I am so excited because I just made the last payment on our van. We paid it off in less than one year with a lot of hard work these last few months. We did make some sacrifices such as budgeting, eating out less, meal planning, skipping some recreational activities but now that I've done it for almost 6 months I don't think I can go back. I never want to finance anything ever again.
Our next goal is to establish our fully funded emergency fund of 6 months of living expenses. If we continue what we are doing we should have this goal met by mid year 2010. After this we plan to invest, save for kids college and tackle the house. We would love to have the house paid off in 7 years or less, but we'll see how that goes. There was a point in time that we wanted a new house but now that we want to live debt free lifestyle I am ok with what we have. We do plan to have one more child and having only one bathroom is going to be a challenge. We are also planning to save for maybe an expansion of this house and a bathroom update once our ER fund is fully funded.
In the next five years Matt is going to have several surgeries on his mouth that is not covered my insurance, so we are saving for this as well. It is going to cost about 25K over the five years. That is a lot on money, but I know God will provide. He went for a consult the other day and we found out the oral surgeon is going to charge us less than the original amount he proposed saving us nearly 5K. We are so blessed to have an awesome God that provides beyond what we can imagine. All praise to Him. We plan to start the first series in March and then on from there.
We are excited to see what God has in store for us this upcoming year. We are also excited to have our goals set and ready to tackle them. There is just something about accomplishment that gives me such a high. WOOHOO!!!! What are your goals for this coming year?
Friday, November 6, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Final Outcome-Eating from the Pantry
My week without shopping is finally complete. For some reason this has probably been the most challenging time I've had doing this. Probably because I've actually said it out loud and had to stick to it. Who knows. I am happy to say that we did it.
I did learn a few things during this time. First of all...I just love fresh baked bread and so does the family. In the few days that we had no store bought bread I made a loaf a day for a couple of days and we ate it up so quickly. I now know my bread machine pretty well and feel confident enough to adventure out and make some unique breads. In the five years that I've had this bread machine it has been used about 5 times, three of which were last week. So my wish to make bread more often is a go.
Another thing I learned is it's important to be sure the family (husband) is on the same page with you when it comes to budgeting and eating out of the pantry. I think he understands now why I would not buy the hot sauce, but at the time it was a bit difficult.
Finally, the internet has so many ideas for using leftovers and getting ideas on what to cook with what you have. My favorite site is All Recipes. You can just key the ingredients you want and you will get a list. You can also chose healthier options if you chose to.
During the kids nap yesterday I ventured out to do all of my grocery shopping. I had to go to a few stores to get the best deals and I still spent more than I wanted, but it's done. As I mentioned before we are trying to stick to a $160 per month budget and yesterday alone I spent over $100. The good thing is I have all of our meat for the month which is the costly thing to buy. Since I only have $60 left to work with we will be eating out of the pantry again this month when the money runs out.
Some of the deals to take note of are the whole chickens at Smart and Final-.76 per pound. Pork Roast at FoodMaxx-.89 per pound. This only came in a huge 18lbs bag but they gave me an additional $2.00 off for buying this quantity. It was a bit of work to cut up all that meat and put it into bags, I think it is worth it. I normally do not like the meat at FoodMaxx, but since I plan to crock pot it, I don't think it matters. The crock pot can make any meat taste yummy.
So my plan for this week is:
Monday-Butter Chicken, basmati rice, naan and lentils.
Tuesday-Chicken tacos, rice and beans
Wednesday-Green Bean Casserole and salad
Thursday-Leftovers
Friday-Pulled Pork sandwiches with salad or veggie of some sort.
Saturday-Matt's family traditional meal of bread(usually zweibach, but I need to work on this), meat, cheese, jam, honey, peanut butter or whatever you want on your bread.
Sunday-Veggie minestrone soup
My plans probably will change but this is what I have so far.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Eating from The Pantry
My meal plans have changed from my last post. I decided to write down all of the contents of my freezer and pantry to see what I have to work with. I've also decided to do my best to serve at least one meatless dish a week. Normally it would be pretty easy to not go grocery shopping and to eat from the pantry, but this week was a little different.
