September in Review

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Sheila

Financial goals: September was an ok month for us financially; I was able to get our Emergency fund back to $500 and we are only currently about $300 behind budget for the month. I am hoping/anticipating that by the end of October, we will be even for the year. I am continuing to pick up extra hours at the nursing home in addition to some slow web work that should produce income.

Pay off Lawn mower by March 2014, so no interest is charged. Payment of $100 made, almost a triple payment. I have also made a plan to pay this completely off in January!
Pay off all outstanding debt except the mortgage by June– We missed this goal obviously but my new goal is June 2014!
Emergency fund to $2000– Currently at just over $500 but at least it exist again.
Maintain a budget using a form of the envelope system – MET!
Groceries: Spend $600 or less a month We are currently at $575 for the month including our purchase of 120# of chicken! I anticipate that October will be an expensive month as we have to replenish. We have not purchased a lot of groceries since June. At this point our average for the year is $600. My goal will be to stay on budget for the rest of the year!
Gas- Goal Met!! We currently have $89 left in our gas budget which will be used to offset a medical bill!

Blogging: Goal: 15 per month This is the 15th blog posting of the month, for the third month in a row. I will admit that this month has been a struggle but I am so glad I have been able to stay on course.

Devotions: Goal is 5 a week Goal Met! I am really enjoying my morning time.

Weight: Goal to exercise 3x a week and to be down to 150 by December by losing around 4 # a month.. Something is better than nothing… with that being said, I have managed to work out 2 nights a week for the past 3 weeks so that is at least better than nothing!

September was a good month! We have met all goals this month!!!

Sunday at the Park-LOTS of Pictures

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Sheila

This afternoon our church held a dinner at a park just south of us. The playground was awesome…

With lots to play on with our friends even Zach’s size friends.

Next we rode the Carousal… Zach was not so much a fan….

Zach liked the train ride much better…

Finally we had dinner….

Honestly this was one of the best Sunday afternoon we have spent in a long time!

September Challenge Final Update-Budget

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Sheila

Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone.”
– Isaiah 37:26

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
-Hebrews 13:5

Yes, those are the verses that keep coming to my mind as I think about updating our budget status this month. First I will be really honest, I did not met either of the goals that I had aspired to this month. However, I don’t count this month as a total fail either. In the area of money we have made small but steady progress.

Our emergency fund is currently sitting at just above $500, I was able to make steady payments on our small debt that is left. We are actually under budget in gas and groceries. In addition, I am actually currently under budget for the year on groceries. I will include actual numbers on the month in review post. Finally, we are currently less than $800 to be even for the year. I am actually really excited by this number! I have committed to work at the nursing home, one day a week for the next six weeks. This alone will make a huge dent in this $800. In addition, our hope is to finally get a web site published and therefore paid for in October. Slow and steady wins the race and I am actually seeing a finish line way up ahead in the distance. The biggest blessing is the verses above because I do not have to worry, my God is in control and his timing is PERFECT!

Restocking

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Sheila

Over the past several months we have been working on cleaning out our freezers. I am happy to say that task is complete. We currently have chicken broth/stock and beef broth in our large chest freezer along with a 20# box of chicken tenders/nuggets. In our second stand up freezer we have veggies. It is quite full but all these are easily seen and I now know what can be used. The plan/goal of the next several weekends will be to restock.
We are a busy family and most weeks, we have extra activities three to four nights a week. One of the most successful ways that we have found to make these evenings go smoothly and not end up eating out is by have an assortment of items in our freezers that when combine make simple meals. We have recently purchased 120# of boneless chicken breast, these will be picked up mid October. I am already collecting recipes to use to make meals with at least the first 40#. The remaining will be divided into portion bags and use for grilling or other things. My hope is that we can find several of meals that we really like and can then just add ingredients together.

This weekend, I am cooking and freezing beans. A can of beans on sale usually is about $0.50 to $0.75 each. A bag of beans is around $1.00. Currently, I have 4 variety of beans soaking overnight; pintos, red beans, black beans and navy beans. I have washed and looked them over, actually removing one rock today. They will soak overnight. I will cook overnight on Friday night and then divide up and freeze on Saturday. Each bag of dried beans will produce 3-4 cans so the saving add up quick, in addition to a significant decrease in sodium. We mainly use beans as soup ingredients, because I don’t like the taste of them.

