Journey Towards Financial Freedom

Woo-hoo! I went shopping tonight and spent $115.00, which is $5.00 under my grocery spending limit for a week. I still have to buy some cage free eggs tomorrow and that will eat up the other $5.00.

Part of my shopping list was accounting for all the leftovers we have that we can eat. Great. I love leftovers as long as it is not the same thing day after day. Here are my meals for the week.

1) Leftover lentil soup. Side of raw fruit. Homemade iced tea.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lentil-soup/detail.aspx?event8=... - 2 meals

2) Leftover Moroccan Bean Stew. http://www.forksoverknives.com/moroccan-bean-stew-with-sweet... - 1 meal

3) Tuna salad with chopped tomatoes, onion, bean sprouts, green pepper, sea salt, and black pepper. Side of raw fruit. Homemade iced tea. No real recipe here. I just love tuna and raw veggies. - 2 meals

4) Eggs with parsley, onion, cilantro. Side of oatmeal with honey, cinnamon, flaxseeds, and almond milk. Orange juice. - 3 meals.

5) Oatmeal with honey, cinnamon, flaxseeds, and almond milk. Side of ham or chicken. Orange juice. - 4 meals

6) Spaghetti with brown rice. - 2 meals

7) Meatloaf. Side of veggies. - 2 meals

8) Chicken and garbanzo bean jalfrezzi. Side of veggies. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-jalfrezi/detail.aspx - 2 meals

9) Chicken and Black Bean Casserole. Side of veggies. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-and-black-bean-casserol... - 2 meals

I wound up spending $124.00 for groceries today. That's far better than the approximately $177.00 I was doing before! I am doing the snoopy dance.

I have also figured out a way to decrease the amount of bad (and costly) snack food I have been frequently eating. Instead of going to a convenience store to get a package of trail mix (typically $1.00 to $1.99, depending on the kind), I bought a big bag of trail mix at the store. The bad thing about these convenience store trips is that I also feel tempted to get a soda instead of iced tea or bottled water. If I knock out the snack food as a problem, I have no excuse than to drink my own iced tea and eat trail mix I bought at the grocery store. I figure I can save at least $10.00 a week. I will send an extra payment to the credit card with this money. Yeah.

Well not quite. Payday is not until tomorrow, but I did make it without any catastropes. I already have a detailed shopping list made out noting what I do need, as well as what I don't need.

I added a little extra to my regular savings, thinking that even at just under $1000, it is way too skinny. I also added to the house and car savings accounts. My retirement has gone up a little since last month.

As I said, I have already made my shopping list complete with notes about coupons and what is on sale. I am trying to significantly lower my overall grocery (people food and household supplies) bill. Here are the meals I am planning, although it might change a little after I go to the store and farmer's market.

1) Leftover Lentil Soup. Side of apple or orange. Trail mix. Iced tea. (4 meals)

2) Baked Chicken Leftover. Side of steamed veggies. (1 meal)

3) Meatloaf. Side of steamed veggies. (2 meals)

4) Spaghetti over rice. Side of steamed veggies. (2 meals)

5) Moraccan Bean Stew with Sweet Potatoes -

http://www.forksoverknives.com/moroccan-bean-stew-with-sweet... - I changed this from roast because I am just so tired of eating meat all the time - meat, meat, meat. Ugh. I saw this documentary called Forks over Knives on netflix instant viewing. The documentary was great, so then, I got the book on interlibrary loan and it's even better than the movie. The website has a lot of cool information, including this recipe, which is both amazingly healthy and it tastes great, too! Even my dh, who doesn't really like veggies, raved about how great is smelled. Let's see how he likes it. (We're eating the first serving at dinner right now.) - I am estimating 3 meals on this one. It depends on how much dh likes it.

6) Scrambled eggs with onions and parsley. Side of 1 piece of ham. Orange juice. Oatmeal with honey, flaxseeds, cinnamon, and almond milk. (3 meals)

7) Oatmeal with honey, flaxseeds, cinnamon, and almond milk. Side of 3 pieces of ham. Orange juice.

8) Baked chicken. Side of steamed veggies. (1 meal)

9) Hamburger Patty. Side of steamed veggies. (1 meal)

That's all for now. See ya, financially savvy friends and neighbors!!

I couldn't get to my blog earlier today at all. I tried several times, but only got some error message that I could not understand. Did anyone else have that problem?

I saved up my pocket change over the last week or so. I cashed it in and deposited it in my regular savings, bringing the balance to $999.03. Whee!

Payday is not until this coming Friday. Money in checking was starting to look a little skinny, so I decided to do a pantry challenge. I also am challenging myself to cut down my overall grocery bill. I added up what I spent last month on groceries and it was $709.00! Ouch. So, Saturday morning I spent about $87.00. Much better.

