Going Out? Not before you do your HOMEWORK.

        A collective sigh from all the parents, sigh...today is the final day of spring break. Next week will bring the busyness of school, homework, gymnastic classes, sports practices, lunch packing, getting to school on time chaos.  This escape from reality has been FABULOUS.  So today, on our final day of fabulous slowing down time, we want to enjoy one last activity/outing.
         Yesterday, I had posted on how little I had spent over spring break ($35 in out to eat/dessert/ice cream after the beach/ $5 in entry fees at the beach/ $15 on the movies thanks to a Stubs card discount and free soda coupon for my birthday---totaling only $55 so far.)  in hopes that we could splurge a little with a trip to Orlando when my husband is off work tomorrow and still have money left in our bank account.  But today, my husband IS at work, and the kids and I refuse to stay home on the final day of spring break. 
          Execute bargain brainstorming.  This is something you can do each time you leave your home in hopes of adventure/relaxation/or an outing.  Take stock of any free or reduced perks you might have--but have forgotten about BEFORE leaving your house.

1.  Check out your coupon spot.  Are there any freebies or deals you had tucked away in a file folder on a bulletin board. Perhaps today is the day to redeem those deals you forgot you had.
2.  Groupon?  Do you have unused Groupons in your account? Do they have a Groupon for an activity you would love to do today?  If you have never groupon, here is a link---this is my number favorite deal site on the internet. They have terrific local deals organized so neatly you can easily find what you want, and businesses never hassle me about redeeming them!  If you use this link to sign up, I get $10 in credit

https://www.groupon.com/visitor_referral/h/20dcd094-be9f-4e03-acb3-5b00de05cd5e so high fives to you if you use it! Thanks!!

   Today, bowling might be the activity of choice because I have a Groupon to bowl for 4 I paid $23 for months ago but have not redeemed yet. That would make today's activity cost nothing out of pocket today and truly it is a deal because if I took 4 of us bowling today without a Groupon, it would NOT cost $23. 
3. Gift Certificates? Perhaps you forgot about a gift from a co-worker left over from Christmas? Check your wallet...I have a punch card in my wallet I tend to forget about that allows my kids to ride the carousel at a nearby park I had bought over a year ago at a deep discount.  You may have a certificate for a meal or snack out or a movie ticket tucked away safe in your wallet, but completely forgotten.
4. Check the Calendar....  Many businesses offer discounts or deals on days of the week (kids eat free days, discount days) think of what day of the week it is. If you have a place in mind, check out their website to see if they offer any deals on the day you want to go. Our science museum here does $5 day on Fridays so we avoid going any other day.
5. Think about the memberships you have that you could use. The YMCA pool, zoo memberships, museums ect. We tend to visit the zoo often since we paid for the annual membership and with it comes discounts to many other zoos which we have used for our outings in the past.
      If you come up dry on steps 1-5, then you may just decide to go and pay full price anyways, but you can spend in peace if you know that you attempted to live the life you want with your littles for less.  There is a certain defeat that comes with paying full price and learning after the fact you could have had the same meal or experience for less --if you had done a little homework!

Enjoy a Little Time With a Little Money and Your Little Ones

       Spring Break has sprung! As a teacher, this is just a warm up to summer break, but still I am so welcome and so blessed to spend a week with my children.  We have even had extra time to spend time with friends and volunteer more.  Each morning I start with a little "extra" cleaning---spring cleaning, I guess!  Our family game cabinet was way over due with random pieces and crazy stacking action, as well as my laundry room, bathroom vanities, ugggg.   I am a firm believer if teachers did not have off spring and summer break, teacher's homes, at least my home, would be an avalanche of undone housework.  These breaks allow me to catch up on appointments, organizing, financial planning, But I do know that putting my house together, although fulfilling-----cannot dominate spring break!  Therefore, I have been designating morning (while the kids are in their jammies, still quite sleepy and calm) as cleaning time and then as the clock clicks closer to noon, getting my kids dressed and out of the house around lunchtime. I do not want my kids only memories of spring break to be mommy cleaning!  We have adventured out to the beach, a picnic, a park, swimming at a friend's, dessert outing, goodwill shopping (yes, they like this!) Of course, they all have a similar price tag (free or close it) I do believe my kids have had fun on these small adventures.  Tomorrow will be our final day of this fabulous break, and we will eat lunch at a friend's house and then meet more friends at the community pool. That price tag still matches!  Perfect, that leaves money to enjoy if we would like over the weekend when my husband is off work as well. I am thankful I am not one of those people who think the more money you spend, the more fun you are having.  I challenge you all to see how much fun you can have without spending much money!  Enjoy your kids, enjoy your time off work, enjoy your spouses, and find things you can enjoy with or without a lot of cash.

