homemade breakfasts

I've never considered myself a "baker"...mainly because I'm too tempted to eat actual homemade baked treats versus store-bought ones that I get for my boys.

But, this month I'm being much more conscientious about what I'm spending my money on at the grocery store.  Earlier in the week we had nothing in the house for breakfast that my kids would want to eat, so I whipped up a batch of muffins.  (I only made 6 so there were none left to tempt me!)   When I saw how quickly I could make breakfast AND just how inexpensive it is compared to frozen waffles and pancakes or pop tarts, I have been trying to do it each morning.  Yesterday I made homemade waffles and bacon for the boys.  This morning I surprised my husband with breakfast tacos!  We had a couple of corn tortillas left in the refrigerator so I scrambled some eggs, added cheese and voila! he had a yummy breakfast treat.

I know that realistically I won't be able to make them a homemade breakfast every single morning, but for now it's working out fine.    And...my husband asked me "Why couldn't you make us breakfast every morning?!?"

The pressure's on...

spending money to save money

I KNOW better than this!!!  But...temptation got the best of me.  Yesterday morning I had an e-mail from Shutterfly reminding me that yesterday was the last day to get my 50 free 4x6 prints!  What!?!  50 free prints?  Wow -- add that to the 15 free ones that I already had credit for and I'm up to 65 free prints!  That's nearly $10 worth of free pictures!

So, what did I do?  I spent $38.09 in order to get my 65 free prints!

It wasn't my best moment.

this week's menu

To stay inside my grocery budget it's a must to plan ahead for meals.  Here's what we are (and have been...) eating this week!

Monday:  Leftover pizza from Sunday's Super Bowl and Mac & Cheese
Tuesday:  Spaghetti w/meat sauce, salad, bread
Wednesday:  Sour Cream Chicken, Rice, Peas, Salad
Thursday:  Out to eat after Talent Show
Friday:  Sloppy Joes, fruit, chips
Saturday:  Out to eat for my birthday
Sunday:  Steaks, Veggies (whatever looks good and is on sale...)
Monday:  For Valentine's I'll make the boys favorite:  Ribs, Beans, Mac & Cheese, Cornbread, Chocolate cake

As of today, I've spent $62 on groceries and I'll need to spend about $40-50 for ingredients I don't have on hand for Friday-Monday meals.  I should be under my $125 grocery budget for the week and that makes me very excited!   I'm still "shopping" from my pantry and freezer to plan my meals.  For our menu above these things I already had on hand:  spaghetti, chicken breasts, peas, chips, steaks, and cake mix.

In two weeks we take our vacation, so next week it'll be much easier mentally to be frugal and tell the kids (and myself!!) that "we need to make frugal choices this week so that we can have the extra money for our vacation next week!"

commission updates

Last week I transitioned my children from an allowance to a commission based chore system. They were THRILLED to have the opportunity to earn more money.  Instead of giving them each a $25/month allowance, we're giving them the opportunity to earn $9/week for my 9-year old and $12/week for my 12-year old!  But, they weren't quite as thrilled when it came down to them actually working for it!  go figure...

So, how did they do?

My 9 year old earned $4.70 for the week and my 12 year old earned $3.20.   Hopefully they'll work more next week so that they can earn more, but I do feel better about giving them more control over what they earn, and having them actually earn it, versus me simply giving it to them!

day 7 - no spending month

We've made it through a full six days on February's No Spending Month.  This past Tuesday, I withdrew $170 cash which was to last me through yesterday.  The cash was to be used for food, gifts, gasoline and any incidentals that should come us.  I must say that I did better than I expected!

Here is a run-down on where the $$ went:
$20 - gasoline (half tank)
$11 - tennis court fee
$41.11 - groceries
$33.78 - eating out
$12.69 - birthday gift
$8.29 - household
$16.21 - school supplies

Which leaves me with $30.42!

My grocery bill has never been as low as it was this week!  What did we do different?  For starters we ate a lot of food that we already had in the freezer, refrigerator and pantry.  When the kids ran out of cereal and frozen waffles/pancakes, for breakfast I made them French Toast, muffins and bacon.  There was only one complaint during the week on what was being served (Thursday night's dinner).  In fact, my kids were thrilled with the homemade muffins this morning!  I woke up in a panic when I realized the cupboards were bare of breakfast food, so I had to get up in a hurry and make the muffins.

Another area that helped was simply eating at home.  I mentioned last week that I considered it a small victory to say no to my husband to going out to eat at lunch.  On Friday I did cave in to going out (he'd been the one to complain about the dinner the previous night), BUT we went to a restaurant where we had a gift card and ended up getting $5 back in change!  Woo Hoo!  He was out of town this weekend, so I treated the kids to lunch out after their ball games Saturday and to pizza last night for the Super Bowl. 