Here are my meals for the coming week. I note where I am using something I already had in my house.

1) Lentil soup with diced canned tomatoes, fresh carrots, fresh onions, garlic, sea salt, black pepper, chili powder, turmeric, cumin, turkey, and cayenne pepper. Side of fresh fruit, trail mix. Iced tea. 5 meals (Already had lentils, carrots, garlic, sea salt, black pepper, chili powder, turmeric, cumin, cayenne pepper, and tea bags.) This one was great for my pantry challenge.

2) Chicken salad with cayenne pepper, miracle whip, and green onion. Side of mung bean sprouts and carrots. Side of fresh fruit and trail mix. Iced tea. 1 meal. (Already had cayenne pepper, chicken, miracle whip, and tea bags)

3) Meatloaf. Side of steamed veggies. 2 meals.

4) Eggs and ham. Side of orange juice. Oatmeal with flaxseed, almond milk, honey, and cinnamon. 3 meals (Already had oatmeal, almond milk, honey, and cinnamon)

5) Oatmeal with honey, flaxseeds, almond milk, and cinnamon. Side of chicken or ham. Orange Juice. 4 meals. (Already had oatmeal, flaxseeds, almond milk, and cinnamon.)

5) Baked Chicken Breast. Side of steamed veggies. 3 meals.

6) Hamburger Patty. Side of steamed veggies. 1 meal.

7) Lunch out on Friday! Probably salad off the salad bar at the pizza place down the street.

Frugal Artisan has inspired me to challenge myself to cut my grocery bill by $100. I just added up what I spent for groceries last month and it came to $709! Shocking considering I am not feeding a foreign country or something. Just me, the hubby, and 2 furbabies. So, I am now off to make my much more sensible shopping list.

Hello, financially savvy friends and neighbors! I had the whole week off for vacation. Yeah! But don't worry. I wasn't using that opportunity to spend, spend, spend. In fact, I spent most of it at home. I watched some old tv episodes and movies on Netflix, played with my cats, did some catchup filing of receipts, cleaning my house, cooking, and shredding of receipts I no longer needed. Wow. My house really needed some decluging. It needs a lot more. Maybe I will work on it more tomorrow. I will be back to work on Monday.

As always, I am a constant quest to save money and eat more healthy also. I am also trying to eat some meatless meals to see if that helps. Here are my meals for the coming week:

1) Meatloaf with side of veggies - 2 meals

2) Roast beef with side of veggies - 2 meals

3) Oatmeal with raisins, flaxseeds, almond milk, and honey. Juice. Side of ham. 4 meals

4) Scrambled eggs. Juice. Oatmeal with flaxseeds, almond milk, and honey. 3 meals

5) Spaghetti sauce with rice. Side of veggies. 2 meals

6) Lentil Rice Pilaf. Side of raw veggies. 2 meals http://www.food.com/recipe/lebanese-lentil-rice-pilaf-with-b...

7) Spinach salad with tomatoes, flaxseeds, sliced almonds, and tuna (or lentils). Vinegar and oil for dressing. Side of orange or apple. 4 meals.

8) Hamburger patty. Side of veggies. 1 meal

I got paid yesterday, so more went to savings and retirement. I have already paid the water bill, trash bill, and bought gas for the car. I still have to make a payment to the credit card. I have already bought groceries and will begin my weekly cooking spree tomorrow morning.

I will have all-day meetings on Monday and Tuesday and the entire afternoon on Wednesday. Ugh. No fun.

The other cool thing is that I finally got my garden going. I had to work really hard to get the holes dug, Zoom fertilizer put in, and water and compost put in with the plants in. It was starting to pour rain when I had only 2 out of the 4 plants in the ground. They look great and the guy at the farm store swears by the Zoom stuff for making tomato plants produce lots of tomatoes. My goal is to become less dependent on the grocery store so that I can spend more money on getting out of debt, saving for retirement, and fixing up my house. Plus, I will be able to eat vegetables I grew myself that are not polluted with chemicals, so yea!! The weird thing about my garden is that I had a couple of four-legged visitors to my garden (dogs). I just hope they don't dig up the plants!

Hubby is leaving on a 2 day trip tomorrow at about 12:00 just after lunch. He should be back by the early evening on Monday.

