Works for Me Wednesday- Menu Plan!

What has been my biggest asset this week on the frugal forefront? My Menu Plan! I have loved getting into the swing of things again! My menu plan has kept us all on track, foodwise and spending wise. Everyone in our family automatically knows where to look if they want to know what’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s right there on the fridge spelled out in black printer’s ink. No more guessing… no more wasted breath. I just have to say a few words…… “Look at the fridge”.

Here’s an example of how having a menu plan has benefited us this week. As I mentioned before, football has us all incredibly busy, and it has been hard to figure out meals, and quite frankly easier to just dine out. But that was killing our budget for the month. On the menu yesterday was a crockpot meal. Having that on the fridge allowed me to be prepared... ahead of time. So, yesterday evening I actually had a crock pot recipe waiting for us, when we all arrived home at 8:30pm! Let me tell you, with a ravenous husband and two equally hungry boys, this was a huge help! DH was quite pleased and it was just a great time to de-stress, have some dinner and talk about our day as a family.

It’s helped our budget too. There is no question about what’s for dinner… and so no last minute decisions to eat out. There are also fewer stops to the grocery store as we try to buy what we need ahead of time. I do need to improve in my number of trips to the store. My goal is to only go to the grocery store once. But if I have to go back for milk as a staple later in the week then I’ll cut myself some slack. I think part of my problem is our grocery store is like 5 minutes from my house, and is a social place. I always run into friends there! So, who wouldn’t want to shop there more often? LOL!

So, this week’s success for me is my Menu Plan. It has saved both time and money, plus helped me to feel a lot more organized!

Savings $10/week- Does it make a difference?

I absolutely loved this article on savings! And not just because it talks about coins in your couch making a difference.... (but that was pretty cool!)

No, this woman talked about how $10 could really make a difference. The same advice I was given when I was just starting out newly married... that I chose to ignore. I wish I had this article that could have explained it logistically to me back then. I'd be better off today.

She has written and shown how much money you would have accumulated after 30 years if you saved $10 a week. Here is the quote:

According to MSN Money's Savings Calculator, if you saved just $10 a week, or $40 a month, you'd end up with almost $60,000 in 30 years, assuming an 8% return. (Historically, that's been the long-term return for investing in stocks.)

Now doesn't $10 a week sound rather insignificant? I mean, I thought the same thing.... how can a measly $10 make a difference? But look at how it adds up! I am re-evaluating my savings plan today and starting small.... even $10 because with all the adoption stuff etc... I can at least afford that. $40 a month is dining out one time for my family. I can forgo a restaurant in favor of socking that money away.

How about you? Care to take a savings challenge? Even a small one? Take a look at this article and and see if you can save $10 a week..... even a small amount can make a big difference!

How $10 Could Save Your Retirement.

Inspiring Article

I found another article that is pretty inspiring. It's from Parade magazine, July 13, 2008.

How America Saves- Secrets of Thrifty Families

Interesting Article

I found an interesting article on MSN money entitled, Why Can't Americans Save a Dime?

Savings

How much money does the average American save each month? Well, according to Forbes Magazine, “In 2005 the personal savings rate as a percentage of disposable income in this country was negative 0.5%”.

The average American is living paycheck to paycheck. If you are saving anything at all, you are above average. Even those whose income indicates they could be saving aren’t. Why? Because they are up their eyeballs in credit card debt. Why are they in debt? Because they are living beyond their means. Now let me qualify that I know this is not everyone’s scenario. But, it truly does represent our current buy now, pay later mentality.

I know a little bit about this…. from personal experience. There was a time when dh and I were considered D.I.N.K.S.- (Dual Income No Kids). I don’t even know if they call it that anymore, it’s been a long time since we were DINKS. Anyway, we both worked outside the home, in fields that paid pretty well. Seriously, now that I think back on it, for the first 4 yrs of our marriage, we brought in about ½ of what we are making now. Our house payment was actually less than it is now, AND we had no kids. That means none of the expenses that go along when you add two more to your family.