By the end of October, my goal is to have the freezers restocked and ready for the winter.

Way Back Wordless Wednesday

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Sheila

Lily’s Field Day from last May! Amanda made this cool picture…wish I could!

September No-Low Spend Challenge Update 3

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Sheila

1.Emergency Fund at $1000 by the end of the month. I did receive a refund on Haley’s tuition so I was able to place $500 in the fund. I still need to find another $500 but this is a start.

2. Grocery spending at $200 or less not including our Zaycon Food chicken order. This week was expensive for groceries. I did place our chicken order and will be picking up 120# of chicken in a October. This week I have made two stops at the grocery store, one at Aldi and another at Food Lion. I am over my $200. Currently I sit at $226 for the month.

As you can tell, I most likely will not be able to met either of my goals for the month. However, I am glad I accepted the challenge as it has made me hyper aware of spending and has actually keep my grocery shopping well under budget as well. I will only do a find update since I am already fallen from the wagon so to speak.

Wordless Wednesday Fair Trip

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Sheila

Amanda and her boyfriend took the three little kids to our local fair last night. Looks like they had fun!

What Does Our Stockpile Look Like?

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Sheila

Over the past several months, we have been cleaning out our freezers and pantries. However during the last three weeks, two of the stores in the area have been running some really good deals so I chose to start to stock pile again. I am always looking for what other people consider a stock pile and how they do it so I thought I would share about ours. Here is a breakdown of some of the items we have on hand:

10 tubes of unopened toothpaste. I was able to grab 4 tubes for free this past week! I will not be purchasing any more, but free is free no matter how many you have.
20 plus bottles of Shampoo and Conditioner. I did purchase 3 bottles of Kid’s shampoo this past week. This is definitely an item, I will not be buying anytime soon. In fact, I will not even be looking for any deals on these until I am down to 5 bottles or less.
15 un-open bars of soap. Lily has very sensitive skin so I try to stock up when even one of the few brands she uses is on sale. I was able to purchase 3 bar packs at Harris Teeter for $0.35 this week.
6 bottles each of Ketchup and mustard. These were actually purchased in January when I was able to find them for $0.50 or less.
4 5# bags of sugar. I remember purchasing these at less than $1.50 a bag, they are in Ziploc bags so they should last a good long time.
40 can of vegetables. I purchased these at Food Lion two weeks ago for $0.25 a can. I prefer the frozen veggies but these are awesome to have on hand.
10 cans of soup. Tomato soup is one of the few items that I am brand loyal to, so when I find coupons that make it less than $.50 a can, I buy. But I also have another 10 cans of cooking soups as well.
10 cases of soda, I take usually 1 a week to work. These were all purchased in May and June when I was able to get for around $0.08 a can or less than $2.00 per 12 pack. I also use my coke points to add to this any time I can.
12 2 L Diet Cokes. I have been enjoying these that I purchased at $0.88 in August but I know that I will soon need to add to this.
Our meal list is currently at 14 dinners. After these are used up, I will be stocking back up the freezers. First with a 120# order of chicken from Zaycon and then with a trip to the local meat butcher/market.

Lastly our veggie freezer is almost full, I have been slowly adding diced/stewed tomatoes this summer. Otherwise I have several packages of plums from last year. I also have an abidance of frozen zucchini and squash from 2 years ago. I did add to the freezer with frozen broccoli and corn purchased again on the brand sale at Food Lion. I know that Food Lion usually has the brand sale in January so I purchased what I thought would last till then.

Can anyone give me an idea what their stock pile looks like?

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Sheila

1. Emergency Fund at $1000 by the end of the month. I found out that I will be getting a refund on Haley’s tuition next week, so that will help to bump this up. But as of yet, I have not added any to the fund.

2. Grocery spending at $200 or less not including our Zaycon Food chicken order. We have made three shopping trips this week Harris Teeter #1 $8.82 (triples sale), Food Lion $ $20.39(things we are out of including paper towel) and Harris Teeter $22.42 (triples sale),. I also had to write a check for the girls to eat at school several times a week. But the good news is we are still under budget $163. The plan is to spend $200 or less! I actually think we are going to make it!