Budget Planner





There are many things I love about my job and many things I can't stand.  Guess that's true with everyone, right?

 

One of my biggest dislikes is the fact that I get paid bi-weekly.  Huh?  Isn't that like the most common way to be paid?  Yes. But you see my last job paid us bi-monthly.  And I loved it.  Our salaries were divided equally over 24 weeks.  No, we didn't get the extra two paydays a year, but our paychecks were slightly larger because those "extra" pays were accounted for in the 24 paydays.  Plus, I knew that on the 16th and 31st (or last day of the month if less than 31 days) I was paid.  Same days every month- consistently.

 

So when I switched jobs and was paid like most everyone else I know, it was so hard for me to keep track of when to pay my bills.  Why?  I.HAVE.NO.IDEA.  But it has been driving me nuts for the past year.  Maybe if I explain my old super modern, high tech bill paying routine, it will help you understand.

 

This is my check book.  





 

 

 

This is my old bill tracking spread sheet.

 



I know it's difficult to follow along with this super complex system, so I will break it down.  The yellow papers are my old bosses post it notes.  I turned them sideways to fit in my checkbook so I would always have my bill payment system with me.  I would mark the month and make list my bills in two-three columns. 

The first column were the bills that were paid with my paycheck on the 16th.  The second column were bills to be paid on the 31st.  The last column were bills that came up sporadically such as car registration or maybe a credit card that I rarely use.  Those bills were paid from either paycheck depending on when they were due and which pay day had money left over to cover the bill.

 

 

 

Each post it note could hold 2-3 months of information on them and I would just overlap new ones every so often.  Most months I set up all bills to be paid automatically online at one time and only had to worry about those extra bills when they would come by email. 

 

 

Super easy right?  I never missed a payment and it just seemed so convenient. 

 

 

Bi-weekly pay sucks.  I can't get a grasp on it.  One month I may get a paycheck the first and third week and the next month the second and fourth.  I should be able to keep the same system as before right?  It's just that some months there are times when the due dates of a couple bills don't line up with the paycheck and I have to make sure I leave "extra" money from the previous paycheck to help cover the bill.  Make sense?  Does anyone else run into that with being paid bi-weekly or is it just me being stupid?

 

For the past year, I've been struggling to make sure I am getting bills paid on time and not coming up short in my checking account.  It stressed me out each month and I was having a hard time coming up with a bill paying system.  I searched all my favorite blogs to see what systems were out there, but most seemed too complicated for someone who used to organized her bills on post it notes!

 

What I have been doing is using this box that my sister-in-law used to wrap my daughter's Christmas present.  I really love this box.  I think she got it at Walmart.



I've been throwing all my odd bills and to do paper work in this box so that I wouldn't lose anything. Ummm, like my husband's registration sticker for the suv.  Totally couldn't find it even though I thought I had thoroughly torn apart my office and bedroom.  Of course a few days after he paid $5 at AAA to replace it, I found it under a pile of books on my nightstand.  Never thought to look there!!!

Anyway, I began using this box to hold all papers that needed action.  But this also added to my bill paying problem as I had to weed through papers to find those bills that aren't paid online.

So I figured I would try to come up with my own bill paying planner.  It needed to be super simple or else I would never commit to using it.  What I did was to deconstruct my coupon binder.  I don't use coupons much and it was just collecting a ton of dust and expired coupons anyway.  It's not the cutest binder out there, but I only used what I could find around the house.  I may do something with the cover, but only if this system works. 

 

 

 

The first part of my binder holds my zippered pouch.  I removed the scissors and replaced them with a calculator, some highlighters, and my favorite pens.  The pouch has two compartments and I'm thinking of keeping my checkbook in there as well.  I rarely write checks and it would keep my purse less cluttered as well.

 



 

 

 

The next item is an old folder from my daughter.  You may be able to see the faint writing on the front.  She used it for her gifted class and I can still make out her writing on the front.  Makes me smile when I see it.  :)

The left side of the folder holds all the bills that I am unable to pay online, come only once a year by mail, or are papers/rebates that need to be taken care of.  The right side of the folder hold items that have been paid or taken care of but may need to be followed up on.  I also put charitable items and magazine subscriptions on the right side as I pay those when I have extra money.

 

The next section is my calendars.  The first calendar is our school year calendar.  With a teacher husband, our lives revolve around the school year and I am always having to refer to this calendar.
(I accidentally deleted photo and will have to add it when I go on main computer)  :(


Behind the school calendar holds monthly calendars.  What I did was print six months of calendars.  I placed January on top and February below.  That way I can see how my pays fall in two month increments and when bills are due.  That way if a bill falls outside of a pay period and I need to keep extra money from a previous paycheck I will see it on the calendar and not get surprised. 

Behind January is March and behind February is April.  This way I can remove January this Friday and have March and February.  Even though March is above February, I can still see how the pays fall month to month.  Once February is over, out it comes and April is ready.  And this will repeat each month.

 

 

 

 

I listed all my regular bills on their due dates as well as paydays.  If an extra bill comes along, I will just add it to calendar when it comes and then put it in the folder.  Right now I have my calendars in sheet protectors, but I may change that depending on how annoying it is to take out when I have to add/change bills.