Here is the worst part… we saved NOTHING! That’s right absolutely NOTHING. And that my friends is sad. We probably had the ability to save almost ½ my salary or more. That’s a huge chunk of savings over a four year time period! But instead we lived like most Americans today, paycheck to paycheck. We ate out a lot, because we could afford to, and quite frankly because I didn’t like to cook and didn’t feel like cooking. We also bought on credit. Any major purchase to remodel our home, was bought using our credit cards. Holiday shopping was also pretty bad, and like most people we racked up some pretty steep bills come January. Typically when a bonus or tax refund came through that money was earmarked to pay off credit cards. Sound familiar? It’s not a fun way to spend that refund or bonus, let me tell you…..

If you are a newly married couple just starting out I encourage you to sit down together and think about what you make and how you can save. Someone once told me even a small amount saved over a long period of time can make a big difference. I didn’t listen, and here we are just now beginning to work on our savings plan. I hope you won’t make the same mistake we did. We were fortunate and have been spared so many of the financial disasters that couples can get themselves into. If you really don’t know where to begin I recommend grabbing a copy of The Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples by Larry Burkett. This is a good basic starting point to learn about managing your finances together. I also recommend you listen to Dave Ramsey on the air or on the net. There are many couples that have come through very difficult financial situations, and become free from debt. Fridays are a great day to hear those success stories! Also, if you are seriously in debt., don’t try to start saving money yet. The first step is to get out of debt. Here is a link to Dave Ramsey’s website where he talks about the Debt Snowball- The truth about how to get out of debt.

My goal is to kick the very last of our debt out the door, (except for our house) and to start saving more of our money. I'm not sure how soon that will happen with our international adoption.... but I'll keep you posted!

I Hate to Shop...

The title of my post today says it all.... I really do hate to shop. It's just not my thing at all! I had a good friend in college, I'll call her "D". "D" I swear was a professional shopper. Especially for clothing. She learned from the best, her mother. Her mom would go browsing often, and look for beautiful, well made, unique, quality items. Then she would continue her browsing each week, until the item she was interested in went on sale. I don't know whether it was good genes or the training under her mother's tuteledge....but "D" knew how to shop!

On the other hand, I can not stand to do that. I buy stuff like clothing when the need arises. (So, does dh by the way). Since we both detest clothes shopping, my boys love it because they only have to visit that task a few times a year. Trust me it's a chore for all of us when that happens! lol!

The only thing I really do enjoy browsing for are home items. All home items, from accesories, to furniture, to major building materials at Lowes. Even then I typically don't buy those things unless we really need them. (See once again it's an as needed type of shopping).

So, I've really been pondering my Coins blog here. If you are looking for deals on just about anything.... you probably won't find it here. There are plenty of sites listed on my side bar that you can click on to find the latest Walgreens/CVS and grocery deals. Plus I am sure there are many places to find clothing sales or other types of shopping sales, either online or in a store. I'm not a shopper... so I'm not the one to go to for breaking news in any of those areas!

As I have been thinking, I really had to ask myself..."What am I passionate about? What really drives me toward leading a frugal lifestyle?" It isn't the awesome deals, though they certainly help me in certain areas like my budget. What I am passionate about it the steps that our family is taking to not only be debt free, but to live life like never before. It's not necessarily about wealth, but to me it's a journey of breaking the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. It's beginning to understand what saving means, and buying only when you have the money saved. It's learning how to be good stewards of our finances, and taking the steps necessary to be financially free.

It isn't easy. I will be the first to admit this is a really hard thing to learn. I struggle often with a desire to just forget about the budget and "just buy it". I was never taught how to really manage my finances as a youth or young adult, and the habits I have are hard to break. But I'm learning.... and I guess that is what I am passionate about. I want others to learn from our successes and failures. I especially want couples younger than us to learn of the pitfalls and to see that they can start early to really get ahead on the road to financial freedom. Whenever I hear a young couple in their late 20's say to Dave Ramsey on a Friday that they just paid off their house and they are debt-free... I get goose bumps. Seriously. I marvel at how amazing that is, and what a gift they have truly given themselves! And I wish I had know at their age, what I am struggling to learn now. I'm passionate about that process, because I truly believe it is valuable for everyone.