My first challenge was my husbands request for a $2.00 bottle of Tapatio or Chalupa hot sauce. When I told him NO he did not quite understand. I had to explain that I am part of this challenge and I am not going to give in to a bottle of hot sauce. Still did not go well, but he will get over it. The funny thing is that we've had the same bottle of hot sauce for a year and we ran out in the midst of this challenge. WHY ME?
Secondly, we are now really low on milk. Normally a gallon will last us a week and a half. We just do not drink that much milk. I looked in the fridge today and there only enough for maybe two small bowls of cereal if that. Great...what to do?
Finally, we are also almost out of bread. Oh no. Some of my plans for the rest of the challenge involves bread, but I know it will not last past lunch today. For this I have a solution. I had Matt get my bread maker out of the garage. With a little dusting off and some direction I can make some homemade bread. Yummy. He kind of smirked when I told him, but I am going to prove that I can do it. I have to do it or we will not have any bread. My hope is that I will enjoy making it and eating it and then want to do it more often. There is nothing like homemade bread. My only concern about homemade bread is that I cannot cut it very well. Is there a trick out there to make even perfect slices?
Now for what we have been eating this week. I've been writing my meal plans in pencil with the anticipation of many changes.
Monday 10/26
Breakfast-Eggs, toast and dried prunes(we love the costco brand)
Lunch-Enchi cass leftover, rice and salad
Dinner-Haystacks which are like taco salad with beans, rice, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, cucumber, sour cream, cheese, olives, tortilla chips and salsa.(this is where the hot sauce dispute came into play)
Tuesday 10/27
Breakfast-Waffles with bananas
Lunch-Haystack leftovers
Dinner-Recipe I found for Cabbage Roll Casserole. Not my favorite and I made way too much. I was not sure if cabbage was freezable so we ate this for way too many days. We do not waste food so we eat what we have.
Wednesday 10/28
Breakfast-Cereal and milk
Lunch-Leftover cabbage casserole
Dinner-Left over casserole again...please be gone!
Thursday 10/29
Breakfast-Kids wanted cereal again
Lunch-The last of the casserole---YES!
Dinner-Chicken Tetrazinni w/ cauliflower, carrots and broccoli medley and bread(I made this a month ago and froze it. So yummy.)
Today Friday 10/30
Breakfast-Oatmeal with toast and homemade strawberry jam
Lunch-Left over Chicken Tetrazinni with veggies
Dinner-German sausage, baked potatoes and green beans
Saturday 10/31
Breakfast-Sausage, eggs and toast with homemade bread
Lunch-Turkey, cheese, and veggie tortilla wraps and chicken noodle soup
Dinner-We might go to the in-laws but if not then we are going to have left over baked potatoes with all the fixings w/out meat of course and a veggie on the side.
Sunday Nov 1
Breakfast-Omelets with toast
Lunch-After church kids are ready for nap so we will have something simple like sandwiches w/ chicken noodle soup.
Dinner-Roasted chicken w/potatoes and gravy and veggies. Will use the rest of the chicken to make 2-3 other meals for the week or freeze.
My first challenge was my husbands request for a $2.00 bottle of Tapatio or Chalupa hot sauce. When I told him NO he did not quite understand. I had to explain that I am part of this challenge and I am not going to give in to a bottle of hot sauce. Still did not go well, but he will get over it. The funny thing is that we've had the same bottle of hot sauce for a year and we ran out in the midst of this challenge. WHY ME?
Secondly, we are now really low on milk. Normally a gallon will last us a week and a half. We just do not drink that much milk. I looked in the fridge today and there only enough for maybe two small bowls of cereal if that. Great...what to do?
Finally, we are also almost out of bread. Oh no. Some of my plans for the rest of the challenge involves bread, but I know it will not last past lunch today. For this I have a solution. I had Matt get my bread maker out of the garage. With a little dusting off and some direction I can make some homemade bread. Yummy. He kind of smirked when I told him, but I am going to prove that I can do it. I have to do it or we will not have any bread. My hope is that I will enjoy making it and eating it and then want to do it more often. There is nothing like homemade bread. My only concern about homemade bread is that I cannot cut it very well. Is there a trick out there to make even perfect slices?
Now for what we have been eating this week. I've been writing my meal plans in pencil with the anticipation of many changes.