Party Planning

    Ahhhh, I am officially sitting down to relax for the first time today!  Little time crept in today with a shopping trip for a dog bed (is that a need or want...? we LOVE our fur babies) and a quick run through Publix for fresh fruit for healthy snacks.  Thankfully, I cooked dinner in the CrockPot, so I was able to stay out of the kitchen for a while and squeeze more into my day.
    What seems to be creeping into my mind daily is my kid who is not little.   Our oldest "child" is actually not a child at all at age 18, and t-minus 3 months until graduation.  I am so excited for this event and we have some fab friends and family making the trek to celebrate with us!  Party!!
     I want to celebrate this achievement with no stress of money nor forced cutting of corners, although I am budgeting this will cost a small treasure. How am I tackling this? Gift card stockpiling!
     Each time we get paid, although we are pulling money for retirement accounts and transferring money into savings, I try to save one more way. I grab a gift card to the grocery store and put $30 or $40 on it. Then I bring it home and tuck it away in my safe spot.  My goal is $400 in gift cards by graduation. If we happen to not need them all, we will have no problem easing our summer budget using the rest on regular grocery shopping.  This seems to be an easy, simple way to save for bigger events without mixing the money in a bank account so it is clearly designated for it's purpose.
    Please post your thoughts on this or any other methods to prep for big parties and events!

The Secret to Saving Should Not Be Kept Secret!

     Here it is, as promised, from last night's post.  THE secret we have discovered this past year about how to save significant quantities of cash is contained in this post in an easy to follow step-by-step process.

1.  Open a secondary savings account, one that you cannot access online for easy transfers.  At our credit union, our primary savings account is connected online but the money makeover account we began with just $5 required a visit to the building to withdraw funds.  This sounds like the opposite of what everybody wants with banking by smartphone, texting transfers between accounts, techno-banking boom. But trust me, this trick is hugely helpful!  We socked away dollar after dollar and withdrew only when truly needed.  The extra step of showing up at a physical location to pull money out of savings slowed down spending from that account big time.

2. Set up an automatic withdrawal from your checking account into savings each payday.  The beauty of the automatic transfer is it can never be skipped. Scary to you? If you truly need the money just transfer it right back out. But for us, we kept the amount small ($40) and knew if we had extra we could toss it in along with it with a visit to the bank.  This is the way my retirement accounts get pulled from my paychecks as well so I can never skip tucking away money for retirement.

3.  When the money surprises come up-the good ones- try to put part (if not more---I follow the rule of thirds save/spend/debt) away in your savings. Just like cutting calories can slow and steadily shed weight, every effort to save results in a higher balance and in time even $5 bills can add up to large amounts.

4. Try to forget you have a hard-to-get savings account. When your checking account balance starts to wane, live like you are broke; slow down or stop the spending.  Do not pull the money unless it is necessary (i.e. a large, unexpected bill, a miscalculation in a budget leaving you short, a fabulous deal on something you were in the market to buy when the timing was right.)

      These steps took our savings account from $5 to $5400 in six months, along with another $600 tucked away in retirement.  That amount has since been drained some (we were pushing hard trying to win a contest) but I am confident we could get our balance back by following the above steps.  

      Any other savings tips you have to build savings accounts are wanted and welcomed!!!