Once I list all my bills on the calendar and see which ones will be paid from each paycheck, I then make a list of bills and how much is due on a separate sheet of paper.  I add them up and subtract that from my paycheck to see what balance I am left with.  This is amount is then used for gas, budgeting extra bills, groceries,etc. 

 

I'm thinking I may rather find a printable calendar that has an area where I can make this list so that it's altogether.  Might make it easier for me to see what I'm doing.
 

You may have noticed a couple of things about my planner.  For one, it's just my bills.  Yes, I know this goes against Damn Ramsey, but after 25 years with my husband, this works for us.  We've never combined our money.  We have a joint account and my husband uses that primarily.  I have access to account with my own debit card though he doesn't have one to mine. We joke about that all the time!  My husband also keeps his balance "in his head".  He's also bounced checks.  Not often, but I just don't think we could exist peacefully if we combined our accounts and paid everything from one account. He doesn't keep receipts but checks his account online every few days to see where he's at.  It's just too nerve wracking for me as I like to keep everything in order.

 

Also, we split household bills.  I pay almost all the utilities and he pays mortgage, cable, and groceries.  It equals around the same amount of money for each of us so we like it. Because he does a lot of coaching and extra teaching, we use those extra checks to pay insurance, taxes and other large bills.  Somehow it works out perfect that he gets paid for those every year right before those bills are due. He also doesn't have any credit card debt, just one student loand.  Neither of us have a car payment either.

 

I also don't have many bills.  I have the house bills, one credit card with balance and two student loans.  I may use a credit card like Victoria Secrets or Home Goods here and there, but usually I pay with my debit card.  And other than the one credit card, I pay all others in full if I use them.

 

We've done this ever since we've been together and never had problem.  This wouldn't work for everyone and goes against most experts advice.  We are in process our debt snowball and have adapted our system to fit that as well.  We talk about combining our accounts, but I'm the one whose most hesitant.  Maybe after we knock out some more bills, I will be less nervous. 

 

There you have my bill planner.  I've only been using it since beginning of January so it may take some time to see if it helps make it easier to do my bills.  I sure miss my post it notes!

This post is linked to I Heart Organizing and Clean and Scentsible

 



What's the Plan?

If you read my post yesterday, you would have heard the news that I am going from full time to part time at work.  Starting today! 

It's not a big deal.  I don't make much at this job and I have been sending resumes out this past month.  Financially, we've been seeing this coming at work.  Our office is slowing down, but the boss's spending hasn't!

I am going to save  $100 right off the bat from gas.  I work 30 minutes away and the drive is very hilly so I use a tank of gas a week in my sunfire.  It's been costing me almost $45 -50 to fill up this small 13 gallon tank (depending on gas prices).  Now if I am only going in to work 2 days a week, my tank should last almost 2 weeks.  And I will save on lunch - though minimally since I try not to eat out much any way.  But even if just $5- 10 a week that's $40 a month.  That's a small bill payment!


Personal finances will be tough for a little while. Jeff and I have been working on eliminating our debt and this will definitely slow us down.  But I am eligible for partial unemployment and though it is very small, it will help.  I am responsible for paying the utility bills and with summer coming, I won't have a huge gas bill.  The electric bill will go up some, but I will be home more to control that thermostat!

The kids are thrilled to have me home more.  They understand that we will be eating home again more.  This past month we have been really bad about eating out since I don't get home until right before we have to leave for baseball or softball games.  Not anymore.  I would rather eat at home anyway and save eating out for special occasions.  The kids like eating fast food and so this will be tougher on them.  But it's not up for negotiation.

The best part of this for me is that I will be home with my family.  I really liked being home after my surgery.  And working just two days a week will be a good break.  Plus I will be able to do so much more than after my surgery.

My son already asked me what the plan was for today.  I told him that I had to work but that tomorrow I would clean his room as his 3rd grade graduation gift.  He was very pleased!

Extreme Couponing II

source

Well leave it to TLC to turn Extreme Couponing into a series.  I guess it's better than all the little people and extremely large family reality shows they were bombarding us with.  It really is cool to see how much these families are saving.  But I still wouldn't want to store all that stuff.  To me it's wasting.

I used to really work at couponing in my 20's, though it was a whole different way of couponing.  I have revisited couponing recently just because I do like to save money.  Stockpiling to the point that you are storing things in your children's closets is just bizarre.  I like to donate to our church's food pantry and so some times if there is a good sale, I will buy to bring to the church.  Our family does not need 50 cans of corn, but the food pantry does.  It's almost greedy in a way.  Why do you need 35 bottles of antacids?  CA-R-AZY!
Plus all the time spent sorting, clipping, and shopping.  The one couple spent 5 hours in the store.  18 transactions!  Not worth my time.

Maybe I'm wrong to think this way.  My family is really blessed with so much from God.  So I try to pass it on.   Share the wealth.  Spend more time with my family.  Save money and not be wasteful.  Just don't go to extremes.

Uhh...spoke to soon.  New episode of Kate Plus 8 is next week.  I knew TLC would go back to their bread and butter!!

