyjeans.com and mitusa.wordpress.com

Do you want a good database of what's made in the US? Click here.

top image credit: photobucket

S2H Replay

2011-03-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

When I bought this little silicone bracelet for $10 on mampedia (sorry, that deal is dead), I wasn't too hopeful that it would really work. It just seemed too gadgety. With training for the Windermere half marathon, I figured I might as well be earning gift cards while I train.

The s2h (switch to health) Replay bracelet is an activity tracker. For every 60 minutes of activity, you earn 60 points. When you reach 60 minutes you can upload a code that displays on the face of the bracelet and you then bank 60 points. To get a $5 gift card to, say, Target, you need 900 points. Most of my workouts are an hour or more, so I'm pretty happy to at least be earning gift cards while I work out!

Sorry my hands are so dry....uh, we ripped the box when we opened it.

I just ordered my 10 year old son one yesterday (he's very rewards driven) from QVC for $22.57 since they had the best deal. His will come in the blue band, with two extras to swap out if he wants to change colors. This will come in handy for him as he's training for Bloomsday with his dad. I read that the gift cards are only good online (haven't verified this), but that's no problem for us-we usually wait for a free shipping codes anyway. I don't think the QVC reviews were all that great, but I've had no problems. The reviews on Amazon are a lot better....just wanted you to know there's something like this out there.

Good Lord Almighty! We Paid Off Our Van!

2011-03-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

I even put on my fancy sucker punch necklace for the occasion!

I'm so happy as I type this! We went in to our credit union late this afternoon and paid off our van! Short history on the purchase: we started in 10/2003 with a lease for this brand new van because we needed payments we could afford. Well, right before the lease was up, we took a loan to purchase the rest of it. Talk about buying too much vehicle! We would have been so much better off with getting something used. We learned a lot with this purchase, like how not buy a car. Lesson learned and noted. What's great about this pay off is that we didn't have to use our tax return (like we had originally planned). My husband had some extra money on this paycheck that enabled us to do this.


Good van, we so OWN you!

This has really been the moment we've been waiting for in our debt snowball. We now free up about $400/month to go towards our next debt. We'll really pick up the pace, but these are bigger debts, so they'll take a while. We're looking forward to sucker punching our next debt! If you're getting out of debt, keep at it, even with setbacks (there will be some). Just stay focused and keep your course-I'm cheering you on:)!

February Grocery Totals

2011-03-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

Total Spent on Food: $202.80
Manufacturer's Coupons Used: $138.60
Store Savings: $201.38

Ok, so just that you know....this is a super low total, and part of the reason for that is that we freezer cooked toward the end of the month and then I paid for it out of March's budget (since that's when the totals were ready to be paid). The way we work it in our cooking group (of four-love you gals!) is to have one person pay for all of the groceries for our big cook, then we divide that total four ways. My freezer meals should last about two more weeks or so. Even with that said, if you added in the $130 that I paid for freezer cooking, it would still be a good month, so we'll see how March plays out!

image credit: photobucket/chirkyblog

Faves in the Kitchen

2011-02-22T15:19:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of cooking to do each week with a big family, which a) I enjoy b) I've cut down on dinner prep with freezer cooking c) have a few kitchen gadgets I couldn't live without.

This first one is the Misto M100S Gourmet Brushed Aluminum Olive Oil Sprayer (I got mine on amazon.com). I know this isn't a new concept, and I've had other types over the years, but this one rocks! It really does spray a fine mist which is what you want for coating cake pans, muffin tins when trying to cook with less fat. You have more control over how much fat goes in your meals, along with zero propellants (unlike Pam). When you use the Misto, you push the top down several times to add pressure in the base and then spray.

The second gadget I received as a gift: a pair of scissor salad choppers from Pampered Chef. This do-dad has become a great help when prepping salads, nuts, olives, really anything that needs chopping. You hold them vertically and put the food to be chopped in a bowl and then go to town making a scooping/chopping motion. We eat Greek salad several times a week with our dinner, and the time it saves me cutting up the feta, olives, and lettuce makes it a snap to get it on the table.

This is my all-time favorite gadget! My Vidalia Chop Wizard by Progressive (I purchased it at Bed Bath and Beyond with a 20% off coupon) has made my least favorite job in the kitchen almost fun! I'm not a perfectionist, but I do know that evenly cut onions cook evenly as well, and look a lot better in a dish. When setting out onions for our chili as garnish, I have this perfectly cut bowl of tiny-dice onions. I also use this to dice potatoes and carrots for soups and hash browns. So many uses! Apparently this is an 'As Seen On TV' product, which I have to be honest-I usually laugh at:) Just not this one;).

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

My kiddos Valentine's are all safely packed away in their backpacks ready to be delivered! Phew! It took quite a while to get all those names written out for my younger boys, but they did it. It was interesting to hear what they had to say about their classmates as they wrote them out..... :)
Here's to the historical meaning of Valentine's Day, too! May you have a wonderful day! ♡♡♡

image credit: photoxpress

Rite Aid Trip

2011-02-13T21:59:00.000-08:00

I really like shopping at Rite Aid! I used to think it was a pretty junky store, but I'm able to get stuff our family needs every week for very little out of pocket. So here's what I got today:

4 Hershey's Chocolate bars, $.50 each
1 Gain dish soap $.87
2 jars of Ragu Spaghetti Sauce $1.50 each
2 GE CFL bulbs $2.99 each
2 Boxes of Ziploc Freezer Bags $2.50 each
1 Box Gain dryer sheets $4.99
1 Theraflu $4.99
1 Bayer Aspirin $5.99
----------------------
Total = $35.24 including tax

Subtract:
$27.10 in coupons (this includes coupons from ads, Video Values and UP Rewards)
$4.53 from a Rite Aid Gift Card
------------------------------------------
= $3.61 Out of Pocket
and I got $9 in UP Rewards good on my next shopping trip!

Boy's Sweats at Walmart

2011-02-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

Just a quick head's up: I was able to pick up a great deal on sweats, sweatshirts and a t-shirts today at Walmart. Here's what I got:

I paid $2 each for the sweatshirts/sweatpants and $3 each for the long sleeve t-shirts. They had quite a few left in the boys section at the north side Walmart, but I'd go today or tomorrow before they're gone.

January Grocery Totals

2011-02-03T14:54:00.000-08:00

Total Spent On Food: $369.15
Manufacturer's Coupons Used: $119.55

A month within budget ($400 for food/household), but higher than I'd like. I included in my total a $50 gift card we got to Winco. I used it to stock up on staples like sugar, butter, eggs and milk. I buy milk four gallons at a time, so if I'm not getting a discount, it's $8 a shot. Every time I have a very low month, it's followed with a higher month, so it all averages out-it just feels better to be spending in the $200's rather than the $300's!

image credit: khnaruto/photobucket

Big Ole Bag Of Chips

2011-01-28T14:39:00.000-08:00

I ran into Cash and Carry to scope things out and found this 5lb. bag of chips for $5.72. I'm thinking that's cheaper than Costco? Wait! Let me look up the Costco price.... Ok, the Costco price on the Queen Bee Coupons database for a 3lb bag: $3.35. That's $1.16/lb. At Cash and Carry, it's $1.14/lb, and you get 5lbs. Not a huge difference, but if you're hosting a Super Bowl party, you'll want the 5lb bag! I also liked some of the meat prices (and quality) as we used quite a bit of meat from Cash and Carry for last months freezer cooking session.

thanks Queen Bee Coupons!

JC Penney 80% off Clearance

2011-01-28T14:11:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share that Penney's has their Clearance marked down from 50% to 80% off! Yesterday I was able to pick up some clothes for the kids at the Northtown location and here's some of what I got:

The boys shirts pictured here are priced from $2.57-$3.37. The girls were $1.97-$3.17. The jeans were $4.37. These items will be for next years fall/winter. I wish I had more time, I think I would have found some more great deals!

Cute Cash Envelope System

2011-01-26T13:56:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to send a thank you to the ladies at New Creation Fellowship! They bore with me as I presented info on getting out of debt and how to save on the grocery budget at the women's retreat last Saturday. I was nervous, but excited to share, and of course I forgot some of my points, but I hope I was some help!

Anyway, I wanted to thank Denise K. for the project she put together for those of us that want to use the cash envelope system (or these bound envelopes can be used to organize coupons). There's also a tutorial from Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs on how to make your own with scrapbook paper, just click here. I'm so thrilled to actually have a pretty way to spend my money (as much as I dislike spending it!). It sure beats my ratty envelopes with scribbled notes on them.

thanks Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs, Denise K. and NCF

Debt Paydown Update

2011-01-15T22:54:00.000-08:00

I was so happy to see that our current debt that we're working on in the debt snowball has now broken the sub-$2000 mark! I loathe this debt (although it's not my least favorite one-that would be our second to last one. I can't stand that one!) because it's on our 2004 van, and a reminder that we bought way too much vehicle. We leased it! For five years! What were were we thinking? Anyway, we're now on our way to owning it and when this debt gets paid off, it's a tipping point for us-we'll really pick up pace on our debt snowball since the payment on our van is almost $400.

Our loan was at $8166 when we started knocking out debt 14 months ago. I take in all rebates to the bank and put them directly on paying this debt down. I've gotten to know the tellers pretty well with my sometimes sub-$10 checks because I take them in as they filter in, so lots of little trips.

image credit: photobucket

Recent Shopping Trip

2011-01-15T22:10:00.000-08:00

I realized I haven't posted any of my shopping trips lately, so here's one I did this morning while everyone was waiting at home for a huge breakfast. So here it is:

The first transaction came to $6.45, although I would have paid $18.45 if I didn't have coupons! I went to Albertsons to see if I could find the Horizon milk for $2 for 1/2 gallon. They were marked at regular price, but I did find the Horizon organic eggs for $3.99/doz (yikes! and that was marked down from $4.99!). With my $1/1 and doubler, they came to $1.99-about the same price for regular eggs. The cashews were $2 each, and with a $1/1 coupon and doubler, they were free. I also used a $5 reward coupon to lower my out of pocket cost. In all, I used $12 in coupons

The second transaction of yogurt came to $.87 for all three four packs. They were $2.29 each, but with three $1/1 coupons and doublers (another $3 off), it made each yogurt $.29 each. What I love about using coupons, is that if you use them enough it really adds up.