Like I said, I have already done the shopping for food and such. After planting those tomatoes today, I was beat and could not manage to do any more cooking but make meatloaf. So, I will start tomorrow with making lentil soup. I will also making some tuna/egg salad for the hubby to eat as a sandwich before heading out on his trip. I will also make some spaghetti sauce and put together salads for my lunches. Here are my meals for the week:

1) Spinach salad with tomato, onion, and tuna or chicken. 3 meals

2) Lentil soup with ham, onion, seasonings, and broth. 4 meals

3) Leftover chicken noodle soup. 1 meal

4) Chicken breast and steamed veggies. 1 meal

5) Hamburger patty and steamed veggies. 2 meals

6) Oatmeal with banana, almond milk, honey, cinnamon, and flaxseed. Side of ham. Juice. 3 meals

7) Eggs and ham or chicken, grapefruit with honey. Side of ham. 4 meals

8) Meatloaf and steamed veggies. 2 meals

My hubby had previously stated he wanted to come with me on the conference trip, so I had budgeted for that (food for 2 people, etc.). But now, he has decided he doesn't want to. Yeah for me! Because I can eat where I want and what I want. Translation here: somewhere much less expensive. He always wants to eat at somewhere kind of like an Applebee's, which can be expensive. So, the cost of food will be at least 1/2 of what I budgeted for. So, whatever funds are leftover out of the budget I plan on sending directly to the credit card with no stops in between. I have a $20 gift card for Darden Restaurants, the company the owns restaurants like Red Lobster, Olive Garden, etc., but I would really rather just go to a local grocery store and buy a salad off the salad bar. So, I figure I can get my first evening meal there for about $15.00. No problem. The hotel I am staying at has breakfast for free. I am also taking along some of my own food to compensate for food allergies and just because it's cheaper to buy them at a grocery store than most other places. So, I will have a small bag with 4 bottles of iced green tea, 4 packages of snack nuts, my travel mug, and gluten free oatmeal. My second meal will be a work meeting with a company my work deals with and should be no more than $10 or $15. The gas will probably be $50 to $75 and the car rental $140. My conference registration is already paid for. As much as I hate, no matter what I spend, I will only get back $122.00. Ugh. But I will also funnel that directly to the credit card.

Hello, everyone. I just got paid on Friday. I have already paid the internet bill, the water bill, 4 other small bills, and went to the bank to pay the mortgage. I also paid the credit card bill, including what I had charged on it plus extra to get it paid down. I bought groceries on Saturday. I also set aside $140 for attending a conference I will attending next month.

Because it has been so hot here lately, I have been trying to do most of the cooking on 1 day of the week to avoid heating the house up too much. So, on Friday evening, we had spaghetti, and Saturday evening and Sunday lunch we had leftover spaghetti. Early Sunday morning, I starting doing the weekly cooking. I made egg salad, Irish stew, meatloaf, and put together my lunches for the week. The egg salad is mostly for my husband, so I doubt I will be eating any of it. My meals for the week will include:

1) Tuna or salmon salad with raw veggies. Side of nuts and orange. Iced tea. 3 meals.

2) Oatmeal with raisins, almond milk, cinnamon, and honey. 3 meals.

3) Eggs with side of ham. Grapefruit. Half of a serving of oatmeal. 3 meals.

4) Peanut butter and gluten free crackers. Cucumber slices. Side of orange and nuts. Iced tea. 3 meals.

5) Irish stew. 3 meals. Here is the recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grams-irish-stew/detail.aspx

6) Meatloaf and side of veggies. 2 meals.

7) Hamburger patty and side of veggies. 1 meal.

Since it is almost at the end of March, I thought it good to do some analysis of my progress on my goals.

2012 Goals and Plan
1. Pay Down Credit Card to $300.00 by 12/31/2012

As of 3/25/2012, this debt is $1626.00. I have not been paying this down at the speed I want. I keep needing to use it, but then I pay it back right away. Ugh. I will get there. I keep having to remind myself.

2. Bring car savings account up to $2000.00 by 12/31/2012

As of 3/4/2012, this account is $633.51. I haven't made much progress with this one, either, because of needing to get tuckpointing done on the house. I will try again this coming payday to put more aside for a replacement car.

3. Complete some minor, and major, maintenance on the house. See the Home Maintenance Challenge list for details on this.

We made significant progress on this.
- Replaced spray nozzle on kitchen faucet.
- We have replaced more than a dozen CFL and incandescent bulbs with LEDs. More to go.
- Some tuckpointing has been done. More to go.
- Non functional garbage disposal has been removed. We didn't need one anyway.
- Composting begun. Progress ongoing.