Disappearing Dollar$

     I have never owned a new car, I am sure it is amazing to drive and have a brand new, never been owned vehicle, and I can certainly see how one would enjoy that experience. But truly, I do not think I will EVER buy a new car.  Even regardless of my income, or my savings- I just do not enjoy overspending.
     Last month, my husband and I did something we have NEVER done before. Our teenager recently began her first job at  a restaurant. Restaurant hours of late nights and weekends coupled with my early morning work schedule meant only one thing. It was time to bring in another car. Finding a car that met all of our criteria and our budget was not easy. But after a few months,  a perk of my husband's job building and installing custom cabinetry paid off. At a job site, he found our next vehicle: a 2001 Cadillac Deville with 90,000 miles. Sold. FOR CASH.
     In the past each vehicle purchase brought along with it a car payment, which served a very annoying purpose---keeping up poor.  Large chunks from our bank account were forked out each month, leaving us some crumbs to attempt to improve our situation.  By paying cash for our next vehicle, our monthly budget was not affected at all, but what I think felt even better? Having the freedom to say, "I like that car. I think I will buy it." and driving to the bank to pull out the cash. {A year ago, this freedom would not have been possible. It was only through our serious saving plan we began in May that the money was there in the first place.  I do believe I discovered the secret to saving a good portion of money and will blog on this topic next time.)
    I understand this is not for everybody, and certainly some readers are rolling their eyes in exasperation at the idea of driving an old car.  Whatever will the world think of us?
      Here is what I am thinking.   Fourteen years ago, this car sold for $43,000.  We bought it for $2,000. $41,000 has gone to line the pockets of some corporation.  The same thing happens with phones, computers, clothes, toys and still Americans are willing to spend until they are maxed out on these items that will soon be worth close to nothing compared to the cash they spent on them.  As for me and my family, we will continue to purchase used when we can to propel our family forward as we continue to build our financial fitness.
     What about you? Would you ever buy used?

Goooooooooals!

     Morning radio is more talk than music it seems, and that is typically not my thing. I tend to flip the channel quickly when someone starts talking because I just want to zone out and not think for a bit on my ride to work.  But this morning, a radio dj did her job. I actually listened to not only her sentence, but her whole dialogue.  Even more surprising, I liked what she had to say, and I am going to try it.
     Each month she and her husband sit down and set a few goals for the new month. They can be dietary, fitness, financial or truly anything; but they are quick little attainable goals for the month.
      That is exactly my style. I love goals, and short-term goals are things I could actually succeed at!
So here they are:
My March 2015 Goals
1. Save $168 each paycheck we receive in the household---random number it may seem, but in my budget this dollar amount hits my target to pay back $2000 we paid for a used car in February by summertime.
2.  Plank 60 seconds continuously.  I started planking back in January of this year after seeing a fabulous drawing of the many muscles used in a plank. At first, they were sad (to the point hubby said, "that is not a plank") and short. But I am currently at 40 seconds and believe a second more each day (like 41 seconds tomorrow, 42 the day after that) will have me there by April.
3. Pray before getting on Facebook. Every day. Because all things trump Facebook, especially my maker.
4.  Create a do-it-yourself project in each child's room that each children can contribute to, work on, and feel the joy of improving their space.  My son's project was actually started tonight, and I will have to blog on it once it is complete. It is seeming like it will be awesome!!!

I would LOVE to check each of these goals off the list by April 1st and I think this could be a new addition for me life. Who would like to join with me? Who is willing to share their goals on my blog? I would love to cheer you on! There is something to be said for writing goals down as well---they are far more likely to be met when they are verbalized.  If nothing else, just post that you have set a goal but are keeping it private if you must.  Continue moving forward and making more of your life with little-little time, little kids, little money.

Money Makeover Time!

     If you are a local reader, I strongly recommend using VyStar Credit Union for your banking needs.  We have found this bank to be the fairest as far as fees and interest rates.  But they go above and beyond than handling your money as a bank would. They are actually great financial educators.  They strive to encourage their members to save money and reduce debt.
     In May 2014, we began their "Money Makeover".  It did involve eating a large slice of humble pie, and bringing a (then) stranger into our circle of trust.  This was worse that being naked in front of a stranger. Our money coach had access to our financial situation--all of it, uncensored.
     For six months, we met with her regularly. We reviewed where our money went each paycheck and how much progress we had made by saving and paying down debt.  Unfortunately, we did not win the contest---(which could have been up to $8,000 in prize money!) but my husband and I agree we DID win. We learned something more valuable. We learned how to save our money, live within our means, and significantly reduce debts.  At the end of the contest, November 1st, we were free to do whatever we would like with our savings.  I had dreamed about spending the savings the entire contest.  But something strange happened. Even when it didn't matter if we saved or we spent since the contest was over---we chose to save!  It is time for a new crew of money makeover contestants to apply- and eventually win.  If you are local I strongly suggest you apply, regardless of your financial picture.  There is always room for improvement. Here is the link http://www.vystarcu.org/home/news/current/moneymakeover
If you are out of the area, there are directions for how to complete your own money makeover as well.
      I would love to see one of my readers apply!  This had been a game changer for our entire family and the best financial decision I have ever made.  Good Luck!

The Miley Cyrus Connection---It's a Good Thing!

