Financial

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    The week went by quickly.  I have been fighting off a cold so I didn’t do as well bargain shopping throughout the entire week.  Thankfully I was able to find some amazing deals early in the week and was able to stock up on some candy to share with others (including the girls school) during some upcoming events and parties.  I was running low on shredded cheeses (a big no-no in our house) so I was able to stock up on it and other items this week.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Ingles

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $29.28 at Ingles for 1 bag Laura Lynn Bread, 2 blocks Laura Lynn Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 5 bags Laura Lynn Shredded Cheese, 1 box Margarine, 1 bag Ham Lunch Meat, 1 whole Chicken, 1 box Pillsbury Yellow Cake Mix, 1 box Pillsbury Brownie Mix, 1 bag Laura Lynn Miniature Marshmallows, 1 container Fresh Lemons, 1 Sweet Yellow Onion, 1 bag Regular White Pitas, 1 bag Onion Pitas, 2 bags Deli Egg Roll Wraps, and 1 container Spinach Bites.  (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance including the meat, diary, and produce!)
    Groceries from CVS

    CVS Groceries:

    • $0.70 at CVS for 4 bags Oreo Mini Snack Packs, 2 bags Wonka Nerds, 2 bags Milky Way Simply Caramel, 2 bags Hershey’s Cookies N Cream, 1 bag Twizzlers Strawberry Twists Snack Pack, 2 bags Butterfinger Fun Size, 1 bag 100 Grand Fun Size, 2 bags Nestle Crunch Fun Size, 2 bags Whoppers Snack Size, and 2 jars Skippy Peanut Butter.  (My family will not be eating all this candy and sugar, but I was thrilled to get it since I have several upcoming parties and celebrations where I need to bring goody bags.  All the items were on clearance after the Halloween Holiday or on sale and will come in handy for upcoming events.  It was a great price on clearance items and none of the items expire until late 2012.  The Extra Care Bucks were a huge savings help.  To see more details about this shopping trip go to my CVS: Spent $0.70 and Got $3 ECB’s)

    This week I spent $29.98 on groceries.  Even though I only a little under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on several items.  The Halloween Clearance at CVS was pretty amazing and the items I picked up on will be beneficial for several different upcoming events so it was worth to stock up the pantry at those prices.  I hope that next week is better week and we can come under budget!

    It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

  • CVS: Spent $0.70 and $3 ECB’s Back

    CVS Deals

    I went to CVS today to use up a couple ECB’s that were about to expire.  I was able to get the items pictured above for $0.70 including tax and received $3.00 ECB’s to use on my next CVS purchase.   The CVS didn’t have any of the items I was looking for in stock but they did price match the peanut butter for me and give me a ECB for it.  I was able to stock up on their Halloween clearance snacks and candy.  I have several upcoming events and parties that I have to put goody bags together for so it worked out really well.  I was able to get my free CVS gift card worth $10.00 from a previous shopping trip.  The only coupons I used today were ones from the ECB’s that were expiring today.  I am thankful for an opportunity to get these items at such an amazing  discount so we can share with others (my family will not be eating all this sugar)! 🙂

    You can get great deals even without clipping a lot of coupons.  My receipt shows that as of November 2nd I have saved over $1,700  at CVS this year so you can do it without investing a lot of time into it or being an extreme couponer that empties the shelves.  Over time the savings add up and I have even taken several weeks off here and there while I have been busy or traveling or when our stock pile is full.   All of the items I purchased were on sale or clearance.  The candy was originally $3.99 each, but I was able to get it on clearance even though it is not expiring until late next year.  Here is what I purchased this week.

    • 2 – Skippy Peanut Butter for $5.00  ($2.50 each, they price matched this item and I received $3.00 ECB’s back making the peanut butter $1.00 per jar)
    • 1 – $10 CVS Gift Card for $0.00 FREE! (used a $10.00 Gift Card ECB so this gift card was free)
    • 2 – Butterfinger Fun Size (12.5 oz each) for $1.98 (on clearance for $0.99 each)
    • 2 – Cookies N’ Cream  (10 oz each) for $1.98 (on clearance for $0.99 each)
    • 2 –Milky Way Simply Caramel  (11 oz each) for $1.98 (on clearance for $0.99 each)
    • 2 – Nestle Crunch (11.5 oz each) for $1.98 (on clearance for $0.99 each)
    • 2 – Wonka Nerds  (12 oz each) for $1.98 (on clearance for $0.99 each)
    • 1 – Twizzler Strawberry Twists Fun Pack  (22 oz) for $0.99
    • 2 – Whoppers Snack Packs  (9 oz each) for $1.50 (on clearance for $0.75 each)
    • 1 – Nestle 100 Grands (12.5 oz) for $0.99
    • 4 – Halloween Oreo Snack Packs (9 oz each) for $3.00 (on clearance for $0.75 each)

    Here are the coupons I used on the items.