I'm really not sure what that will translate to...here on this blog. I do know that I won't be posting a whole lot of deals! But, I will however be sharing my heart.

Football and Frugality

What does football season have to do with a blog about being frugal? Well in my life, everything. My boys started football about two weeks ago, and the practice times have really thrown off my menu planning. And, as I have learned menu planning is one of the keys for me to being prepared. Being prepared limits the number of times I go out to dinner, because I "don't know what to cook". And that helps me stick to my budget.

Here's the dilema: Football practice is typically from 6:00-8:00pm. Dh doesn't get home until 5:30-5:45 most nights, and then we rush to the football field. I don't want to feed the boys a big meal before they practice as it's hot out and football is a tough contact sport. It's not like baseball where I can pack sandwiches and bring them to the field, they need to digest. Practice usually ends around 8-8:15pm and we get home around 8:30pm. See my dilema? We could sit down as a family and eat at that time, but it's really late!

I wanted to utilize my crockpot more for football season, but even that seems difficult because when would we eat? I also thought about making the mid-day meal our big meal and having sandwiches an hour or so before practice. But dh isn't home with us during the day. So, what would he do for dinner... I know he wouldn't be thrilled with sandwiches 4 days a week. Oh yes, did I forget toi mention the kids have practice 4 days a week. That's a lot of practice and it really hampers our famlily time around the dinner table! If I am not careful to carve out some family time..... we end up having too much running and not enough connecting.

So, anyone have any advise for how to work around football season? Maybe I could do a couple days of eating late, and a couple days of big meals at mid-day? I DO know whatever I decide I will be menu planning. That is for sure! Two weeks without a menu have pretty much killed me.

So please post a comment and tell me how you might handle dinner time if you were in our situation. I welcome any suggestions.... :-)

Consignment Shops

I just LOVE consignment shops. Especially the ones were I used to live in PA! I've been visiting here for the past week and have found some good deals! But what I love best is no sales tax on any clothes... NONE! I packed two suitcases light, so I'd have room to stock up! lol!

Clothes Shopping.... saving at Kohl's

Anyone out there who dislikes shopping for clothes? I really am not a clothes shopper. I can't stand it. I don't like paying full price for one thing, and just finding clothes we all like and fit. It's time consuming.

But today ds1 needed some clothes. His swim trunks are too short, and his shorts are beginning to be too short as well. He has some shirts, but is in serious need of some pj bottoms and athletic shorts. (Which I forgot to get today). Anyway, we went to Kohl's as that is usually where I have good luck finding things. And we left with a basket FULL of things! Almost 1/2 from the clearance sections. I bought him 4 pair of shorts and 2 pr of swim trunks. 9 shirts as well! His brother didn't do so bad either he got 5 shirts.... and I walked away with 5 new T-shirts which I also desperately needed. :-)

I was able to use my Kohl's charge and saved an additional 30%. $65.00!! My total was $162. which averages out to about $6.50 per item. That isn't too bad considering we typically shop 2x a year in this household. I know that seems like nothing, but we hand down items, and that's about it. Thankfully we don't need very much.

I think I may hit some more clearance sales for my dh too.... He could use a few casual shirts and jeans...So, what about you? How often do you shop for clothes in your household? Do you enjoy it? I'm sure those of you with girls will have a much different perspective than me with my two boys... :-)

Holiday Savings...It's never too early!

Mercedes at Money Common Sense has written a great post to remind us about saving now for the holiday season. I know I need the reminder, and I will be thankful come December when I have the cash to pay for gifts for my family!

Click here to read her post.... This truly is common sense!

Planning....

I'm sitting here at the local car dealership as our van gets some regular maintenance.... free Wi-Fi! Yeah! I love when that happens. The kids are happy with gameboy and ESPN, plus muffins and fruit juice, so we're all happy!

I've been thinking that I haven't been very good about planning lately. Menu planning is practically non-existent. In my defense, I have been working rather diligently on my card making, and catching up on my coupons. But, I still need to focus on the menu planning, grocery aspect of my budget. It's like a delicate balance, and when I focus on one area, it seems another area slips.