I came home and cooked up some 7 grain pancakes, eggs, sausage, hash browns and poured grape juice for everyone. I love cooking for my family, especially since I bought a jumbo sized griddle on Black Friday. I'd been looking for one for a few months, and I wound up getting one at Kohl's for $29 rather than the $42 one I'd been eying. Making pancakes, grilled cheese, bacon is so much faster, and I can sometimes actually eat with my family instead of standing over a little griddle waiting for stuff to cook.

Andrew Peterson - Dancing in the Minefields (Official Video)

2011-01-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

I just happened to hear this song in the car this morning which also happens to our 15th wedding anniversary! He could have been singing about us. What a sweet song-beautifully done-take a listen.

Ground Beef for $2.45/lb

2011-01-04T22:49:00.000-08:00

I just got an email from Zaycon Foods announcing their ground beef event! If you haven't heard about Zaycon Foods, they are a Spokane Valley company that has 'sales events' every couple of months in various areas all over the country. They sell chicken breasts and ground beef and will be adding more items such as fish, pork and turkey as they grow.

The last event they had, we got 40lbs. of fresh chicken breasts for $1.59/lb. The meat was high quality and pick up was no problem.

Here's what they're offering this time around: Ground Beef, Super Lean (93/7) — 30 lbs for $73.50. This is a great time to go in with neighbors or family and split it up and be stocked up for a while. Also great for cooking groups! Click here if you're interested in ordering. Orders must be placed by 1/7. If they ask for a referral you can use my blog's name: suckerpunchdebt.

Hot Choc-o-late!

2011-01-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

I'm not a coffee drinker, but when we go out to meet friends, we often meet a Starbucks because it's cheaper than a full-blown dinner, we often have gift cards, and it's a great place to just talk. So what does a gal get when she doesn't drink coffee in the middle of winter? Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate. Incredibly good! Since I don't want to use much of my $50/month blow money on Starbucks, I found this great knock-off recipe. It's from a really fun foodie blog called Savory Sweet Life (did I mention that I read cook books like novels?). Here's some pictures from when I made it over break. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips for the chocolate as I had quite a few in my baking stash from the baking sales in November.

Coat your glass with caramel.

Ganache=whipping cream mixed with melted chocolate.

Heating up the milk, getting ready to add ganache.

Top with whipping cream, caramel and coarse salt.

The finished product!

To get the full recipe, click on this link to Savory Sweet Life. I don't know how much longer Starbucks will have this in their stores since it's a seasonal drink. If you make this let me know what you think!

*Update: I've had a couple of friends tell me after reading this post that Starbucks serves this year-round, you just have to request it if you don't see it on the menu board.

December Grocery Totals

2011-01-04T17:24:00.000-08:00

Another great month, but also some help from family during the holidays in the form of eating at both my in-laws house and at my folks place. I'm not including anything spent past Dec. 29th in my totals and am including them in January's budget (since pay day fell that way), so I expect January to be a little higher. While I still did doubler shopping at Albertson's (I even skipped a week!), I did the 'everything else' shopping at Winco. Also, I think that freezer cooking and eating from the pantry is helping to keep my costs very low. We actually made 20 freezer meals for December, and we still haven't eaten all of them. What a time and budget saver! Dinners around our house are a snap now.
Total Spent on Food: $224.89
Manufacturer's Coupons Used: $24.71
Store Savings: $36.86

Emotional Debt

2010-12-31T15:22:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrate our daughter Rose. She would have been 8 today. Eight! The time has gone fast, but at moments it's been slow. We've added three more children to our family since she left us (we now have five here). If you don't know about our daughter Rose, she was stillborn at 38 weeks. Born eleven days from her due date, fully grown, 7lbs. 7oz. What a treasure it was to hold her, and the most difficult thing I've ever done was losing her. Handing her over for the last time to the nurse who just came on duty is almost indescribable. The pain burned into a mother's heart takes a long time to heal. It's not natural or normal to give up your child and continue living when they cannot.

Yet our family continued on. With the love of God, family and friends who shared our sorrow and healing we turned into better people. But there were some financial decisions made during those first couple years that we wished we hadn't made.

We felt bad for our other two children at the time, not having a sister that they should have had. Some of the purchases were a little over the top and we borrowed money that we fully intended to pay back within a year. That didn't happen and we are still paying on those decisions made back then.

So the point of this post is encourage others that may be going through a difficult time or grieving to try not to heal with buying stuff you can't afford. It won't work. Tough times don't last forever and grief takes time to work through.

*Update: Here's what we did on her birthday night:

top image credit: photoxpress/loribogetti

Christmas Family Traditions

2010-12-22T14:10:00.000-08:00

What do you do every year with your family during the Christmas season? We keep it pretty simple, but I wanted to share some of the things we do each year. All of these ideas are easy on the budget, but great memory makers.

Go up to the Manito Park Conservatory. They decorate it with lights (a ton of lights!) every year, have carolers and Santa on some days. They are done with light tours for the season, but it would be a fun little side trip for next year.

I love this next one as much as my children: lights tour in the car with hot chocolate and popcorn while in PJ's. I have my friend, Kendra, to thank for this idea, and it's the one that our kids start asking about as soon as December hits.

The next one started before I was born, even before my parents were married. We have tacos on Christmas Eve. The way we prepare them is a bit different than the out of the box variety. We fry up our own tortillas and have a unique way of preparing the meat filling. Our Christmas Eve wouldn't be the same without this meal.

For our children's stockings, I've made each of them their own with their name on it. I was at my friend Carolyn's house a few years back and she had made her family some darling stockings and so I grabbed a pattern and got to work. Santa brings the gifts to the stocking only. We give the ones under the tree.

I've been looking for either an old (or new) radio theater show to share the Christmas story with our children, but haven't found anything yet. We always read to the children from the Bible the story of Jesus' birth-Luke chapter 2.

I almost forgot this one: my husband takes the children to the dollar store and lets them each pick out a gift for me and then he films them explaining why they picked what they did and then we play the video on Christmas morning after I've opened all the gifts. I loved the dollar store peaches from China my 5 year old picked out last year!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas! I enjoy being with family and friends this time of year. Also, be looking for my blog to have a new look. We've been working on it these past few days and hopefully we'll get up by the end of break.

Recipe: Dinner Rolls Italiano

2010-12-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share one of my family's favorite recipes. I brought these to a wonderful dinner that one of my husband's co-workers made (thanks Tammy!). Everyone likes these rolls so much that they all requested the recipe. I got this recipe from a dear friend while I was at WSU-it was from her neighbor who was an Italian lady who loved to cook. The best part of this recipe is that it only takes an hour to assemble, rise and bake.

One Hour Dinner Rolls Italiano

4 cups flour
2 pkgs. yeast
2T sugar
2t garlic salt
1t Italian seasoning

1/2c water
2T margarine or butter
1 egg, beaten
1/2c grated parmesan cheese

For the top of rolls:
2T margarine or butter
1/4c grated parmesan cheese

Mix first five ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate microwaveable bowl, add milk, water and butter. Heat until the mixture is as warm as baby bottle temp. Butter does not have to melt. Add egg to liquid mixture. Add liquid mixture to the dry mixture. Add cheese. Mix. Kneed for a couple of minutes. Add more flour if needed-till not sticky. Let dough rise, covered, in a warm place for 15 minutes (I like to turn my oven on its lowest setting for about 3 minutes then turn it off to create a little proof box). When you take out the dough, punch it down and divide it into 16 pieces. Form the pieces into balls and dip into the 2T of melted butter and then dip into parmesan and place into a greased 9x13 pan. Cover and let rise in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove cover. With rolls still in oven, turn on and heat to 375 and bake for 20-25 minutes, or till lightly browned.

eBillme

2010-12-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

I just found out about a neat-o way to pay online without using credit OR debit cards. It's called eBillme. You use your bank's bill pay to pay for purchases, making it cash based! When you pay for an item online, choose eBillme at checkout, then you'll receive an email for your records. Then you log on to your bill pay account and pay the bill (that is, if you've added eBillme as a payee already). They also offer coupons and rebates right on their site. You are also able to combine services from them and sites like Shop at Home, where you would then get even more off your purchase.

I have not tried it yet, but I plan to sign up, and I'll let you know how it goes. After reading that my own bank is in charge of protecting my information, (which makes sense because they are the ones the payment is being authorized through) I feel this could be a wonderful tool for those of us getting out of debt or those who don't like to pay online with a debit card. Click here to find out more about eBillme. Also, if anyone has used this service, let me know what you think.

Thanks Hip2Save.

Christmas Budget

2010-12-07T17:01:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas budget for all five of our children was $400. Past tense. We are now at $502.51 and will probably spend about $10 more. Even sometimes the best planned out budget goes all wrong. Part of that is my complete optimistic outlook that I could round up everything for $400 (or less, in my mind).

This year we did wind up buying three electronic items (sorry I can't reveal what we got lest sneaky child eyes should see this post). That type of item is never cheap, but I did find a used one on ebay that came with extras and we got a great deal!

For the silver lining in this story: it's all paid for! Nothing on credit, but I do have to admit I put our last items on the debit card (had to since we'd spent all the money in the gift envelope).

This is a lot of money for us to spend, and is it really necessary? We pray above all things that our children know in their hearts who Jesus is and that Christmas is about His birth.

*Update: My husband pointed out to me that we were a little more lenient with this budget since we had worked so hard doing extra jobs during the fall and our children have to sacrifice quite a bit throughout the year due to decisions we made as many as 10 years ago with our finances.

November Grocery Totals

2010-12-04T11:41:00.000-08:00

Total Spent On Food: $238. 04
Manufactures Coupons Used: $191.50
Store Savings: $239.90

A great month for me, but November gets a boost from eating with family a lot.....and stocking up on all the great Thanksgiving sales that the stores had. It helped, too, that I was given a bunch of Albertsons doublers from kindhearted people, freezer cooked and used cash for all my spending.