Monday 10/26
Breakfast-Eggs, toast and dried prunes(we love the costco brand)
Lunch-Enchi cass leftover, rice and salad
Dinner-Haystacks which are like taco salad with beans, rice, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, cucumber, sour cream, cheese, olives, tortilla chips and salsa.(this is where the hot sauce dispute came into play)
Tuesday 10/27
Breakfast-Waffles with bananas
Lunch-Haystack leftovers
Dinner-Recipe I found for Cabbage Roll Casserole. Not my favorite and I made way too much. I was not sure if cabbage was freezable so we ate this for way too many days. We do not waste food so we eat what we have.
Wednesday 10/28
Breakfast-Cereal and milk
Lunch-Leftover cabbage casserole
Dinner-Left over casserole again...please be gone!
Thursday 10/29
Breakfast-Kids wanted cereal again
Lunch-The last of the casserole---YES!
Dinner-Chicken Tetrazinni w/ cauliflower, carrots and broccoli medley and bread(I made this a month ago and froze it. So yummy.)
Today Friday 10/30
Breakfast-Oatmeal with toast and homemade strawberry jam
Lunch-Left over Chicken Tetrazinni with veggies
Dinner-German sausage, baked potatoes and green beans
Saturday 10/31
Breakfast-Sausage, eggs and toast with homemade bread
Lunch-Turkey, cheese, and veggie tortilla wraps and chicken noodle soup
Dinner-We might go to the in-laws but if not then we are going to have left over baked potatoes with all the fixings w/out meat of course and a veggie on the side.
Sunday Nov 1
Breakfast-Omelets with toast
Lunch-After church kids are ready for nap so we will have something simple like sandwiches w/ chicken noodle soup.
Dinner-Roasted chicken w/potatoes and gravy and veggies. Will use the rest of the chicken to make 2-3 other meals for the week or freeze.
Friday, October 23, 2009
The Great Pantry Challenge-Day One
Dorina at http://health-full.blogspot.com/ has decided to challenge us all to eat from the pantry for the rest of the month. We were already going to do this so why not blog about it?
My husabnd and I read, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and ever since we have been really serious about budgeting, living on less than we make and paying off ALL our debt. I looked at the numbers the other night and in the 4 months that we have been doing this we have saved a lot of money. All of our saved money has been going towards paying off our van(only debt besides the house). By couponing, budgeting, and limiting ourselves on dining out we will have our van paid off by the end of November making us DEBT FREE besides our house. We are so excited to accomplish this goal we made and now onto the next.
When it comes to groceries we used to spend about $250.00 a month and now by cooking in season, buying what's on sale with coupons and stockpiling we are able to spend about $160.00 a month on food, sometimes less. I really enjoy being able to save because I work so hard to do this it causes me to enjoy cooking more. In the past I would dread cooking a meal because I never meal planned and it's just hard for me to think of something to make at the last minute. I now plan our meals. It's not only simple and less stressful but even fun. Since I enjoy it more that means we do not have to eat out all the time so more savings to pay off that van of ours.
Now about the challenge...I do need to buy one gallon of milk before I start but then it's ON! My last shopping trip was on 10/20 and I bought mostly produce to get us through the week. My plan is to eat all of the fresh fruit and veggies first and then onto the frozen and canned stuff. I just hate to waste food.
MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
Today 10/23/2009
White Chicken Chili leftovers with salad. I boiled a whole chicken and shredded up the meat so I am able to get at least three meals out of this one little birdy that was only $.69 a pound.
Saturday 10/24/2009
Breakfast-Homemade waffles with white sauce and bananas
Lunch-Ham, veggies and cheese tortilla wraps and yogurt with homemade jam
Dinner-Chicken Enchilada Casserole, mexican rice and salad
Sunday 10/25/2009
Breakfast-Cereal with bananas
Lunch-Left over casserole and salad
Dinner-Carissa's family b-day celebration ends at 5pm so something easy and quick is needed. Probably Chicken dish that I previously froze with salad.
I will continue the rest of my meal plans once I figure it out. Have fun being creative and using what you have. AnnMarie
My husabnd and I read, The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and ever since we have been really serious about budgeting, living on less than we make and paying off ALL our debt. I looked at the numbers the other night and in the 4 months that we have been doing this we have saved a lot of money. All of our saved money has been going towards paying off our van(only debt besides the house). By couponing, budgeting, and limiting ourselves on dining out we will have our van paid off by the end of November making us DEBT FREE besides our house. We are so excited to accomplish this goal we made and now onto the next.
