1 year 15 days DEBT FREE!!

I was so focused on my nephews “golden birthday” I totally skipped it.. a very important day in my life. It was the first anniversary of being debt free for my husband and I.. May 17th 2009 marked that day. I just can not believe it took me until today June 2nd to realize this. But I'm looking back and realizing that the way I view money, the way I treat money, the way I spend money has really evolved.

Today I am still debt free, I do use my ONE credit card with the maximum limit of $1500 once per month for ONE item. Usually this item is a more pricey item from $600-$1200. One month we bought a new bed mattress and box spring, the next we bought an expensive nice bike for my husband. Next month we are finally moving into THIS century and getting a lap top computer. My son has had a lap top for almost 2 years but it's time that we leave the old clunky desk top turned off and move up in the world. Each month I pay this credit card off in full, some months even paying off what would be due the following payment period. We feel this is our way of contributing back to the economy.

What has shocked me was one specific amount of money. I am leaving on a womens retreat this weekend. A friend I have known for around 5 years has invited me every time this retreat comes back to our area. It happens twice per year. Each year I say it's “too much money for a weekend” this year I actually looked at the price and thought “wow they lowered the price, probably because of the economy and NOW I CAN AFFORD IT, I'M GOING” I talked with my husband about it and he was very supportive.

I wrote out the check, mailed it, got my confirmation of receipt and made my plans to take Friday off so I can get there on time. This week I went walking with the friend who has invited me over and over and I had some specific questions for her. I asked her “how much was it in past years?” and she said “yikes they raised the price this retreat!” and here was me “WHHHHAATTT REALLY??” I seriously couldn't believe it.. I actually was walking next to her silent thinking “how did I miss that?” The answer is quite obvious. This year I am not unemployed and I am not in debt. The amount is affordable to me. Plain. Simple.

I have found that my husband and I are much “looser” with spending. I'm not couponing hardly at all.. I do shop at Woodmans and Aldi the two cheapest stores in my area, however, he'll run to pick up beer and snacks for poker games and just run to Jewel and spend whatever. We eat out a ton more than we were and if my son calls needing money I don't hesitate to slap $20-$40 on his debit card without even asking too much detail why he needs it. As I write this, I'm realizing I need to pull those reigns back in and control our outward/unnecessary spending before it becomes an issue once again.

I am so glad I found the groups I did and moved in a positive cash flow direction. My life is easier, the stress levels are considerably lower in my life and my husbands. Our marriage is stronger, however, my husband still has yet to take over the finances as he promised he would in past years. “once everything is paid off then I'll do it” he said that time and time again. Here we are but the difference is, I enjoy paying the bills and looking at our balances from month to month. Paying my property taxes was actually exciting because the money has been there, waiting in a savings account for me to transfer it, write a check, mail it and be done. Now, I think I would miss doing our bills. I would miss the happiness I feel now versus the depression I once felt every time I opened up our checking account on line. It seemed hopeless.

If you missed them, I wrote two segments explaining how we paid off our debt. I didn't give exact amounts but it was the jist of the story. You can read them
part one here and part two here. Enjoy

Easter trumps hounding

yeah.. so I had a full day of lunching with girlfriends, wedding planning/shopping (for my girlfriends wedding), then a tastefully simple party.. so I figured after the TS party I would run out to CVS and do a few shops. I actually NEEDED a few things that were good deals this week. Unfortunately I wasn't prepared so I came home from the TS party and quickly put together my coupons and wrote up my "plan of attack". My son who just started driving needed some "night driving" time so I grabbed him and off we went.. and off we went.. and off we went.. and off we went. Yes we stopped at 4 yes count them 4 CVS's all were closed. Super Target was closed and every pizza place was closed (I had promised my husbands poker buddies some pizza on my return) it seems that not only does Easter shut down every CVS early (even the locations that used to be 24 hour locations which have now changed?) but also you can not order pizza and have it delivered to your car which is 10 feet from the pizza places front door. Apparently they have to deliver to an address, "yes can I give you my address, you make the pizzas, and then the delivery guy can walk to my car and deliver them?" NO.. hmmm what recession?

God, I could use a little push...

I'm feeling a need for positive in my life.. I just watched a small segment of Oprah's show today.. her talking with Demi and Ashton about the change in not only America but the World. the words "we are in this together" have very much touched me tonight.

But here is my cyber pat on the back to try to push me into seeing that I need to start moving in this direction FORWARD in 2009. I actually said out loud today that I didn't accomplish anything while I was off 9 months. I'm still in awe that I let those days slide by without slapping myself and saying "wake up girl you'll never get these days back" BUT then something deep inside me says I did right by myself. Maybe it was a good time for me to stop and smell the roses so I could say I once spent some time to myself.. not sure.