             Can I be annoyingly happy for a post?  Typically, I spend my life envying the stay-at-home moms (SAHM) who get to take care of (only) their children while I shuffle off to conquer the education of 18 kindergarteners. But for the next two months, like Hannah Montana, I get the "best of both worlds!" I used the quotation marks to emphasize I am singing that line.  June and July are full of uninterrupted days with my own children. We will cook meals, clean and organize our house (like a good housewife would) AND we get to enjoy outings together, which I try to do daily as a quality time together activity.   I get to feel (mostly) like a SAHM.  Yet, even better? I still get a paycheck.  Hence the best of both worlds, home with my children and a paycheck to boot.
               This afternoon was the start of the SAHM season, after a dicey meeting at work. The meeting was dicey only because my children were WITH me at the meeting while we waited for my teenager to finish band practice and pick them up.  Unfortunately, band practice went LONG and my little kids embarrassed me at my workplace relentlessly. But I digress, at noon, our meeting was dismissed and summer break could begin!
                 I was ready to go live it up!  I was dressed, my kids were too, but 12:30 p.m. meant lunch and a nap.  After cooking a fine meal of macaroni and cheese, I tried to encourage my son to take his nap.  He wasn't going for it. So I did what any mom desperate to enjoy her new-found freedom would do. I bribed him, telling him that when he awoke, I would take him to Chuck E. Cheese.  Mission accomplished. Down my boy crashed, and soon after, I joined him (this is very strange, I am usually not a napper, but today's nap felt good--who knew?)
               Upon waking, all kids (even my teen!) remembered the promise, and shoes were on.  I grabbed some refillable Chuck E. Cheese cups they give out a parties and will let you refill for free, a few tokens and tickets we had leftover from our last trip, and my daughter's report card.  I call this scrounging for anything that will help you save on an outing, and we also scrounged online for coupons to use, too.
               Who knew my three kids could have so much fun for $10. Yes, that is all I spent for them to play an hour.  My younger daughter had brought her report card, for which they gave her another 10 free tokens. Fun was had by all and when they money ran out, they cashed in their tickets and chose a prize.
             We left Chuck E. Cheese in a complete downpour. Of course, I offered to run to the car and pick up the kids at the door, but even that 20 seconds out in this rain left me completely drenched.  I hope my kids remember fondly me running out the door as I screamed from the rain as a bolted to our car.
             On the way home, we stopped by for a free Redbox rental I had been emailed earlier that day, which is perfect since Friday night is our movie night.  I popped popcorn over the stove (yes! you can do that!) and we all gobbled up the buttery goodness.
              Altogether, my first day of summer mom cost me $10.20.  I am looking forward to finding many ways we can enjoy this special time without emptying my bank account.

16 years later....

      I can finally say I am credit card balance free!!!!  Not debt-free, but we are making some progress! At about the age of 20 I realized how EASY it was to get a credit card, and how FUN it was to use it. Even though I was a single mom in college working as a waitress, I had my hair done regularly, brand name clothes, and dined at fabulous restaurants.  HOW could I afford that? V-I-S-A and her sly cousins; namely Victoria's Secret, Express, NY and Company, you name the store, I had the card. And if I had the card I used it.  And if the money was there, I paid the bill. If it wasn't, I played it like Vegas and let it ride.  This has been a well-taught lesson I will NEVER forget. I am still dealing with consequences of actions sixteen years later.
      However, today I have HOPE.  Meeting number two with our money coach will have enough for me to work on and blog about for weeks and it is a beautiful day here in Florida.  We have a reserved deck with food and drinks at the minor league baseball fields tonight courtesy or my teacher's union, and so I have to keep this short and sweet.
      Today, we were able to pay our large Visa balance in full, as well as a consolidation of a few medical bills by taking out a personal loan.  The terms are five years, at 9.24%, but we are budgeting to pay double the payments and finish in 2.5 years.  That will be an interest savings of about $550 per year (an extra half of a paycheck!) and $1500 saved for the remainder of the loan if I maintain the paid off in 2.5 years plan. Can you say "ecstatic"??? I can and I am. If you can resonate with the monkey-on-your-back Visa like I have loathed for years, you should give this option a try.
    Some other juicy tidbits from our meeting I will be posting when it is not 90 degrees and sunny on a long weekend....