Some stuff we need to have done this year include:
- Getting gutters cleaned in spring and fall.
- Begin garden (tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, kale, onions, garlic)
- More tuckpointing
- Set aside funds for getting windows

Farther Future Projects:
- Install rain water barrels under gutters
- Need to renovate and expand the bathroom
- More insulation
- New windows throughout
- Want extra freezer to store made ahead meals and meat bought on sale
- Install renewable, sustainable power source
- install greenhouse to south of house

4. Increase house savings account to $500.00 by 12/31/2012.

As of 3/25/2012, this account is down to $367.12 due to the tuckpointing, but I will build it back up. I need to get at least another $2400 for tuckpointing on the entire north side of the house and the top part of the south side. The east and west may need to be done also, but the north and south are worse.

5. Reduce unnecessary spending.

I have been done a lot better with this one. I have been making my own iced tea at work every day for about 2 weeks now. I usually one splurge when I actually buy lunch out. I think I am down to about 1 soda every other day and drink homemade juices every day.

We have replaced more than a dozen CFLs and incandescent light bulbs in our house with LEDs. We have seen significant reduction in energy usage, but won't see the difference in our bill until July because we are on a level payment plan.

I have taken my lunch to work every day except on paydays when I splurge a little bit. My "splurge" is usually a salad from the salad bar at the pizza joint down the street from my work. ;P

Hello, everyone. I am starting to love payday. I used to hate it, because that's when I would see a mass amount of my money vanish from my bank account to debt and stuff I didn't really need. But things are looking up and that's good, very good. For example, the hubster and I have gradually migrating our entire house's light bulbs to LED. At first, they were a little expensive, so we would buy 1 bulb a month or something. But the price has come down to about $10.00 a bulb lately. And no, I do not want to discuss CFLS AT ALL. The mercury is bad for the environment, so I don't care how cheap they are. Anyway, on payday, I was paying the electric bill and wanted to see what impact this has had on the electric bill, because we had replaced 4 bulbs last month. From one month to the next, it went down 150 kilowatts! Wow. That's amazing! We just replaced 4 more on Friday, so I can't wait to see what happens next month.

My retirement account has increased quite a bit in the last few months. My house and emergency savings were somewhat depleted due to the need for tuckpointing on our house. Without it, we could have had serious structural issues down the road.

In the second week of April, I will be attending a professional conference in my state. It should only cost around $400 or so to attend, but I will only be reimbursed for $122. My professional savings account will be cleaned out for that. Ugh. Bummer. But I already have a plan for that reimbursement loot. I have agreed when I get my reimbursement that we will buy a ladder so that we can do some maintenance around our house a little easier. Changing light bulbs in some rooms and also outside is impossible without a ladder.

Well, I am still continuing my Food Challenge to be not only healthier but also financially free. Here are my meals for the week:

1) Spinach salad with cucumbers, onion, tuna, olive oil, apple cider vinegar. Side of walnuts and an orange. (3 meals)

2) Chicken salad with onion, salt, and pepper. Side of walnuts and an orange (2 meals)

3) Eggs with ham. Either omelets, scrambled, or fried over hard. Add seasonings and veggies. Smoothie with almond milk, flaxseed, oranage juice, and banana for a side. (3 meals)

4) Oatmeal with honey, raisins, almond milk, and cinnamon. (4 meals)

5) Stew made with ground bison meat, carrots, onions, black beans, and brown rice. (3 meals)

6) Spaghetti made with ground chicken, tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, mushrooms, and seasonings. (2 meals)

7) Chicken breasts and side of vegetables and rice. (2 meals)

Hello, everyone. I have been away for awhile, so that is why I have not been posting. Life has been so hectic here with my job and stuff, it has been tough to keep up.

Anyway, I am still hard at work on eliminating debt, including the credit card and mortgage. I had to basically empty the house savings and also take some out of regular savings in order to get some tuckpointing done on our house. I would have liked to have waited awhile on it, but it was very bad, and unfortunately, only a fraction of what is needed to be done. We waited until our tax return arrived ($1048) and also some survey money (can't remember the amount), then I transferred money from regular savings and house savings to checking to total $1800. That was the amount of the first price quote from a masonry contractor we got. After putting together all the money, somehow we could not get in touch with the contractor. Bad news, but we did find someone different that was highly recommended.

The quote from the second contractor was $600 LOWER than the first. Wow! We were a little cautious, though, as we wondered about the quality of his work. He finished the job and it is superior to say the least - well worth $1200, so we are very pleased and told him we would contact him again in about 6 months or so to begin work on another section of the house.

With some of that "excess" $600, I paid off 3 small bills which will help to free up some cash on a monthly basis to pay off other things. The rest I put back into the house account. I will update the balance in a day or two.