Last Thursday marked my 2nd check at my new/old job. Again the check in it's entirity and a big portion of my husbands check from the week prior went to savings.. this made me think.. where was I a year ago financially????

I know a year ago I was still in debt. I know a year ago I was working 2 jobs, my husband too. I know a year ago I saw my son for probably an hour every other weekend and most of that time was spent eating with him or just not talking or interacting with him because I was so exhausted all the time from working. I know a year ago I was moving in the right direction (financially). I know a year ago I had *just* found out I was going to be laid off come March. But, once I checked my bank on line and found out just where I was financially a year ago, I nearly threw up. seriously.

A year ago (this week) I was over $25,000 in debt. so basically I paid off almost $26,000 in 4 months time. I still don't know how we did it.. but today my credit cards are paid off (except for the bridesmaid dress I put on my credit card ONLY to earn the points for it which I will be paying off with my husbands check this Friday). Last Thursday I deposited enough money into my regular savings to meet a personal goal of my own. It was something I was striving for.. and then tonight to look at my NEGATIVE HUGE balance from a year ago.. and just the screen before seeing the savings as of today... I'm wowed by myself.

Sorry I know I need to get over myself, but right now... "God I could use a little push" just point me in the right direction and I can do the rest.

Any other pushes needed out there in cyberspace???

The 65 sq foot home, could you live there?

Jay over at Tumbleweed Tiny House Company has found a way to live green in many ways.. living in a 89 sq foot home since 1997 he runs a company that sells not only plans to these tiny homes but builds them and delivers them to you as well. Be sure to check out the you tube video's posted especially the one of his own personal home. I made sure to check out each of the layouts and thought that I would love to retire that way. Doubt my husband would be as excited about it, and stockpiling would be impossible.. but really.. with economic times being the way they are, living "green" would be so easy.. the green would be lining my pockets to keep me warm as well.. hmmmm check it out and let me know your thoughts on this...

boy, I was seeing RED tonight! ughh ***WARNING*** SEVERE RANT IN THIS POST

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.. YOU CAN'T GO BACK AFTER THIS LINE.. I'M STARTING MY RANT RIGHT..... 3....... 2.........................1..................NOW

ughh!! here goes..

Soooooooo my husband has a round robin poker thing going with our neighbors. Basically the rule is if you host you buy 2 cases of beer and they used to include snacks of some type. They have changed the price of the game and over time it's gone down to $5 for the first game and 2nd game has always been a cash fun game. Anyway.. now the game is back up to $20 for the first game which since I've been unemployed and my husband was down to 32 hours making only $20 a week more than me on unemployment, he's had to bow out and not play for probably months. Well he felt bad because he would play, and go and drink the hosts beer, and could never host due to $$. So one of the last times he played right after he got laid off he told them all "I'll host the first week I get my new job and do pizza and snacks" so one night another guy couldn't host due to a death in his family so Tim offered to host, went and got beer, but of course couldn't do pizza that night. So this week he made a big deal out of hosting, it's not even his turn, but he figures so many of them had to host several weeks in a row because we didn't have the cash, at least he can return the favor on some level.

So last week restaurant.com had a 80% off sale so I bought a $25 certificiate from a local pizza place that we always have bad service at, but I figured if I just ordered pizza's to go that I could get really good pizza for $10-$15. So today I ordered the pizzas at 7:20 they said 25 minutes.. okay.. so I rounded up some coupons and ran to Walgreens while I had some time (I'll post that run later). I leave Wags at 7:45 exactly, the place is less than a mile down the road. I walk in, the girl finds my pizzas, I hand her the certificate and she sorta looks confused.. says just a second, walks back, and comes back with a manager looking type woman who asks me if I had read the certificate. Umm sure.. I read it when I was printing it out last week.. okay why.. She said it's DINE IN ONLY.. ohh geez.

So I was standing there thinking "I'm not paying $40 for pizza.. there is just no way" so I asked if I could sit down and eat some of the pizza and then just take the rest to go and they said NO! Okay.. so the manager hands me the cert back and says "just bring it in another time" like it's no big deal.. So I tell her that I wouldn't ever come to eat there because I have such bad service there in the past and I figured ordering to go was my best option because I do like their food. She starts asking me 20 questions about all my "bad service experiences" which included times I've gone there with good sized groups to the times just my husband and I have eaten there alone.