Now, if I could just own a dairy cow to help with all those related items......would I save by the time I cared for it, etc? I'm serious-if you could answer this for me-and I know at least one person who knows the answer to this!

image credit: photoxpress/paulocruz

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T12:01:00.000-08:00

I just want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! This is my favorite holiday, hands down. I love that what's required of us is to think of others and thank God for what we have. I'm not putting this last one elegantly, but also, eat. We'll be celebrating with our extended family and then getting ready to go out shopping. For my husband and I, it's our mega-date day! We have a ball, and especially this year, we've really planned and saved for the gifts we're going to buy with cash. Here's a little bit to read (if you so wish) on the historical meaning of thanksgiving. Blessings to you and your family!

Yet Another House Party!

2010-11-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe, but I got picked to host my third House Party! This time around it was Sabra hummus. I seriously love hummus so much I could eat it every day. We even have a saying around here: hummus is yummus! Soooo, not too much of a stretch for me to host this one (the enthusiasm was certainly there).

Here's what I got in the party pack:

a coupon for a free bag of Stacy's pita chips
4 coupons for four free hummus dips
15 $1 coupons for future purchase
15 recipe cards
stone trivet
world music CD
recipe card holder

We had a great time sampling the four different hummus flavors, plus everyone brought an appetizer to share. It was a good time!

If you would like to host your own House Party, click here.

Reflecting On The Past Year

2010-11-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

Reflection is not something I have much time for, but hey, we all have Jack Handy moments! It's just a little crazy around here all the time, but I'll share what's happened the past 12 months, bullet style:

Gathering up $1000 for our mini-emergency fund in November 2009 was the hardest part of this process! For us, it was the attitude of 'no time like the present'. I went into action and sold things left and right. I dug through the garage and cleaned house! I sold jewelery, a nursing cover (for more than I paid:), dog crate, unfinished furniture still in the box, a wii game, baby shoes and many other things. Nothing was off limits. Would we start in November again? Yes. To refresh anyone who's reading this and didn't know, you can read about why we needed to have a $1000 in a month. A difficult month to begin for us with Christmas and five children to buy gifts for, but I would advise anyone to start right where they are and go for it as long as you are fully committed, it won't matter-you'll make it with an on-fire attitude and that commitment. It's a distance race, not a sprint.

We are giving more than ever before! That's right, even while getting out of debt, we are able give mostly in ways of food and personal items. We have held consistent in our tithe, too. We are blessed to be able to do these things!

Even though we are sacrificing, there's a general feeling of peace in our home. We know where every single dollar is going, there will be enough money at the end of the month, we aren't going into deeper debt, we're helping others, and we have hope for the future.

We have a long way to go (our debt-free date is slated for 2015, with anticipation of it taking one year less). We are locked in and right now there are times it sounds nice to run off to Disneyland with the kids for a fun vacation. It will happen, only it will be paid for in cash ahead of time and we won't have any debt when we go.

For a great resource, go to Dave Ramsey's web site and check out the plan we've chosen to follow.

A Momentus Day: It's Been A Year

2010-10-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

Last year this very day I stood over my garbage can and cut up my credit cards. My safety net was gone, or so I thought. I never looked back and am happy to report that I have not used that credit card since that day (uh, kind of hard to use it all chopped up!). We have not added any new debt to that card, but unfortunately we will have to take on more debt starting November 1st. We have added $5780 from the sewer going in in our neighborhood this summer. That won't be around long, as we anticipated this and have about half saved. So, technically, while it's new debt, we didn't create it by our crappy choices with money:).

Here's what we've done the past year:

Total Starting Debt: $65,708.23
Total Paid OFF in One Year:$ 11,611.31
Total Remaining: $54,096.92
Debt Free Date: December 2015

We fully anticipate to not take that long to pay it all off. If you look at our snowball, you'll see that our car being paid off is the tipping point for us. We really start picking up steam as we'll have more to throw at it. I'd really like to reflect more on this past year, but I need to get my tired trick-or-treating kiddos in bed!

October Grocery Totals

2010-10-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

This was definitely the craziest month for shopping I've had since starting this a year ago (literally, this is the day in 2009 we started to pay down debt!).

And now for the totals:

Total Spent On Food:$339.26
Manufacturer's Coupons Used: $777.50
Store Savings: $996.27
Can you believe the numbers?! With all the incredible deals at Albertsons, I was able to stock up (I mean really stock up) on a lot of items that I'm not normally able to (such as paper towels and toilet paper). I also freezer cooked enough meals for the entire month.

What To Do With All Those Green Tomatoes

2010-10-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

We wound up with 23 tomato plants this year, and I think we grew more green tomatoes than red! Here's some of them:

(Don't know why I had a lime in there!)

And here's what we did with them:

Before the oven...

Cooling on the rack.

Yes, that's right, we made green tomato cake! It may sound a little weird, but it's wonderful. For sure the best use of green tomatoes we could find. Green tomato relish wasn't going to cut it for us since I'm not a huge fan of vinegar/pickled things, and once we made it would anyone want that as a gift? Now I have three big cakes and 3 little cakes in the freezer awaiting after school snack time.

Here's links to the recipes we used:
Paula Deen's Green Tomato Cake
allrecipes.com Green Tomato Cake

We eliminated the raisins in both cakes, reduced the nutmeg, added a few shakes of ground cloves and added more walnuts in both. On the Paula Deen cake, we baked in a regular cake pan, and eliminated the brown butter frosting. We made a basic powdered sugar icing instead. These would be great topped with a cream cheese frosting.

Baby Taggie

2010-10-25T09:29:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share a little gift I made for two gals at our church that just had babies. I love making hand-made stuff for friends! I used this tutorial from Joy's Hope. Lots of fun little things to learn from her blog and we share a similar family story: babies lost at full term. You'll also be encouraged in your faith-definitely worth a look.

If you want to make a gift special, just make it! So here's what I made:

I love to use tulle and ribbon to wrap a gift. It's an inexpensive, cute way to give a gift.

Recent Shopping Trip

2010-10-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

So, here's what I got last night:

My total came to $14.68, and I got a $5 off my next order coupon. We were low on cereal and milk, so this was a good trip (I stopped at two stores and had a total of 6 transactions) to stock up on some real needs. I also wasn't planning on getting the pop, but the deal was good: buy 4 Sierra Mist, get one Pepsi product free. My total for all five came to $2.35 (or $.47 each)

I got:

two boxes of penne pasta
three boxes tissue
Febreeze Air freshener starter
creamer (2)
nabisco crunch sticks
olive oil
best life buttery spread (2)
5 two liters of pop
dove shampoo (2)
dove body wash
milk (3)
cookie mix
cheerios (6)
cinnamon toast crunch (2)
yoplait yo-plus four pack (2)

So worth the time getting organized with my coupons! Also, it was sure fun to catch up with a friend from high school who I ran into at the store and meet some new fellow couponers. A huge thanks to Dana and Joelle for giving me a stash of coupons!

And That Will Be $5780

2010-10-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

I'm a little sad to report that we're going to have to take on a new bit-o-debt for a few months. We haven't added any debt since we started paying it off in November 2009 and consistently pay down on it every month. But, today marked the end of the sewer project in our neighborhood and with that the bill is due on November 1st. We had planned to pay the entire bill off, but we only have about half saved. With that said, we will pay it off this spring when we get our tax return and then we'll continue on our happy way. I'll be giving you a debt pay down annual total soon!

And now for the best part of all this, because there really is one! I've waited since the start of the sewer project (April) to put on my roller blades and coast on the freshly paved street. Today was my day, baby! What a blast! The kids were all over the place with skateboards bikes, scooters. It felt so good to be out on a pot hole/dirt/rock/bulldozer-free street!

Off To Greenbluff

2010-10-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

Every fall we go to Greenbluff (we went to Harvest House), and while it's not usually easy on the pocketbook, we were ready for this year's visit! We prepped the kids about what we were doing and what we weren't. Since it was a day off for everyone, we took advantage of it and here's what we did:

We told Jay to karate chop but he looks more like a robot to me:)

Seth and Kate at the, uh, rear end of the caterpillar. It was a little creepy!

And then our camera battery died! Still fun, although we didn't buy any pumpkins there, we did get a gallon of cider and a dozen pumpkin doughnuts for about $12 for both. On our way home we stopped at Yoke's and took advantage of the $.15/lb pumpkins (today only) and let everyone pick one out. That came to $9 for five pumpkins. When you add in the $20 for four of the kids to go through the hay maze/play area it came to $41 for the outing. Not too bad for a family of seven and great memories!

Save $10 On Scholastic Book Orders

2010-10-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

As I was looking through my kids' Scholastic book orders from school, I noticed on the back page that you have the opportunity to buy five book certificates good for five items (each is worth up to $4). The regular price is $20 for these, but you pay $10. This makes getting books even cheaper or I'm thinking these would make great stocking stuffers! These look like they have to be used in conjunction with a Scholastic flyer and don't expire until July 6th, 2011.

What We're Eating

2010-10-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

When people hear about our low grocery bill, they often ask what we're eating, and I feel like I don't always give a clear answer since it changes from month to month. So I thought I'd let you know what our dinners will be for the next few days or so:

Spaghetti Soup
French Dip Sandwiches
Vegetarian Lasagana
Farmer's Casserole
Buttermilk Herb Chicken (marinated & grilled)
Potato Soup
Enchilada Bake
Ham and Sweet Potato Pie
Chicken Caesar Casserole
BBQ Chicken Pizza
Southwestern Corn Chowder
Chicken Pot Pie
Refrigerated Bran Oatmeal Muffins (which we already ate through 4 dozen muffins in 2 days! New recipe for us and I think they liked it!)

All of the recipes are freezer meals, some are doubled, and I'm still in the process of making some of them (between taking care of my five and the other four I watch, time is limited). Most of the recipes are from Holly Clegg's Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals cookbook (there's a link at the bottom if you want to check it out). A great cookbook if you're interested in keeping your meals lower in fat but full of flavor.

So there you have it! With each of these meals we usually have a fresh fruit and a veggie (we're eating from the garden right now). If you're interested in any of the recipes, let me know and I'll send some your way. Oh, and wouldn't you just love to be in that picture? It looks like a fine place to be!

image credit: photoxpress/jonryan

Why Does October Matter Financially?