Well, in order to keep pounding away at paying off debt and getting home maintenance done, I have to lower expenses, especially for food. I have been growing some herbs for cooking in a small terrarium. I am working on creating compost in the backyard and will be planting some organic tomatoes, carrots, kale, squash, and cucumber in the spring. I would eventually like to not have to go to the grocery store for produce. This will save serious money, not to mention make sure that I get healthy produce.

I am also giving up drinking soda for the sake of my health, but also money. I will be drinking more green tea, water, and homemade juice instead.

I am also continuing my food challenge. Here are my meals for the week. There is enough here that I will likely have leftovers for next week.

1) Chicken salad - 17 ounces canned chicken (1 can of 12 ounces and 1 can of 5 ounces), 3 tbsp of generic Miracle Whip, 1 bunch of chopped up green onion, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. I had actually planned on making chicken soup, but decided I wanted something different. I had bought too much green onion and this turned out to be just the ticket to use it up. (3 meals)

2) Black Bean Soup - 1 pound dried black beans, 1 large onion, 1 bunch chopped green onion, 1 can drained diced tomatoes, 1/4 cup of parsley, 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp cayenne pepper, sea salt, black pepper, and 1 can refried beans. (8 meals) I base this soup on this recipe, but I use chicken broth and also add 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 can of refried beans to thicken the soup:

http://www.dadamo.com/typebase4/recipedepictor7x.cgi?840

3)Eggs and Sausage - (3 meals)

4)Whole grain oatmeal with flaxseeds, almond milk, raisins, and honey (4 meals)

5) Hamburger patty with ketchup and a side of veggies (1 meal)

6) Meatloaf (1 meal)

7) Spaghetti with meat sauce (2 meals) - I eat mine with brown rice.

8) Tuna salad with carrot sticks and gluten free crackers. Side of apple or orange. (2 meals)

Oh, we also won $4.00 on Powerball. I cashed that in for cash. I also took a bunch of spare change to the Coinstar and cashed it in. It totals up to $8.00, which I will deposit to regular savings. I am also depositing $100 to the professional account for a conference I will attend in April and $40 to the car account.

Hey, everyone. I was just doing a little surfing and decided to look up a debt payoff calculator. This one is for credit cards. Would the same principal apply to mortgages? I plugged in my mortgage numbers and it said I would be paid off in 15 years, which would definitely be a blessing. This is the url for the debt calculator.

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/debtplanner/debtplanner.jsp

Well, our bank account is getting a little skinny, so I am doing a Pantry Challenge, trying to make do as much as I can with what we already have. Fortunately, my husband is on a juice fast diet for the next week or so, and the only things I have to get for him are produce items. Here are the meals I have planned for me.

1) green salad with chicken, nuts, oranges, olive oil, and sea salt - 3 meals (using chicken and sea salt I already have)

2) chicken cacciatore and a side salad with sea salt and olive oil - 4 meals (using chicken, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, sea salt, and olive oil I already have)

3) potato salad with eggs, side of cucumbers and tomatoes salad - 4 meals (using mayonnaise, onion, and bacon I already have)

4) chicken curry salad with sides of apples and carrots - 6 servings (using carrots and curry powder I already have)

5) oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, almond milk, and honey and a smoothie with flaxseeds, almond milk, peanut butter, and banana - 3 meals (using flaxseeds, cinnamon, honey, and peanut butter I already have)

6) eggs and ham - 2 meals (using ham I already have)

7) leftover soup - 1 meal

8) lunch out on payday!

My meals for the coming week include:

1) Chicken Waldorf Salad (the recipe in the source below is for turkey waldorf salad, but I used chicken) - 3 meals

2) Chicken/Turkey Soup with rice, carrots, ginger, garlic, sea salt, pepper, and turmeric (yummy!) - I modified the soup recipe a friend gave to include ginger, garlic, and turmeric for an Indian flavor. - 5 meals - 1 Done at lunch!

3) Curry Spiced Noodles with chicken, carrots, curry, turmeric, and peppers. Since I gluten intolerant, I am going to make noodles using squash that you cut up really skinny like noodles and then boil for a few minutes. - 4 meals

4) Oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, flaxseeds, almond milk, and honey. Smoothy with almond milk, carrot, banana, stevia, and cocoa on the side. - 3 meals

5) Eggs and ham or pork cutlet. Smoothy with almond milk, carrot, banana, stevia, and cocoa on the side. - 3 meals

6) Green salad with chicken and olive oil and apple cider vinegar for dressing. - 2 meals

7) Leftover Barbecue Chicken, side of veggies and rice - 1 meal

8) Chicken, rice, and tomatoes with chili seasoning. - 1 meal

Recipe for Chicken Soup is here:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/greek-lemon-chicken-soup/detail.aspx

Recipes for Waldorf Salad and Curry Spiced Noodles are here: http://www.boarshead.com/pdf/DeliciousDishes.pdf

Hi, everyone. I suppose I have turned into an ultra-planner, but for some reason, I feel the need to take stock of my progress on my 2011 Goals.

