Category Archives: Goals

5 Things Friday-5/27/2016

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  1. I am all ready for a yard sale tomorrow. The current plan is to make a stop at the Goodwill on the way home. We(Matt) have spent the week cleaning out the buildings. I pulled the last couple of boxes out of the attic and the front building is empty as well. I have already made $45 on this yard sale, so my goal is $55.
  2. We are going to call this the summer of lean. I want to really contain our spending.
  3. The garden is still growing and we have gotten a couple squash, I am hoping that we will have plenty to eat and freeze this summer.
  4. Zach has agreed to be on the swim team this year! I love going to swim meets!
  5. My first $50 Disney gift card is in cabinet. This is so exciting!

Random Tuesday Thoughts

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  • Matt has been working on cleaning out the building and I ordered a new stand up freezer today. I went ahead and purchased the largest one available. It is suppose to be delivered next Thursday which gives us a week before the chicken arrives.  We are also planning on getting some wireless thermostats to use to monitor the temperature in the building and both freezers.
  • I received my first Disney gift card today. I need to earn another $150 not from our budget in order to book our next trip.
  • The kids have 2 and half weeks of school left. Thankfully I was able to take a couple of days off in order to attend most of the special events at the end of the year.
  • We have a swim team meeting on Thursday and Zach is planning to swim. I am so excited!!! I LOVE watching swim team meets!
  • Amanda is hosting a yard sale on Saturday and I am hoping to make $100. I have already made $45 this weekend on furniture. This is a much needed boost in income to help cover summer expenses like swim team.
  • We have now not used heat or air for 6 weeks with only 2 days used in the four weeks before that. Our electric bill was $161 for last month!  This is the lowest it has been in around 18 months!  Huge win!
  • I have started a new diet/ work out program this week so I am hopefully for good results even by the end of the month.
  • We have been able to harvest basil and dill. Yesterday I got a squash that is small but it is a start!

5 Things Friday- A Day Late

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  1. We decided to go strawberry picking with the kids this morning. The local nursery offered BOGO on pick your own strawberries. We picked 4 gallons of strawberries for $18.  I did share some of these with both my mom and Amanda.
  2. After getting home and trying to decide where to put the strawberries, we discovered that our stand up freezer had stopped working. I was able to save milk and about a fourth of what was in the freezer.
  3. I found 3 gallons of half thawed strawberries so I decided to cook with these instead of the fresh one. I did end up flash freezing at least 2 gallons for future use.
  4. I made strawberry lemonade muffins, strawberry cream cheese coffee cake, and a double batch of strawberry jam. They all turned out awesome but my favorite is the strawberry jam.
  5. We will be having a yard sale hopefully next Saturday so this coming week is incredibly busy.

Gift Cards- Spending Money The Fun Way!

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I had some extra time on my hands as I waited in a doctor’s office today so I decided to clean out my purse.  I was so excited to find a five dollar bill and a Walmart gift card that I had totally forgotten about.  I knew we needed a bag of frozen veggies to go in the chicken pie I was planning for Friday night, so after the appointment I headed to Walmart. I was able to grab 2 bags of frozen vegetables, a bag of Twizzlers for Matt and a pack of Kool-Aid drinks for the kids.  I still have 57 cent left on my gift card.

My other use of gift cards today is a little bit confusing but even more exciting. During the past month I have been using an app called “Swagbucks”  I can be use for shopping but I am using it to watch videos, random and not so random search of the internet and answering survey questions. So far in two months I have gained enough point and cashed in for 2-$25 gift cards to Target.  This afternoon, I decided to place an order at Target. I had already linked by Red Debit card to my account. This gives me 5% off and free shipping. I placed in my cart a $50 Disney card and a box of baking soda. Total cost was $49.43 which I enter both gift cards as payment. I have 53 cent left on one.

Total spent today ZERO and I was able to grab a couple of grocery items we are out of. I call that success!

