hello september!

I am thrilled to be able to say GOODBYE to August.  It is one of my least favorite months.

It's hot.

It's long.

The kids start back to school (boo homework!).

There are no holidays.

But...on the bright side -- it's September now!!!  Fall is my absolute favorite season and it's the one season (except for Christmas) where I decorate my house accordingly.  Each year I tend to put out the pumpkins earlier and earlier.  You know how you go into Hobby Lobby or Michael's in July and they have their Christmas decorations/crafts displayed?  Sometimes I feel like my house is like that for the fall season.  I just get so excited!

And I may be dating myself, but do you remember growing up and getting the Back to School issue of Seventeen magazine!  Oh...it was the best!  My sister and I were always so envious of the people who lived up north and actually got to start school wearing the cute clothes that were in that issue.  Living in Texas, we didn't get to wear anything like that until November!

But - that's not what my post is supposed to be about today.  I'm just so dang happy that it's no longer August!

I challenged myself to spend waaaayyyy less money in August.  And you know what?!?  I did!  August was our 2nd lowest month for expenditures for the year.  (January was our lowest!)   I'm excited that we stayed on track and are moving in the right direction for ending the year where we want to be.

So, we're entering the last part of 2011 and I have a budget made up for our September-December expenses.  For 2011 we have a $$ number we want to reach for our savings account balance.  We are $4758 away from reaching that goal.  Luckily, for the rest of the year we don't have many unusual expenses coming our way, so we should be able to reach that number!  Also, I have about a $1500 cushion built into the budget over the next 4 months that I pray we won't have to use and can apply that to our savings and end up above our goal!!!

I need to sit down and write out my non-financial goals for the month!  I really want to be more disciplined this month with my eating, exercising, housework/chores and how I'm spending my free time!  Will share my goals with you as soon as I've thought them through!

As far as finances for the month are concerned, I don't think I've ever shared the details of our budget before and I'm a bit uncomfortable doing it (it's so revealing!!), but here it is for September!

Utilities	800
Groceries and household items	900
Gasoline	350
Clothing	200
Restaurants (incld fast food/pizza)	100
Insurance	136.5
My Blow Money	100
Entmt/Rec	175
Gifts	25
Guitar lessons	100
Date Night	75
Haircare	100
Golf	75
Boys Commissions (Potential…)	80
Subscriptions	25
School lunches	50
School expenses	200
Dry Cleaning	30
Boy Scouts	147
Vet Bill - surgery	2300

So what about you?  Are you as thrilled as I am that August is now a memory?  What are your goals for September?

5-a day challenge - day 1 update

Just a quick update to say I ate 5 1/2 servings of fruits and veggies yesterday.  It was Day 1 of Carla's 5-a day Challenge.  My goal is to eat 7 a day, so I was short by 1 1/2 servings.  Will have to make it up today!!

discipline & eating right

I've been thinking about my goals for the remainder of the year and what my goals will be for 2012.  I've got goals for our finances, for my health, for my personal and home life, and for my spiritual life.   I will go into details on a different day as to what exactly my goals are, but without some discipline in my life, I won't be able to achieve any of them.

If you're like me, you know how tough it is to maintain weight after losing it.  Like getting out of debt, the fun is reaching your goal, not staying there!   I find that when I'm eating right and exercising consistently that I don't care as much what my weight is because I feel so darn good!   As a result of eating right and exercising, I usually do weigh less, but it seems the importance of the number is lessened by the awesomeness of the way I feel.

I've been a bit slack the last couple of months with my healthful eating and exercise.   And I could stand to shed a few pounds.  Carla over at My Half Daily Dozen is having a challenge over the next two weeks to eat more fruits and vegetables.  I'm joining her in this challenge (it starts today!) and hope to eat at least 7 fruits/veggies each day.  My goal, more specifically, is to eat 1-3 servings of fruits and 4-7 servings of vegetables.  If you want to join in the challenge to, just go her site to see the details! 

my prize

Last week "SFT" over at My 101 Challenge wrote about "keeping your eye on the prize" and asked what people are willing to put their money towards.   Is it to travel?  To pay off debt?  To save up for a wedding?  Basically, what is most important to you?

I didn't have to think about it long or hard because everytime I work to stay on budget, or everytime I see money going into our retirement account I think about my "prize".

Want to know what they are?

 First, we live frugally now so that we will have money saved AND be able to cash flow college for both of our boys.  Our goal is to pay for their tuition to any college, in any state, that they would like to go (and, of course, where they are accepted).  Scholarships would be nice and if they are fortunate enough to receive them, well...that would just mean we had more money to put towards our other prizes!

After the boys are in college, Prize #2 is to live part-time in Italy.  Italy is one of our absolute favorite places...Tuscany to be more specific.  We don't want the responsibility of international home ownership, so our plan is to find a place we love that we can rent for a few months at a time.