Extreme Couponing

Did you guys catch TLC's extreme couponing last night ? I think it originally aired Dec 29th, so this was a repeat.  I accidentally landed on it right when it started and had to watch.  While I like to save money, I have to wonder about the practicality of these couponers.  So much time and effort is put into their couponing and I'm not sure if it's worth it.  Having some stockpile and getting the best deal is worth a little time, but buying so much that you have to insure it separately with your  homeowner's policy is too much for me.  And is it possible that they are actually hoarders?  Could they eventually end up on TLC's Hoarders- Buried Alive show?   

I do have to say that it is a lot easier now to coupon than it was when I was first starting out in the late 80's.  When I went to college (88 to 92), the internet was non existent to just starting.  While collecting coupons from the Sunday paper helped, the selection of coupons in the inserts were limiting.  I did try to save coupons and search the sales to make the best savings, but again this was before all the stores came up with reward cards and such.  I think those started around the mid to late 90's for my area.  Coupon clearing houses were the best way to go.  I remember stumbling across the idea in one of my Tightwad Gazette newsletters when I was still in college.  Anyone remember that newsletter?  I heard about it when the owner Amy Dacyczyn was on the Phil Donahue Show (anyone remember that show?).  I sent away for my own coupon booklet and couldn't wait to start selecting coupons.  Again, choices were limited, but it really helped me find great coupons especially for cat and dog food.  Each booklet had several pages that listed items you could check off to see if any coupons were available.  You sent your selections back along with the processing and handling fee and a sase (for those of you youngies self addressed stamped envelope).  Then you waited.

And waited.  And when your envelope came back, you hoped that all your choices were available.  Some times they were and sometimes they weren't.  Rebating was also a big deal back then.  You could subscribe to rebating programs that would send you lists of all the rebates available.  That's when you could really save money.  I remember getting a book from the library Ask the Coupon Queen by Mary Anne Hayes and being amazed at how much she saved from coupons and rebating.  Look at how old this is- 1979!

There was another book really popular that I read, but can't remember title or author.  This author also used coupons and rebating to bring her grocery bills down next to nothing.  Again a lot of time and energy went into this, probably more so than today since the internet and websites make it easier to obtain coupons and search sales.

While I do not coupon as much as I did years ago, I do still like to save money.  I probably won't have a stockpile in my garage taking over the space (we have a ton of outdoor toys that do that quite well!), I do still enjoy getting a really good deal and knowing that I did save some money.

Too bad I didn't start a website about couponing when the internet first started.  Heck, we didn't really think it was going to be such a big thing.  So missed a great opportunity!!

Eating my words

I really need to start healing soon so I can out of bed more and stay off the computer!  No sooner did I  post on Friday about keeping our Christmas spending light that I went on Aeropostale's website and ordered $304 worth of clothes for Paige.  And they weren't for Christmas.  Please- I learned my lesson from Xmas '08!  I happened to remember that Aeropostale lets you purchase through Paypal and the Buy It now Pay later program.  So I justified that I will be long back to work to pay it off by March.  Great- my boss will probably call me tomorrow to fire me!

Too much time on my hands + laptop = bad choices.

Yes she needs new clothes for winter.  For one, I think I accidentally gave away some of her things from last year although she has out grown the clothes that I did find so chances are she couldn't wear them anyway.  But did I really need to spend that much?  NO.  In fact my son needs new shirts (he was given a lot of jeans THANK GOODNESS!!) as he outgrew his from last winter as well. I'll probably be ordering him some as well.  So although I'm not ordering all the latest "as seen on tv" products- I do need to ease up. I'm just not as concerned about how much I'm spending when I know I don't have to pay for months!!  I'm playing right into the debt devils hands!

That's why I need to start feeling better.  The sheer boredom is causing me to spend too much online.  i am making my list of things that I would like to accomplish while on leave once I am able.  And boredom spending is not going to be on it!!

Black Friday

Every year my husband checks out the Black Friday sales and sets up his plan of attack.  He's done very wel, l and luckily each year there is something on sale that either the kids want or we need for the house.  This year however, wasn't the case.

While we go back and forth about getting my son a netbook and us a new computer processor, it wasn't enough for Jeff to head out.  There were some deals at Best Buy for both of the above, but he couldn't rationalize getting up early and driving 30 mins to save maybe $50.  Plus he was tired from being out late Wed night and then running a 5K Thurs morning.  Exhaustion can make you prioritize!!

My kids are at the age where they are outgrowing toys and want electronics and gadgets.  We no longer buy a bunch of toys that go to waste but a couple big ticket items that they actually use.  This year they are both getting cell phone- Jeff a free Virgin Mobile that I scored since I've been with them for over 6 years and have so much airtime built up that he would probably go 6 months before he could use them up. Paige is getting a replacement phone for her's since it is not holding a charge anymore.  I am eligible for an upgrade on my phone which is still like new.  So we are going to give it to her and get a phone that's free.  I can wait till her eligible upgrade date in May for my phone.  Other than phones and the wrestling tickets for January's show there are only a couple other gadgets- the netbook and an itouch ipod thingy and my kids are done. 

Well, then there's the stocking stuffers that end up costing me a fortune somehow-haha!!