Here are my 2011 Goals.

2011 Financial Goals
1. Pay off Hospital Debt #2 PAID OFF!
2. Pay off Hospital Debt #1 PAID OFF!!
3. CAR REPAIR DONE 3-21-11!
4. Pay off lawn mower PAID OFF
5. Accumulate $2000 in regular savings by Dec. 2011 - Currently at $1038.62
6. Accumulate $1000 in house savings account by Dec. 2011 - Currently at $253.59
7. Pay off $500 in credit card debt by Dec. 2011
8. Complete some minor maintenance on house

Here is my progress as of today.
1. Hospital Debt #2 was paid off 3/19/2011! Woo-Hoo!
2. Hospital Debt #1 was paid off 6/6/2011! Woo-Hoo! So far, 2 for 2!
3. Car repairs, which included an engine replacement, were complete on my car 3/21/2011. I would have liked to have replaced the car, but I did not want to subject our budget to a monthly outlay of a car payment if I could avoid it.
4. The loan on the lawn mower was paid off 6/25/2011.
5. I modified goal #5. After the savings broke $1000.00, I decided my goal to pay off the credit card was going nowhere without paying twice as much as I was paying. See #7 for what I did.
6. I have made miserable progress on accumulating the house savings to $1000.00. No excuses, though.
7. I have not made altogether great progress on credit card payoff, either. The balance is currently $1694.00. I modified Goal #5 to make it possible to pay it off next October. In addition to paying the normal payment I was doing of $40.00 per paycheck, I am also sending all future savings deposits to the credit card until paid off to $300.00. I am estimating the payoff date will be next October.
8. We have completed some maintenance on the house.
- replaced flapper on the toilet - helped some, but need to replace the toilet eventually
- gutters cleaned and sealed
- yard mowed regularly through season
- trees trimmed, unsightly, annoying bushes removed
- electric spider repellent installed
- mailbox properly installed

That being said, I still have a long way to go. Here are my 2012 Goals.

2012 Goals
1. Pay Down Credit Card to $300.00 by 10/31/2012

As of 11-26-2011, this debt is $1694.00. I am paying normal payments of $40.00 out of each paycheck, plus an additional $40.00 per paycheck that I used to send to savings. I get paid every 2 weeks, which is usually twice a month. Two times a year, I get 3 paychecks in a month. For those paychecks, I will allocate $100.00 to debt payoff.

2. Bring car savings account up to $2000.00 by 12/31/2012

This account is currently $601.31. I deposit all extra money, such as survey checks, rebates, money from cash4books.net, and spare change from my wallet monthly into this account. My goal is to have enough to buy a car with cash when I need to replace the current car.

3. Complete some minor, and major, maintenance on the house. See the Home Maintenance Challenge list for details on this.

4. Increase house savings account to $500.00 by 12/31/2012.

5. Reduce unnecessary spending.
- Think about purchases carefully. Do I need this? How will I use it? What will I wear it with? Do I really need to go out to eat? Can I get it free or borrow it?
- Think twice before buying sodas/iced tea, because I take my own tea bags and stevia with me to work and have free access to hot water.
- Take lunch to work almost every day, but splurge on payday.

Well, I got paid again. The gas, electric, credit card, and car insurance have all been paid for. I have also allocated for 1/2 of the mortgage. Those are all the bills I have due until next payday. Because of the upcoming holiday, my next payday will be 11/23 instead of 11/25. I have also bought groceries, health supplements, put money aside for replacing my car, and got the gutters cleaned out. You might also notice that my regular savings balance is not going up. That is because after my balance broke $1000, I started sending that money to the credit card instead of keeping it in savings. I am planning on allocating a total of $160.00 per month between my normal payment out of checking and the reallocated savings deposit towards paying off the credit card then starting putting money into savings again. My tentative schedule shows the target payoff date as next October. While I would like to allocate all extra money to the credit card, I also absolutely have to set aside money to replace the card in the next couple of years, as it has several things wrong with it. Most are some minor and just annoying, but the big one is that the heating/ac switch does not work right. Our mechanic said he could replace the switch, but Pontiac does not make them anymore and he was not able to find one from a salvage yard. He manually switched us over from cooling to heat, so we will be good until it gets warm next summer when we could try again to replace the switch. We would like to get a new car or certified preowned car and have the money set aside be equal to at least 1/2 the cost of the car. I don't want us to be locked into huge car payments, so I am doing my best to come up with as much as possible.

