Mommy Can I

Although we could afford to continue paying to have what we want, we are trying to reduce some credit debt, so we are going to sacrafice things we do not need.

1. I reduced our cable package to $29.99 and we now have 50 channels, plus all local channels. Sports channels will just have to go to the back burner until Fall.

2. We are dropping our prepaid cell phones and getting cell phone service bundled into our Qwest package. This will give us more reliable service and it will be roughly the same amount we were purchasing the prepaid cards for. We did have to pay for the cell phones, but I got 2 cell phones for under $25.00.

3. Once we activate the cell phones, I will cancel our unlimited long distance of $20/month and just get a minute plan for the home phone for emergencies.

Total savings:

DirecTV  $50.99 to $29.99 = $21.00 savings

Cell phone  $45 – $60 to $60.99 = $0 savings

Home phone  $59.99 to $30 – $40 = $19 to $29 savings

Every little bit helps.

I think we are going to look at how we can reduce our energy costs. Our electric bill is only $65/month, but seems to be high considering we’ve replaced all the bulbs. May need to unplug things.

Our grocery bill stays constant at roughly $300 to $400 a month. We’ve GOT to stop eating out! I’ve budgeted $50/month for eating out, but we usually go over that. May need to go on a cash system and then when the money is gone, no more eating out.

I’m attempting to contact my credit card companies, hopefully tomorrow, and ask for a lower interest rate, or a credit limit increase on my lower rate card to transfer my other balances to it. We already were able to get a consolidation loan for 1/2 of the debt, mostly Husband’s, but if I could consolidate my own, then it would save even more.

My paychecks are going to paying off my debt, which will start back up this month. We had some family expenses; soccer, new shoes, etc. that popped up, so we took care of that with cash instead of charging it, which I have to say was very liberating!

Well, I did okay in writing down everything we ate from the food boxes. We were all not feeling that great so we at a lot of leftovers.

The first meal I made from the boxes was last Tuesday. We had a pork loin in last months box and I cut it into 1 inches pieces and I cooked it with some cooking spray on top of the stove. We also fixed the box of macaroni and cheese and peas that we already had.

On Sunday I fixed a pork roast that was in the meat box I purchased from AFM. It was good. Enough for a family of 4 for sure. We had 1/3 of it leftover, so tonight I will be making bbq sandwiches and some french fries, which also came in the food box.

I was unable to purchase the box for September, but I may still write down what I am fixing each evening.

Oh, the individual meals in the senior box, I purchased those, and they are great for those nights that you just don’t know what to have. That way, everybody can pick what they want.

So, I was reading the paper yesterday and there was a full page ad for FREE day at the Art Museum here in our local metropolitan city. I thought that was really cool. It’s the first Saturday of every month from 10am – 5pm. So, as soon as Husband finishes covering up the swamp cooler, we are headed to the museum! I’ll be sure to post how it goes.

That’s a good tip for all of you trying to watch your pennies. Look around your area, subscribe to the newspaper of the biggest city closest to you, like 30 miles or less away. They always have a preview of what to do for the weekend. We only get the Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun paper. There are a LOT of things to do this weekend for free, but we chose the art museum since Scoober is interested in painting now.

On the 18th it’s FREE day at the ZOO! If you have local attractions near you go to their website. Most of the time their FREE days aren’t always advertised!

My mom is my inspiration in how to find ways to save money. I posted the other day of a couple things that I found and that my mom helped me find. Here is another one:

www.angeltreeministries.com

This is not only a charitable organization, they are now supplying $30 food boxes for you to purchase. Go to the website and type in your zip code to find out if there is a host site where you are. There is one near me and the $30 food box gets you a LOT of different things, fresh and frozen included. Also, once you purchase the $30 food box, you can purchase special boxes ranging from $18 to $20. One of the $18 boxes includes fresh fruit and veggies! My location requires that you pay in advance giving a deadline to place an order. They even accept Paypal payments, food stamps, cash or credit card payments over the telephone.

This is one way to stretch your grocery dollar. Most things in the $30 box are things you’d normally buy at the store, including milk!

Today it’s even harder to shop frugally and find bargains, and have enough to feed our families. Personally, I try to be as frugal as possible, but I’m still learning. My mother is VERY good at it and seems to stretch a dollar further than you could imagine. With 3 of us growing up, she had to find ways to feed everyone without breaking the bank.

Now, I have 4 people to feed, including myself. Winks is just 6 months old, but she’s starting on baby food and she’ll soon be joining us. I budget $400/mo for food, toiletries, etc.

Today I decided that I would go to Wal-Mart for all my shopping needs. I usually go to either King Soopers (Kroger partner) or to Safeway. Both stores had attractive sales, but if you don’t buy their sale items, everything else seems to be much higher than Wal-Mart. So, off to Wal-mart I went. Guess what? I spent about $50 to $60 less!

Now, I bought some items that weren’t budgeted for, but most everything else was food. I got enough food that should last us for 2 weeks, until next payday. The only thing I should be heading back to the store for is milk, bread, eggs, and formula. This past weekend, we bought granola bars, snack mix, and cereal at Costco which is like Sams Club. I also buy my formula there twice a month, diapers once a month and wipes every 3 months. That’s how I save a LOT of money!

So, now I have $99 leftover to buy any other groceries for next week!

I’ve learned also to shop for meat when it’s on sale and STOCK UP! One of our stores has a buy one get one free meat sale once a month, so I usually buy a couple roasts, and then I get 2 roasts free! I also use a lot of ground turkey, so when it goes on sale I buy a lot of it, too. Plus, Costco has the ground turkey in 1 1/2 lb packages, 4 packages for about $12.00, which is pretty good.

This shopping trip today, I didn’t use any coupons, but if I could get my hand on some for the cleaning supplies, etc. I would use them. I buy mostly the Great Value brand that Wal-Mart has because it’s just as good as the name brand. There are some things I buy name brand, but I buy generic whenever I can.