2010-10-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

I read a fascinating article on how what we do now, in October, influences our financial matters for the next few months. Have you planned for Christmas? We have put aside $400 for our five children and other little gifts at work, etc. We give our children three gifts each and a really fun stocking.

I look at it this way: I will not be dragged down in our race to become debt free by lack of planning on my part. If I'm able to add that element of competition I always seem to do better with my goals because I hate to lose! We've been losers with our money too long, and winning with it for the past 11 months is a habit I'll keep. How's your Christmas fund coming along? Do you save throughout the year or take a chunk and set it aside when you have it?
Thanks, daveramsey.com

September Grocery Totals

2010-09-30T23:18:00.000-07:00

Total Spent On Food: $292.91
Manufacturers Coupons Used: $122.11
Store Savings: $162.25

A much better month than August! I got back into the routine along with the kids going back to school, and as you can see, the savings added up. I have quite a bit of my freezer cooking meals still left in my freezer and I don't feel like I need to run out tomorrow and go shopping. It's incredibly satisfying to make it through September without being in the hole. For us it's a month of never ending expenses such as: school tuition (preschool 1st/last month due), school pictures (always optional, but nice to have), clothes for everyone, school supplies, ASB-etc, etc. This is the first year that we budgeted ahead of time for all these needs and more. There's a lot of freedom in having September behind us and paid for.

image credit:photoxpress

Budget Reminder

2010-09-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

This is just a happy reminder that tonight or tomorrow would be the best time to plan your October budget if you haven't already. I include extra money for Halloween festivities, and don't forget to set a little aside for Christmas now if you haven't been doing that throughout the year. It works best for our family if we get the budget done before the new month starts, otherwise it feels like we're catching up for a few days and things get messed up easier.

image credit: photoxpress

Bye Bye Honey Bucket

2010-09-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

We had to say goodbye this week to part of our yard that we'd grown accustomed to: the lovely turquoise Honey Bucket! Yes, it's true that for the past two months in the corner of our yard, we've been the official pit stop for numerous folks working on the new sewer and even a news reporter. It became known as 'our' Honey Bucket, and the kids grudgingly let me take some of their first day of school pictures with it. Weren't they great sports?

A couple of days ago a big bulldozer stopped, scooped it up and relocated it to another street. I only wish I'd taken the opportunity to stash a copy of the 'Bathroom Book' (someone really gave us that book, and fyi it's been sitting in our garage!) in there for their reading pleasure.

Today's Groupon: D.Lish's!!!!

2010-09-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

We have a small budget for eating out each month. It's about $65-$70 for our family of 7. We get to eat out as a whole family about twice a month. So each and every month, we eat out at D'Lish for one of our trips.

It's a hamburger joint, and I'm not even crazy about hamburgers, but these are so good. Very fresh and made to order. Go check out Groupon's deal here. If you haven't used Groupon before, it's well worth it to sign up. There's a deal every day, and you decide if you want to get in on it. This is one I'm for sure getting in on!

No Bang For Your Buck With These

2010-09-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of ten items that have the highest markups:

1) text messages
2) movie theatre popcorn
3 )bottled water
4) brand name drugs
5) hotel mini-bar
6) coffee
7) wine
8) greeting cards
9) hotel in-room movies
10) pre-cut veggies and fruits

Check out Walletpop to read the full post on this. Some of these things are marked up over 3000%!

I had a grande iced chai (which, by the way, comes out of an Oregon Chai box that could be bought at a grocery store and is poured over way too much ice) at Starbucks on Saturday and it was $3.85! I'm sure the markup on that one's more than the 300% suggested for coffee. But what do you drink when you don't like coffee and are meeting friends at a coffeehouse? For sure a treat, but for me, not a regular thing.

Ha Ha Watermelon! Not So Much

2010-09-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

I got some wonderful advice from well-wishers when we started out on our debt pay off race in November 2009. The most common theme was grow a garden to save money, so we did-a huge garden! It's been so fun for our family and the rewards of growing our own food are deeply satisfying.

However, I have a little story I wanted to share about growing watermelon in our fabulous state of Washington. If you aren't familiar with the state, it's not all rainy and overcast like the Seattle area frequently is. Actually, Seattle is lovely in the summer. Ok, now to my part of the state-eastern Washington. A completely different story. We have sunshine often and snow in the winter, four complete seasons. Not a lot of overcast days.

So, last spring, in an attempt to have a friendly chat with a dad from my son's preschool while waiting in the hall for class to get out, I asked if you could grow watermelon here. I got this reply: "HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED HERE?" Uh, since winter 1978. Some laughing. But for my part, I was thinking GAME ON preschool dad! Not only will I grow watermelon, we're going celebrate it, take pictures of it, bowl with it, and finally, eat it like kings.

Here's what we have:

Yeah, not real impressive, I know. This watermelon got detached from the vine, we think by a deer that foraged our zucchini. This was supposed to grow to be a personal sized watermelon, so we're not too far off for size. Here's what happened when we cut it open:

Not even close to red! It does have the very first hint of turning pink, but that's kind of hard to tell in the pic. The greatest thing about all this watermelon business is that we have another one still on the vine and it's bigger! Overall a great lesson learned-basically get those plants that need it started early inside, and, yes, you can grow watermelon here-it might make it, it might not before first frost!

Workhorse Recipes

2010-09-16T11:48:00.000-07:00

I love to cook, and I'm always trying new recipes-however, there are a few recipes that I do use frequently because they are the base for so many other dishes. Here's a couple that I thought I'd share. Since I'm all stocked up nicely on cheese from a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to share my pizza crust recipe.

Pizza Crust
Courtesy of Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy

1 C warm water (baby bottle temperature)
1 pkg. dry yeast
1 t sugar
3 C flour
2 T olive oil
1 t salt
1 t garlic powder

In a bowl, mix the yeast, sugar and water, stirring to dissolve the yeast. Let it rest 5 minutes. Add the other ingredients (I like to add the flour last). Knead the dough on a floured board, adding more flour until it's not sticky. Place in a bowl and cover, letting it rise from 5 minutes to two hours, depending on the texture you would like your dough. The longer you let it rise, the more bread-like the dough will become. Punch down the dough and shape into a large pizza. Sprinkle a cookie sheet or pizza stone with corn meal, if you have it, and place dough on top and then add toppings.

Bake 450 for 10 minutes.

Here's another recipe I use quite a bit when I'm in a rush to get tacos done (that is when we're not making our family recipe tacos-I ate those every Friday night growing up!)

Taco Seasoning Mix
From Make-A-Mix by Eliason, Harward, Westover

2 t instant minced onion
1 t salt
1 t chili powder
1/2 t cornstarch
1/2 t crushed dried red pepper
1/2 t dried minced garlic
1/4 t dried oregano leaves
1/2 t ground cumin

Combine all ingredients. Makes the equivalent of one pkg. of store bought taco seasoning. To use: brown 1-1/2 lbs. ground beef, drain. Add 1/2 C water and seasoning mix. Simmer 10 minutes.

image credit: photoxpress/franco dimeo

Tips For Paring Down Toys

2010-09-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

With another birthday coming up for one of our children this Friday, we've been taking stock of what we have in the way of toys. I've been reading the book, A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family by Mary Ostyn. When it comes to toys that give you bang for your buck, keep it simple with five categories:

Legos. You can have both Duplo and regular and they don't have to take up a ton of space.
Dollhouses. I seriously didn't think of this one for our family, but it's such a draw for most kids. She suggests Fisher-Price or Playmobile since these brands are easy to accessorize and are durable.
Play Dishes and Food.
Dress-Up box. I stocked up on items for this box when I was at Value Village for their 50% off Labor Day Sale.
Outdoor Toys. Wagons, basketball hoop, golf, etc. We've used exercise balls for outdoor play, and the kids love them because they're so big. We also let the older kids use our bike trailer with the younger ones since we have a low traffic neighborhood and it's provided hours of fun.

We're going to stick with these for now since we are at such premium for space. I am so thankful for these suggestions mainly because they make so much sense!

image credit: photoxpress

August Grocery Totals

2010-08-31T18:09:00.000-07:00

Total Spent On Food: $359.13
Manufacturer's Coupons Used: $67.65

Overall not a fabulous month, but I did come in under our budget of $400 for food/household (didn't have much left for household items, but that's where my stock pile came in handy!) I spent $85 for freezer cooking with friends, which provided about 14 meals for us. That's $6.07 per meal with some providing leftovers. Normally I can feed us for around $5 or less per dinner, but I still think it's more than worth the time together with friends and having a half of months worth of dinners already made.

Here's where I'm struggling as well: camping! I just feel a bit restricted with what we can bring. I think I need to get more creative ☺.

I also got a bit lazy with my couponing. For me it's hard in the summer since my husband and I both have it off! We kind of just do what we please in regards to a schedule. In no way am I complaining, but it would probably help if I had more of an organized and timely personality. So sad to see summer end, but looking forward to the routine that comes with the start of school.

image credit: photoxpress

Our Envelope Categories

2010-08-29T16:29:00.000-07:00

To keep within budget, we use a cash-only system. Basically, we draw up our budget each month, stuff money in several envelopes assigned with a category, and we're on our way. I should clarify that we do use our debit card for gas and online purchases only, mainly because I don't want to get my little ones out of the car just so I can use cash to pay for gas. Obviously we can't use cash for online purchases, and that can get a little tricky.

If I find a fabulous deal online for say, clothes, I go ahead and use my debit and then take the cash out of my clothing envelope and deposit it in the bank. Maybe more trips to the bank, but ATM's work well for me since I can go there any time.

Using the envelope system, alone, has saved us the most money in our budget. I would say it's the number one thing you can do to save. We know exactly where our money is going instead of wondering where it went. Another very real fact is that people tend to spend less if they have to physically hand over those dollar bills. It's much easier to swipe a debit/credit card, but the act of not handing over your hard earned money tends to make it disappear faster.

Here's the categories we use:

car repairs
medical/dental
oil changes
housing (repairs/maintenance)
sitter
Rx
hair cuts
car license
office/school supplies
clothing
restaurant
gifts
blow (husband and I each have an envelope to use on whatever we want)
groceries/household

In no way do I carry all of these in my handbag. I grab them as needed. We have a lot of categories, some people use less, but after doing this for 9 months, we found these work for us. I also have an envelope for an item we're saving for: a soy milk maker. Not a need, but we feel our family would get a lot of use out of it (and in the long run, save money by making our own soy, nut, rice and oat milk). So we save a little each month (actually my husband and I are putting a bit of blow money in that envelope).