And then none of this would be possible without Prize #3 which is Financial Freedom.  To have the kids out of college without student loans and to have our mortgage paid off would be the best prize ever.  Because that would allow us to give our money away as freely as we want and to spend our time doing what we love most.

The year 2026 is our goal date to achieve this.  Of course, I'm not sure if Mr. Steady will be ready to retire by then, but if not, it'll sure be fun knowing that the date will be just around the corner.

What about you?  What are your prizes?  Do you have a goal date for getting it? 

kids and money

My husband and I work to teach our boys financial responsibility and one of the things we implemented this year is to pay them commissions instead of allowances.  Prior to this, we paid an allowance to each of them of about $20/month.  Then, we got tired of them saying, "Mom...I need my allowance" when they had done nothing to earn it.  They used their allowances (and now commissions) for going to the movies with friends, buying video games, getting snacks at the corner store, etc.  We also encourage them to always put some money towards GIVING and some towards SAVINGS.  The amounts might fluctuate, but they always give and they always save a portion of what they make. 

We've been paying commissions for 7 months now and it's working extremely well.  Some weeks the boys may only earn $1-2, and on other weeks, they earn their full potential of $9 (for the 9 year old) and $12 (for the 12 year old).  Our goal is to teach the boys that you do your work, you get paid.  You don't do your work, you don't get paid.  There are some weeks where the work is not optional...I won't let them go 2 weeks in a row without cleaning their bathrooms!!! 

Their birthdays are coming up this fall and it'll be time to update the chore chart and give them different responsibilities and tougher jobs.  Some of their current jobs (like taking the trash cans out to the curb for instance) will now be expected of them and they won't earn money for doing it.  I'm still thinking of what changes to make.  I'm considering having my youngest be more responsible for his laundry and my oldest to be responsible for dinner one night a week.  Definitely things that a 10 year old and 13 year old will be capable of.

Something else that I'm giving a lot of thought to is having my son manage more of his expenses.  I need to see what is involved in opening a checking account with a Debit card for a 13 year old.  There are recurring expenses that he has that my husband and I pay for:  Guitar lessons, Cell Phone Bill, School lunches, etc.  I'm thinking of giving him the money at the beginning of the month for these things...it would be about $180/month and then having him pay for them directly out of his account.  I'm thinking if I can start small with just a few items, then each year add more to it that he's managing.

For those of you with older kids, have you tried this and how has it worked for you?

this is the longest month ever!

I'm trying desperately to stretch the $ that I have and make it last to the end of the month.   I got the kids signed up for basketball this weekend and paid for my son's Scout trip.  So, for the most part the money that we have left on hand can be used for groceries, gasoline and any incidentals that come us.

I have had a credit on my Amazon.com account for a couple of months and have decided to get my mother-in-laws birthday gift from there and have it shipped directly to her since shipping is free!

I have played on my tennis team for a couple of years now and it's time to sign up for the fall season.  I have been hesitant to sign up for a few different reasons.  The money was in our budget for the lessons and fees, so it wasn't the money part of it that was holding me back but more of the time commitment involved.  I decided not to play and instead take a Bible Study that my church is offering that I have wanted to take for a while -- but haven't because the class time conflicted with tennis (it's a 32 week class).  Kinda makes me question my priorities!  So by making this decision I've freed up at least one day a week and will save about $400 over the next 9 months.  The Bible Study is $42 to cover the cost of books and supplies.

I've been thinking a lot about 2012...I think because it's so dad-gum hot and I'm ready for it to be winter!  In thinking about my goals I'm finding an underlying theme in them which is DISCIPLINE.   As I focus more and consider our 2012 budget, I'm also going to think about my goals.  And if I get them all thought out sooner than later, then I may actually implement them BEFORE the New Year!  

Until then - I've got about $60 in cash and $120 in checking to last.  And guess what?!?  Our football league wants more money!  They're asking each player to donate a case of drinks to the concession stand.  I'll need to donate a case of Gatorade and a case of soft drinks...due on Thursday.    ughhhhh!!!  Luckily, it's not drink specific and I can grab what's on sale!  Wonder if they sell drinks through amazon.com and I can just have it applied to my credit?  ha, ha!!!

$1675 can be spent fast!

For reasons that are unknown to both my husband and me, we have less money deposited into our checking account from his paychecks than what is needed to run the household (we have a portion deposited into savings and the balance goes to savings).  Even with our bare bones budget, I have a shortage in the checking account of at least $1,000 after the $ is deposited into checking.  I'm not sure why it's set up like this.  I'm sure it was a really good idea of mine one night.  But because of this shortage, I'm constantly asking my husband to transfer money over from savings.   He grumbles when I do it.