• Check out creditkarma.com---It gives you a free credit score, and my favorite part was the report card feature detailing where your credit is suffering and excelling. Bonus? My score was 40 points higher than the bank said it was two weeks ago.  I am wondering if adding my name to my husband's cards is already paying off? Or if old marks just happened to drop off? Or, if it is an accuracy issue. I will be checking again and checking often.
• Open another savings account that you do not touch, and keep as true savings.  I opened mine today with $5 and am going to add money I save via coupons/sales/ect. to set aside as evidence my frugal ways are benefiting our family. I will be posting more on this soon.
• BUMP UP the amount you put in your retirement account.  I talked to an old co-worker who retired a year ago today, and she has me MOTIVATED to retire in my 50's like her. You will not regret saving for retirement.
• Look closely at your paystubs for any other "fat" you can trim.  I want my $25/paycheck I have been paying to the teacher's union and will be leaving the union soon.

Our Real Motivation

    Our kids hopped on their bikes tonight, squeezing the last drips out of a gorgeous Florida spring day.  My husband had lowered the seat on my daughter's free bike scored last night and it was certainly a perfect fit.  I watched her a bit and then crept back in the house to prepare one of the new recipes I had shopped for on Saturday.  It was a winner, turkey meatballs with tomato and mozzarella cheese squished inside, served over noodles and marinara sauce.  My newly licensed driver took one of the littles to the library to pick out some new books, which both littles climbed up into my son's top bunk to read before bed.  A strange leak from the minivan sent my husband to the auto parts store for some free advice and a extra part they had lying around.  After finishing some cute end-of-the year photos for my students at school and cleaning the kitchen, I poured myself a glass of wine and enjoyed the many successes of the day. Tomorrow is a Friday, and I am looking forward to movie night tomorrow (I have a free Redbox code), Saturday brings our money coach meeting (which I believe will have some exciting news!) plus a Jacksonville Suns game that night (free for the whole family, including food, from my teacher's union).  Sunday will be church followed by a trip to the beach (completely free, huge perk of living near the coast), and Monday will be a Memorial picnic/pool party with our best friends (for the cost of lots of corn on the cob, a dessert, and beverages).  But this is what is funny to me; these things are the things I post as ways to enjoy life and spend less.  People might think we do them because we are cheap or free, and they would be wrong. We do them because this is our life. This is what we enjoy. And tonight, at this outlet sale kitchen table I believe I posted about months ago, there is no where else I would rather be. I hope you can all say the same, sitting, reading this, wherever you might be. Enjoy the little things this upcoming weekend!

Free To A Good Home....Beautiful Words!

        There is no such thing as a free kitten. Agreed.  However, keeping your eyes open for other free items (that are not alive) is a way to enhance your life without budging your bank account.  Tonight, we dropped our kiddos off at their Wednesday night gymnastics classes.  Walking through the lobby was a rush of putting my daughter's hair up, getting shoes into the cubbies, and I paid no attention to a bike parked right in the front lobby.  Soon, I realized my daughter's water bottle was still in the car, so I rushed out to get it.  Doing this forced me again through the lobby where we saw the bike seen below, along with the note, "Free to a good home" This bike just happened to be a girls bike, with a kickstand, and a Schwinn, nonetheless.  The seat was up a bit too high,  but can easily be lowered to my girl's perfect height.  Confession, someone easily could have just taken this bike to resell online.  But my daughter actually needs a bike, as her Disney Princess bike she received as a Christmas Gift two years ago now has its training wheels removed with no kickstand to keep it up.  She has also grown considerably from then four, to her now six and a half.  You may recall, my son recently upgraded his bike via a $6.99 Diego bike found nearly new at Goodwill. Now, my daughter has upgraded, too.  I imagine tomorrow night's free family fun will be a bike ride after dinner!
        So keep your eyes open for things people are giving away. We actually keep a free table at my work for people to place goodies for grabs.  My son's daycare has a free table as well.  Emails are another big way people give away their goods in the workplace, and I have even seen Facebook posts offering up items (although they usually aren't in my state!)  Try to pay it forward by passing on your quality items to a new owner....for example, I have a coworker at work who is going to inherit some boy things for her new baby boy to be from my three year old's clothing collection he has outgrown.  Maybe it is time for you to create a free table at your school or workplace, and maybe you can start the trend to  find some things for free you would have had to buy anyways.  I am certainly happy I will not need be bike shopping for a while!

                                                                        

Have You Enjoyed Your Kids Today?