    • Used $10.00 CVS ECB’s Gift Card Reward
    • Used $20.00 CVS ECB’s

    I received $3.00 ECB’s back today:

    • $3.00 ECB’s for Jiffy Products (my local CVS substituted Skippy for me)

    Today I was able to save $69.18 at CVS by purchasing these items and using coupons (over 95% savings).

    When you shop the CVS sales regularly and have ECB’s that you can roll over toward future purchases the bonus ECB’s start adding up (Green Bag Tags and Beauty Club).  As you can see from my shopping trip today you don’t have to purchase a lot to save money when shopping at CVS.  Plus you can use the additional ECB’s you receive towards your next purchase.  You can pick and chose what is best for your family.

    I would love to hear your CVS shopping story for this week!  For those of you who shop regularly at CVS please share how you were able to save this week!  Although the weekly ad sales are similar every family and situation is different so you may have found items better suited to your household.  In your comment please feel free to share a link to your blog article showing us how you were able to save shopping at CVS.

  • New Upromise eCoupons for November 2011

    Upromise has posted their new eCoupons for the month of November 2011. Remember to activate your eCoupons to get additional savings. If you have not yet signed up for Upromise you can get more information regarding on our experience or directly at the Upromise website.

    This month they have 29 coupons you can activate for bonus savings. Once you activate your eCoupons all you have to do is scan your rewards card or purchase the items at the store and the cash will be added to your account. You don’t even have to carry any coupons to get the rewards!

    You can go to their website for more information on the Upromise program, it’s free to join.

  • Living on a Budget: Creative Cash (October Update)

    October is my ninth month tracking my Creative Cash.  What is Creative Cash?  Creative Cash is finding ways to come up with extra cash to share with others as well as work on our current goal.  I am working part time, a stay at home Mom, and wear many other hats from day to day, however, I feel that it is important to save money for our family by using coupons and buying items on sale but to earn a little money to help with the extra expenses and to share with others.  The extra amount I bring in on top of the work is what I call “Creative Cash” which means finding ways to make money creatively or with items and talents I have already.  I plan to continue this goal for the remaining months of the year.  Despite the many financial obstacles that we have faced as a family we have been blessed with so much.  My husband and I believe it is important to be accountable with our finances and give to others.

    Explanation: The creative cash will be made throughout the entire month through various endeavors.  As it comes in the money is placed into our savings account and withdrawn at the end of the month so it can be split.  It is my goal to make at least $100 extra a month to help with our goals as well as share with others.  At the end of the month the money will be split 50 / 50 with half going towards our current goal we are working on (which at the moment is paying down debt) and the other half going to charity.

    To be honest October was not as great of a month as I hoped it would be, however, it was better then September.    Although life is still busy we are at least home more now giving me the flexibility to focus on this goal as well as other ones.  I anticipate November being another busy month with upcoming Holidays and I hope to come closer to meeting this goal.  Thankfully I was able to save some extra cash even though I did not reach my my goal of $100.  I want to share with you the ways we did it so if you are looking for ways to make a little extra creative cash for your family hopefully we can be an inspiration in getting your creative juices flowing:

    • $13.19 – Items sold on Ebay (after fees):   The all the items sold were coupons.  I encourage you to look around at some of the coupons you get the mail, newspapers, magazines, in your stockpile, or other places and if you will not have the opportunity to use them then consider selling them for a little extra creative cash.
    • $6.59 – Recycled Items taken to the scrap metal company
    • $28.99 – Other miscellaneous amounts earned  (rebates, returns, cash back,  extra money, etc…) that was added to my stash for the month.

