what do you mean you can't find the waffles?

Son:  Do we have any waffles, Mom?
Me:  Yes...They're in the freezer!
Son: Where?
Me:  Right there...in the freezer!  Behind the ice cream...
Son:  I don't see them!
Me:  Not that ice cream...the ice cream on the next to bottom shelf! 


ughhhh...

This may have motivated me a bit to clean out my freezer, inventory it and reorganize.  There is no reason for my freezer to look like this!  In our basement we have a refrigerator/freezer that is identical to this one along with a deep freezer. 

Yesterday I spent inventorying everything that we have in the different freezers and then organizing it all very neatly into the basement freezers.  One freezer for meats and the other is for veggies and breads.  My plan is to have the kitchen freezer hold only what we'll eat within a week's time.

The good news is I have a ton of frozen meats and fish.  Ground beef, pork, turkey, fish, wild game, chicken...you name it and we probably have it!  This will definitely help me this month in keeping our food bill lowered.  I'm going to sit down with my list today and plan our meals using what we already have. 

Any recipe ideas for ground pork?  I have 2 pounds that I bought by mistake one day. 

prepping for my fiscal fast

My kids went back to school Monday and it's given me a couple of days to get caught up logging our expenditures over the past month and to see where we are with our budget.  We have a bad habit of making a budget and simply logging/tallying our expenses at the end of the month and never making sure we actually are staying within the budget.

Finishing July's books was a bit of a buzz-kill!  But, the timing is good because other bloggers are using this month to spend less and challenge themselves to a Fiscal Fast.  So, I'm joining them in this "fun"!
As of last night, we'd already spent $485.47 on groceries.  Ummm...I'd "budgeted" $500 for the month.
And last week I wrote out checks totaling $356.66 for school supplies and fees.  Luckily I had more than that amount budgeted, so when it's time to write checks for field trips, I've got some $ left.

So what I'm saying is that it's early August and I've already spent a ton of money.  Here are the nitty gritty details.  Most of our true expenses have been paid. 

I have $1678 left for the month of August. 

Here's what I KNOW I have left to buy/pay:
groceries, $400 budget
guitar lessons, $100
MIL birthday gift, $40 budget
gasoline, $210 budget
football team/individual pictures, $60 budget
basketball registration, $270
commissions to my boys, up to $120
dry cleaning, no more than $30
cell phone bill, around $100
newspaper subscription, $22

Other things that might try to sneak in here:  scout uniform for my son (may be able to put this off until September), football expenses (I think we have everything we need!), an end of year season party for my son's basketball team, any kind of entertainment or eating out, and/or any household maintenance. 

My number one project and priority is to take inventory of our freezer and pantry and see what meals and snacks I can make from what we already have.  Will do this tomorrow!

So - August is my spend less month, and beginning tomorrow, I'm challenging myself to a 7-day Fiscal Fast!! 

fiscal fast

A Cleanse, Detox, Fast......Call it what you want but it's time to put the wallet away!!!  This summer has been a whirlwind of expenditures and as I sat down last night to wrap up the July Books, all I could think was, "ohhhh....that doesn't leave us much money for the rest of the year!"

But don't fret my pet, the Fiscal Fast is here!

My family isn't going to be happy.  Well...maybe my husband will be, but certainly not my children!

I'm going to finish out the details of what my Fast will entail and will post them tomorrow.

crickets?

Does anyone hear the sounds of crickets chirping coming from my blog?

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Please know that if your blog is on my blog-roll to the left, I have actually been keeping up with you the last couple of months while I've been on a "break". 

But...school starts tomorrow and my unannounced break is ending.  Yea!

See you tomorrow!

food waste friday - about $3 wasted this week

In an conscious attempt to keep food waste to a minimum, I join The Frugal Girl and many other bloggers each week and participate in Food Waste Friday. I clean out my refrigerator, line up any waste on the counter and (usually) take a picture and post it on my blog. I look forward to the day where I have no food waste!

I didn't take a picture of my wastes, but here they are listed!  This week I tossed:

1/2 a head of lettuce = $1.25
2 halves on onions = $1.00
1/2 a bunch of green onions = $.60

I didn't have quite as much wastes this week because my husband is out of town, and I haven't been cooking as much.  So...just under $3 wasted for the week.  Getting better!