Rambling about nothing

Trick or treat was last night from 5 to 7.  I took Paige to my old neighborhood and walked around with my girlfriend.  It was nice to see all the old neighbors.  It was also nice how many remembered me by name.  Unfortunately I couldn't remember a couple names but did remember faces!  We practically ran the whole time trying to keep up with the kids.  Then I brought Paige to meet up with my husband and his family to finish in his old neighborhood.  I was so cold and tired that I dropped her off and went home.  Good thing since I am not feeling good today - feverish and have an annoying cough.

Saturday I spent pretty much alone.  My husband took Jeff to his college homecoming game and Paige went to the Midget Football championship game with her friends.  It was great to get laundry done and my bedroom cleaned.  I have been wiping the floor everyday with a microfiber cloth to keep up with the chihuaha's hair.  It still amazes me how much he sheds.  He should be bald!!! There is only a pile of papers on my nightstand to rifle through and a tote of summer clothes to be transported to the attic.  Then it should just be a matter of maintenance.  Famous last words!

I also updated Jeff's billing system.  He was printing a monthly calendar to help him stay on track.  Except when I looked at it on Saturday it was from June.  Hmmm.. just a few months off.  May explain some of his frustration regarding bills.  That and his lack of budgeting.  We keep our bills separately and have since we started dating.  It just seems easier.  I like an organized budget and could work on it all day.  Jeff keeps his all in his head and checks his account once a week.  We talk about combining it but I'm the one who is nervous.  He doesn't keep receipts for the debit card so I would have to constantly hunt down his transactions and I would fear overdrafting on my payments.  Maybe someday.

I still haven't put my things on eBay.  That's just due to laziness.  I have been collecting boxes for shipping and just need to take pictures.  Hopefully this week I can get them done!

Cable Update

Last week our cable and bundle package got cancelled because I "accidentally" forgot to remind Jeff.  I was all excited to be rid of Comcast, but when Jeff brought the box back he found out that it was only saving him $5 dollars to turn in the box.  So he kept the box and the HDTV.  He negotiated a lower monthly rate to save about $30/month, but I would have preferred that we just cancel it altogether.  It is nice to have our phone again - haha!

I cleaned out a lot paper piles (in my search for a receipt for a Target return) last night. I need to return Jeffrey Michael's pants again.  He's growing slowly but often and is down to just 2 pairs of uniform pants.  Today I sent him in a pair that are slightly short on him.  Luckily the kids aren't wise to "high waters" and he hasn't been teased yet.  But I'm sure that will end in the next year or so.  I am going to try to sneak out tonight to return some things and look for pants. I hope Jeff doesn't have practice tonight.  That way I can go myself without the kids.  Wishful thinking!

No more cable

***Update- if you came here from abowlfulloflemons- I meant to link to this post.  So sorry for the inconvenience!***





Yesterday was my half day and when I went home I tried to look up job openings. Little problem though, I couldn't connect to the internet. It wasn't until later when Jeff came home that I realized the cable was out too. I didn't remind Jeff to pay the bill (even after we got a shut off notice) because I don't want cable anymore. I forgot however to pay for just the basic service for the phone and internet. Ooops. My plan sort of backfired a little. We've made the decision that we do not want to pay for the upgraded cable. The channels we get on the basic service is fine for us. If we decide that we want to get the kids pay-per-view wrestling we can just go down to the cable office to rent the box for the night. We really just need internet, even the phone is not a big deal with us having cell phones. I am hoping tomorrow we get internet again so Paige doesn't go through withdrawal any longer! Now that I think of it, the phone needs turned back on in case I apply for a job too. I don't want to give out my cell phone in case of a call while I am at work.

I wanted to go over bills last night but Jeff didn't. I know he doesn't want to see how much money is being wasted. I've looked over his bank account for the past 2 months and he spends a lot of money going out to lunch with his coworkers and fast food for the kids. For a while he did come home to eat or brought food to school. And we were eating at home more during the week before cross country season got in full swing. I try to limit fast food to once a month for the kids. In fact last night he decided to get them Wendy's even though I gave several meal options that I could make. Then he was irritated that I didn't want any. I made myself a ham sandwich and rice and was happy. I've only had 1 whopper jr and 1 taco bell taco since August 20th. For me it's more than just saving the money. It's about eating better. It's hard with our busy schedule but I think it's worth it.

Today Jeff has a big cross country meet. Every year after this meet we get pizza for the team so I don't have to cook tonight!! It's a nice treat for the kids and they have a blast! The season is coming to a close in the next few weeks which will be nice. I just hope Jeff doesn't start running club too soon. I really need a break!!

Dinner Update

I don't have much time- but I was really excited about this week's menu and shopping. We only spent $15.47 at Aldis this week! Our menu for this week -now that it's almost over haha!