    It was a harder month to set the extra aside because it was very busy and I was not able to participate in as many extra creative cash activities.  The good news is despite the crazy schedule I was able to get a few dollars of creative cash and almost met at least half of my goal.  October’s “Creative Cash” total was $48.77 which means $24.38 extra that goes towards our current goal (saving for 3 to 6 month Emergency Fund) and $24.39 goes towards charity.  Although I didn’t hit my $100 goal this month I am happy that I was able to contribute something this month and every little bit helps us get a little closer to our goals as well as helps others along the way.  I have a plan of action on ways to earn creative cash in November so stayed tuned, hopefully, it will be another month where we can get closer to our goal and share with others.  Each month I do a variety activities to accomplish this goal, the items above are just the ones I did specifically in October.  I look forward to sharing more of the things that work well for our family as I do them in the upcoming months.

    I will share with you the challenges, successes, and updates as I go through this journey so you can keep me accountable or even go through it with me by participating  and sharing your story. Taking the extra time to find ways to help our family as well as invest in the lives of others is important to us.  I hope that we have been able to encourage you to find ways to come up with some creative cash for your household as well.  Obviously, each situation and family is unique so decide what works for you and go for it!  Do you know of another way to earn creative cash?   I would love to hear your ideas!

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

    Photo by StopNLook

  • Intentional Living: Weekly Goals

    After much thought I have decided to share my weekly goals with you.  I think it is important to share and encourage each other as we seek to improve our lives and the lives of those around us.  I want to live intentionally not just hope all my dreams and goals come true.  When I focus on small steps of improvement I am able to see results as I get closer to my goals.  Some weeks I get closer to the goals I have in my life and other weeks a take a few steps back (life happens, emergencies occur, people get sick).  Once the goals are written down and shared it provides a guideline for what I aim to accomplish this week.

    Here are my goals for the upcoming week:

    Family Goals

    1. Spend 1-on-1 time with each child everyday
    2. Read a book to the girls everyday
    3. Have the girls read 1 book to me 5 days this week
    4. Do devotions with the girls every night (sometimes it gets late and we rush to get them into bed)
    5. Schedule a Date Night with Jake
    6. Schedule a Date Night with each child

    Personal Goals

    1. Exercise – walk at least 5 days this week
    2. Finish reading  The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman
    3. Listen to The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
    4. Go to bed by 10:30 or earlier on Monday through Thursday

    Home Management Goals

    1. Weekly Dinner Menu planned and written by Monday
    2. Spend 30 minutes every day picking up / cleaning the house
    3. Dinner on the table by 5:30 PM (Monday through Thursday)
    4. All laundry for the week washed, folded, and put away in one day
    5. Summer clothes pulled out of the main part of the closet and put away (it’s getting chilly and we are not wearing them as much now)
    6. Pick the fresh vegetables that are ready and start preparing the garden for the first freeze.

    Business Goals

    1. Spend 10 minutes cleaning and organizing my desk (somehow everyone stacks stuff on my desk, myself included, and within a day I have a pile sometimes piles)
    2. Pay all bills that come in the mail this week
    3. Work on ideas for upcoming blog posts
    4. Research ways to create more residual income

    Ministry Goals

    1. Email our weekly Community Group update including upcoming events on the calendar, praises, and prayer requests
    2. Alms & Legs Ministry – Email upcoming meeting reminder to members, write and print the meeting agenda
    3. Meet a friend for Breakfast or Lunch
    4. Pack our Operation Christmas Child boxes

    Financial Goals

    1. Stay within Budget on Groceries $40 for 4
    2. Pay off remaining debt
    3. Emergency Fund – save 6 months worth of living expenses

    I am striving to live intentionally so I have the ability to give my time, talents, and resources more generously to family, friends, and those who my life touches.  Please feel free to share or link your list of goals in the comments below.  Let’s help each other be accountable for the goals we set for ourselves.

    Why Share My Goals?

