31 Days ... Day Four!

OK, this is an odd one, which is also very unique to our family ... but I don't buy trash bags anymore.

Why? My husband works as a route sales rep for a uniform and apparel company. Most customers who rent uniforms return them in trash sacks. Hubby has to empty the sacks to sort the laundry - so instead of trashing them {which is SO bad for the environment} he brings them home!

So my best advice is to keep your eyes open! There are always so many ways that you can reuse things to not only save money, but also keep from waste :)

What do you reuse?


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31 Days ... Day 3!

I'm not a coffee drinker. But I LOVE caramel apple cider, Chai lattes, hot tea, etc. It's a great pick me up, or wonderful to warm me up when I am freezing.

A cute little coffee shop opened up in town in August, and it sucked me in for the Chai - all $4 of it when including a tip. Obviously this had to go when I went on the spending freeze.

Instead, I go to the local store and buy a box of flavored tea (my current fave is Lipton Bavarian Wild Berry). There is a coffee pot in the hallway that no one else uses, so mid-morning, I run some water through to heat it and then just sip on tea the rest of the day. I love it, and it costs no more than 25 cents per day. Win!

31 days ... {Intro, plus days one and two}

Today is my first day at work this week, hubby is on vacation so I took some personal time to tackle a couple of house projects with him, which are still in progress.


Anyhow, I sort of kept up with blogger, and all these "31 Days..." posts linking up with The Nester kept popping up. At first I brushed it off, but decided today I want to participate!

As I blogged a few weeks ago, we have gotten horribly lax at just throwing our money around, then wondering where it's all gone at the end of the month. The way I figure, I should have $300 plus mileage reimbursements after all of my bills each month, but have no idea where it goes.

While September was a great start, I've decided to continue making every effort to pinch pennies in October {especially after I fell off the wagon during a mall trip on Saturday - bad Michelle!} And what better way to keep accountable than blogging about it.

I'm hoping to blog all 31 days ... and hope you'll tune in!

My first two tips are pretty easy.

1 - MEAL PLAN! I cannot stress how much this helps with the "what the heck are we going to eat" question. It helps me most on weekends I think. Not only that, when I meal plan, I make sure we have all ingredients, which eliminates those trips to the store for one or two things that turns into spending $20! Plus, if I meal plan, I can see what's on sale that week and really maximize the savings.

We don't mind eating leftovers, so I think making larger meals helps out with this, too. In a typical week, I probably only cook 3-4 times and we do leftovers the other nights. Obviously this will likely change as our family grows, but it works great right now.

Here is this week's menu:

Sunday: Baked chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, green beans
Monday: Chili
Tuesday: Frozen pizza
Wednesday: Cube steak w/gravy, mashed potatoes, corn
Thursday: Frito pies
Friday: Salads w/chicken (leftover)
Saturday: Chili leftovers

2 - Keep convenience foods, like frozen pizzas, fish sticks, frozen burgers, etc. around. I know it's not good for you - but neither is fast food. Case in point: I had cube steak out last night, but after installing new French doors in our basement, it was 7 p.m. and we didn't feel like taking an hour plus to cook. So instead of running out and grabbing Burger King or Pizza Hut and spending at least $12 PLUS the gas, I got in the freezer and baked two frozen pizzas. We LOVE the Aldi brand pizza, so this cost me a whopping $4. That's at least $10 in savings.

What are your tips for saving money?



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Five on Friday

{1} Oh my goodness, TGIF in the biggest way possible this week! There has been a bit of work drama going on, and I'm so ready for a break. Not only do I get the normal weekend, I'm taking off Monday and Tuesday, so I am very excited!

{2} I've booked family/Coop's two-year photos for next month and am excited. Now who wants to coordinate our outfits? LOL!

I love these little twinkies :) But no camo shorts and white shirt for this mom.

{3} We started running again last night. I did 1.2 miles, averaging just over 10 minutes/mile... I'll take it, considering I had to stop halfway through to tie my shoe. Hoping to do a 5K in late October, but we'll see...

{4} Hubby is on vacation next week, so Operation Get The Basement DONE is about to commence. I can't wait!

{5} My handsome baby is less than 2 months from turning 2! Where does time go?

Menu Monday ...err Tuesday!

Yesterday was hectic, but I still wanted to post this to keep me accountable.

Last week we did very well following the menu, although we did hit up the BK drive-thru after our Tuesday parade. Baby steps, right?

Sunday: Grilled pork chops, cheesy potatoes, pork & beans
Monday: Spicy sausage pasta, corn, bread
Tuesday: BBQ sandwiches (using leftover pork chops), homemade chips
Wednesday: Spaghetti, garlic bread
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Salmon patties, mac & cheese, fried potatoes
Saturday: Leftovers


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Five on Friday

{1} We've had another case of the ickies around our house this week. I think hubs and I got whatever C had last week? We had chills, fever, etc. on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Yuck. I am still having allergy issues. This, my friends, is why I loathe the transition to fall.

{2} Last night was beautiful though, y'all. So like any great mom, I snuck off to the front porch and enjoyed a cold brew. It was heavenly.

{3} Oh, how I love menu planning! And we had some yummy food this week, specifically the bacon cheeseburger pie recipe I need to share soon!

{4} Apparently I am getting old, because I was actually glad that a bonfire planned for tonight was called off due to rain, because now I have an excuse to sit home in my sweats.

{5} It's about time for chili weather! That, my friends, is the greatest thing about fall and winter, becuase I LOVE soups.

Happy weekend!

 

Spending freeze

A couple weeks ago, I did something a bit rash.

I put myself on a spending freeze. And when I told hubby of my plans, he did the same!

We've gotten quite frivilous with ouor money. Add to the fact that in late July/August, we were on vacation and had rodeo and the Labor Day festival in my hometown. Oh, and then I had the "atypical" bill this month of my car insurance, which I pay semi-annually.

So, I declared no spending any of my "personal" money other than for bills and the necessary things. That means no running to Burger King at lunch, even if it is the dollar menu, or any other little things. All off limits.

It's a definite adjustment ... I didn't realize just how much money can burn a hole in my pocket. But it's going OK. I had meetings and was not in my office for lunch one day last week - but I packed a pb&j one day, was treated to lunch two days, and did fall off the wagon and purchased my lunch another day. I also purchased a baptism gift for my nephew which is out of the ordinary, but still necessary, in my opinion.

This spending freeze is a big part of the reasoning behind meal planning. Way too often (especially on the weekends) we get caught up and don't have anything to eat so end up ordering a pizza or something. I purchased eight frozen pizzas from Aldi when grocery shopping last week to keep us out of this predicament!

Tonight, we are heading to the fair in a neighboring town, as I am to walk in the parade representing my workplace. I have a quick dinner planned for us once we get home and I am not intending to stay at the fair beyond the parade ... let's just hope I don't get pulled in!

Right now, my plan is to continue my "spending freeze" through the end of the month, and potentially into October, so I can do some big saving in preparation for the holidays. No matter what, I think it definitely shows me how lax I've been in saving and gives me the little push to brown bag it or keep those "convenience" processed foods around the house - they may not be the healthiest, but they are just as good for me as fast food, and definitely less expensive.

Do you have any good advice for cutting back on expenses and saving money?

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