Working outside the home is necessary for this mama, but like all working moms, I feel guilt over the time and attention I spend away from my little children.  Since I cannot change the need to work (although MANY stay-home-moms have tried) and truly, I enjoy my work, I need to bring back the balance.  How I do that is by taking time every evening to enjoy my children.  Honestly, I could enjoy my children spending money! I would love to take the kids out to dinner, or a movie, Chuck E. Cheese, or an ice cream outing...I really would love to.   But we are competing to win this financial race and so we are choosing not to spend freely.  Instead, we are finding free, or cheap family fun every night.  This week, we have done the slip-n-slide Sunday, before bed games on Monday, and tonight, a 100-piece puzzle.  The time is precious to me because you can see the pure joy on my kids' faces. They love having "mom-time" and attention.  The dishes can wait until the kids get into bed and so they did.  But now, my bed is calling, my kitchen is clean(ish) and my kids are snug in bed knowing their mom had fun with them tonight (and every night!)

Better Than Money??? Time!

Lately my blog has been finance heavy--absolutely due to the Money Makeover we are competing in, but even before that, the stress and pressure of making our budget balance (without pulling out a credit card) seemed to take a lot of our time and attention.  However, today is a good day to refocus and remember the most important things in life are not things. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. As the shirt I wore to work today states, "Your life is your message to the world. Make it count." which is a homage to one soul gone too soon.  This past Sunday, our pastor's wife shared her decision to leave Facebook and I felt many of the same things she shared.  Staring at others' highlight reels on Facebook as you compare it to your behind the scene tour leads to nothing positive.  Although I am not ready to go Facebook free, I can see the enormous drain on my too little time.  I don't want to miss my children's youth staring at screens.  For now, I plan to limit my daily time on the computer to a minimal amount.  I also plan to go through the settings and limit the feeds of many individuals who do not promote what I hold dear to me  hiding their posts, lessening my time to read my newsfeed.  Typically, I try not to spend much time on the computer/smartphone when my children are awake---especially when they want to play with me!  I can't make my children grow slower, and I can't get these moments back.  There is an idea I love, and I will be  making this for my own children this weekend hoping to be a reminder of this very post.

How To Make a Visual Reminder
1. Get a clear, glass Mason jar.
2. Write your child's name on the jar.  If you have multiple children like me, you will need a jar for each of them.
3. Do some math...52 x the number of years until they graduate high school. (for example, Danica, my oldest, would be 52, Kayleigh is 6 so 52x12= 624, Levi is almost 4, so 52x14=728.
4. The product (benefit of being a teacher, I remember what a product is! The answer when you multiply, if you forgot!) represents the number of pieces of candy you will put in the jar now. It represents how many weeks you have left to make every moment count.
5. Take out a piece every week to maintain the relationship and to remind yourself this time is not forever. You might want to eat the candy, or simply throw away, especially 10 years down the line.

If you are opposed to candy (14 year old candy...yuck?) think of other representations you could use from the craft store, like beads or stones, ect.

I will post my children's jars later this weekend after visiting the craft store so you can see more visually what this could look like.

Now, I am going to shut my computer, and stay off it for the rest of my evening.  I hope this post spoke to you and is used for positive changes with our too little time. Good Night!

How to Be Excited About Groceries

1. Read your favorite cookbooks. Choose a few recipes to try this week for something new.

2. Dig in your freezer, peek in your fridge, poke through your pantry; taking an inventory of what you already have and need to use up.

3. Write a list for what you will need to complete a weekly meal plan.

4. Speed clip coupons, clipping only the coupons you are about to use on this trip to the store, or might possibly use on this trip to the store.

5. Shop using your list, but allow yourself to divert due to unexpected buy one get ones or sales. 

        Shopping tonight was actually a pleasure (funny because that is our local grocery store's motto).  I do most of my family's  shopping at Sam's Club because frankly I can't beat the prices.  However, sometimes the large quantities really add up in my cart and I can't get the variety I need. Lately, I have been a bit bored with food--probably for this very reason.  Starting my grocery list with a cookbook read-through really got the ball rolling on what types of food to buy this week.  It also helped me clip coupons quickly with out an overwhelming pile of coupons in my hand at the store.  But the best part?  I only spent $77.xx for my family of five to eat for 5 or 6 days.  Our budget is $125/week, but this was just set today after meeting with our money coach.  It appears groceries in our budget are impossible to track due to combining purchases with household items, clothing, ect.  We are going to track groceries-only for a month and see if this goal is realistic.  But for now, I get to be excited for a good start to groceries for the week!  I used about $10 in coupons and had lots of store BOGOs in my cart as well. The whole process only took and hour and a half as well, done after bedtime so I didn't miss family time on a Saturday night.  Here's to hoping my family loves some of the new recipes we are trying this week too!