    • To keep me accountable
    • To share a piece of my life with you as I strive to be a better Child of God, Wife, Mom, Friend, Homemaker, Entrepreneur and the many other roles I have each week
    • To have my goals consistently written down so I can gauge progress more accurately
    • Create healthy habits in my life
    • To encourage you to share your goals with me as you continue to grown and learn

    The picture above is one that I created for my own purposes, however, The “SMART” acronym was originally coined 30 years ago by Peter Drucker in his classic work, Management by Results

  • Giveaway: $10 Lowe’s Gift Card

    I am doing another giveaway on Blessings Multiplied!   The winner of this giveaway will receive a $10 Lowe’s Gift Card!  As a Mom, wife and homeowner I am always looking for ways to save a little extra when buying items for around the house and the yard.  It is a great time of year to pick up some fall flowers, pumpkins, mulch, or many other home or garden items from Lowe’s.  Here’s how to enter the giveaway:

    1. Sign up to follow my blog (if you haven’t done so already) and leave a comment below telling us how you follow Blessings Multiplied.  You can sign up to receive Blessings Multiplied via email.
    2. You can get a bonus entry into the drawing if you leave a separate comment below sharing one of your favorite supplies you like to get at Lowe’s!

    All comments must be made by October 31st at 10:00 PM EST to be entered into the drawing.  On October 31, 2011,  I will randomly draw a winner from those who have entered the giveaway.

  • Living on a Budget: Creative Cash (September Update)

    September is my eighth month tracking my Creative Cash.  What is Creative Cash?  Creative Cash is finding ways to come up with extra cash to share with others as well as work on our current goal.  I am working part time, a stay at home Mom, and wear many other hats from day to day, however, I feel that it is important to save money for our family by using coupons and buying items on sale but to earn a little money to help with the extra expenses and to share with others.  The extra amount I bring in on top of the work is what I call “Creative Cash” which means finding ways to make money creatively or with items and talents I have already.  I plan to continue this goal for the remaining months of the year.  Despite the many financial obstacles that we have faced as a family we have been blessed with so much.  My husband and I believe it is important to be accountable with our finances and give to others.

    Explanation: The creative cash will be made throughout the entire month through various endeavors.  As it comes in the money is placed into our savings account and withdrawn at the end of the month so it can be split.  It is my goal to make at least $100 extra a month to help with our goals as well as share with others.  At the end of the month the money will be split 50 / 50 with half going towards our current goal we are working on (which at the moment is paying down debt) and the other half going to charity.

    To be honest September was not a great month, however, it was better then August.  In August I wasn’t able to do any extra activities to generate creative cash; our family had several out of town trips, guests, events, and a lot of other activities in August that took up the extra time I had available.   I am thankful that we have had the opportunity to travel together as a family and create many great new memories, however, the creative cash has been effected by it.  Although life is still busy we are at least home more now giving me the flexibility to focus on this goal as well as other ones.  I anticipate October being another busy month but now that the girls are back in school life will once again return our new “normal” and I hope to come closer to meeting this goal.  Thankfully I was able to save some extra cash even though I did not reach my my goal of $100.  I want to share with you the ways we did it so if you are looking for ways to make a little extra creative cash for your family hopefully we can be an inspiration in getting your creative juices flowing:

    • $7.97 – Items sold on Ebay (after fees):   The all the items sold were coupons.  I encourage you to look around at some of the coupons you get the mail, newspapers, magazines, in your stockpile, or other places and if you will not have the opportunity to use them then consider selling them for a little extra creative cash.
    • $39.00 – Other miscellaneous amounts earned  (rebates, returns, cash back,  extra money, etc…) that was added to my stash for the month.  Most of the cash this month was from a rebate check I received.

    It was a harder month to set the extra aside because it was very busy and I was not able to participate in as many extra creative cash activities.  The good news is despite the crazy schedule I was able to get a few dollars of creative cash.  September’s “Creative Cash” total was $46.97 which means $23.48 extra that goes towards our current goal (saving for 3 to 6 month Emergency Fund) and $23.49 goes towards charity.  I didn’t hit my $100 goal this month.  It has been really busy with school being out part of the month and traveling with the family.  I am happy that I was able to contribute something this month and every little bit helps us get a little closer to our goals as well as helps others along the way.  I have a plan of action on ways to earn creative cash in October so stayed tuned, hopefully, it will be another month where we can get closer to our goal and share with others.  Each month I do a variety activities to accomplish this goal, the items above are just the ones I did specifically in September.  I look forward to sharing more of the things that work well for our family as I do them in the upcoming months.