Monday - Hamburgers, alfredo noodles and corn (plus any leftovers from Sunday)
Tuesday- Chicken Stirfry
Wednesday - Breakfast for dinner -eggs, bacon, toast
Thursday- sauce, salad, bread
Friday- Friend's house for dinner
Saturday -Pizza- but not homemade
Sunday- communion parties

This week most of my dinners have been planned by using what we already have. Jeff is leaving tonight for Chicago so I may just order pizza on Saturday. The kids have ball practice and it's been 3 weeks since we've had fast food! We deserve this treat. Other than picking up staples for lunches and milk and bread - we have only spent slightly over $15. I know this week is really cheating though. If I hadn't made a big shopping trip last month, we wouldn't have had all the ingredients for Monday and Tuesday's meals. Anyway, I was so excited about this week's meals and how little we spent that I had to share. Even I get pizza on Saturday, we will still only spend about $30 on food this week! Yay!

Rounding up all the little things

Jeffrey M is getting his First Holy Communion this Sunday. A lot of things are done, but there are a few little things to finalize. Some I'm not too sure about. Like the tie that came with his suit. He opted for a black suit- and with his complexion and dark hair makes him look like a young Michael Corleone from The Godfather movie- instead of the old traditional white suit. The tie was nothing special and he has a tie from another suit that would work. Honestly, I don't think anyone will really notice. My husband may not even want to buy a new tie- remember he hasn't spent any additional money since last week! He may find buying the tie unnecessary since we have a couple to choose from.

I am happy to say that we did stick to our dinner menu all week! By Thursday, Paige and Jeffrey M were eager to pick their dinners again. One of the best surprises was Friday night. Paige wanted roni rolls and we made them homemade. She told my husband that she loved them and wants them again this Friday. But the ultimate was her telling him they were better than the ones she used to make us buy at the local pizzeria. Yes!!

This weeks menu is the following:

Monday - Steak salads
Tuesday- Roast Chicken, potatoes, carrots, salad (I'm gonna try this in the crockpot)
Wednesday- Turkey breast, sweet potato / bake potatoe, noodles, salad - (Jeff M loved this last week
Thursday - Sauce & macaroni, salad, italian bread
Friday - Roni rolls
Saturday - Hot dogs, hamburgers, linguine salad, baked beans - we're planning to grill out!
Sunday - First Holy Communion Party- leftovers


Jeff only spent around $77 dollars this week. I can't find the receipt from Aldis, but he said it was only about $54. Giant Eagle - 8.93 for steak and 11.98 from Save-A-Lot. If we actually make it through the week again without having to stop at the store it will be awesome!

Jeff shopped really good and followed the list. He only forgot one thing. Imagine his surprise when he was at the bar with his buddies watching the Penguins playoff game last night and he got a text from me asking him to stop at the store and bring home whipped cream!! He said he nearly fell off the stool and ran out to the store right then! Unfortunately, when he texted me back some rather suggestive things we could do with the whipped cream,I had to burst his
bubble by telling him it was that time of the month and it really was for desserts!! Not the first time I've done that to him and won't be the last!!

Mini Monster

It's rainy and cold this morning! The sun is suppose to shine later on today- but it's not fast enough for me. It looks more like fall than spring. Eww!

Last night dinner went so easy. Jeff cooked the ground meat and it only took minutes to put everything out on the table. Loved that! We ate dinner and I had the kitchen clean by 6:15pm.

The kids kept going to the refrigerator to look at the menu and kept asking if we were really having turkey for today. So far so good. I did get the potatoes and carrots ready last night and left a note for Jeff to put Jeff M's sweet potato in earlier. Baseball practice is to start at 5:30pm and if dinner can go in the oven by 4-4:15pm, it will be done in time for them to eat before leaving. Those are the days that will really make a difference.

My husband kept informing me that he spent ZERO yesterday. He's like a little kid! He even stated that he wants Dave Ramsey to personally set up our budget. I think he's turning into a budget monster! Luckily he left for an hour last night to go to the high school to work out with some other teachers. I needed the peace! When he came home last night he was telling me how hard it was to lift the weights. He complained to his friend about how much his arms hurt to which his friend replied- dude, we're working on our chests! You're gonna be in deep trouble tomorrow when we actually work on our arms! Haha!

Dmoms emailed me her template for her cleaning schedule. Head over to her blog and see how nice her lists are. My kids looked at it and were not as impressed as me. Though that might be to the fact that they do not like to be told to clean daily. They would rather clean when they feel like it - which is never. But I just wanted to send another Thanks! to her for helping me. I can easily see in my mind how I want things to look whether it's clothes, decorating my home, etc, but never seem to be able to reproduce it in reality. Then I bog myself down with the minutae. For example, I will spend a ridiculous amount of time searching for just the right font when I working on the computer. I miss the old days of typewriters. Two choices -10 or 12 pitch. That's it. Now I get to choose all the fonts that I would see but could never use on a typewriter. Too many choices for me. Even the template for this blog. I've changed it so many times. Especially when I find a new blog with a really cool template. Anyway, the inner designer in me is trying to work it's way out. Lord help us all!

Update

Thought this was too funny- Jeff just texted me to let me know he had a no spend day! I challenged him to see how many days we can go! I'm gonna make a PF blogger out him one day!!

Finally- Damn Ramsey and meal planning

My husband is on board again with watching our spending! Last summer we fell off the budget band wagon. The two rental properties were vacant and paying those mortgages along with our household bills really hit hard. But we sold the one property and the other is rented and so for the past few months we haven't had any hiccups paying bills.