Finally I shook my head and I said I simply didn't want the pizza's and they said "that's fine" so I left! I get in the car and call my husband and tell him and he acts like no big deal. Okay.. so I get home and I'm feeling bad so I say "why don't you just go grab some from Little Caesars they have $5 ready made pizza's" and he said no. So I had a walking buddy waiting on me so off I went walking. We got back and I still felt bad so I just went to Little Caesars myself and grabbed 3 pizza (2 minutes before they closed) and came home. I walk into my garage and all the guys were super happy BECAUSE NONE OF THEM HAD EATEN BECAUSE MY HUSBAND HAD TEXTED THEM ALL TO SAY "I'M HAVING PIZZA TONIGHT" lol! nice guy huh? he could have told me that before I left to walk! I just would have gone then! or HE could have gone himself like I said! ughhh stupid boys!

So that's not my only rant for the night.... earlier in the night one of our neighbors had stopped by to help my husband set up the poker table. Of course, they were in the garage so *somehow* they got on the subject of my "store" as my husband, the kids, and our neighbors call my stockpile in the garage. So I guess the neighbor grabbed one of my Scrubbing Bubbles Foamers, one of my Scrubbing Bubbles Foamers that I had to wait 3 months to get a good deal on, one of my Scrubbing Bubbles that I only got 3 of, one of my Scrubbing Bubbles that I had to go to 3 stores just to find, one of my Scrubbing Bubbles that I had just finally gotten a week ago and asked a question about it and my husband says "just go ahead and take it, she gets the stuff for FREE" umm no I did not get that for FREE!! I was so mad, I was totally yelling at my husband about it and he's all "I'll get it back from them" omg who does that? seriously.. oh I didn't know my wife had to pay for that! geez. Luckily this is the neighbor that gives me 2 sets of coupons every weekend (they get two papers) so they've probably saved me much more than that Scrubbing Bubbles actually cost me.. but really.. stupid boys!

Grocery prices up up and away!!

ET at Titus 2:3-5 is asking how much other people spend on groceries. I figured I'd pitch in considering I'm a horrible grocery shopper. I can get any toiletry, cleaning product, candle, OTC meds, etc for either very cheap, free, or get paid to walk out of the store with them. But groceries.. totally different story. I'm getting better but I still have a lot to learn.

Here are my prices. I live in the Chicago Northwest Suburbs.

4L milk (or a gallon) $1.49 was the lowest sale price, normally $2.29 at Aldi
5lbs potatoes $1.99 Aldi
price per lb for fruit -
apples, not sure
oranges, not sure
bananas 39 cents per lb at local family owned produce store
average price for produce -
lettuce, 25 cents a head for iceberg other types depends
cucumber, 2/$1
tomatoes, free been getting them from friends gardens so not sure
carrots 99 cents bag baby carrotts or a bag of regular
price per lb of ground beef, depends on the fat content
chicken, skinless/boneless 99 cents lbs lowest sale price $1.49 sale price $1.99 regular sale price
pork chops $1 each for 1 5oz chop at local Jewel allthough I figured out there are stores with much better deals than that.. I just buy them because they are 10/$10
price per lb/gms of cold cuts like ham or roast beef lowest was Krakus for $3.50 lb or some no label brand for $3 lb
block of cheese (put in size) 3 8oz bricks for $4
lb of butter or margarine not sure don't buy often I think $1.49 - $1.69 for a lb of butter
box of mac and cheese like KD 50 cents at Wal-Mart
pkg of cookies like Oreo not sure don't buy often
can of beans 45 cents at Aldi
can of tomatoes 45 cents at Aldi
pkg of pasta (put in size) go on sale for 10/$10 and I use $1 coupons so free
pkg of frozen veggies like peas or corn (put in size) go on sale for 10/$10 and I used $1 coupons
tin of coffee (put in size) don't drink no clue
12 double roll toilet paper $4.99 was the most I paid

Gas per gallon $3.54

As you can see I'm lucky to have an Aldi close to me.. actually several close to me.. in fact I'll do regular grocery shopping getting name brand items as cheap as possible and anything I know I can get for a better price at Aldi I'll stop on the way home and grab the remaining items.

What do your grocery prices look like near you?

Nervous Nelly...