So, starting this weekend, I'll be working on a menu plan to get my grocery budget back in line. I need to limit my number of trips to the grocery store. I also need to plan to shop the best prices. Especially in the fruits and veggies dept.


I did stop at Sam's club and bought all my meat/poultry for the month. This was a huge savings for me! I will definitely be doing that again. Plus Sam's has Jennie O ground turkey, and Publix seems to be out of it most days. They are pushing their own label and we don't like that as much.

(I feel like I've written the above statement before, but I checked my recent posts and I haven't.... deja vu.... anyone ever feel that way?) lol!

Okay, I'm off to check the local grocery flyers online to see if I can find the best deals... and maybe I'll even start a menu plan for next week. :-)

Have a great day!

Funding our Adoption

I've mentioned in passing here at Coins In The Couch, that my husband and I are in the process of adopting internationally. Specifically we are registered in Moscow, Russia and hope to adopt two siblings, either two boys or two girls, ages 4 and under.

We do have two biological children and while some may think we are crazy to head back into the diaper stages of life.... we look forward to expanding our family to six. It's something I have been praying about since 2002, and hopefully God's timing will be such that we will actually complete this adoption this year.

Adopting internationally is expensive for one child, let alone two! With the dollar dropping in value, it's even more expensive than this time last year. We are praying and working toward not going into debt for this adoption. So, we have begun fund raising and saving like squirrels, in order to accomplish our goals.

We've had three yard sales this summer, and now we are working on selling handmade cards. You may have seen this on a few other blogs. Jennifer at SisterlySavings and Jeannie at What's a Girl to Do got together and began spreading the word about my handmade cards. Jennifer created a button on her blog that you can grab and post on your own blog to let your readers know about our fundraising. That was soo thoughtful of them and already Mercedes at MoneyCommonSense has grabbed that button! (And ordered a set of cards! Thank you!!)

So, if you would like to grab the button and post it on your own blog, please do so! And if you would like to help us raise money for this adoption I would love to make a set of cards for you! I'll post some samples on my sidebar and if you click on them it will take you to the link on my adoption blog.

Thank you for helping us fund our adoption!

A bottle of water.....

Our family loves baseball.... LOVES it! Our boys play baseball, we follow all kinds of baseball from the minor league level, up to the Majors on ESPN. We have several favorite teams...one of which is the Braves. Well, dh was able to get free tickets to the Braves through work, and free parking as well. So we jumped at the chance to head to Atlanta and catch a game.

What does this have to do with frugal living? Well I'm getting there. The only cost to us was the gas for our van. Very worth it to us... we get to the game, and of course ate dinner on the way down very inexpensively. I know ballpark food can be expensive, especially in the Major Leagues. I just didn't know how much.

Around the 6th inning I asked dh to grab me a bottled water if he didn't mind. He took the kids and came back with a soda for each of them and my water. That's 3 sodas and one water. Wanna know how much that cost at your favorite MLB stadium?

$18.00!!!!

Yes, that's right $18.00. I told dh I didn't want to hear anymore. It made me ill just thinking about it. Unbelieveable! As the game was winding down, I told dh I was finishing all the water, so as not to waste a drop... He joked, that must be the best tasting water you ever had! LOL! Yeah right.

Eating Healthy on a Budget

Eating healthy while sticking to a budget is tough. Maybe others have a better handle on how to do this, and please please share your tips with me!

Here's the deal.... For awhile now I have noticed that a lot of the coupons and BOGO deals are on sugary sweet stuff or junk food. My sister and I have talked about this. Now don't get me wrong I love that kind of food... VERY much! My husband and children also really like it. But I have begun to really re-vamp our eating habits.

It's mainly for me, as I have weight to lose, and not just a little either. I think not having a ton of that stuff around the house will be helpful to me. Plus, my family just needs to eat more fruits and vegetables.

So, for the past two weeks I have not really bought anything much that required a coupon. I'm mainly purchasing meats, fresh fruits and veggies, etc. My body is thanking me, but it's hard on our budget. I wish now I had planted some kind of a garden, or something, that could be helping me save on vegetables. I know some of my friends utilize farmers markets around here as well.