5 Things Friday-5/13/2016

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  1.  The garden is doing the best EVER!  We have corn growing, cucumber and squash with huge blooms and we are already picking dill and basil to use! I am hoping this continues and we get to enjoy the benefits for the entire year.
  2. In checking the freezers, I realized that we were out of beef stock. Between yesterday and today, we have made and frozen 3 gallon that should last for a while.
  3. The air conditioning in the house is still off. I am so excited as this is definitely the longest time in May we have been able to keep it off. I have already checked the forecast for the next week and with temperatures in the 60s till Wednesday, May 20th is now my goal date!
  4. I am going to head out tomorrow night with some friend from work to Dinner and a Movie. I am excited as this is the first time in years, I have been able to do something like this.
  5. I am planning to add a goal to my financial side to earn a $25 gift card each month from Swagbucks. This will help to boost my saving significantly.

Step by Step CVS Trip!

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I started my trip with $5 ECB from last weeks trip, I also received $5 ECB from Beauty  Club Rewards. I will explain these below.

CVS tracks your spending in several ways that end up helping you. First if you buy a CVS brand item you get 2% back at the end of the quarter.  This shows up on the bottom of your receipt each purchase but does not include anything from today. Second is the “Beauty Club.” You actually have to sign up for this but it is very simple. It tracks how much you spend on soap, hair care, body wash, make-up and other random items. This cost is considered pre coupon, for example, I purchased a razor today that was marked at $13.49,this is the amount that is counted as beauty club. These is also are tracked at the bottom of your receipt but do not show items purchased on the same day. Both these items print automatically when you scan your card at the red machine. Quaterly ECB print the first time you scan in April, July, October and January. Each time you reach the $50 mark of Beauty Club they will print in approximately a week.

I spent approximately 30 minutes on Thursday or Friday evening looking at the upcoming weeks list at Southern Savers.  Click on Drug Store at top, then CVS, last click weekly deals and pick the correct week. It is very simple to make a printable list. For me I pick all free items after coupons, and then I usually pick items that we use that are less then $1. I try to check my coupon inserts so that my list only includes items that I actually have coupons for. I print my list and stick in my folder with the coupons I will use. Next step is to decide how many transactions?  I will also label this on my printed list if I have more than 2 or 3.  I have learned that it is easier to do multiple transaction and then you can use ECB for the next one. This week, I planned two transactions.

I ended up actually going to CVS prior to work today because I got too busy yesterday. My first transaction was for the Woman’s Razor. I use a coupon for $3 off from Smart Source 4/24 and $10 ECB that I listed above. Total cost was $1.08. I earned $5 ECB. My second transaction was for a total of 4 bottles of Suave, 2 were the 3n1 Kids and the other two were Suave Professionals. I had a coupon for 3 of the items again from Smart Source 4/24.  After coupons and ECB my total was $4.84 and I received 5 ECB,

Total spent $5.92, saved $26.86 or 82%

The razor has been on my list for several weeks and will last me most of the summer. The shampoo is one of the items along with deodorant and body wash that I always stock up on if possible for around $1 each. I NEVER pay for toothpaste or mouthwash.

Do you have a question that I missed?

 

Saving on Saturday- 5/7/2016

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sosThis project actually took us two days to complete but mainly because we had lot of other things going on at the same time. One side of the “addition” has an area of 6 inches or so from the wall that we have been attempting to grow grass in for the past three years. Last year, we bought specific “shade” grass and it still did not work. So after so talk and planning we decided to make it a flower bed. We decided not to attempt to grow vegetables in this area because it is in the shade for the majority of the day and would have a huge expense associated with it attempting to buy dirt to make sure things could grow.