So ...Week 2 in upon us.  We've got more activities and parties scheduled for this week which is going to require more cash.  Also, Valentine's Day goodies will need to be purchased this week. 

Here is my budget for the week:
$125 - groceries
$125 - Three celebratory out to eat dinners (one for my oldest who is performing in the school talent show, one for my youngest who is receiving a special Cub Scout award, and one for a basketball team party)
$20 - Birthday gift
$60 - gasoline
$50 - Valentines Day - includes VDay meal, party at school, VDay cards for classmates, and surprises for my family
$10 - Scout badge for my son
$20 - talent show tickets

After having such a "lean" week this past week and spending only $140, spending $460 in a week seems a bit much.   I haven't sat down to do a meal plan for the week, so I'm going to work to get the grocery bill less than $125...I'm sure I can do it!  So anyway, off to the bank today to get cash to last me through the week!

***disclaimer*** on $3900 savings

After reading back through my posts and reading the comments left about my goal of saving $3900 for the month of February, I realized that something was amiss.

I didn't take into account that our cash flowing for January and February is a bit "off".  My husband paid my AMEX bill (normally due mid-February) in January out of our savings account.  He did this to help us (me...) get back on track by using cash for everyday expenses.  So...while my hope is to save $3900 in February, please know that some of this is simply replenishing what came out last month to pay the American Express.  By the way...my AMEX card has not been out of my wallet since we started the challenge. 

3 days without using AMEX...now that is a new record! 

update #1 - february's no spending month

So, I've made it through 2 days with the "No Spending" challenge.  I ended up getting $170 in cash on Tuesday with the intention of it lasting through next Monday.  The cash is being used for gas, groceries, gifts, etc.

So what have I spent it on?

$20       gas for my car
$12.71  school supplies
$11       tennis court fee
$7.41    groceries for lunch
$12.69  birthday gift for son's friend
$2.64    travel bottles for husband's suitcase

This leaves me with $103.55 for the next 5 days!


Small victories to celebrate!!!

• I said "no" to giving my oldest son extra lunch money and instead had him take a lunch kit to school.
• I said "no" to going to out to lunch with my husband and instead spent $7.41 and made a "fun lunch" at home for us.  (This was a hard one to do!!!)
• I spent less on the friend's birthday gift than I normally would...I normally spend around $20.
• I made dinner "out of the pantry" two nights in a row...Tuesday we had a steak salad using leftover steak from Sunday night, and last night we had sauteed shrimp, couscous, and a salad.

Unexpected expenses?

• $11 on the tennis court -- because of bad weather our team chose to play our match at an indoor court instead of trying to reschedule.
• $12.69 on the birthday gift -- it is a fairly impromptu party.

commissions vs. allowances

For the past year or so, we've given our kids an allowance.  The allowance goes towards after school snacks, renting video games, school book fairs, the concession stand a the ball-park, "teen night", and of course, anything that they want to save up for.  I have given each of them $25/month.

This past month when my oldest came to me with his hand open and asked for his allowance, I had a very unsettling feeling that this allowance was simply a "hand out".  This uneasiness was validated on Sunday at my FPU class when Dave Ramsey talked about this very subject in his Kids & Money speech.  While my boys both do quite a bit around the house to help me and my husband, they're essentially doing nothing for the money we give them.  Also, I haven't been consistently teaching and encouraging them to SAVE and GIVE. 

This month we're transitioning from an Allowance to a Commission.  I'm anxious (and admittedly, a bit nervous) to see how it works.  We're giving them the opportunity to earn more....my 9 year old can earn up to $9/week and my 12 year old can earn up to $12/week IF they complete all of their chores.  But, with this "raise" we're also expecting them to both SAVE and GIVE.

Here's a peek at what their chores chart include for the month of February:

9 year old:
clean his room, vacuum and dust it 1x/week -- $2.00
clean the basement bathroom's toilet, sink & counter, 1x -- $2.50
empty the recycling bin daily, 7x.20 -- $1.40
bring his laundry to the laundry room, 4x.50 -- $2.00
take the recycling and trash bins to the curb on Mondays, 1x -- $1.10

12 year old:
clean his room, vacuum and dust it, 1x/week -- $2.50
clean his bathroom toilet, sink & counter, 1x -- $3.00
empty the kitchen trashcan everyday, 7x.20 -- $1.40
bring his laundry to the laundry room, 3x.25 -- $0.75
if he...
washes, dries & folds it (his laundry only), 3x$1.25 -- $3.75

We'll expect both of them to continue with the "basics" of helping out around the house.  Things like feeding the dog, keeping their room tidy, helping to do the dinner dishes are just expected and aren't included in the commissions.

So, what about you?  Do your children get "commissions" or "allowances"?  What are some of the chores they do to earn their money?

February - No Spend Month

I'm joining Sharon in her No Spend Month!  Here are my goals for the month...