If you use cash, do you find you spend less? How do you budget?

image credit: photoxpress

L.L. Bean Backpacks

2010-08-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

At our house we have a little tradition with backpacks: You get ONE when you enter Kindergarten and it has to last through 6th grade. It started with our oldest who's going into 8th grade this year and we've continued on with our other kids. Just two more left to buy!

So here's why we love these backpacks:

They last and last. Some kids have theirs from K through college. We've never had a zipper problem or ripping.
The selection is great, so you could actually buy one that would last a child from K-6 (meaning no Dora/Bob the Builder stuff)
They are able to be monogrammed (this may be a +/- for you, but I think it adds a special touch and we always know whose it is, plus I would think it's a deterrent for stealing).

The green one is our latest purchase and it cost $35 including shipping and monogramming. That's $5 a year (K-6) for a bag that can be used even more later (my daughter now uses it for sleep overs). Right now, backpacks are 20% off at LL Bean.

Couponers Nighmare

2010-08-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a long few weeks! I've had a rough go trying to save money with coupons lately. Here's what happened:

1) Every time I tried to print from coupons.com the past three weeks, it would try to tell me I had to install it (No. Since I've already installed it like 499 times!)

2) Then, on Thursday, right before leaving to hang with friends in Montana, my husband figures out that we need a new hard drive. He got that up and running a couple hours ago. That is the first thing we've had to replace on our Mac in 7 years!

3) Haven't even installed coupons.com yet (still not feeling confident that's going to work) and my husband does a test print on the printer: out of toner. Of course!

So, I've been doing my best with just my Sunday inserts, but I'm going crazy with that feeling of missing out on deals and paying more than I should by not having a coupon for something I need....I guess it's just that spirit that all couponers have, huh? You have to be a bit diligent, competitive (I love to see how low I can get that grocery bill each month) and willing to be assertive with your time and money!

$800 Towards Car Repairs

2010-08-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

While dropping our oldest off at Camp Reed a couple of weeks ago, my husband accidentally hit an outcropping of rocks while making a sharp turn. Poor guy! He felt so bad (well, at first, he just felt mad!), but it was so tight in that darn parking lot.

While driving our van out to the body shop, we kept losing tiny pieces of stuff. We lost some kind of lining on Nevada street. Sigh. In the end, we needed a whole new front bumper and new windshield cleaner parts. Why on earth our windshield washer attachments are in our front bumper is beyond me, but then again I don't design cars:).

So here's how paying for this little mishap would have gone in the past: No money saved up for something like this, so either: A) Charge it! or B) Write a check from our HELOC. Thus adding more debt. But, alas, we have an emergency fund of $1000 for things such as this. Actually, we had $150 saved for car repairs, so it's good that we don't have to replace the entire $800 in our emergency fund, just $650. But now that's what we focus on-getting that fund up to $1000 again. That is where all our extra money goes now, not on debt. When we're back up to $1000, we're set again to dump that extra on debt.

image credit: photoxpress/Marco Deias

What Made Us Do This?

2010-08-07T17:37:00.000-07:00

"The world is changing at such a rapid rate that waiting to implement changes will leave you two steps behind. DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW!"

This sweet little quote came from a gift bag I got for my birthday in July! There's all types of quotes written all over the bag, but this one caught my eye. I started thinking back to that last day in October 2009, with me standing over the garbage can with my two credit cards and a pair of scissors. I made that choice to implement change in our spending patterns and took action. We were tired of dreading the end of the month-not enough money, so we charged it!

We haven't looked back, but I will say at times we get weary running this race, but we never stay in that rut for more than a few minutes and my husband and I always start talking about all we've done to date and how we'll feel when the entire $65K is at $0.

For us, these three things have made the most difference in getting out of debt/staying on budget:

Using cash only in an envelope system
Budgeting our monthly income down to the last penny
Using coupons to keep our grocery budget low

Of course I'm just thankful that we're able to do this. In my next post I'll share with you more about the envelope system and categories we use.

image credit: photo xpress

Garden Update

2010-07-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Here's some of the things we've just picked from the garden:

From left to right: banana peppers, cilantro, carrots, radishes, chives and broccoli. These are all wrapped up and ready to go up to my brother. He loves veggies and I know when I give him this it will be eaten up quickly.

Here's most of the 17 tomato plants we have-they kind of look like huge weeds, but they are doing well, and we're seeing signs of many tomatoes in the future!

Here's the beans, lettuce, cabbage, celery, and peppers.

Radish, more lettuce, carrots, basil, chives, potatoes and peas in the way back.

Blackberries, not from our backyard, but nearby Bodacious Berries in Greenbluff. Thanks to my in-laws for picking all these! We plan to make jam, juice concentrate and pies and freeze some for cobblers and smoothies.

July Grocery Totals

2010-07-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

A little higher than I'd like this month, but I'll tell you what I gained.

Total Spent on Food: $324.98
Store Savings: $88.63
Manufacturer's Coupons Used: $ 116.59

Phew! My coupon use was a little down this month, and I did freezer cooking for the first time, which I did not shop for, and in turn did not use from my stockpile to make the recipes. However, I'm am beyond thrilled to have three other gals to cook with and a freezer full of dinners for about half the month! This is the first time I could ever find anyone who was interested in doing freezer cooking regularly.

I have been the canning queen as well! We have put up several jars of raspberry-honey jam and cherry-honey jam all made with local berries/cherries and honey from Greenbluff. If you're hankering for blackberries, they're ready right now, and here's where we get all our berries. The Deitz family is just fabulous and they have wonderful fruit. We love it there, and feel good about supporting our local growers.

I also (and anyone who has an educator as a spouse will understand this) have a husband home all summer with me! I feel like I have my long lost teammate back! We've been having a ball with our kiddos, friends, each other and family.

While it's higher than I'd like for my totals, I'm within budget ($400 for food/household for a family of 7) and that is what matters. Less extra for debt, yes, but I gained a whole lot this month.

Crooked Toes

2010-07-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning at 6am we'll be at Shriners. Ugh. I'm dreading this little trip as we're checking our youngest daughter in for minor surgery on her sweet little toes. She was born with an overlapping little toe and as she's grown it's causing blisters when she wears shoes. She also has 'curly' toes-those are toes that curl sideways and under her other ones. So, most likely she'll just need a dressing post-surgery, but if they need to put a pin in, she'll have a cast and a possible overnight stay.

The part where you have to leave your child in their little hospital gown that's too big and turn away is the most awful feeling in the world. But we've got this little girl covered in prayer and I'm thankful that we can help her have feet that will fit into shoes!

I have to add that Shriners is an amazing place. The staff we have worked with have all been professional and took their time with us. When we went in for the first time, they had a hand made blanket waiting just for our daughter that she got to take home with her. It is such a blessing to have a resource like this in our city as all the services received are free of charge. Their generosity is just amazing!

*Here's an update of how her toes look today (3/30/11) after healing for 8 months:

The left foot has less scarring

Her right foot has more scarring, but not too bad.

Being Frugal Summary

2010-07-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

I'm loving this summer! We've been so busy with family, house and friend stuff. No boring days around here this year. So here's some of the ways I've saved recently:

Everything was free (or I made money on it) except the sippy cups-they were $2/1 at Fred Meyer. My mother in law found that deal and we both stocked up since these were the Platex insulated type-you never find them that cheap!

I love my rebates! All rebates around here get dumped right on debt, and as you can see, it really adds up! I also got a free coupon for Huggies as part of a Rite Aid purchase. The larger check is from Shop at Home. Whenever I shop online I go through them and get a % back on my purchase. When your cash back total reaches $20 or more, they cut you a check. Click here to find out more about Shop At Home.

Ohh, this one was a while ago at Target, but I love it because we were getting low on shampoo, and I was able to stock up for free (except the jeans). So here's what happened-I knew I'd have overage since I had a rain check for the shampoo @ $2.57/1 and my coupons were $3/1. So I grabbed the jeans that were on clearance for $4.48 to absorb some of that overage, but when I got to the register the cashier adjusted down the coupon to $2.57, which still made them free, but no overage. Cheap jeans, still, but not almost free! So, in the end, I paid for the jeans, but everything else was free.

Another House Party!!!

2010-07-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! This morning I got an email stating that I was a finalist for a Boboli House Party! I'm so excited, because here's what I'm getting:

The FREE party pack includes:

1 Letter explaining the process
8 - $5 off coupons for Boboli Pizza Crust for the host
1 Food tent for your pizza
14 - $2 off coupons for Boboli Pizza Crust for the guests
15 Boboli photo frame magnets
15 Boboli grocery totes
15 Boboli pizza grilling recipe card sets (3 recipes in each set)
15 Boboli pizza grilling tips and nutritional information

Yep, I get to grill pizza! This is something I've always wanted to try-I can't wait!

Not only did I get picked to host this party (this is my second time being picked to host a House Party-the first time was for Ball Canning Co.), so did my mother in law! My neighbor also got picked to host a Kleenex party that we'll be going to soon (hmm, should we all have colds as a requirement to go to that one?:). If you've never checked out House Party, click here to find out more. You are not selling anything: I suck at that and am not too crazy about that kind of thing anyway. It's a way for companies to get their product out in a fun way and you benefit from all the free stuff they send you. A win-win situation. I'm using this House Party to invite my extended family for a huge pizza night!

Today's Groupon: Auntie's Books!

2010-07-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Just had to quickly share this: Groupon's coupon of the day is $20 worth of stuff at Auntie's Book Store for only $10!!!! You can buy one for yourself and up to 4 as gifts. I'm getting one for my brother who has a birthday the day after mine. He'll love it, and I love the price! This deal is good only to purchase today as tomorrow there will be another new offer (although the actual coupon to Auntie's doesn't expire until 1/16/11). Just click on this link to check it out.

Groupon is all around the country and ours just started up on the 12th! You only get the deal if enough people buy it that day (the Auntie's deal is already tipped-so if you buy it now, it's guaranteed). I'm so excited about it!