I have been asking Jeffrey to go on the Dave (Damn) Ramsey envelope system. He thought it was a good idea but not something he wanted to do. Well, he still doesn't want to go on the envelope system, but he did say that we have to stop wasteful spending, ie buying lunches at work, grabbing fast food, etc. He said that he noticed a lot of wasteful spending on his account. Most of it was buying lunches at his school and fast food for the kids. We used to do a half baked job of menu planning each week and it did cut down on spending.

We talked about eating at home more often and Jeff wanted to join a monthly menu planning service. I agree that we do need to eat at home more often, but am not a fan of menu planning services. While they probably do help a lot of people, I don't think my family would benefit because we are rather picky eaters. I'm probably the pickiest of them all! So I suggested to Jeff that if we put together a week worth of menus, we can work the night before doing any prep work needed so that getting dinner made wouldn't be too time consuming. This would help tremendously especially since baseball/softball season is starting.

To get the kids involved, I suggested allowing them to pick one dinner each only stipulation is that it must be home cooked - no fast food! Surprisingly, they were excited about this and were even trading ideas for other days of the week. I put together a menu chart (thanks dmoms!) and included night before instructions. My Aldi's list (work in progress but I will share once done) made it easy to check off what was needed for each item. I supplement items at our local Giant Eagle and now that a Save-A -Lot opened on our side of town, I will save even more. Giant Eagle is a very expensive grocery store compared to Aldi's and Save a lot. The only things that I purchase there are their meats (when on sale), fruits & vegis(on sale) and lunch meats. Everything else can be found at the other two stores. The best thing is that they are all within a mile of each other on the same road!

Our menu for this week is as follows-

Monday - Tacos and Nachos

Tuesday- Turkey breast, salad, potatoes, Parmesan noodles

Wednesday- BBQ Ribs, corn on the cob, salad (I'll prob eat leftover turkey -not a fan of ribs)
Thursday- Spaghetti, salad, and Italian bread
Friday - Home made pepperoni rolls and pizza ( Jeff M wants to try making homemade pizza)
Saturday- Pork chops, Parmesan noodles, salad, corn and asparagus
Sunday- Spaghetti, salad and Italian bread

While most people would not like having sauce twice a week, but as Italians, we (mainly me) were raised having sauce on Thursdays and Sundays. Trust me, I hear about it if we don't have sauce - especially on Sundays! We may not have sauce every Thursday, but Sundays is a given.

I am going to keep track of what we spend each week to see how well we do. I may not post my menu's or spending on this blog but will keep you updated on how it's going.

The above menu and our regular grocery needs broke down to the following-

Giant Eagle - 29.08
Save-a-Lot - 33.29
Aldis - 54.34

Total - 116.71

These totals are all food items. He didn't buy any toiletries, cleaning products, or pet food. That was just coincidence. In fact, I have to run out to the store to get dish soap and toilet paper! I am also going to try to watch Giant Eagle's sales flyer and a grocery store near my work place for meat items on sale. That way I can stock up on things and keep the weekly tally low. Is $400 a month on meals expensive? I've never really thought about what we spend buying groceries or buying fast food, but last week we spent around $40 in food for just 2 nights dinners! A few dollars here and there really do add up.

I try not to eat out at work. I've kept it to just once a week and spend maybe 2-3 dollars. I am going to try to stop altogether this month. Jeff's taking a more conservative approach and is just trying to go this week. Hey - baby steps I know! We've also explained to the kids what we are trying to do and I'm hoping they don't go through withdrawal too bad. The next hurdle would be to get Paige to take more lunches to school. She has stopped taking her lunches and it's adding up considerably especially since they can buy ice cream and various treats in addition to lunch. Again- baby steps. Don't get too far ahead of yourself now Rochelle!

Capital One

I was paying my bills online yesterday and while paying Capital One I became a little distraught. We put our cruise on my card (along with our friends tickets) as it has only a 9.82% interest rate. Our concern was that if our friends were not able to pay their portion quickly, the interest rate wouldn't cause them to pay too much extra. Luckily within the month, they gave me their portion and so no interest was charged. However, as I was looking at my statement I noticed that the interest rate was 17.9%. What? I pay this card off each month and it's really the only card I use as I've had it since 1997 and I'm just use to grabbing it if I can't find my debit card.

On the statement it had a little note saying that my promotion period had ended and my new rate was 17.9% as per previously disclosed. Not sure what that means as I looked at all my statement for the prior year and my interest rate was 10.77% then in the summer of 09 it went to 10.14% and then October 09 it went to 9.82%. None on my statements had any notice of a promotional rate and I didn't see any inserts or extra mailings advising of this promotional rate. I was going to call last night but I'm going to wait for my payments to post and then call.

The thing that really makes me mad is that I called Capital One last month to complain about the annual fee they charged me and the fact that my card carries no rewards. If you go onto to their website, you can apply for all these Capital One cards that have no annual fees, low interest rates and rewards. When asked to have my fee waived and to have rewards put on my card - hello I've had the card 12 1/2 yrs - they refused. At that time I was going to cancel the card but we had just charged our cruise and Jeff said to wait. None of my other cards have annual fees and though their interest rates are 10% and 11% I would rather use them. Now having a card for over 12 years is great for the credit score, if they don't want to keep a loyal cardholder I will get rid of it. Well, maybe just stop using it. We'll see.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Somebody please make it stop!