When it comes to groceries we used to spend about $250.00 a month and now by cooking in season, buying what's on sale with coupons and stockpiling we are able to spend about $160.00 a month on food, sometimes less. I really enjoy being able to save because I work so hard to do this it causes me to enjoy cooking more. In the past I would dread cooking a meal because I never meal planned and it's just hard for me to think of something to make at the last minute. I now plan our meals. It's not only simple and less stressful but even fun. Since I enjoy it more that means we do not have to eat out all the time so more savings to pay off that van of ours.
Now about the challenge...I do need to buy one gallon of milk before I start but then it's ON! My last shopping trip was on 10/20 and I bought mostly produce to get us through the week. My plan is to eat all of the fresh fruit and veggies first and then onto the frozen and canned stuff. I just hate to waste food.
MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
Today 10/23/2009
White Chicken Chili leftovers with salad. I boiled a whole chicken and shredded up the meat so I am able to get at least three meals out of this one little birdy that was only $.69 a pound.
Saturday 10/24/2009
Breakfast-Homemade waffles with white sauce and bananas
Lunch-Ham, veggies and cheese tortilla wraps and yogurt with homemade jam
Dinner-Chicken Enchilada Casserole, mexican rice and salad
Sunday 10/25/2009
Breakfast-Cereal with bananas
Lunch-Left over casserole and salad
Dinner-Carissa's family b-day celebration ends at 5pm so something easy and quick is needed. Probably Chicken dish that I previously froze with salad.
I will continue the rest of my meal plans once I figure it out. Have fun being creative and using what you have. AnnMarie
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Lots of Johnson & Johnson baby products---FREE
Rite Aid has a deal right now on their J&J baby care. I got 10 products ranging from head to toe baby wash to no tangle shampoo for free after rebates and coupons. Also a few of the products I got had a BONUS product attached. Mini Lotion with a baby bath is one example. Check out http://www.dealseekingmom.com/ for the coupon printables and details. If you got the Sunday paper there is a coupon for Johnson & Johnson in there.
Johnson’s Baby Care Deal
Suggested Deal:
Buy (10) Johnon’s Baby Care Items, $2.99 ea.
Use $5/$25 Rite Aid printable
Use (10) $1 printable coupons
FREE after coupons and SCR + $29.90 toward Gift of Savings!
Went to Walgreens as well and they pretty much paid me to shop there. I had some Register Rewards from my last week purchases so I used those to buy my items.
Register Rewards Deals
Triaminic Allergy, Sinus or Cold Relief, 2/$10
Get $5 RRs wyb 2
$1.50/1 Triaminic printable
$2/1 Triaminic Walgreens coupon (Healthy Savings Booklet)
Better than FREE after coupons and RRs!
Neosporin, $3.99
Get $3 RRs wyb 2
$1/1 Neosporin printable
$1/1 Neosporin, exp. 11-30-09 (SS 8/2/09 — regional)
$1/1 Neosporin, exp. 11-30-09 (SS 8/23/09 — regional)
$0.50/1 Neosporin, exp. 11-30-09 (SS 8/2/09 — regional)
$0.50/1 Neosporin, exp. 11-30-09 (SS 8/23/09 — regional)
$2/1 Neosporin Walgreens coupon (Children’s Activity Book)
Better than FREE after coupons and RRs!
True North Nut Crisps or Clusters, $3
Get $3 RRs
$1/1 True North printable
Better than FREE after coupons and RRs!
Murine Ear Drop Kit, $6
Get $6 RRs
FREE after RRs!
These are the different deals that I did. Check out www.dealseekingmom.com for the coupons and the breakdown.
Johnson’s Baby Care Deal
Suggested Deal:
Buy (10) Johnon’s Baby Care Items, $2.99 ea.
Use $5/$25 Rite Aid printable
Use (10) $1 printable coupons
FREE after coupons and SCR + $29.90 toward Gift of Savings!
Went to Walgreens as well and they pretty much paid me to shop there. I had some Register Rewards from my last week purchases so I used those to buy my items.