I did pretty well with my paleo challenge last week. I ate oatmeal one time when I sort of woke up late and didn't have time to make any eggs. Oh, well, I will do better this next week. I feel really amazing and have a lot more energy. Since I have been eating gluten free for over a year, it was not that big of a challenge. I just eliminated oatmeal, bread, and crackers. Apparently, brown, wild rice is okay in small amounts, though.

Here are my meals for next week:

1) Meatloaf - 2 meals

2) Top Round Roast - 3 meals

3) Eggs and Ham, Smoothie with almond milk, cocoa, stevia, flaxseeds, banana - 3 meals

4) Almond Butter on an Apple, Carrots, Trail Mix - 1 meal

5) Beef Stew w/ onions, carrots, mushrooms - 3 meals

6) Chicken Soup w/ brown rice, Rice, Onions - 3 meals

7) Green Salad w/ chicken, Avocado, Tomato - 3 meals 1 Done Tonight

8) Chicken Leg Quarter, Steamed Veggies - 3 meals

Due to a minor miscalculation, I had to move a little bit of money from a savings account to checking. It is not any of the savings accounts on my sidebar, but one where the dh hoards $ for video games and other stuff he wants to buy. I hated to do it, but we might be overdrawn by Friday if I didn't. I have already set up an automatic transfer from checking to savings for the same amount to make sure the money gets back there.

Oh, well. On to other news. Here are my meals for the coming weak. You might notice I am not planning to eat oatmeal this week. I think grains are becoming a little problematic for me, so I am going to cease eating them for at least a week to see what happens. It's going to be a little weird, but I will probably be eating stuff like pot roast, beef stew, and stir fry for breakfast in order to go grain free. I will also eat eggs, but can't eat them every day.

1) Pot Roast - will make at least 2 meals

2) Beef Stew - will probably make 3 meals - 1 Done Tonight!

3) Eggs and ham - 2 meals

4) Spaghetti Sauce - 1 meal - I may subsitute some broccoli or something for the noodles.

5) Chili - 3 meals

6) Chicken salad and carrot sticks - 1 meal

7) Green salad with chicken, onions, and tomato - 3 meals

8) Chicken stir fry - 2 meals

9) Almond butter on carrot sticks and apples - 1 meal

10) Leftover 13 bean soup w/ ham - 2 meals - 1 Done!

When I did this recently, it was so successful I decided to do it again. If you would like an easy way to make a little extra money for savings, paying off debt, buying Christmas presents, or whatever, just click here. It's easy and there is absolutely no cost.

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/u8a5m6

Full disclosure: I will get a 25 points bonus for recruiting someone.

I have been using my "spare" money from rebates and surveys to save for a new car.

Well, I made it to payday. My challenge was to make it without using the debit card or credit card. The credit card stayed safe and snug, but my husband was sick and I had to take him to the doctor, so I did use the debit card. I think I did use it for a couple of other small things, too, but I used cash for everything else. Woo-Hoo!

I am going to take my pocket change to Coinstar tomorrow. It should be around $3.00 or so. I will add it to my car account. I will also add another $20 to the same account and $20 to the house account.

Now that my regular savings is up over $1000, I decided to divert the normal $40 I have been putting in there every payday to paying down the credit card. I fought very hard to get it up over $1000 and plan on maintaining that.

My retirement is also up. Woo-hoo!
My husband will go to make our mortgage payment on Tuesday. Yea!

Here is what I would like my retirement to be like.

Thanks to saving4rainyday, I found this new mantra about money. It's funny that I have thought this all my life, but Will Smith put it so succinctly that I can't help but to quote it here.

"Many people spend money they don't own, to buy things they don't need, to ask acceptance from people they don't know." Will Smith

If you are interested in making a little extra money doing surveys, etc., click on this link. There is absolutely no cost to join and earning points is fast and easy.

http://superpoints.com/wrpgs/a5dbcf

Full disclosure: I will get 25 points for a friend signing up, but mostly I just wanted to pass along a good opportunity to earn a little extra money.

I have been putting my extra dollars towards paying off the credit card and beefing up my car account. My car account will enable us to replace our car in 1-2 years with a used or new car.

By the way, if they link above does not work for you, post a comment and I will get another token. The tokens can only be used once.

Well, we are a little low on cash. Counting the $273.31 allocation for 1/2 of the mortgage and Netflix, we have $.08 left in checking. Neither have been actually debited from our account, just allocated for. Making the house payment is easier for me if I allocate 1/2 in the first paycheck and 1/2 in the second. If I have a third paycheck, then I pay a little extra. My challenge this week is to get through the week without using my debit or credit card once.