Okay I said I was going to post about her and here it is.. I've seen a few posts from my regular blog roll just in the past DAY that really had me seeing red. My deals usually take me hours sometimes over days to get just right and then I get all nervous going into the store because 9 times out of 10 I know the deal will be blown by one of several reasons.

a. they are out of stock on said item or several items that make up my deal(s)
2. I read the sale ad/blog wrong and have the wrong dates/product/price/store
d. the cashier sucks and won't use IP coupons
4. the cashier sucks and misses half my coupons
6. the cashier sucks and just won't take my coupons period
b. the register does not print my RRs or ECBS
g. the scanner isn't working at the store I go to so I can't get any coupons when I walk in which I love to do and it throws my entire trip off.
a. the rebate I thought I could do for said product doesn't start for another 3 days so I have to return said product and rebuy on said day so the receipt shows I bought said product on said day.
9. I bought the wrong product for said rebate.
10. I buy said product at store abc (I love abc stores but I'm just using the term "abc" for the example) and the next week said product is an even better deal at store xyz but I already used the coupon so I'm screwed.
f. I could probably go on and on with all the problems I have couponing/hounding but if you are reading this it's because you are also a grocery gamer and have experienced at least a few of my same problems.

**side note** the numbering/lettering like that was a joke from a movie.. I can't remember which movie it was but it used to have my mom and I laughing our butts off when we would talk like that.

So over at Frugal and Fabulous she wrote this blog close to giving up and it really struck home for me simply because I know where she was at. I know that exact feeling. It is unbelievably frustrating to hear how easy it is for others out there to walk into any store and have all their deals work perfectly.. I know maybe they did blog about their issues in the past and I've missed them.. but there are just times where feeling like you are the oddball out just makes it all worse.

Also another blog in fact the blog that really got me rolling was Hounding with Frugalsuz.. and this blog she wrote just last night makes me realize her deals don't always work out either. In fact, she is as frustrated as I have been in the past.. not sure why but this is actually a comfort to me especially since this is two blogs I read back to back last night. check out her problems. What a weekend

HERE at Frugal Floridian she writes about a look she got from the cashier during her transactions and then the comments the cashier made as she left the store.

In this day with dollars needing to be stretched as far as possible why is this such a big deal for stores ESPECIALLY recently? Is there going to be some crack down on couponing? Is it just that all of us had a bum weekend/week with this game? Is it a coincidence or is it my mind thinking too much that we are being discriminated against? Let me know what you think!

Financial Shape

Well... I've been unemployed since April 11, 2008 and still am.. I've been trying to stetch dollars as best as possible but this grocery game has got me hooked. This month I did do a lot of stockpiling and bought some items specifically for Christmas gifts. My normal monthly grocery budget is $300.. This month I spent $499 and that is just on what I can account for. I know I'm missing a few receipts, for purchases that I've sent for rebates or just simply didn't make it to my receipt bin. So my goal for September is to record on the spreadsheet each purchase as I make them, basically keep myself current. that way any receipt that I need for a rebate will get recorded.

I have to say that my total SAVED was $939 and that was the total just from receipts that tell me what I saved. Places like Wally World and Woodmans (one of my grocery stores) don't give you a total or even say "our price is $2 most other places charge $4.50" which is the case for most items purchased at both stores. Regardless, my budget is $300 and I've gone over easily by $200 and this is only OUT OF POCKET expenses. I did not include RR, ECBS, and/or rebates that were used.

Also I do not include dining out which is in our entertainment budget but I'm betting that is wayyy over.. ughh I have to talk to Tim about that this month. He'll be going back to the boat in October for his 2nd job so going out will be slim to none chance like it was last year. We saved a ton eating out maybe once per week for 6 months. The once per week was our treat for ourselves on Sundays once I woke up and before he had to go in to work at 6pm... it was the one day we felt we had the time to get out together.

I'm going to try to post some pics of our stockpiled items.. I know we don't have a stockpile anywhere near as big as other blogs I've read, but it's a great start for us and we've been trying to pull from the stockpile and refill the stockpile as new sales come up.

I ♥ Bennigans... no longer...

just heard.. nationwide last night at midnight they shut all Bennigans down..

Not hounding related

Well as you have gathered or read (above or below) I was laid off in April and collecting unemployment which isn't much. I've been trying my best to cut corners here and there but I've finally come into hounding the past month or so. My husbands hours were cut down to 32 hours per week and that forced me to take a little more drastic action in stretching every dollar.. so here are a few other ideas I've used.



www.angelfoodministries.com (for some reason the link is not showing on my blog.. nog sure why)

ANGEL FOOD MINISTRIES

I have found this program to be helpful to bulk up on meats. I will buy the main box and then a grilling package depending on which month it is. I just picked up this months offering on Saturday at a new church.



main box included milk, eggs, dark meat breaded chicken chunks, dessert, pasta, pasta sauce, ribs, crock pot meal, fajita meat, corn tortillas, lean cuisine pizza, meatballs, pork roast, salsbury steak, hawaiian punch, blueberry muffin mix, frozen veggies. the main box always cost $30



this extra box cost $20 and included more ribs, 2 steaks, another roast, and italian sausage.

there is always different extra boxes and you can order as many extra boxes as you want. this month there was 4 extra boxes I just ordered one. They ranged from $16-$20.