Register Rewards Deals
Triaminic Allergy, Sinus or Cold Relief, 2/$10
Get $5 RRs wyb 2
$1.50/1 Triaminic printable
$2/1 Triaminic Walgreens coupon (Healthy Savings Booklet)
Better than FREE after coupons and RRs!
Neosporin, $3.99
Get $3 RRs wyb 2
$1/1 Neosporin printable
$1/1 Neosporin, exp. 11-30-09 (SS 8/2/09 — regional)
$1/1 Neosporin, exp. 11-30-09 (SS 8/23/09 — regional)
$0.50/1 Neosporin, exp. 11-30-09 (SS 8/2/09 — regional)
$0.50/1 Neosporin, exp. 11-30-09 (SS 8/23/09 — regional)
$2/1 Neosporin Walgreens coupon (Children’s Activity Book)
Better than FREE after coupons and RRs!
True North Nut Crisps or Clusters, $3
Get $3 RRs
$1/1 True North printable
Better than FREE after coupons and RRs!
Murine Ear Drop Kit, $6
Get $6 RRs
FREE after RRs!
These are the different deals that I did. Check out www.dealseekingmom.com for the coupons and the breakdown.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Great Rite Aid Deals Again
I headed to Rite Aide yesterday because I had a coupon for a $20 gift card when you fill an RX. The $20 gc would not work so they gave me a $25 one. SCORE!!! While they were working on my RX I did my shopping. I came out of the store with the following:
2-Boxes of Honey Nut Cherrios-Sale for $1.99-$1 off coupon for each
1-tape dispenser-Free after rebate plus I had a $2 off coupon. (I made $2 here SCORE!!!)
2-Airwick Freshmatic Fresheners-Normally $12.99 sale for 50% off plus I had 2 $6 off coupons.
2-Panyliners-Free after coupons
2-Contact Lens Solution for traveling-Free after coupons.
I used a $5 off $25 coupon making my total after sales and coupons $1.15 (just taxes) and I paid for this with my gift card.
So I got all of this for free and I have $23 and some change on a gift card for next week.
I am pretty happy.
2-Boxes of Honey Nut Cherrios-Sale for $1.99-$1 off coupon for each
1-tape dispenser-Free after rebate plus I had a $2 off coupon. (I made $2 here SCORE!!!)
2-Airwick Freshmatic Fresheners-Normally $12.99 sale for 50% off plus I had 2 $6 off coupons.
2-Panyliners-Free after coupons
2-Contact Lens Solution for traveling-Free after coupons.
I used a $5 off $25 coupon making my total after sales and coupons $1.15 (just taxes) and I paid for this with my gift card.
So I got all of this for free and I have $23 and some change on a gift card for next week.
I am pretty happy.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Rite Aid Sunday
Matt and I went to Rite Aid right after church to take advantage of all the Free after rebate items. The reason I bring him along is because there is a coupon out there for $5 off $25 and it's only one per customer, so he can be a separate customer. They had all of the items in the ad and we also found some really cheap light bulbs on clearance for .99. Someone keeps stealing our light bulbs in the front yard. I guess living on a main street has some down falls. Anyway, I did two transactions so that I could use the two $5 off coupons. Paid a total of $35.70 out of pocket and will be getting $48 back in rebates. That's right...I get to keep all the product and I am ahead $12. Some of the stuff I got for free after rebates are: toothpaste, heartburn meds, intestinal meds, wart meds, chocolates, contact lens solution, tape and light bulbs. Also all of the meds count towards our flex spending account with Matt's employer. Yeah... I am pretty happy. Check out www.iheartriteaid.com for the details and the coupons that go along with it.
I really wish I could do better with groceries, but it's so hard. I went to FoodMaxx and got some groceries for the week. The majority was produce...spent $25 and saved $3.00 in coupons it was a 47% saving compared to your higher end stores. This shld last me the week. Our freezer is already stalked with meats so I didn't have to buy that. My goal is to do better with meal planning and grocery shopping.
I really wish I could do better with groceries, but it's so hard. I went to FoodMaxx and got some groceries for the week. The majority was produce...spent $25 and saved $3.00 in coupons it was a 47% saving compared to your higher end stores. This shld last me the week. Our freezer is already stalked with meats so I didn't have to buy that. My goal is to do better with meal planning and grocery shopping.
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