The shopping that is! Last night in less than a half an hour I purchased more clothes for Paige and some wrestling items for Jeff. WE ARE SUPPOSE TO BE DONE! Take the computer away from me and hide all credit cards or paypal accounts. Though I have to say, I scored some extra savings from Toysrus by paying with Paypal and using their Bill Me Later plan. In two separate transactions I received $20 purchase using paypal and $25 off using Bill Me Later through paypal. These were unexpected but hey, if they are going to reduce my bill- why not. I used Bill Me Later two Christmases ago when I bought a ton of toys from etoys.com. They offered 90 days same as cash and I just saved the money I was going to spend and paid it within 60 days.

Jeff and I did a little shopping by ourselves on Saturday. That was suppose to be the end of buying for Paige and Jeff, but when I saw the deals at Aeropostale.com for Paige I couldn't help it. They had long sleeve shirts for $8!!

Almost all my items sold on ebay. I made $176. If only I could sell like that every week. It's almost what I make at work!! Haha!

Hopefully, we will get to start wrapping this week. I need to find wrapping paper for them first. Then we have to sort out and make sure there is an even amount of gifts to unwrap. They don't add up the number of gifts just the number of gifts they open up. So I can even it up by putting things together or separating things ie clothes.

A little breezy outside

The storm front has been slowing moving through the area and with it high winds. Right now the sun is shining as the snow is blowing in all directions. Crazy!

Last night was my son's Holiday concert. It was really cute. He had a line to say and boy was he mad! I told him he should tell the teacher that he didn't want to do it, but he said no. His line was "I heard the bells on Christmas Day" and boy did he say it in a monotone. No expression whatsoever! He asked how he did and we told him he was terrific! Usually he refuses to say anything at programs so maybe if he thinks he did good he will try to do more. On the other hand, Paige jumps at the chance to do anything she can at her programs!

My ebay sales are doing great - I've sold $82 worth of items with some items still going. I forgot how much I love to put things on Ebay. There are a couple things of Paige's that I would really like to list- but she won't part with them even though they are just gathering dust on her desk. I even offered to give her the money. I'll try again tonight to change her mind.

Jeff and I are hopefully going to get back on our debt repayment plan. He just sold 2 of his rental properties and as long as things remain the same, he won't have to worry about rents. The past several months were really hard for him as the two properties with mortgages were empty so he was paying out 3 mortgages a month. Now that he sold them, we can work on the few bills we have. He has one charge card with about 3k on it and we still have to pay off the suv about 8k. Then all that's left are student loans and our mortgage. We can probably get them both knocked out in a year and a half. The cc can be knocked out within 6 mos but the car may take a little longer. We've followed Dave Ramsey and Crown Money Management with a few alterations and it has really helped out. Next month we are going to start again. If I can keep selling on eBay
it would help put some extra cash toward bills, but usually I don't see this kind of quick sales only at Christmas time. Still anything helps!!

Keep warm - I know I'm trying to!

Oh- found this from Money Saving Mom - a how-to to make your own bows. I think Paige and I will try this out. Paige is always upset when I don't have a bow for present. This might solve that!!

Playing SAHM

Today I got to stay home. Jeff had and in-service today so I figured it would be good to stay home and take advantage of a long weekend. Except, Paige has a reading festival at the school from 8:30 am to 2:30pm and Jeffrey Michael made plans with a friend. Here I am all by myself.

It's funny because there are days when all I want is to be alone. I need alone time. My family understands this and will not fuss too much. Yet today I was looking forward to being with them. God's sense of humor is strange sometimes!

So, as usual I did some cleaning. I went through Paige's closet and drawers. I have to do this when she is not around. At 10, she is attached to everything and can't bear to part with her things. She seriously wants me to save all her outgrown clothes. She wants to be able to look at them later in life. I think I have a pack rat in waiting! Jeffrey Michael could care less. As long as he has something to wear he's good to go. I put all the winter uniforms and regular clothes that still fit in a tote and left it on the attic landing just in case of a cold day. All the outgrown things were thrown, ummm, stored for giving away. Now I have a better idea of what they need for summer. Jeffrey doesn't need much, but Paige needs a whole new wardrobe. She is growing so much. I'm hoping this Sunday we can head over to the outlet mall.

I didn't get my camera last weekend. I really need a new camera. I borrowed the one from work so I could get some things on ebay. It only takes 10 pictures at a time but it was better than nothing. The weather is beautiful and I really want to get some new pictures of the kids at their games.

The mailman is coming down the street. Does anyone else love getting mail? It's one of the first things I check on when I get home from work, after my family of course! Even if it's just bills I still get excited!

Catching Up

Wednesday was a half day at work for me and so I rushed home to get as much done as possible before everyone came home from school. I was able to run into the local Aldi's and I can't say how much I love that store. They have been stocking so much more fun things including their new 4 pack probiotic yogurt. Years ago when they first came to our town the selection was very limited and I wasn't able to buy a lot of items but now I do all my shopping with them and supplement what they don't carry. Saves me a lot of money.