This past month the grumbling was more than usual...mainly because we had a very expensive summer and he wanted to keep the $$ in savings.  (Although, I keep telling him it isn't budgeted for savings and that I don't have enough in the checking account to meet the bare-bones!)  So - to make him happy I told him ALL I needed was $1675 to get me through the month.  The big bills were paid and $1675 would/should be more than enough for our everyday expenses.

Hmmmmm....$1675 is a lot of money, right?!  And it's a lot of money that can be spent quickly!  In the last NINE DAYS, here is where a large portion of this money has gone:

$290.74 groceries
$108 gasoline/oil change
$15 out to eat
$12 dry cleaners
$13.50 school expenses
$67 football expenses (pictures, name on jersey, snacks for party)
$25 guitar lesson
$19 commissions paid to boys
$184 x-rays for our dog
$5.50 parking and tolls at doctor's appt
$38  gifts (2 birthday and 1 Christmas)
$26 basketball
$11.47 golf
$390.65 AMEX balance
$24 entertainment  (date night)
$18 haircut for oldest son

The American Express balance was a surprise and the x-ray for my dog was paid by my husband which means it came directly from our savings account.  So, I'm not sure if I should even count it towards the $1675.  To err on the side of conservative, I'll keep it in.

So - I'm left with $460.13.

I KNOW that these expenses are FIXED and still need to be paid:
$270 basketball registration
$112 Scout trip to Charleston

What's left and FLEXIBLE is:
birthday gift for my mother-in-law
groceries
gasoline
guitar lessons
commissions

I have right at $500 in checking and $119 cash.  More than my balance (probably because the dog fees were paid directly from the savings account), but I'm aiming to keep it at the $460 number.

I think maybe I should practice saying NO more often...

fiscal fast update

Good Morning and Happy Friday!!!!  yippee!  I am finished with my Fiscal Fast, although since I truly only FASTED for one of the 7 days, I should've called it a Fiscal Diet.  I definitely was more thoughtful, intentional and conscientious with my spending, but going 7 days without spending just didn't happen.

My last day of the Fast I left the house armed with a $100 bill.  {See what I mean about not fasting?!?}  I needed groceries and gas.  I went to Publix and got what I needed...I spent $37.69, but SAVED $43.57!  I was very excited!  I had coupons on this trip!  Then I went and put gas in Mr. Steady's truck...spent $50.  

Now, I've got about $12 left, right?  Earlier in the day, I'd received a note/promo code on my iPhone for $10 off any $10.01+ purchase at American Eagle.  bingo!  My oldest son wanted a bottle of their cologne the last time we were in that store, and of course I told him that would have to wait.  I decided that the cologne would make a perfect Christmas gift!  It was regular $32.50, marked down to $19.99, and with my $10 coupon I spent around $10.59.  So - I deviated from my Fast with the purchase, but it was a good deal and I've put it away to save for him for Christmas.

Here's the low-down on my 7 days:

Day 1: $73
Day 2: $48
Day 3: $87
Day 4: No Spend Day
Day 5: $62
Day 6: $16
Day 7: $98

Now - for the crummy news.  I have been keeping a running balance of what I have left of my $1678 "allowance".  Last night I had $960 left for the month.  Not bad!  I have a few big expenses that I know are coming up, but expected to have $397 left for groceries and gasoline.  This morning I found out that I had an American Express balance of $390 due by 8/24! 

Big.

Fat.

Bummer.

So, today I retackle this budget.  I'm determined to not use my credit card and to not move money over from savings. 

On a positive note, I finished my meal planning for the month and am able to use the food in our freezers for just about everything.  I'll need to buy a few things today to round out the meals, but I'm hoping to keep that cost around $100.  I'm shopping today and will let you know how I do.

A lot of numbers are swimming around in my mind today!

OMG!  I have to tell you this.  As I was downloading the above image,  I got a call from the mom of one my youngest son's friends saying that a birthday party invitation had been returned to her and that Jeff is invited to the boy's party tomorrow afternoon!  I had to laugh because Jeff would LOVE to go...and I have to figure out how to squeeze a bit more $$ for a gift.  

Suggestions for nice and inexpensive gifts?!?

things to do today

Can you believe it's already Thursday?!?  My boys have almost finished their 2nd week of school and I have yet to get into gear with my projects.  I LOVE making to-do lists.  Mainly because I LOVE to cross off my items after I'm done.  So hear goes...maybe this will give me the kick in the rear that I need!

TO DO TODAY
Purchase BDay gift for son's friend
Make menu plan for the rest of the month
Empty all the trash cans
Clean the hall bathroom
Make batch of basil pesto
Grocery store for stuff for lunch
Make grocery list of what I need for rest of month (do this trip tomorrow)
Look for place to stay for one night in Charleston for Labor Day
Have Mr. Steady endorse check for a deposit
Bank to deposit check and rolled coins
Pay Dr bill and other bills due by end of month
Dust/sweep the dog hair off the stairs & wood floors
Exercise 30 minutes
And, of course...shower/dress!  :)

I'll check back either later or tomorrow with the results of my Fiscal Fast and $$ left for the rest of the month!  But for now...I'm off in an attempt to be productive today!

fiscal fast - last day

Today is Day #7 for my Fiscal Fast and I know that I'll spend money today on some groceries and gas.