And now I'm signing off to go enjoy my "Fun Friday".  I've got some crafting projects that I want to finish up today.  I'm making a chalk board for my craft room and a moss covered letter to hang on my front door.  I'll post pictures once they're complete!

Happy Friday everyone!

may challenge - want to join me?

We're well into 2Q11 now and our budget/tracking/finances are coming along "okay".  While they're not great, they're definitely better than they usually are come the end of April/first of May during other years.  In January (and even more so in February...) I'm on a roll and kickin' a** with our finances.  During the first 2 months of each year we're always living WAY beneath our means.  March generally isn't as good.  And then April...well, by April I'm usually not even tracking what's being spent. 

April 2011 is a different story though.  I AM tracking and I AM noticing that we're spending a little too much money.  If it continues like this, then come the end of year we're going to be way over budget in all of our areas.

So - I propose a challenge for MAY!

This is what I'm thinking.  I have a bare-bones budget.  One that is very bare bones...where we eliminate cable, cell phones, etc.  and eat a lot of rice & beans.   While I'm not proposing going to my bare bones budget...because we're not in crisis mode, I am thinking of significantly reducing the amount of our "spending money" in some areas that will allow us to get back on track. 

This is what I'm thinking that may make the most sense for my family.  I'm going to look at our 2011 budget and see what has been budgeted for each line item for January-May.  Then, I'm going to see what has been spent.  The difference will be what we have to spend.

For example...
Our grocery budget - We have budgeted  $3875 for groceries from January 1-May 31.  So far in 2011 we've spent about $3100.  So, we'll have about $775 for groceries in May. 
Restaurants/Eating out - We have budgeted $800 for January - May.  Unfortunately, we've spent almost $800 already eating out just from January-April.  So, I won't have much to spend in that area.

Anyway - you get the idea.  I'll take a look at the numbers and figure out my "allowance" for the month.  This will allow us to back back on track in all of our areas and be ready to start the summer with our regular budget.  Summer tends to bring a lot of "Entertainment/Recreation" spending, so I also want to be ready for that.

Let me know if you're interested in doing the challenge with me in May and I'll create a section to the side of my Blog that has your blog name/address on it so that others can follow along.  And then, what should I call the challenge?  I'll have to come up with something!

my weekly list

Hello and Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope everyone had a good weekend!  I'm not sure why, but posting my list of Things to Do really helps me actually get them done AND it helps me to plan some fun into my week.  Even my husband has commented on how clean the house has been the past couple of weeks.  I told him I was keeping it clean for purely selfish reasons...so that I can enjoy my "Fun Friday" guilt-free!  So - here's what I've got going on this week (that I know of for now...)


Today
tennis meeting
tennis lessons
change sheets on the beds
Iron shirts
Return camera lens
Go to Cardsmart - MDay cards, stamps, buy postcard, mail letter
Clean hall bathroom
May financial challenge/budget
Clean LR blinds
Clean DR blinds
1 load laundry


Dinner = pasta, shrimp, garlic bread

Wednesday
boot camp
Pick up contacts at eye doctor
Home Depot/Wal Mart errand
Finish school placement forms for youngest
Blinds:  Guest bedroom, both boys bedrooms
2 loads laundry

Dinner = leftovers

Thursday
Volunteer at school
Organize/list donations for Friday pickup
Dust
Sweep
Mop
Clean boys bathroom floor
Blinds:  basement, guest bedroom

Dinner = Spaghetti

Friday
boot camp
Order pot rack for kitchen
"Fun Friday"
Finish anything that has to get done prior to weekend


Dinner = at basketball tourny - pack sandwiches

Weekend
vacuum stairs/upstairs
FPU class on Sunday
Concert Saturday night
Do a couple of loads of laundry

 

financial priorities - part 2

This past week I talked about a book by Kathy Peel where she challenges you to determine your financial priorities.  While I was able to answer some of her questions quickly, others took a little more thought on my part.  Below are 7 of 11 questions taken from Peel's book The Family Manager Takes Charge...along with my answers.