Help! Tell me how you manage to save money and eat healthy too. I could really use some tips and advice.

On Being Frugal...

1. Being frugal is time consuming

Oh my goodness is it ever! It takes time to cut those coupons, and it takes time to file them. It takes time to go through the coupon clipping sites online and order the coupons that you think you'll need. It takes time to scan three different grocery stores to try to find the best deal that they offer. It also takes time to scan through Walgreens and CVS, to decide what is worth purchasing that week. Then there is the time to make a menu plan, and actually go shopping. The bulk of my time is in the grocery shopping, and coupon clipping. I can see why most people just throw those inserts away. Who has time for that? But as my friend Kris just updated she has saved over $500 since the beginning of the year in just coupons at the grocery store. It is so worth it..... if you're willing to invest the time. For us on one income, it's a must.


2. Being frugal takes sacrifice.

In order to live off of one income it means we give up the ability to buy the latest and greatest. We have to, as we just can't afford it....We don't have the newest, cutest, coolest "stuff". For one thing our cars are old, we just can't afford to go out and buy a new car, or even upgrade. We are saving to buy a car (used) with cash. (Such an interesting idea in today's finance everything market). We also wait several years before getting the latest in technology (until the prices come down). We clean our own house, yes with the kids still here everyday! We also shop consignment for clothing. Some people would turn their noses up at that, but there are some beautiful clothes out there that are a fraction of the price, in great condition. We frequent used book stores and curriculum events to buy our books second hand. Why pay retail for these? I have found books 75% to 85% off that look practically new. It takes time to look through these as well (to go with my time point of #1). I already mentioned we don't go out to eat a lot. For several years we lived with only the most basic cable (12 channels) for $7.00 a month. Now that our whole family is into ESPN, that isn't as much of an option. Though we would go back to basic if needed. To make room for cable another item had to be dropped from the list.


3.Being frugal takes a little bit of creativity.

Some people can be creative using up leftovers to create a new delicious meal for their family. I cannot! But I can be creative by taking ten dollar bed frames (headboard and footboard) and sanding them down, and staining them again to use for my children. I can be creative in frequenting used furniture places and "junking" to find the items that are very inexpensive that would work for my home. My hunt for a bookcase for my boys here is a good example. Coming up with meals that fit my budget and pantry takes a little creativity as well. :-)


4. Being frugal is tough, but worth it.

Living off of one income isn't easy in our two income world. If I were to go back to work, I could probably add several thousand dollars back into our budget and daily living expense. But at what cost? Sure we could eat out way more than we do, and we could afford a nicer house, or to really fix this house up the way that we want. Hey, we could even afford a truck for dh, who continually sacrifices by driving a 13 yr old beat up little car to work daily. But those are all wants...not needs. Our world is all about instant gratification. Seriously, fast food, ATM's, even the new Visa commercials about how fast life moves. When we are being inundated with that type of marketing, it's tough to swim upstream the other way.

But delayed gratification is worth it. It develops discipline in me, that is lacking in so many other areas of my life. It builds a perspective (most of the time) of contentment with what I have. Instead of wanting more and more, and never being satisfied. It ignites in me a certain creativity, to try and make do with what we have, re-inventing things that are old but still usable.

I sometimes think the toughest thing about being frugal is to remember in my moments of discontent, why I do it. Because dh and I feel called to have me at home. To hopefully teach our children to honor God and each other and impact them through life lessons and love on a daily basis. Yes, we sacrifice a second income for this, but we also give up the rat race of life in lieu of a simpler, less hectic one.

When it Rains it Pours.....

I just got finished posting on my adoption blog, how disheartened I am with some mistakes made in paperwork, that have cost us more money in FedEx charges. I know that there is nothing I can do to get that money back..... but I'm still aware of it and it still irks me.

Today in the mail came a nice letter from the IRS requesting information from us from back in 2001. I never like to see anything come from the IRS, unless it is a refund check. (Actually, we have never been sent anything requesting information ever). This is actually from an individual state. So, we pulled out our copies we had on file to sort through and see if we did indeed file correctly.