I woke up bright and early Saturday morning and head out to the local “plant sale” that is by the master gardeners in the area.  In the past, I have not arrived early enough to find as much as I have wanted. This year, I arrived at 7:50am for the sale that was scheduled to start at 8.  I did miss out of a couple of specific things I was looking for but was successful over all. I focused on purchasing plants that were known to grow in the shade. I purchased 6 different shade plants for a total of $18.  As I have been looking at the front flower bed which touches this new bed, I realized that at least one of the hosta plants was too close to other plants so I decided to dig it up. I was able to spread this one plant into 5 different sections which saved at least $20. I know this plants spread and grow very quickly so by next year they should be back to the right size. After coming home and going to Zach’s soccer game, we stopped at Lowes to purchase brick blocks to line the bed and some mulch. We ended up spending $100 total for this new bed. I am so pleased and excited about this huge accomplishment.

imageThis is an attempt to view the entire side.

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5 Things Friday-5/6/2016

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  1. We finished re-planting the garden this evening between the rain showers and managed to harvest our first crop of basil.  I just froze the basil for use in spaghetti sauce, once we have an abundance of tomatoes.
  2. I ended up spending close to 6 hours in the car yesterday.  I took the girls for an eye appointment which meant that I had to then come back home and drive in the opposite direction to update their glasses. Kendall will be wearing bifocals and Lily needed to go back up to a stronger prescription.
  3. Zach has his last soccer game tomorrow. The girls both competed in their last cheerleading completion last Sunday. The hope is that things slow down for two to three weeks prior to swim team practice starting.
  4. Our budget is going to get tight for the summer. I realized that we need to make some serious debit repayment during the summer. We  have already purchased season passes to the local water park and will be paying our pool dues this months.  So the goal is play hard but not spend extra money!
  5. The kitchen is officially finished. I have decided that I will not be purchasing a new table until and unless, I am able to sell enough items on line and with a real yard sale to make the purchase.

April In Review

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To be honestly this has seemed like an extremely long month. We are struggling in many areas so that may explain some of the reason, it feels like a long long month. But May is coming along with warm weather and sunshine! So bring it home. I did also find and start using Swagbucks this month. My current goal is to earn enough money via this site and a couple of other to book our next Disney vacation.  So here is the rest of the update.

Personal-
1. Blogging– Post 20 per month. Fail. This is post number 18, which is at least an improvement over the past two months so I am moving in the right direction.

2.Weight Loss– 175#.  Struggling with time for this.

3. Spiritual– Spend at least 5 days a week, reading and studying The Bible. Goal Met.  So proud to say that I am continuing with this goal and it is becoming more and more important each day.

1/3 personal goals met. With improvements made so I am going to move forward on a positive note.

Financial- 

1. Set aside money each month in every budget category. Fail

2. Establish and maintain Emergency Fund- Fail.
3. Groceries: Goal is for $700. Fail – Total spending for the month is $966.47 However looking at the year so far I have spent $530 a month which is still way less than my $700. We ended up purchasing both chicken and meat this month for the summer. I would anticipate that the next couple months will again be under budget.

4. Gas: Spend $400 a month- Goal Met! I am excited to start making a dent in the car debit we have accumulated this year.

5. Pay off all Credit Card debit by December 2016- Fail. I am meeting bare minimal payments on everything but really was hoping to begin to get control and reduce this number.

As you can tell financially this was a rough month but I am seeing God provide in ways we would not expect so I am going to stand firm and trust!

5 Things Friday- 4/29/2016

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  1. I have spent 3 afternoons at school this week. Monday and Tuesday, Matt and I both attended Field Day.  Today, I went at lunch to watch Kendall’s presentation at the wax museum on Pocahontas .IMG_2470
  2. After planting ALOT of seeds last week in the garden, we were all EXCITED to discover that we have corn and beans both growing along with some cherry tomatoes and jalapeno peppers!
  3. Zach has a soccer game tomorrow at noon. This is his next to last game. I hope he continues to enjoy soccer. I am almost certain he will want to play again in the fall.
  4. On Sunday, both Lily and Kendall will participate in the final cheerleading competition of the season. The sad news is that the weather is suppose to be wet and the competition is held at a theme park. We have already purchased tickets so I am praying for a couple of hours of sunshine on Sunday.
  5. I was able to cash out for a $25 gift card this week with Swagbucks. I currently am think I will hold on to this and use to book our next Disney trip.  This is one of the few ways I can find money!