The one other place I have found that I can stretch my dollars is a food pantry an hour away. Local grocery stores and bakeries donate anything that they are going to throw away. There is no "verification process", you pay $10 to get in, and you "shop" with a grocery cart up and down isles in a warehouse. This is only once per month and of course every month is different supplies.



the list for this was insane and I know I forgot a ton of stuff in the list. The boys were hungry because we had skipped dinner (we ate lunch at 3pm) and on our way home with all the groceries it was 8pm so they started eating things out of the bags on the way home.
Here is the list..
Bread (most of which from local bakeries but some do have Jewel stickers)
6 3 foot cheese/rosmary loaves
8 brat buns
6 multi grain rolls
8 whole wheat hamburger buns
raisin bread

Snacks/chips (all name brand)
Blue corn chips
4 bags pacific rim chips
4 bags pretzel flats
2 bags pizza puffs
2 boxes kashi fire roasted crackers
1 bag trail mix
4 bags of pb filled pretzel puffs
1 box caribou coffee carmel granola bars
2 tins of choc chip maccaroon cookies
2 packages sugar free rocky road cookies
1 package mint cream cookies (some healthy version of oreo's)
4 boxes of Force Gushers (sorta like fun fruit kind of snacks)
1 box of chocolate waffer swirls

meat
6 pork chops
6 italian sausage
2lbs chicken nuggetts
honey ham
4 packages of turkey pepperoni

veggie/fruit
1 jar sun dried tomatoes
1 jar sun dried tomato paste
1 large bag with 6 smaller bags of cut apples like you get at McDonalds
4 packages of fresh blackberries
1 large jar of chopped garlic
6 peach smoothie/yogart drink
6 mango smoothie/yogart drinks

Misc
1 jar Southwest sensations marinade
1 jar of some fancy mustard
organic grahm cracker crust
apple cider mix
4 HUGE FULL THROTTLE energy drinks
2 apple ginseng juice
1 raspberry vinegar
1 turkey steamer kind of like one of those chicken roasters you put a beer can in

So that's it.. my ideas for stretching dollars!

get-tow (ghetto) CVS

soooooo we don't have many CVS stores in the area but today I figured I would go to a CVS in a different town because the driving distance is the same and I didn't have other errands to run that would involve needing to go towards my normal CVS.. yes.. so this one is in a nearby town that just has a really bad rep for just being plain scummy. So I walk in and my MAIN reason for going, I need hair dye really bad and there was a good deal going on.. well of course they have not one type of blonde in the brand/type that I have coupons for and is on special.. upon inspecting the shelving tags I see they don't even stock blonde!! insane huh? Anyway.. so after getting gas for $4.23 then having to drive over a half hour to get to my nice quiet clean blonde hair dye stocking store I get my steals.. errr I mean deals and drive home.. passing a gas station that has gas for $4.18 KILL ME!



Okay
4 100% hair dye $7.99 B1G1 free
used 4 $3 coupons
2 Sally Hansen nail polish 99 cents each
used $3/2 coupon but it rang up as $1.28 and that's all she would give me
1 Stridex $3.99
used one $1 coupon
recieved $1.50 ECB
1 15ct towelettes $2.99 each
used $2 CVS coupon
recieved $1 ECB

Cashed in $2 ECB
Total $4.81 including tax

Not bad considering normally I would have spent $4 for hair dye and not gotten anything else!!

I now have $14 in ECBS which is nice. I should start checking out next weeks deals to see what I can get.

I just went on CVS and located a couple more CVS's I can hit, one of which has several other stores I can stop at for other things such as Target.

I beg to differ...

So tonight I had a small work meeting (very long story) but anyway we got on the subject of how on the news I guess they were talking about how people are going out to eat rather than eating at home because it's "cheaper" now that the price of food is skyrocketing.. yeah not so much.. it's not the healthiest lunch but I fed my son, my 2 nephews, (so a 16,14, & 10 yo all boys) plus myself lunch for...

$1.50 3 boxes of Kraft mac & cheese
$.69 cent turkey hot dogs
$.69 cent hot dog buns

$2.88 total.. 4 people including 2 teenage boys, a tween, and myself.. and there was left overs. Plus the news crew that discussed this was combaring McDonalds.. I can feed everybody crap food for $5 for 5 people.. at McDonalds it's $5 per person.. how is that cheaper? get real!