***Update: I just printed out my coupon, and it went perfectly! It was delivered to my inbox within 20 minutes of purchase.

Where a Few G's are Headed

2010-07-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

I hope your summer is going well! We've been busy since school's been out and my husband is home (he works in a high school) doing all the fun things you can do with five kids. So, I don't feel too bad that I haven't posted in a while:). Still have tons to share, just a little slow on getting it out there.

With this summer, comes lots of dust at our house, and the entire neighborhood. Unfortunately, for us, that also means a longer time till we're debt-free. Here's where about $10,000 of our cash is going to have to go:

Into a giant 30 ft. deep hole! Our area is still on septic, but the county decided that it was time for us to have sewer. How kind. I wouldn't mind, but what a fabulous way for the county to make money off of us forever! Aside from the obvious, such as having our septic fail, it is very inexpensive for us to maintain.

Since it's our goal to never borrow money again, we made the decision early on to pay for the entire amount up front. $5,700 to the county and with only one estimate so far for hookup at $3,800, we're coming in close to $10,000! Also, $45 per month to the county as a utility fee as long as we live at this house. Oh, the debt we could pay down with $10G! So, we keep a positive outlook, forge ahead and are thankful for all we've paid off in 8 months, money we've saved for the sewer, and the things we've been able to do without adding any new debt since November '09.

p.s.- my 4 year old son just loves all the heavy equipment!

I Like Your Envelopes....

2010-07-03T14:43:00.000-07:00

I was at Fred Meyer yesterday picking up a DV tape for my husband who was asked last minute to film a wedding that evening. As I rifled through my envelopes looking for the right one, the cashier says to me "I like your envelopes. Dave Ramsey, right?" Yep! She shared with me how she's ridding her debt as well and uses the envelope system too. We related with each other how much money we're both saving every month because of how the physical power of giving up your cash helps control spending (that, and having a budget). It was good to get a little boost from someone who's on the same path!

image credit: photoxpress/Ewe Degiampetro

June Grocery Totals

2010-07-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

I was afraid that this month wasn't going very well since by the end, I was pretty low on cash. I combine our household and food money into the same envelope. I was able to stock up on diapers and some other non-edible necessities, which sucked up some of the cash. I might be re-thinking that and separating them into two categories.

So here it is:

Total Spent On Food: $257.53
Store Savings: $111.03
Manufacturer's Coupons Used: $149.98
image credit: photoxpress/greg

American Eagle: $5 Independence Day Shirts

2010-06-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

While I was waiting for my daughter's 2 hour appointment to finish up, I ran into Northtown and got one of these cute $5 4th shirts from American Eagle for her. They have quite a few left, and about four other styles to choose from.

I have to add, here, that I'm kind of a word junkie, so thought I'd read the shirt (I know the Star Spangled Banner thanks to my high school history teacher, Mr. Ayers, who made us all recite it in front of the class-extra credit if you sang it). As I'm reading it, there's two typos! Ugh! And I'm not even a perfectionist. I guess it bugs me because it's our National Anthem and it really shouldn't be a question of getting it wrong.

Thanks Hip2Save.

Suckerpunched: Braces

2010-06-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

In our old way of doing things, we would have paid for a couple of years on our daughter's braces that she got today. I'm happy to report that with a bit of planning and saving, we were able to pay in full for her treatment today! I actually considered coming in there with Monopoly money just to see what they'd do, but decided against it:) Instead I forked over the real cash (did you know they don't make $1000 bills anymore? That would have been so cool to fork over a couple of those) So, I consider this a debt that never was: it's suckerpunched, baby!

image credit: PhotoXpress/hugy

Our First Camping Trip of the Season

2010-06-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

We just got back yesterday from a couple of nights camping at Priest Lake, ID! I always feel revived after one of our camping trips. It's time well spent being jammed together in our tent, playing, getting dirty and eating camp food.

Camping was an area that we actually talked about nixing when we started out debt pay down. Some people are so focused on getting a rid of their debt that they cut all unnecessary expenses which, in turn, gets them out of debt faster. That really is the goal -work hard, concentrate our efforts, then reap the rewards of being debt-free. I, for sure, would never knock someone who approaches their debt pay down this way. These are the same folks that are able to not eat out, which I admire.

After talking about it, we decided to come in somewhere in the middle: still camp, but stay closer to home. No Oregon Coast beach camping for us for a while. Also factoring into our decision were two things: you can't go back and re-create memories as a family. They are always going to get older-you have one shot at it. Secondly, we had bought most of the supplies we needed last summer (Yay! Those items were actually paid for, not charged). We're able to borrow what ever else we need thanks to gracious friends and family.

So, I'm estimating that our trip this weekend cost us about $60, figuring gas and reservations. For food, I'm my estimate is about $20. Well worth it!

We plan on at least two more trips this summer. One to see friends in Montana and another trip to Farragut St. Park if we can get reservations. I'm so glad we can camp in the middle of the week-we have a lot more flexibility! In the end, camping, for us, fits within our budget and our debt pay-down.

Where do you like to go camping? I'd love to hear about your favorite place!

Family Garden

2010-06-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to say that I'm not a green thumb. I love the idea of a garden every year, but in the end, we're lucky if we have a planter of tomatoes. Not this year! My in-laws live on two acres and just had a fence put in for the garden.

During the spring, here and there, I'd go over to their house, let the kids have a blast turning into dirtballs, and help get the soil ready.

We are already reaping the rewards of our work! Two days ago I was able to take home lettuce, radish and broccoli! This is extremely gratifying. What's even better, on Monday (that's our "food" day this summer-we have a theme/activity each day of the week to keep boredom at bay) nights we go out as a family and weed, harvest, or do whatever needs to be done. I almost feel silly saying this, but our kids have never seen up close where a lot of their veggies come from. My oldest two are all over it, and can't wait to help pick and clean whatever we can.

This is my first garden ever, and I'm enjoying every second of it! A huge thanks to my in-laws, Bob and Mary, for providing the space, and wisdom. Their generosity is much appreciated! Thanks, also, to all of you who encouraged us to plant a garden when we started our race towards a debt-free life. The savings in the fresh food department will cut our grocery bill even further, allowing us to put more on debt.

Strawberry Chips

2010-06-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

With the loads of strawberries that I've gotten from Winco ($2.98 for 4lbs=$.75/lb-deal ended Sunday.) I have to say I was getting a little tired of making jam and thought I'd dehydrate one of my 4lb packages. So here's what some of them look like:

The great thing is that I call them strawberry chips and the kids are all over them! So for a recipe, there's not much to it. We found that we can use the food processor to slice if you pulse rather than just run it continuously. Then just lay them on your dehydrator and let it run all night and most of the day (or whatever directions say for your model). I rotate the shelves so that they get done evenly. Thanks to my mother in law who did this batch for me and gave me her dehydrator years ago!

Being Frugal: A 4 Week Summary

2010-06-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

Here's some of the best deals I was able to track down these past few weeks. I'd like to keep it as two week summary, but spring is busy with a house full of five kids! I do my best:)

I got the above all for $1 at Target. Thanks to my friend, Jorene, for telling me about the coffee! She was so kind to give me another one, so we're giving two for donation this Saturday at the ladies tea to benefit City Gate ministy, and my husband will take one to work (they trade off bringing coffee). Thanks to Confesstions of a Couponaholic for the other match-ups.

Canning! I was picked to host a Ball canning House Party. I received tons of great freebies such as the huge canner in the picture above. It was a blast, and I now have some pepper jelly to serve over cream cheese-yum! Also, Winco has 4lbs. of strawberries on sale for $2.98 right now, so last night until 1am my mother in law and I made 16lbs. of strawberry into jam. This is what I got to take home.

Free Gillette razor from a blog giveaway.

$12.95 delivered, from the Disney Store.

Wipes on Roll-Back at Walmart: $1.97, I used the $2/1 x 4 from the 6/6 PG insert = free!

$3.25 for all three, shipped from Medco Health Store. I used a $10 off any purchase code (I don't think the code's working any more, but here's the one I used: MHS10).

So, some fun, some necessary things. Next, I can't wait to show you the family garden! When we started our debt pay down in November, there was a common theme in advice I got: plant a garden to stretch the budget. I really took it to heart and the garden is well on it's way.

A special thanks to my friend, Joelle, for being so generous. Being frugal allows generosity in ways I never imagined. It's a blessing to me to bless others by using my money wisely and not always worrying about it-all this even while paying down our debt. We have truly changed how we handle money, and God is blessing our efforts!

Just a Little Bite

2010-06-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

Now don't get me wrong, I love broccoli, but when I'm forced to buy it, I don't love it. What we have here is a crown of broccoli that my soon-to-be four year old son took a bite of at the store. It happened so fast (well, I was rifling through my coupons) and he tried to put it back as soon as he saw my face:) So, broccoli it is for snack!

Target: Littlest Pet Shop on Clearance!

2010-06-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the Northpoint Target and picked up some Littlest Pet Shop toys on clearance for $1.48. There were quite a few left and in the aisle with the rest of LPS stuff.

LPS, $1.48 x 4 = $5.92
-BOGO printable x 2
=$2.96 for all 4 + tax

I have two little nieces that I'm thinking will like these!

May Grocery Totals

2010-06-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

Total Spent on Food: $234.73

Store Savings: $258.42

Manufacturer's Coupons Used: $221.40

My lowest month yet! I knew by the last week of the month it was going to be low because I had quite a bit of money in my grocery envelope (that leftover got put on our current debt in the debt snowball-the car-yesterday!) My goal is to come in at $200 for just one month. Does $200/month to feed 7 sound unreasonable? I think I could really do it!

image credit: photoxpress/isatori

House Party!

2010-05-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

I was selected to host a House Party! Yay! I will be using the fabulous products that the Ball canning company sent me to make some salsa and jam with friends. So, what is a House Party? It's a business that other companies can use to get their product out to the consumer in a fun way. Hosts are chosen from an applicant pool and then mailed all kinds of freebies, coupons and gifts. If you're interested in hosting your own House Party, click here.

So here's what I got:

15 reusable shopping bags for guests

Canning starter set with TONS of pectin for making jam. Coupons to hand out to guests on the left.