Do You Know Your Spouse's Credit Score?

           This morning I had a most unpleasant surprise.  My husband and I had our first meeting with our money coach for the Vystar Money Makeover competition. We went over our current debts, our spending this past week and a half, and our credit scores.  Shockingly, my husband has a much better score than I do!  What is amazing about this is we have been been married nearly nine years, we combine all our income and bills, and truly we should have similar scores.  What is especially crazy is that I PAY the bills and do the budget. How could that be??!
              What we discovered is we have five credit cards, but only one carries a balance.  My name is only one card (with a terrible, close to maxed out budget), and my husband's name is on the other four (with no balance, or a balance that is paid in full each month)  . My name, unfortunately for me, happens to be on a nearly maxed out Visa (which is chilling in my freezer, not being used, and on an aggressive as I can be payment plan).  To lenders, my husband looks like he has a lot of credit available to him that he is not using. What I look like to lenders, is like I have a small amount of credit available because my card is close to maxed out. What is absurd, of course, is that we are equals financially in our household and our scores should be similar.  There is no my card, his card, my account, his account in reality. But according to the credit bureaus, apparently there is.
              The fix is easy, and has already been done.  Calls were made to each lender. My husband added me as an authorized user on all the cards in his name. This should improve my credit score significantly.   In about two months, I am hoping to recheck the credit scores and be more equally yoked.
              Although the contest we are in does not award a prize for biggest credit score improvement, credit scores impact how much it costs for your home, car, insurance and certainly low credit traps you making it oh so easy to stay poor.
              So of course, my advice to you is check your credit scores with your spouse.  I am hoping you do not experience what I did this morning (embarrassing!) but on the off chance you do, here's to hoping this maneuver can help your situation, too.

Check Your Email

1.       My husband has two email addresses, one for real people,  and one he uses for a junk email of sorts when companies ask for his email.  That way, his real email box doesn't get overloaded with spam and junk email.  Originally, I thought that was quite smart but never got around to setting one up for myself, and now I am at the point that is not what I want. I actually WANT to see the emails from companies I buy from. Why? They save me money.  Of course, the disclaimer is they only save you money IF you were about to buy from them anyways.  Today in my email box alone I had:

• $1 gift certificate to Amazon
• 75 cents of a Redbox Code
• $20 in free Shutterfly Money
• Free nailpolish with Special K cereal purchase

.     2.     Truthfully, I may or may not cash in on any of these opportunities because they do require I spend money, and any email that persuades you to buy something you wouldn't ordinarily buy is doing its job and not truly saving you money.  However, if hubby and I were already planning on renting a Redbox,ordering something off Amazon, making a gift on Shutterfly, ect.  checking our email first could save us real money we were planning on spending, which is real savings.  So check your emails, and check them often. Fight the temptation to spend to save, but embrace the savings for the things you were going to buy anyways without the discount in your email box.

      3.  If your email gets crazy crowded like mine, you can just search the company before you make a purchase and see if you have any emails with potentials savings codes inside. Plus, remember to open the email before you decide if there is an offer to save inside.  It is not always possible to tell from the subject line. 

       Let us know if you see any good email offers in your inbox that save you real money this weekend!  I am hoping I actually need  to use the Redbox coupon at some point this weekend for some relaxation time with my husband.

Answer the Quiz on the Right Side of the Screen!

I'd like to know how much credit card debt my readers are dealing with so I can share techniques that match where we you all are at.  How tapped out are we? Please let me know in the quiz!

It's Like You Get Paid to Clean

I know I have posted before about cleaning out things actually saving your money...cleaning your fridge will have provide a few goodies you forgot you had, cupboards are like a bank account of food, and digging through your closet can be nearly as good as shopping.  Today, my husband discovered the power of cleaning out his man space in a side room to the house we have as an outdoor storage room of sorts.  Crazy circumstances led to this...my younger daughter caught a horrendous stomach bug and was at the point even water wouldn't stay down.  Typically when the kids are sick, it makes more sense financially for me to stay home because I have oodles of personal time saved up I will likely never use.  However, I have had a crazy influx of substitute teachers in my classroom in the past month due to a jury duty summons, fabulous family visitors from out-of-state, my husband needing a driver to an invasive procedure, and dentist appointments.  I truly needed to be at work today.  So we bit the bullet, and my husband stayed home, likely shrinking his next paycheck.  Our competitors in the VyStar Money Makeover are probably not sweating going up against us at this point.  I asked my husband to see what he could do to help today, in between nursing our little girl.  However, he made me a happy woman when I came home to see what he had done! As he organized his stuff, he was able to locate things we already had, that we needed, but had lost in the shuffle (and properly put them where they belong so they can do their job.)  His hidden gems of the day:

• New weather stripping he found for the door---the old stripping was torn away by a frisky cat trying to claw his way into the house.  This could be double valuable, as no need to buy again, and replacing seals the house better for air conditioning season.  He also hung this with his time today.
• New refrigerator bulbs were hanging out in there too, forgotten about---somewhat silly, but our fridge has a lot of bulbs and it was so nice to have the ice and water dispenser lit again.
• Hose for a pressure washer---Nice score, I was actually imagining we might have to go buy another (after the money challenge of course) after buying a replacement hose a week or so ago didn't work.  There was a random loose hose there and in an amazing feat it actually FIT our pressure washer.  Bonus: Hubby USED the newly fixed pressure washer to clean the sidewalk up to the house AND the door mat cleaned up well (saving me from spending another $12 at Target to buy new).

Ok, wives, this might need to be a honey-do list for you to add for your men!  Clean out the outdoor storage spaces!

Power in Planning

Events are coming up in our family...Mother's Day, my son's 4th birthday, and our 9th wedding anniversary are all within the next month.  I love to recognize these special events, but if I don't plan well, the stress of what to do and how to celebrate turn into last minute quick decisions. Quick decisions tend to be costly.  So bring on the planning!  Prizes and goodies have been stored away in my closet from the awesome endcaps of clearance I find at Target to use as goody bags for my son.  Our anniversary dinner has been planned out and we will splurge at the restaurant we had our reception at, since we haven't been back since the weekend we married.  But this week, is Mother's Day, and that means it is time to plan.  My family will want to make me a nice meal--and frankly, I will want to eat it!  Strolling through Sam's Club, I saw ribeye steaks, reduced for quick sale....$28.xx is still pricey for a single meal, but it could save me from a pricey restaurant trip (with five of us, a meal out is a minimum of $40 at a sit-down fast food) AND will be a meal I couldn't afford at a restaurant anyways (sit-down steak restaurants for our family would be pushing $100).  I also have a Groupon to use for a portrait studio, so I can treat myself to a new pic of my kids (appointment scheduled for Thursday!) which I only paid $25 for.  I also have my own mother's gift planned and paid for---but my mom reads my blog so that is all I can say about that for now. If you are a mom, or treating your mom this Sunday, take some time to plan something out of the ordinary to set the day apart.  Saving money is great, but truly moms are better!  

The Proof Is On My Dashboard...

Would you believe the post about the traps of credit cards was my most read post EVER?!   Do you know what that tells me?  Many of you, like me, have made financial mistakes. But you are here now.  That means you still have hope, like me.  I am certainly glad I am not alone, but also, I will be out of the trap in two years according to my plan.  I just want to say, I would like see you on the flip side too.  Make your plan, and work your plan.  Leave your credit card at home if you need to, to stick to your budget. Freeze it in a block of ice if you want to slow down its accessibility. Remember, each swipe is stealing away your financial future. It is not easy, I almost thawed my ice cube out a few weeks ago for something very important to me. But choosing not to pull out the credit card allowed me to go another way.  If you need the credit card to go out to eat, go another way: we like to do a rotisserie chicken or order a pizza as an escape from cooking--with a family of five, this is much cheaper!  If you need a credit card to go to the movies, go another way: I never took my 6-year-old to the theater to see Frozen---but when it came out we bought it, popped our popcorn, picked out a bag of candy from the store, and saved huge in the process (along with watching it 20 times) . If you need a credit card to buy a new outfit, go another way:  Search high and low in your closet, check out a thrift store (you will be SHOCKED if you have never been. People are crazy shopaholics and they go donate expensive, unworn clothing.) Pedicure time? Go another way: Try a foot bath and and an expensive foot scrub with professional nail polish.  Craving coffee? Go another way: skip the coffee house and brew at home, I have awesome vanilla syrup along with my Keurig that makes the perfect cup for 75% less. I know it is not the same, but if you are reading blog this because you have gotten yourself stuck in the credit card trap, you honestly should try going without some of these splurges while you dig yourself out.You will be amazed that seeing debt drop dramatically feels just as fabulous as lives splurges.