Action Steps to Determine Financial Priorities

1.  List five things that you value most about your life today.
Living where I do... My boys can play outside without me worrying.  They can walk 4+ miles (round trip) to the "corner store" and be perfectly safe.  And our public school doesn't know that there is a "separation between church and state".  {shhhh...don't tell}
My family.
Being healthy.
The fact that my husband is employed.
Having good friends and family who I can count on.

2.  List five things you want that money can buy.
Pot rack for my kitchen - $200
Screen door for my pantry - $250ish
Canon EF 100-400mm zoom lens - $1600
Rosetta Stone Italian - $179
Netbook computer - $500?

3.  List five things you want that money can't buy.
For my children to outlive me.
To be a good wife, mom, sister, friend, and daughter.
To slow down every now and then and just sit...or walk.  To be outside and enjoy nature.
To be healthy when I'm "old" and be able to be active with my grandchildren.
For my husband and I to enjoy our Golden Years together.

4.  How much is enough?  I feel okay about money when we have 3-6 months living expenses in the bank.  I'll be content when we have 15% of our gross income going towards retirement.

5.  Where would you like to be financially in 12 months?  In 5 years?  In 20 years?
12 months - I'd like to be saving 15% towards retirement.
5 years - To have saved at least 1 year college tuition for our boys.
20 years - I plan to have my boys through college (paid for in cash), to have our house paid off, have our retirement account funded, and to be deciding where in Italy we want to live 3-6 months out of the year once we retire (if we haven't retired already).

6.  Complete this sentence:  If I had more money, I would spend it on making & preserving memories.  Sometimes looking at what we want to spend money on and where we actually spend money can help us do some shifting without increasing the amount of money we spend.

7.  Fill in the blank:  If we suddenly found ourselves in a financial crisis, I could do without eating out and DirecTV.

So what now?  I plan on printing this out for myself and posting it in a couple of places around the house.  When I am struggling with a financial decision, I can look at my list of priorities and see if what I want to do is in line with what is important to me.  Also, for some of these things that I want & can buy, maybe - just maybe - I can find ways to save some of my "blow money" to put towards items on my Wish List.  

Feel free to link up, copy the questions and answer them on your own blog.  

food waste friday - about $4 wasted this week

In an conscious attempt to keep food waste to a minimum, I join The Frugal Girl and many other bloggers each week and participate in Food Waste Friday. I clean out my refrigerator, line up any waste on the counter and (usually) take a picture and post it on my blog. I look forward to the day where I have no food waste!

Well...I did better this week and wasted less!   I threw away some sour cream, yogurt and flatbread that didn't get eaten before their expiration dates.

And Happy Earth Day to you all!  Are you doing anything to celebrate today?  I remember one year the boys and I walked through our neighborhood and picked up trash.  Today's celebration?  I'm treating myself to something that has been on my wish list for almost a year.  My husband refuses to buy one for me even though I tell him that I really want one badly.  What is it?  A compost bin!!  I'm giddy with excitement and thrilled that some of my food wastes will have a place to go besides the trash can!

financial priorities - part 1

Last week I went to the library and checked out The Family Manager Takes Charge by Kathy Peel.   I've read Kathy Peel books before and enjoy what she writes.  One section of the chapter titled "You're the Accountant" really stuck out to me.  Mainly because I feel like the " head accountant" in our family!  My husband and I work together on making and reaching our goals, but managing the day-to-day budget is in my hands.

Peel basically says that we need to determine our financial priorities.   "Unless we've made some decisions about our priorities, it's easy to lose perspective about what's really important to us and end up making impulsive decisions."  In this chapter, she lists Eleven Action Steps.  Some are questions that I've considered and answered before, and others are things that I haven't spent as much time thinking about.  Here are some of Peel's questions. 

Action Steps to Determine Financial Priorities

1.  List five things that you value most about your life today.

2.  List five things you want that money can buy.

3.  List five things you want that money can't buy.

4.  How much is enough?  I feel okay about money when we have______________ amount in the bank.  I'll be content when we have ___________________.

5.  Where would you like to be financially in 12 months?  In 5 years?  In 20 years?

6.  Complete this sentence:  If I had more money, I would spend it on ______________.  Sometimes looking at what we want to spend money on and where we actually spend money can help us do some shifting without increasing the amount of money we spend.