    I will share with you the challenges, successes, and updates as I go through this journey so you can keep me accountable or even go through it with me by participating  and sharing your story. Taking the extra time to find ways to help our family as well as invest in the lives of others is important to us.  I hope that we have been able to encourage you to find ways to come up with some creative cash for your household as well.  Obviously, each situation and family is unique so decide what works for you and go for it!  Do you know of another way to earn creative cash?   I would love to hear your idea!

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

    Photo by StopNLook

  • Giveaway: $10 Staples Gift Card

    I am doing another giveaway on Blessings Multiplied!!!  The winner of this giveaway will receive a $10 Staples Gift Card!  School is approaching and it is time to stock up on school supplies again.  As a Mom of fraternal twin daughters I am always looking for ways to save a little extra when buying school supplies for the family.  Our family uses supplies from Staples for school, crafts and the office.

    1. Sign up to follow my blog (if you haven’t done so already) and leave a comment below telling us how you follow Blessings Multiplied.
    2. You can get a bonus entry into the drawing if you leave a separate comment below sharing one of your favorite school / office supplies you like to get at Staples!

    All comments must be made by August 31st at 10:00 PM EST to be entered into the drawing.  On August 31st  I will randomly draw a winner from those who have entered the giveaway.

  • Living on a Budget: Creative Cash (June Update)

    June is my fifth month tracking my Creative Cash.  What is Creative Cash?  Creative Cash is finding ways to come up with extra cash to share with others as well as work on our current goal.  I am working part time, a stay at home Mom, and wear many other hats from day to day, however, I feel that it is important to save money for our family by using coupons and buying items on sale but to earn a little money to help with the extra expenses and to share with others.  The extra amount I bring in on top of the work is what I call “Creative Cash” which means finding ways to make money creatively or with items and talents I have already.  I have tested this goal over the last couple months as I am challenging myself to make my life more simplified.   I plan to continue this goal for the remaining months of the year.  Despite the many financial obstacles that we have faced as a family we have been blessed with so much.  We believe it is important to be accountable with our finances and give to others.

    Explanation: The creative cash will be made throughout the entire month through various endeavors.  As it comes in the money is placed into our savings account and withdrawn at the end of the month so it can be split.  It is my goal to make at least $100 extra a month to help with our goals as well as share with others.  At the end of the month the money will be split 50 / 50 with half going towards our current goal we are working on (which at the moment is paying down debt) and the other half going to charity.

    June was a good month even though it was extremely active in many other areas of my life.  Thankfully I was able to save some extra cash however, I did not reach my my goal of $100.  I want to share with you the ways we did it so if you are looking for ways to make a little extra creative cash for your family hopefully we can be an inspiration in getting your creative juices flowing:

    • $15.59 – Items sold on Ebay (after fees):   The all the items sold were coupons.  I encourage you to look around at some of the coupons you get the mail, newspapers, magazines, in your stockpile, or other places and if you will not have the opportunity to use them then consider selling them for a little extra creative cash.
    • $20.00 – Cash from house and dog sitting
    • $10.00 – Rebate for Scotts Osmocote Plant Fertilizer
    • $ 5.49 – Other miscellaneous amounts earned  (rebates, returns, cash back,  extra money, etc…) that was added to my stash for the month.

    It was a harder month to set the extra aside because it was very busy and I was not able to participate in as many extra creative cash activities.  June’s “Creative Cash” total was $51.08 which means $25.54 extra that goes towards our current goal (paying down debt) and $25.54 goes towards charity.  I didn’t hit my $100 goal this month.  It has been really busy with school being out and traveling with the family.  I am happy that I was able to get at least halfway to the goal and every little bit helps us get a little closer to our goals as well as helps others along the way.  I have plan of action on ways to earn creative cash in July so stayed tuned, hopefully, it will be another month where we can get closer to our goal and share with others.  Each month I do a variety activities to accomplish this goal, the items above are just the ones I did specifically in June.  I look forward to sharing more of the things that work well for our family as I do them in the upcoming months.

    I will share with you the challenges, successes, and updates as I go through this journey so you can keep me accountable or even go through it with me by participating  and sharing your story. Taking the extra time to find ways to help our family as well as invest in the lives of others is important to us.  I hope that we have been able to encourage you to find ways to come up with some creative cash for your household as well.  Obviously, each situation and family is unique so decide what works for you and go for it!  Do you know of another way to earn creative cash?   I would love to hear your idea!

    Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.

    Photo by StopNLook