I also was able to get some recycling to the bins. We have curbside recycling but not for cardboard. Plus plastic bags do sometimes end up coming home from the kids or my husband so I do like to save them and drop them off at the local grocery stores pickup bin.



Then I almost forgot to watch Oprah! I was so busy cooking and getting some little organizing projects done and it wasn't till a little after 5pm that I remembered. It was really a great show and I may have to try the cinnamon chicken recipe. And the pizza...mmm!

Yesterday I was so tired after work that I slept most of the evening, ate, got the kids homework checked and then went right back to sleep. The weather has turned cold again- though no snow - and it was just nice to snuggle in bed with Peanut.

Today is payday for both me and Jeff and so we will have to sit down and review our debt plan. We put together an excel spreadsheet with the balances of any outstanding bills to pay off and estimated when they should be paid in full. So far we've been on goal and it's really nice when we can print out an updated sheet after a bill is paid off. We own some rental properties and the past few months we've had tenants not pay. One of which we may have to evict due to non-pay for several months with no communication. I don't want to do this but since they've ignored our attempts at contacting them I guess we have no choice. The loss of their rent forces us to use our own savings. That's ok once in a while but now it's become a pattern and I would rather sell the home than lose our money. So our debt reduction plan has hit some bumps here and there but we aren't too far off track. We set up our budget based on our salaries and only use the extra money from our rentals as bonuses toward repayment. Even if we didn't have the rentals, our budget would remain the same. We aren't as strict as we should be but then I don't think it would work for us. Check out some other great ideas from Pheobe's website.

I have been really good this week with cooking dinners and keeping the house clean. Even when I came home on Tuesday to find my father-in-law had come into town and was spending the night. Just a quick clean up around the house was all I needed to do. I haven't had any yelling matches with the kids so that is AWESOME! I am really learning to read my warning signs and halt them! I was able to take the dog for a walk twice this week due to warm weather so I think once the weather turns warm consistently this will be no problem. Still haven't worked my faith time in- plus we slept in on Sunday and missed church with the time change. I need to work this into a priority.

It's Friday the 13th -second in two months so looking forward to the fun today!

Friday Update

I know you all will join me in saying- Thank goodness it's Friday! It's also payday for me and wow can it couldn't come any sooner. I get paid on the 15th and 30th of the month and some months it seems like forever since my last check. Even though February is a short month, my paydays sure weren't any closer.



Many of the blogs I read fall into the same category- saving money and paying off debt, cleaning/organizing, and cooking. And like them, I am trying to achieve this to improve my family's lives. Years ago, I was an avid couponer. I even purchased a beautiful and easy to use coupon holder that is super organized. But then for some reason I stopped. I have no idea why and can only guess that I became lazy and careless. We do not have super high paying jobs but because we only have mortgage and student loans to finish paying off, we are able to add to our savings and meet our household bills with no struggle.



Still, one day as I was reading Dave Ramsey's website, I began searching blogs to see if anyone else out there was into paying off debt. Can you say naive? But I was so glad to meet others working toward the same goals. But it wasn't just debt reduction that kept me reading. It was the changes made by using coupons, cooking meals at home, etc that really struck a chord with me. When my husband and I first started out, we had little money and using coupons and making meals at home were an absolute necessity. But over time, we secured jobs in our chosen fields and paid off bills. Perhaps it was around then that we let go of our frugal ways. We didn't incur debt or anything like that, just stopped clipping coupons and starting eating out 1-2 times a week.



So why am I obsessed with going back to those days of coupons and cooking more at home? We have great paying jobs that meet our bills and saving needs. Luckily our jobs are secure -although I am sure mine could go if my agent thought necessary. As a tenured teacher Jeff is pretty safe. Even with me changing careers and losing a good portion of my salary, it hasn't affected our budget. As I wrote about before, it's actually saving us money. Still it doesn't mean that I should throw money away. I also worry about eating so much pre-packaged processed foods. And I am always in need of help when it comes to organizing and cleaning. That's why I love reading your blogs!

Pheobe from Cents to Get Debt Free is asking everyone to share tips and tricks to help save on grocery budget. Sorry there is no link- I am still learning about all this computer stuff! For me strange enough, I have saved money by asking my children to put together a list of dinner options they like. Because my kids are in school all day, all I have to worry about is breakfast and dinner. Lunch is not a big deal even though we do pack because they enjoy simple things like sandwiches and chopped vegetables. But dinner was always a hassle. The kids were always wanting to eat fast food since I get home from work late and would many times forget to plan ahead something for Jeff to throw in the oven. They usually would get it twice a week which was never enough for them and complained that they didn't like what I made (or Jeff). So I put the task on them to tell us what they did like. And it worked! They put together their own lists and we told them that we would pick and choose some each week with the promise from them that they couldn't complain. This has really helped cut down on making separate meals for us and them and less fast food trips. It was really counter productive making a meal and then having to throw something else together for the kids because they didn't like what I made. Less food used at each dinner thus saving me money and time. Head on over to her website to see all her and others ideas.