Thank goodness this is the one year we filed with HR Block, and not on our own. We did this, as we were unsure of which state to file as our primary residence. All the documentation was neatly organized, and dh will be calling tomorrow as well as submitting an answer in writing as requested. I have found the online state IRS filing guidelines to back up our state return. I think everything will be okay...but I'm still stressed!

Dave Ramsey in My Head

This evening I was out at HomeGoods, one of my favorite places to browse. I was just there for some "me time" while dh was out with the kids. Anyway, I saw two little stuffed lambs that each had a plastic protective cover on the front for a picture to slide in. I though they would be so cute to take to our adoptive children in Russia with our photo in it. That way when we have to go back home, they have a stuffed animal to sleep with and to help remind them that we will be returning for them.

Anyway, there was another really cute lamb blanket.... but only one. I was so tempted to buy it for me! I mean I was justifying left and right about why i should buy it.... it would be mine, it would remind me of the kids, etc etc etc. What I really wanted were two lamb blankets and then I would give those to the children. lol! So as I am walking around debating... I hear one of the sales clerk ask a gentleman how he is doing today.... He answered in a voice greatly mimicking Dave Ramsey... "Better than I deserve!" I looked at him and just grinned...then I thought about that...and promptly walked back to the children's section and put that lamb blanket back. LOL!

Nope, I surely don't need that to help me sleep better at night... I'm headed toward financial peace instead. :-)

For more on Dave Ramsey click HERE.

Re-vamping the budget

It's amazing how much I can learn each day when I pay close attention to our finances. I was going through our bills for the beginning of the month and balancing the checkbook as well. I found an expense that needs to go. I can't believe I didn't see it before, but it may be because spring is finally here and I am paying for this service again. It's lawncare (weeds etc) and I set this service up way before I got on my Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover program. I spoke to dh about it this evening and effective tomorrow it is g-o-n-e. That means that dh is in charge of trying to make our lawn look beautiful. (Wish him luck!)

Hopefully a little time and effort will have it looking much better than it does now, and in the process we'll be able to pay down on our van quicker.

I'm going through the budget with a fine tooth comb to see if there are any other areas we can cut to help us get out of debt and start saving more... hopefully I'll find another I may have missed. I'm finding that there is always room for improvement and my learning never ceases in the area of frugal living.

Catching, Cleaning and Cooking Fish

Well, we went out on a boat on Sunday all day and fished the inlet. I was so proud of myself... I caught the first fish of the day and baited my first live shrimp to boot. By the end of the day I was a pro at baiting not only shrimp, but live fiddler crabs as well. We caught about 8 fish, packed them in ice, and dh will be cooking them up this evening. We'll see how we like it. lol! Free fish dinner...I know Ilike that!

We went to one Publix and asked about the mystery coupon....the lady had no idea what I was talking about. Late that same evening dh ran to another Publix, but forgot to ask. We also ended up only getting one paper on Sunday, so once I look through it, I see an order to Coupon Clippers coming!

We'll be visiting a Publix soon to shop for the week, and I need to hit a CVS to use up some ECB's. Thanks to Sisterly Savings for posting the CVS deals for the week. I haven't had time at all to look, so it was a real time saver for me!

Saving money on our road trip.

Well, we headed to Florida very early this morning. I prepared ahead by baking muffins for breakfast in the car. Dh packed a cooler with drinks, so we would only need to stop for coffee (of course!) and lunch. That went well....

For lunch I had coupons for Arby's and we had our own drinks. Well Arby's was running a deal on roast beef sandwiches and when we added our coupons....here is what we got and what it totaled.

4 Regular Roast Beef Sandwiches
4 curly fries
Drinks that we brought with us...

Total: $4.99 for all of us!!

That was a great surprise, and hopefully will help since the gas prices are so high! We passed a Publix distribution center and I wondered about taking a tour... lol! Another time perhaps...
I'll check in on the next leg of our journey.... sure wish I had some Dave Ramsey CD's to listen to in the car. I'm thinking that would be great for the return trip.