7.  Fill in the blank:  If we suddenly found ourselves in a financial crisis, I could do without ______________.

Feel free to link up, copy the questions and answer them on your own blog.   I'm going to put some more thought into my answers and will make a "part 2" post in a few days.

food waste friday - about $23 wasted

In an conscious attempt to keep food waste to a minimum, I join The Frugal Girl and many other bloggers each week and participate in Food Waste Friday. I clean out my refrigerator, line up any waste on the counter and (usually) take a picture and post it on my blog. I look forward to the day where I have no food waste!

Well now.  This is embarrassing!  And this doesn't even show all that was wasted.  There was a lot more.  When we were coming home from vacation I had all of our food in a cooler.  The ice packs didn't keep the food cold enough and we had to throw out lunch meat, cheese, yogurt, eggs and milk.   And I'm not finished.  There was some fresh bread from the bakery that wasn't eaten before it started to mold.  

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to guesstimate the dollar amount of food that I'm throwing out.  I think this will really be an eye opener to me once I add it all up over a month's time.  My best guess of what was thrown out this week (including what's not pictured) was about $23 worth of food.  

I've been wanting a compost bin for quite some time now...I think now is a good time to invest in one.  The majority of what I throw out could be composted!

shopping for christmas year-round

My Christmas shopping has begun!  Well. Sort of, anyway.   My husband went to The Masters last week and bought golf shirts for each of our Dads.   It's become a bit of a Christmas gift tradition.  Each year that he goes to The Masters, the grandfathers get a golf shirt for Christmas! 

Several years ago (well, probably more like a decade ago...) I used to buy Christmas gifts year round and would usually have everything purchased by October.  Then, the Christmas season came along and I would go out and shop some more because it's just fun for me to be out in the stores when they're decorated and the Christmas music is playing.  That would always lead to over spending.  Now, instead of looking for deals throughout the year, I just budget/save money and wait until the end of October or mid-November before I begin shopping.  I tend to stay on budget a bit more when I wait until the end of year to begin shopping, AND if I wait until Cyper-Monday, I can usually find some really good deals.  But...if there is something that I see during the year that I know someone will love and that I won't be able to purchase later (like the golf shirts), then I go ahead and pick it up and save it.

What about you?  Do you shop year round for Christmas gifts or wait until the Season is upon us?

happy monday

wow...it's Monday!  We all had a GREAT time on our Spring Break trips and came back home not only with wonderful memories, but also very tired.  It was tough to get up this morning and get the boys off to school.  I'm feeling very fortunate that I am not them and having to sit at my desk and pay attention to my teacher(s) for 8 hours!

So, what's on tap for this week at our house?  Some major cleaning needs to take place!  The shutters and blinds on our windows are truly dirty.  My goal for the week is to get them all cleaned!  Here's my list of things to-do for the week.  I know that you probably have your own list and don't really care about mine, BUT...it really helps me to post it, because then I actually work to get the items crossed off!

Here goes:

Today
Hem pants for my neighbor's son
Fold the laundry that was moved from our bed last night to the floor
Wash/dry/fold/put away 1 load laundry
Run the dishwasher and put away the dishes
Trim back the "spent" tulips and daffodils in my flowerbeds
FPU Homework

Tuesday
E-mail reminders to class parents about CRCT snacks
Weight Watchers meeting
Tennis drills
Clean my bathroom
Clean hall bathroom
Vacuum the basement
Vacuum upstairs
Vacuum the stairs
Update spending log
Determine actual cost of vacations
Clean the shutters in the den
Clean the blinds in the kitchen

Wednesday
Deliver testing snacks to son's class
30 minutes cardio & strengthening
Research zoom lenses for my camera
"Fun Friday"

Thursday
Dust
Sweep/Mop
Clean boys bathroom floor
Sign up for next Operation Boot Camp and boys summer camps
Clean the blinds on the front of the house (living room, dining room, son's room)

Friday
Change sheets on all beds
Clean the blinds in my room, craft room, son #2's room
Clean the blinds in the basement

And now something to leave you with...here is a great article that is well worth the read. When Ripples Collide   Enjoy!!!