Yesterday, I spent a little bit of money.  I was almost out of gas and put $10 in it to get me through today.  I also ran into the drug store to get a bottle of wine, Diet Coke and gum.  I realized that I only had $8 in my wallet and REALLY didn't want to use my debit card for the purchase.  Especially since none of the items were necessities.  Well - maybe the wine was!?!  Anyway - I happened to find a wine on sale for $3.33.  Desperate times call for desperate measures, soooooooooo I bought it!  And you know what?!?  It wasn't too bad!  I bought that a Diet Coke (that's what I drink in the mornings instead of coffee) and a pack of gum for my youngest.  It was $6.59!  I was proud of myself for making my $8 work and not using my debit card in order to get a better bottle of wine.  I know that I should've just said NO to the entire stop and foregone my wine last night and Diet Coke this morning, but I didn't....

So here is my break-down for the week so far:

Day 1: $73
Day 2: $48
Day 3: $87
Day 4: $0
Day 5: $62
Day 6: $16
Day 7:  tbd

And for my larger amount that I'm budgeting for the remainder of the month?  I began with $1678.  A couple of unexpected school expenses have come up and I will need to pre-pay this month for a Scout trip that my son is taking next month.  I'm determined to make this amount work and not dip into savings.  After my Fast ends I'll go into more details on where the money is being spent, but for now it looks like I'll have about $300 to use towards groceries and gasoline for the next 13 days.  Unfortunately, I will have to use about $80 of that today to fill up Mr. Steady's truck.    But - I can make this work!

Also, I've been working on my 4Q11 and 2012 budgets.  Anyone else out there who is already thinking about to 2012 and how you are going to use your money to work for you?

fiscal fast - day 5

Yippee!  I'm on Day 5 of my Fiscal Fast and since I've done all that needs to be done for the day, I'm going to go ahead and post my results.  Yesterday was a success...a No Spend Day!  Today, there was some moderate spending.

Today I paid the boys their commissions ($19), went to the grocery ($26), paid parking at a doctor's appt ($5) and took my son out for lunch after said appointment ($12).  Not too bad...we went to his favorite restaurant - The Varsity Drive-In and lucky for me, it's very inexpensive!  3 burgers, fries, 2 large drinks AND a tip for $12!

So here's a breakdown of my last 5 days:

Day 1: $73
Day 2: $48
Day 3: $87
Day 4: $0
Day 5: $62

Not exactly a fast, but some of the things I spent money on were true needs.  And the other stuff...like grocery shopping?  I was very deliberate.  I stayed about from the fun stuff today -- chips, cookies, soft drinks and instead, just bought what I really needed.

where is my 1/2 dozen daily?

Just a note to my readers who link up through my site to Carla at My 1/2 Dozen Daily.  Her site address has changed!  The link above will take you to the correct place!  She has lost some of her information, so if you were on her blog roll, be sure to let her know so she can add you back!

fiscal fast - day 3

I have challenged myself to two things this month!  One is to keep my remaining expenses for the month under $1678.  The other is to a Fiscal Fast beginning this past Thursday.

So, how am I doing?  Not too shabby!  I haven't been fasting 100%, but I have been intentional with what I've  purchased and made sure it's something that isn't a "want".

Here's a breakdown:

Day 1 - Spent $73.15 at the grocery.  (I began the fast with a freezer full of food, but no real ingredients to make meals.)
Day 2 - Spent $48 to get the oil changed in my car.  This needed to be done as it's over the mileage and Mr. Steady is taking my car to North Carolina on Monday.
Day 3 - Spent $12 at the cleaners (again this is to prep Mr. Steady for his trip on Monday), $25 was spent for guitar lessons and $50 was spent at the Farmer's Market on EVOO and pine nuts to make fresh basil pesto and cheese for next weekend's outdoor concert/picnic.

So, I have about $1470 left for the month!

On a side note, I did think of Sharon over at Musings from a Midlife Mom this morning and want to thank her!  During her Fiscal Fast this past week, she got "suckered in" to going to IHOP with her kids' "entire" track team....only to find only a couple of kids actually went.  Well, this morning after my son's football practice, he said that "EVERYONE" is going to Partners Pizza and asked if we could.  I laughed and said "no" because all I could think was that we'll go (and spend what isn't in the budget) and only a couple of people will actually show up.  So, thank you Sharon for sharing that story with us as it helped me to say NO to today's lunch request!  :)