Set backs and frustrations

Well, if anyone viewed my blog when I first made it you will realize I quit almost before I started!!! Some motivational person I am, huh?  Here's a breakdown of my 2016 any why I didn't feel much motivation to keep blogging:

• At the beginning of January I found out I was pregnant with child #3!  This was exciting for our family, yet as you can probably imagine pregnancies and births can be a bit costly.  But that was ok, I told myself. Instead of putting all my extra money towards my debt I will put in savings and continue with my goal. After baby comes, whatever is left we will put toward the debt!  
• Great plan, until February came around and my child #2 broke his arm!  Being a first timer to a broken arm I had no idea how much it would even cost!  Plus, my insurance made me jump through hoops since he broke it at a friends house....6 months later I was finally able to put it behind us. 
• In June: We had some car issues. A new computer board and $1,000+ dollars later it was back and running...
• BUT...only for 1 week!!! Oh. My. Word.  This year was getting financially difficult! This time it was the engine. In the same car we just put a grand into. This time we decided we wouldn't get it fixed. We'd already put so much money into this car and several thousand to get it fixed now didn't seem worth it. But we still needed a car to fit my 3 children plus the 2 children I babysit....
• So, we fixed up our truck to get us by for a little bit.  I didn't feel comfortable putting my kids or the kids I babysit in the front seat of the truck.....
• So, we bought a used mini van for $2800.  So far so good.  

As you can tell, things were a bit tight.  With all that I lost A LOT of motivation and probably didn't save as much as we could have.  But, we are coming to a new year and things are looking bright! I am extremely grateful however that we has the cash set aside that we could cash flow all of these events.  Sometimes, we just have to look for our blessings even if they aren't how we pictured them in our minds. 

Ways to save on groceries...

After the mortgage and utilities, groceries are probably what I spend the most on per month.  So how do we save on something we need???

Here are a few tips:

• Make a menu plan.  Whether you do this monthly or weekly, do it. It will prevent you from buying things you don't need. This one has been difficult for me because I love to just make whatever I feel like making the night of. However, I can see the great benefits in it and this year I have vowed to be a better menu planner.
• Using recipes that are cheap. This is where things get a little creative. Have you seen the website $5 Dinners? It has a huge compilation of cheap dinners. Even though 5 bucks is pretty cheap for dinner, the cheaper I can get it the better.  That means on some recipes I leave some ingredients out.  This will be a personal decision on what works for you and your family.  One huge money saving tip for me is to use half the meat than what the recipe calls for. This works for most recipes, especially ground beef recipes.  And on the plus side, less meat is usually healthier for you!
• Write down all your "go to" recipes.  This will make it easier as you sit down to make your monthly/weekly/biweekly menu. I even include the average cost of each meal. That way as I plan the meals (usually monthly for me) I can make sure I am averaging the cost of each meal.  I usually try to have super cheap meals every other day (Potato soup, beans and rice, bean burritos, etc.). Sunday is the day I allow us to splurge a little and make the meals that are a bit over that $5 dollar mark (lasagna, roast, etc.). 
• Coupons.  I am not huge into couponing for the most part. I get how you can save a ton with it. But for me, I found that I was purchasing things I wouldn't normally purchase. Sure my family would consume it, but we really didn't need the things I was buying. Usually I can get the same product for cheaper buying the generic brand. However, ibotta is great (using this link will get you and me more).  This is where you can save a lot. They are basically rebates for the things you purchase. But when you use this on top of sales, discounts and manufacture coupons, that is when you really save. I still try to make sure then things I buy will benefit not hinder my ultimate goal of saving money. (Tip: sign up with ibotta using your facebook login, this will help get your more benefits using "teamwork"). I usually scan this website before going grocery shopping: thekrazycouponlady.com
• Buy in bulk and buy ahead. Watch your monthly budget closely, but when you can afford it buy extra of the things you can use down the road for other recipes if they are on great sale. For example, over Christmas I bought a ham for $11 and then I cut it into cubes and separated them into freezer bags. This got me 9 bags of ham to use in 9 separate meals! I also boiled down the ham hock to make a broth that I later used to make ham corn chowder. It also gave me some ham pieces that I missed that I put into the chowder too. So that was 10 meals! This trick works even better with turkey because you can get more for your money.  You can also use this trick with your dry and canned goods as well.  We have case lot sales twice year in my area, I definitely take advantage.
• Utilize leftovers. Be sure to save your leftovers. They make for great lunches the next day. Sometimes things are great for freezing too. If I don't think I can get through eating the leftovers from the fridge I put them in a freezer container and freeze them.

The budget...

If you don't yet budget your money. Do it. DO IT NOW!

 This has helped us so much! A few years back I picked up Dave Ramsey's book "Total Money Makeover". I highly recommend reading this book! I borrowed mine from the local library, since I am to cheap to buy it :). Anyway, he recommends the "Zero based budget".  You can find an explanation of it here.

For the longest time I would print out a budget sheet each month and fill in the blanks.  Once I got use to it, I created a spreadsheet so that I didn't have random budgeting papers all over the house :). But to get you started this is an easy way: The Basic Quicke Budget.

I love budgeting now.  I am not sure why, nor do I really know how to explain it. But I love it. I get a kick out of it. I enjoy finding out what our paycheck amount is (this fluctuates because my husband is in Sales). Then I punch in the numbers and make the dollar stretch.  Whether or not you are weird like me, a budget really is important.




Making an excel spreadsheet allowed me to make this more specific to our bills as well as easily track how much I put towards debt each month.

This year will certainly test my budgeting skills! I am up for the challenge, are you???

2016....Ready. Set. Go!

Debt free in 14 months!

Can we do it???

Last year our gross income was just over $50,000.  Our total debt owed is $26,000...yikes!  

There are many in my life that are skeptical that I could even come close to this goal.  I am set to prove them wrong! Ok, so maybe I there is a chance that I won't reach the goal. But one thing I do know, if I work hard and bust my butt trying to accomplish this goal I will be much closer to becoming debt free than had I never tried at all.    

Here are a few more specific things about us and this goal:

• This debt is solely from student loans.  This goal does not include our home in which we owe $70,000 on. That goal will be for another time.
• I work 1 day a week. The rest of the time I stay home with our 2 children.  I do not plan to take any additional time away from the home. (aside from an occasional "fill-in" for a co-worker)
• I make this blog to help keep myself encouraged about our goal and to hopefully inspire others in our same situation.

The goal's end date is February 28, 2017. Jump on board and be on the way to freedom!