More pectin.

Coupons for me to buy the jars for guests. I'll be getting 4 cases FREE. Recipes to hand out on the right.

This is the best part (in my love of all things home-ec): a stainless steel canner! This thing rocks! It'll be so good to replace my warped bottom canner.

I also got a box of canning utensils, a huge flip chart (so I guess I can pretend I'm a TV chef while I'm explaining to everyone how to can?) and two cook books. Not too bad. I can't wait!

Wolf Creek Lodge 80% off on Restaurant.com

2010-05-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to see this in my inbox! Wolf Creek Lodge is now on the list at Restaurant.com. Then I clicked on the link to see it was the Valley Wolf Lodge location. Ok, so not quite as excited. I've heard the Valley location is not as good as the one near Lake Coeur 'd Alene (my husband's favorite restaurant), but I'd be willing to try it with a discount. So go here to get 80% off a $25 gift certificate. Keep in mind that it's not a true 80% off. They add an 18% gratuity before discount, you must buy two entrees and it's good for dinner only. Use the promotional code FLAG to get 80% off at check out.

Score on Free Movie Codes & Getting More Organized

2010-05-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

After a separation from my camera (since Saturday!) I've now got it back and can finally start to unload all these blog ideas that have been building up in my head!

Ok, so with the school year ending, I've been planning ahead to put together gift bags (I'll share the final result soon) for my kids teachers. On Sunday, I stopped at Fred Meyer and was digging through the coupon exchange when I found TWO free movie codes for Red Box! Yay! I can't wait to tuck them in with some other gift goodies. The beauty of this is that someone just tossed them as if they were useless! What? I wonder about that....

The little organizer, above, is something I picked up at Ross a couple of weeks ago for $3.99. This is what I use when I'm planning my shopping trips, or organizing my coupon binder (which I will talk about more, later-it's brand spankin' new!). I keep all the weeks current ads, Catalina coupons that have my free Red Box codes, anything that needs to be filed. So far, it's working well for what I need.

Freebies In The Mail

2010-05-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

Just for 'liking' Kraft foods on facebook, I received this little box of goodies today in the mail! I checked to see if they are still offering this promo, but it looks like it's gone. The coupons are for a FREE package of cheese bites and a box of mac-n-cheese. In another offer, I got a free Easy Up for my daughter who will hopefully be potty training this fall. These types of offers are so worth it! Keeping an eye out can add up to savings over time. I avoid signing up for the companies newsletter-uh, no thanks! Maybe I'll be missing out, but I feel like I'm able to find what I need though searches.

Reusable Sandwich Bags: Finally DONE!

2010-05-13T16:58:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, Carol, asked me to make some reusable sandwich/snack bags for her family fovever ago (I think it was two months) to which I not-so-humbly replied "No problem! That's like a home-ec project! It'll be quick." Ha!

So she determined that she'd like to have 4 for each family member. Two large sandwich size, and two snack size. I used this tutorial from Noodleheads as a guide, only I didn't recycle old pants, but tried to pick material that matched the personality of each person. I also sewed most of the velcro on with a zig-zag stitch-it reminded me of brown lunch sack fringe.

I'm awaiting feedback to see how these work for her. I'm making some for us too. The type I made won't work well for sloppy sandwiches or food that's very moist. They will be great for crackers, tidy sandwiches, and certain veggies and fruit. These will be a money saver in the long run, and will work well if there's a large rotation. It cost me $10 for supplies to make 16 bags and I will be able to make about 8 more. Even better, I plan on using my scraps I already have to try to get a large supply built up. Oh, and I just ♡ the Mom tattoo material! I might just make my toddler a dress out of it for kicks:)

Thanks Noodleheads!

Being Frugal: A Three Week Summary

2010-05-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few of the ways I've been saving! It's mostly with our grocery budget, but I wanted to show a couple of other things I'm doing, too.

I paid 29¢ for this + a 20oz. pkg of ground turkey not in the picture (we ate it already:).

58¢ for this (16 chocolate bars were free!):

77¢ for these (not to mention the free re-usable Target bag I got last month):

Totally free-I even made money on the pasta sauce.

More money-making pasta sauce.

Of course, coupons matched with sales made the above possible!

Birthday gift for 6 year old boy=$4 + tax. Butterfly net, jungle bubbles, Star Wars kite and that tiny foam ball molding 'stuff' (I don't know what to call it-it never dries out like playdough!) This is the third time we've given this gift in the last two months and it's always a hit, especially the butterfly net. You can find all of this at Dollar Tree. The nets are getting harder to find, though.

And for the last thing: Rebates That Get Dumped On Debt

I love this one! Every time I get a rebate back from a product I've bought, I immediately put it in the 'bank' envelope. This envelope holds any check or money that's going towards the current debt in our debt snowball (That's the car right now. Note too, that we only have 4 debts left. We have paid off the first 5. Our debt-free date according to that calculator is much sooner, too. I'm not sure how to edit that.). I also add any money that I have left over from the budget. The $12 above is from an oil change that cost $18 instead of the $30 I budgeted. I'm starting to feel more comfortable putting budget leftovers on debt as we've gotten a little more streamlined. The bank that holds our car loan must think I'm crazy, because I come in there with these little payments, but I don't care-it's just that much sooner that we'll be free!

Thanks Confessions of a Couponaholic, Hip2Save and my friend, Joelle.

Having Fun, Saving $24 From a Parade?

2010-05-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

This was a fun Saturday for us! We went downtown to see the Jr. Lilac Parade, as our oldest was marching with her middle school band, let the kids play, then went out to eat at our favorite burger joint.

So, I'm not too sure that going to parades is the best strategy for saving money, but we were given two coupons for free haircuts at Sport Clips from one of the paraders (is that even a word?)! Yay! That's a $24 savings for my boys. I usually cut my oldest son's hair, but the younger two have difficult hair to cut. One always looks like I hacked it, and the other has the most gorgeous, wavy hair, that it's hard for me to shear it-I really like to keep him a little longer.

Eating out is something we haven't given up completely, and we budget to eat out about twice a month. We love going to D'Lish! If you like burgers (which they're not a fav for me, but these are so fresh and delicious + their fries are to die for) this is the place to go. The decor leaves a bit to be desired, but after your first bite, you won't care! We've even determined that these beat In-N-Out in California.

Here's a Happy Mother's Day shout out to all of you who work so hard raising up your kiddos. I love being a mom! Our family isn't perfect, and I wouldn't trade what I have or the heartache we've been through in losing our third child, Rose. When I see these five faces, I know why I work as hard as I do with my husband to get our finances right. We want to pass on the money skills that we're learning at our age so that they will have them as they start out their adult lives.

Emma didn't know we were taking her picture. She's usually a very smiley girl:)

Scan Giveaway

2010-05-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

(maybe some day I'll get pictures of food/drink that's not been half eaten or or totally swigged!)

I just had to share this little tidbit I knew nothing about until Sunday! So I went to Albertsons and used some of my doublers and coupons. Here's what I got:

1 bottle of Welch's grape juice with fiber
6 packages of tortillas
2 packages of Oscar Meyer deli lunch meat

My total came to $3.80, which didn't seem right to me. I got out to the car and looked at my receipt and the grape juice rang up at $5.69! I almost fell over (kinda hard to do in a car). I looked at my daughter and told her we had to go back in since that juice should have been $3.

Long story short, the checker refunded me the entire $5.69 for the juice since it had been misrepresented on the display. The fiber juice wasn't included in the sale, so she called it a "scan giveaway". It's an Albertsons policy to refund the entire amount of the item if it rings up wrong (meaning you get the item free!). So I guess the moral here is to always check your receipt! In the end, they paid me $1.89 to get my stuff:)

*Product Update: Ok, so that grape juice with fiber is like colon blow! My two youngest have been going and going, so it does work!

April Grocery Totals

2010-05-02T00:11:00.000-07:00

I knew this month wasn't as good as previous ones! BUT it's still way lower than what I was spending on groceries and more importantly, I was within budget (although my goal is for under $300, I budget $400 for food/household)! So, here it is:

Total Spent on Food: $304.77
Manufacturer's Coupons Used: $155.00
Store Savings: $217.17

image credit: foto factory

Family Coupon Outing

2010-05-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

I'm sure most people would call this crazy, but I took all five kids (and Teddy B, the Kindergarten bear that's visiting our house for the weekend) on a coupon mission. Husband was out of town, so I was the lone adult.

Yesterday was 4/30, the last day to use quite a few coupons in my stash. I saw this post from Pocket Full of Coupons (thanks!) and that was all it took-I was off! I'd been trying to use those darn Seattle's Best latte coupons for a month! Obviously free coffee is a bonus anytime, but I happened to have sixteen of those coupons (thanks Joelle) that would make my 16 coffees free!

So, since I still consider myself in the learning stages of couponing, I decided to make the outing an adventure, a hunt for the coffee. I also told them they could each pick out a box of Cheez-Its at Albertons if they were good at Safeway, where the coffee was (if that seems like a lame 'treat', first of all, my kids all love Cheeze-Its, and second, when you have a bunch of kids on a limited income, you're getting out of debt, and on a budget, simple treats go pretty far) It took our third Safeway for us to finally find the coffee in stock, and we were able to use all 16 coupons!

Let's just say the Philly fam was high-fives all around in the parking lot! I was on a coupon high, and the kids were wanting all that coffee, which I nixed all requests-like taking all my kids wasn't busy enough, I couldn't imagine them jacked on caffeine on top of that!

Unfortunately, when we got to Albertson's my coupons wouldn't match up right for the Cheez-Its, but the kids took it well. I wasn't about to pay $1.50 for the small box, and my kiddos pretty much know Mama doesn't pay full price for anything. But I did get them Head and Shoulders (it was actually a request from two of them) after it was determined that last week my 9 year old son was using Axe body wash on his hair for the last couple of months and creating his own dry scalp. My 13 year old daughter is horrified that her younger brothers use Axe! You know, those racy commercials? If you use Axe, you're supposed to be a babe magnet?

Anyway, it was a fun trip, and completely worth all the work!

