Not much to report

S had gymnastics this morning. I usually drop her off and go get a Starbuck's, but today we stayed and watched. No more runs to Starbuck's during gym class. Then I had a doctor's appt. that cost $15. S kept asking i we could go to lunch. She does not understand money yet. I keep telling her that Mommy is trying to save money so we are going to eat at home. She doesn't get it. I ended up having left over ziti from the night before as did K. She decided her ham was not as yummy as my left overs. LOL And then I made meatballs for dinner. So other then the necessary doctor's appt., I did not spend any money today. Although I did send a link to a bathrobe to my husband to buy me. He owes it to me rom Christmas and my Birthday. Long story. And yet, he was still not able to order it because his work computer blocks it. Ugh. I am just destined not to have a new bathrobe. My 15 year old VS robe is just going to have to do.

Gifts, Lunch and More

I had to get a birthday gift for DD#2's classmate for a party this afternoon. I gave her a spending limit and she did great. We also had to go to the post office to mail a gift to my SIL. I was beat after all that so we used our one lunch out ticket. But I am very proud of myself. Instead of going just anywhere, we hit Taco Bueno for their "party burritos". They are only $.79. I bought lunch for DD#2, DD#3 and myself for less then $5.00. And we were all full. Not bad.

I did learn something about myself today. I am a "bored" shopper. I am early for everything. I can not stand being late. Sometimes I am too early. So then I have to figure out what to do. Hit a Target or a Starbuck's. For example, DD#2 and I were early for the party today. She doesn't understand that the party can't start yet and why we need to wait. So we have to do something to keep her occupied. So we walked down the a Starbuck's a few doors down. Bought her a Milk Chocolate and myself an Iced Mocha. Shame on me. I broke my first rule of the year. So when we are bored and waiting around, I shop. I spend money I don't need to. How do I fix this? Not be early? It's a habit. And not a horrible habit to have. Maybe I need to be prepared with things in the car for the kids to do in case we are early so they can sit and wait in the car? Something to think about.

Quick update

I used my one Starbucks a week already. And it wasn't worth. Talk about teaching me a lesson. It was good. Especially on the cold wet day that it was, but it ended up giving me a horrible headache. I guess I have decreased my coffee intake so much that the one (well, I only drank half) drink gave me a headache. So it may be time to give it up 100%. I still have other non-coffee drinks I know I will get pulled into the drive-thru for. But it will be easier to say no to the coffee.

I have not gone out to lunch yet this week. I don't plan to today either. Baby K was throwing up all night and running a fever. She seems much much better this morning, but we are going to take it easy at the house. So that only leaves tomorrow but S will be home and I am not sure I will want to take both the girls out. Especially since S has a birthday party in the afternoon. So I may just skip my one alloted lunch out this week. Not bad.

I have also made dinner every night this week. My husband travels. A lot! So it is easy for me to just order pizza or grab something and bring it home. I am too tired to make dinner when he is gone. But so far I have made dinner every night this week. I did not set a rule on this one because I knew that it will be a hard one for me to keep. So I didn't want to set myself up for failure. But knowing all the work I am doing in this challenge, I know that I will try to cut back on our dinners out. I am taking the girls out for dinner next Tuesday with friends, so I am trying to be really good about it this week.

I used a couple gift cards and I sold a couple of items that have been sitting in my house. So I would say a pretty good week thus far.

Yay Verizon!

So today I sort of spent money and saved money.

I had some Gift Cards from my birthday I needed to use for some new jeans. I know, NEW. Shame on me. But I am just not as dedicated as some of the other ladies in the group. I am cutting WAY back on my clothes spending by trying to get only things that are needed. And since I only had one pair of jeans that fit, I needed more. LOL And I was not spending any money on them.

Then I had to call Verizon. A call I was dreading since it always takes forever, but I had to do it. We got our new TV (purchased with Christmas money) that replaced the one that got broken when trying to make it safe for the kids. LOL Well the new TV is HD. So I needed to call Verizon and get our box upgraded for HDTV. And while we were at it, we needed the DVD Player. This wonderful lady was very patient and willing to help me SAVE money. She realized we had all of their services, phone, internet and cable, but we did not have a bundle and were spending way too much. So we were able to drop our $200 a month bill down to $132 a month with a discount of $98 a month for the next three months. So while I bought more products, we will be spending about $68 less a month. Yay Me! and Yay the wonderful lady at Verizon. Plus it will upgrade my internet (WOOHOO!!!!) and give Steve the Sports Package for free (YAHOO!!!).

So, now might be a good time for you ladies to check in with your cable service for new plans. Worked for us.

I did it!!! - $243.86

I did it! Well, WE did it. Gotta give DH some credit for all his work on the coupons. He is really good with helping me out with stuff. Coupons will sort of be his half of the shopping adventure.

Anyway, we spent $243.86 on 2 weeks of groceries. Just under the $250 budget I put us on.
We used 15 mfg. coupons for a savings of $13.30.
Store "coupons" for $2.70 of savings.
Promotional savings of $21.36
And Great Deal Savings of $39.69

They were having amazing deals on BOGO Free Sales. So we even bought some items that were not on the list because it was BOGO free and we just couldn't pass it up. Like the meats. How could we pass up a BOGO free Roast or Beef Tips (which the beef tips were already on our grocery list). We also got some BOGO free steaks for some chicken fried steaks.

Lots of other great BOGO on snacks for the girls and for their lunches.

Anyway, I am so proud of Steve and myself. We are taking this seriously and trying to make it work. This is a good start.

And just to add a little humor, this is what 10 inserts of coupons looks like (we bought an extra paper to get a few more coupons).

Tomorrow is grocery day

This is going to be hard. How do I shop with less money but buy healthier foods? My husband and my girls have no problem eating all the frozen crap and such. I, personally love fresh veggies and fruits. They like the fresh fruits, too. But all the fresh stuff can get expensive. But if I am going to cut out the extra calories, I have to buy better foods. It's a sad, vicious cycle. Luckily, there is something like 5 inserts of coupons in Sunday's newspaper tomorrow. So hopefully I can find some good coupons to help keep me under budget. My goal is to not spend any more then $250. That is going to be tough. I am usually pretty good about what we buy. I make a two week meal menu and then make list based on the ingredients for those meals. So we don't usually just randomly buy things. So I am not sure where I am going to cut back. Hopefully the coupons is all I will need. We use to buy between $250 and $300 (closer to $300 a trip the past few months). So wish me luck.

Bye Bye E-Mail Ads

Chrystyna had a great idea. So simple, but very helpful in this adventure. Unsubscribing from all the e-mail advertisements I get. And I get a bunch. I decided to start today and I have already unsubscribed from Hanna Andersen, Disney Store, Bath and Body Works and Banana Republic. And I have only been up for 30 minutes. Ha! So every time one of those e-mails come in, I plan to unsubscribe. Steve says I am a girl who knows what I want anyway and I don't need all that useless junk in my e-mails. It takes away from the important ones anyway. He is just trying to help me feel better about all of this. Gotta love him.