Objective - 
Spend less than our "normal" budget.  My goal is to add $3900 to savings this month.


How we'll get there --
I have alloted $800 to be spent on ourselves.  Normally, this wouldn't cover our grocery bill, but because this is a short month, and because we'll be out of town for a few days, AND because this is a CHALLENGE, I've decided on $800 as our "magic number"!


So, what does $800 go towards?
Food!  (Groceries and eating out)
Gasoline
Valentine's Day
Scouting expenses
Entertainment

What's not covered in the $800?
Fixed bills, offerings to our church, and expenses that were pre-planned such as a haircut and our vacation.

Where I am today--
I'm starting with $895 in checking.  Next payday is February 11th.  I'm thinking of withdrawing $400 now and $400 on the 11th and simply live on cash for the challenge.   Both cars are almost on "empty" so we'll need to spend close to $100 on gas this week.  The pantry is somewhat stocked.  I'll need to take inventory of what we have and see how we can make it stretch.  I see lots of homemade snacks in our future!  :)'

I hoping that with this challenge I'll become more intentional with my spending!  And, if we save my goal of $3900...well, that would be totally amazing!

track first, budget second

Because we haven't been tracking our expenses lately, it's hard to tell what a realistic number is to budget.  For instance, I would think that about $500 would be a good amount for us to use each month for groceries.  After doing some  homework though, I found that we spent almost $1500 at the grocery store in December alone.  Add to that $425 that we spent eating out and we're at nearly $2000 in food for the month!  While $2000 in food is an ungodly amount for a family of four...even with 3 different sets of guests during the month, it's a real number and shows what we spent.  $500 wouldn't have been realistic to budget for food last month.

I'm realizing that one reason I get frustrated with my budget is that I tend to budget what I think is a reasonable amount.  When we are unable to meet these numbers, I get frustrated and my husband wants to know why we're over budget.  But...the budget wasn't necessarily realistic.

So, over the next couple of months, I'm not going to be budgeting per se, but tracking our spending.  Beginning April 1st we'll have our budget in place with a new system of paying bills.  More about that later.

But, just for fun...I'm joining Sharon in her February No-Spending Month.  The rules will be posted on January 31st.  I'm participating, but won't be doing it at 100% like others.  We have a vacation planned for the 3rd week of February.  So, while there will be spending going on with that, my goal is to have a "no spend" month for items that were not already in the budget.

repeat post

I realize after posting my goals that this post is very similar to my post about being intentional.  I wish I could say it was "intentional" but it wasn't.   More than anything I wanted to write my specific goals down so that I could post in the future what steps I'm taking to meet these goals.

goals for 2011

I have been thinking of my goals for a while now and need to get them written down.  More than ANYTHING, I want to "have a plan and work my plan".  It's something my husband says to me over and over again.  And you know what?  It works!

Finances -
Make a budget & work my budget.

Save 15% towards retirement.

Health-
Eat cleaner. 
Since this is something we have always wanted to do, but just haven't turned it into a lifestyle, I'm starting with a smaller goal.  Eat "clean" at least 50% of the time.

Lose weight. 
I need to lose 15 pounds.
I want to lose 3 by Winter Break (that is in 4 weeks)
Lose another 8 by Easter. (that will be a total of 11 pounds in about 3 months)
Lose the last 4 pounds by Memorial Day.
That's a weight loss of 15 pounds in 4 months...a definite challenge, but possible IF I have a plan and work my plan. 

Drink less wine.
I love to have a glass or two...sometimes three (I'm being honest here...) at night.  And when the one glass turns into 3, it's because I might have a glass while I'm cooking, a glass with dinner and then a glass with a piece of chocolate after the kids go to bed.  Drinking more than a glass of wine a night is definitely not helping me lose weight.  So, my goal is to open a bottle of wine on Monday night and still be drinking from the same bottle on Thursday night.  (DH will have to have his own bottle.  :)  ha, ha!)

Get outside more!
I absoltutely love where I live.  There are trees, trees and more trees.  We have both paved and non-paved trails through our woods.  I need to get out and enjoy it more.  My goal for this is to start by going on a weekly walk.  Once I get into the habit of truly getting out, then I'll change this goal to get out more than 1x/week.

Family & Personal-
My main goal here is to be intentional with my time.  When my husband and kids are home, I want to be in the moment with them.

And the same with me.  When I have the house to myself during the day, I want to be intentional with my time.  Do housework and desk work when it's time to do that, but when I have "free time", I want to use it wisely.

So - that's it for my goals.  How about you?  Have you made all of your goals for the new year? 

jane eyre

I just finished this book last night!  And...wow!  I absolutely loved it and could not put it down.  I joined a Book Club last month and this was my first book to read.  I don't remember ever having to read it in High School.   I'm glad to have joined the Book Club group and am looking forward to reading some good books.  Next on the list is Still Alice. 

Have you read any good books lately?