BidRx=Paying Less for Prescriptions

2010-04-28T14:33:00.000-07:00

A couple of nights ago I heard Clark Howard on the radio talking about a web site called BidRx. Straight from their site:
"We use the power of BidRx where manufacturers and pharmacies compete to offer the best medicines and best services at the best prices."

I love it! We don't buy a lot of prescriptions right now, but I do know quite a few friends and family who could benefit from something like this. I love competition. It's American, helps the consumer by creating lower prices and keeps companies on their toes.

If you're interested, click on this link to read more about BidRx.

Homemade Wheat-Thins

2010-04-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

Since I had a little extra time this afternoon (I feel a lot better after we had a 12 load laundry folding/putting away-party with the kids while watching Amazing Race last night), I thought I'd make some crackers! I really enjoyed the whole process, but I can't really comment on the final product since I have seasonal allergies and have about zero taste buds right now. 3/5 kids have already reported that they like them. The other two are asleep or at track practice-I'll get their taste-test results tonight:). I just wish I could figure out how much it cost me to make them.

Anyway, here's the recipe I used from the LA Times. Just scroll down on their page till you see the recipe for 'Thin Wheat Crackers.' I used 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1/2C of wheat germ instead of whole wheat flour, olive oil, buttermilk instead of milk and then I brushed them with a honey/water mixture and sprinkled it with just a hint of sugar and sea salt. This recipe did make a little more than the size of a box of Wheat Thins.

Free Bacon!

2010-04-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

I just got an newsletter in my inbox from Kraft First Taste. In it was a coupon that will be mailed to me for a FREE package of Oscar Meyer turkey bacon! Yum! Bacon isn't something I buy a lot of, but my kids inhale it (plus, I always have to buy two packages just to have enough for my family for one meal-all that shrinkage:). Anyway, if you haven't joined Kraft First Taste, go here and sign up!

Being Frugal: A Two Week Summary

2010-04-20T15:48:00.000-07:00

Here's just an update on some of the stuff I've been doing to keep within budget, and always, hopefully, giving us more money to dump on debt.

Just bought 20 reams of paper for $10.10 through a Staples deal
Got 5 sponges, two packs of batteries and a chunk of cheese for $5.97
Made my toddler a dress for under $10 (w/Amy Butler fabric!)
Bought about the cutest summer shoes ever for my two youngest-$22.85 for both, shipped (they were $7.95 each with $6.96 shipping)
Making some reusable snack bags for the kids (thanks, Carol, for getting me motivated to do this for you and us!)
The usual careful, crazy, couponing for my groceries:)

For my online purchases I always go through ShopAtHome.com. It's a great way to get money back on purchases I would have made anyway. Click on this link or the ShopAtHome button on the right, just below my blog archives, if you want to check it out. My cash back total is now at $13.73, and I'll get a check mailed to me when it hits $20-you guessed it, it goes straight to debt!

Thanks Frugal Living NW, Hip2Save and NoodleHeads

A Bit of Money Down the Drain

2010-04-14T14:10:00.000-07:00

You can't win 'em all. This is what happened today:

I heard it, but didn't get to the kitchen in time before 90% of the cereal (out of a huge box) was in a mountain on the floor. The only positive thing I can say about this is that at least I didn't pay much for that box of cereal!

Free Stuff I Got Over the Weekend

2010-04-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

I had a blast this past weekend snatching up some free deals! These were all done with coupons and a little driving to the stores:) The pic on top was actually for 6 Lunchables (the kids at 4 of them before I took pictures!). Emma was kind enough to model the T that we got free at Aeropostale:). I took a third pic, but I think it got lost in compact flash-card-land. Anyway, I used my Albertson's doublers and got two packs of shredded cheese, six pack of yogurt and a box of fruit snacks. Fun! And free!

Debt Paydown Update

2010-04-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a summary of what we've done since 11/09:

Starting debt: $65708.23
Total Paid: $6553.86
Total Remaining: $59154.37

This does not include the house. That will come further down in our plan.
Our tax return helped with some of this pay down, but we had to save a large chunk of that to pay in full our part of the sewer that's coming this summer.

We've paid off all our small debts and are now on to only four left (and yes, only one credit card!), but they are pretty substantial. Now we are in for what will be the long haul, but the fire is still raging and we won't stop till we're at ZERO!

image credit: Aloysius Patrimonio/Photo Express

Cheap Hoodies, Tops at Walmart

2010-04-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

Found these today: $3 clearanced hoodies, tops. Turtlenecks were $1! These are at the North side Spokane store.

Changing Fonts to Reduce Printing Costs

2010-04-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

I just read an interesting post here about changing your font to a money-saving one. The thinner the lines in the font, the less ink a printer will use. So fonts such as Century Gothic and New Times Roman are more money-friendly than Arial, which has thicker lines. The post claimed that you could save up to $20 a year on ink! For us, more money saved anywhere means more money to put on debt.

I had to finally buy a new printer because two months into my couponing I realized that it was going to be a long road with our Epson ink jet printer. We use it mainly to print on DVD's for my husband's video work. What I really needed was a laser printer. Safeway wasn't even taking my printable coupons because they wouldn't scan.

After looking for few weeks, I woke up one Sunday and checked the ads and found that Staples had exactly what I was looking for at the right price. I wound up getting a Brother (model HL-2140-that's my lovely printer in the picture) black/white only laser printer for $49! Good price:) I love it! It does exactly what I want it to, and I have zero problems with my printable coupons scanning at checkout.
Thanks Money Saving Mom!

House Party McDonald’s® McNuggets® and Shrek Forever After™ House Party™

2010-04-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

I've just discovered House Party! Just wanted to share this with you in case this looks something you might want to do-the possibilities are endless! Some of you are such good hostesses, I would think this would be great way to try out new products (for free) and hang out with friends and family. Any way, the one I just signed up for is a Shrek/McDonald's party hosted by, yours truly (um, that is, if I get chosen to host!). There are several parties to apply for, so click on the link below or the first link, above for other parties:

House Party McDonald’s® McNuggets® and Shrek Forever After™ House Party™

Thanks Couponers United

My First Trip to a Community Restaurant

2010-04-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I had the opportunity to eat lunch at One World Spokane. Located on East Sprague, I had read an article in the S-R last week and was so excited to try it out. I knew there was one person who would share my enthusiasm. I called my friend Lindsay, and she was 100% on board.

So here's what it is: A non-profit, community kitchen that provides organic, healthy meals to everyone. You choose how much food you want and how much to pay. If you aren't able to pay, you're not turned away, even if you're not able to volunteer your time.

Here's what I had:

horseradish and potato soup with kale
whole wheat bulgur topped with a tofu and pork curry
jicama and bell pepper salad
steamed cabbage
roasted potatoes seasoned with dill

I had a very small serving of the soup and cabbage (just so I could sample them) and an average serving of the rest. The diner picks the amount of food to eat so that nothing is wasted. I ate all of it and decided to pay $4. Was that enough? I don't know! If it had been a "regular restaurant" it would have been over $10. I believe I was paying for food only, not all the other overhead. These are the suggested donation amounts: $4 for a small plate, $6- medium and $8-large.

We just missed the mung bean quiche, but it looked fabulous as it came out of the oven. My meal was wonderful, and we both anticipate going again. If you want to check it out or learn more here's the info:

1804 E. Sprague
509-270-1608
www.oneworldspokane.org
image credit: Spokesman Review

March Grocery Totals

2010-04-02T23:17:00.000-07:00

Good month! I came in under my goal of $300!

So here's the numbers:

Total spent on food: $277.74
Manufacturer Coupons Used: $145.55
Store Savings: $248.53
I will say it was getting pretty dull with the food options the last few days, but I just made it work with what I had in my pantry. I kind of challenge myself to use up what we have, even if it means someone not liking it. Do you know how hard it is to find food that seven people like for the same meal? I aim to please with my cooking, but don't go crazy trying to make everyone happy.

My Goals For Spring Break

2010-03-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

So, with Spring Break comes a break for me, too! Not really. I take the week off from watching kids, but there's some things I can't do while they're here. Mainly, it involves finishing up some projects. So here's the list:

Complete a handbag I started a year ago for my Mother-In-Law
make 4 sets of cloth sandwich bags for my favorite girl, Carol, and her fam
~~make Kate some new hair clips with my ribbon grab bag that just came in the mail~~
~~get a rid of expired coupons~~
make a new chore list for the four oldest kids and implement
go through my room and make it sparkling again:)
~~finish the details for Luke's 6th birthday~~
~~get some really cheap Easter candy~~!

This is in addition to all the stuff I normally do, so I think I'm being realistic:) I'll let you know how it goes come Sunday, April 4th!

Update: It's Monday and you can see that I got half of my list finished. Ugh! Not what I'd hoped for, but I'm forever an optimist. I'd rather have more on my list than not enough. In return, I got to spend some unanticipated time with family and friends. I'd say I still came out ahead:)

Here's some of the hair clips I made. I was a machine and cranked out quite a few. I even made some for my nieces to match their Easter dresses. I'll be posting later about making your own hair stuff-a great way to save money if you have a little girl.

Thanks La Vida Cheapo for inspiring me to post my to-do list for this week!

Best Recipe for Cooked Chicken

2010-03-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

When a recipe calls for recipe-ready chicken (such as in a chicken and rice casserole) this is how I always prepare mine, courtesy of Super Suppers cookbook, page 7:

Poaching Chicken Breasts:

Place desired number of chicken breasts in saucepan with a lid. Cover breasts with water. Place over high heat, uncovered, and bring to a boil. When water is at a full boil, follow these steps: 1)Place lid on pan 2)Remove from heat 3)Set a timer for 20 minutes.
No matter how many chicken breast you have, from 1 to 20, this method will always produce juicy, tender, perfectly cooked chicken. If freezing cooked breasts, place in a freezer bag and add enough cooled cooking liquid to cover breasts. This will help insulate meat from freezer burn.

I never add the cooking water to mine to freeze, but it sounds like a good plan. I just cut it up into small cubes or shred. I used this recipe over the weekend after scoring some super cheap split chicken breasts at Yokes ($.99/lb) and had to get them cooked and in the freezer quick.

I also must add that the thought of poaching chicken was unappealing to me. One day I was short on time and tried it. I love it! I don't overcook chicken anymore, and it works great in my recipes.