Here are my meals planned out for the week:

1) meatloaf - 2 meals, one meal with baked potatoes made only 1 meal!

2) Omelets or scrambled eggs, side of chicken or ham - 3 meals 1 Down, 2 to go

3) 13 bean soup with ham, onion, tomatoes, and spices - 4 meals 1 Down, 3 to go

4) oatmeal - 3 meals 1 Down, 2 to go

5) leftover chili spaghetti casserole - 3 meals 1 Down, 2 to go

6) spaghetti over rice - 1 meal

7) salad with a side of leftover chili - 1 meal

8) chicken salad w/ side of crackers and carrots - 1 meal Done

9) gluten free lunchmeat sandwiches

10) lunch out on 10-28-2011!

I have been off sick today with my asthma and allergies bothering me. While sitting at home drinking my tea and taking medicine, I have planning next week's meals. This is what I have come up with and will likely have some left over.

1) Chili with ground beef, tomatoes, onion, spices - 3 meals

2) Roast beef - will likely make 3 meals, including roast beef sandwiches

3) Spaghetti with ground beef, canned tomatoes, beans, onion, spices. I will eat mine with rice. 1 meal

4) Chili Spaghetti Casserole with ground beef, canned tomatoes, onion, black beans, spices, and noodles baked in a pan. This is a great, easy to fix meal when you add sour cream and the cheese of your choice. I will add a side of carrots, apple, and water from home. 4 meals

5) Gluten Free Ham Sandwich, carrots, apple, water from home 1 meal

6) Oatmeal with Cinnamon, Almond Milk, Honey, and Raisins 3 meals

7) Scrambled Eggs with Gluten Free Ham 1 meal

8) Almond Butter Sandwich, carrots, apple, water from home 1 meal

9) Dinty Moore Beef Stew, apple, water from home 2 meals

10) Salad with tuna, carrots, onions, apple, water from home 1 meal

11) Chicken Salad Sandwich, carrots, apple, water from home 1 meal

Hi, everyone.

I have heard over and over again that one of the keys to financial success is spending less than what you earn. My logical mind knows this fact inside and out. Recently, I met with the retirement planning counselor for my plan. He asked a lot of questions about my finances in general (amount in savings, insurance, budget, etc.). When I told him that for my regular savings account, I had only around $750 in it, he gently said that I need at least 6 months of expenses in savings. I actually had a copy of my budget in my hand and know that it takes approximately $2000 to meet all normal bills. He said, "Well then you need $12,000 minimum in savings." Like I said, my logical brain knows this, but it really helped to get my butt in gear by hearing it from a financial planning counselor. Since then, I have been really watching my spending by taking out $20.00 cash for snacks and stuff. I pretty well stick to my guns and don't really spend outside that, allowing me to set aside a little extra for savings. I have also been putting my "found money" from surveys and rebates into the car account. $12,000. Wow. Well, I will get there somehow. I will break $1000 in my main savings account on Friday. I have also been adding to the house account, which we are planning to use for buying new windows for the house. Woo-Hoo!

Hey, everyone. It has a been a bit of a crappy day here in my house. It was the beginning of a great deal until I grabbed my purse and lunch and was ready to leave for work. When I looked out the front door, I saw that the mailbox was not on the post where it should be but on the ground. I immediately said an expletive. Not characteristic of me, but I was so frustrated since we just replaced the mailbox post barely 3 months ago. This time they bashed in the mailbox, too. My husband, who was half asleep at the time said heard me and asked what's wrong. I told him and he immediately came running to verify it. He grabbed his cell phone to call the cops. I had to leave for work, so I let him handle the cops. Tonight, we went to Home Depot to buy a better mailbox. When we talked to the folks at Home Depot, they recommended the following mailbox and also a heavy duty steel post:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDi...

How do you respond when you go to a store (Best Buy, JC Penney) and they tell you they need your phone number, zip code, address, email address, etc. for a "survey"? Now, keep in mind I am not talking about information for if you are buying an extended warranty, applying for a credit card, or other service. I am talking about just going into the store to buy something and someone demands your phone number and/or zip code.

I personally decline and tell them if such information is required for a sale, they can either call a manager or lose a sale, because that information is not required to do a sale. They generally do give in, but I have had to get store management involved a couple of times.

I just get really uptight whenever people ask for my phone number, social security number, address, etc. for no good reason. I won't even give my social security number to a doctor's office, because even the insurance company does not have it. Obviously, the doctor needs my phone number and address, though. I must be in the minority on this issue because most of the time, they look at me like I have just grown three heads.

Why won't I give out such innocuous information as a zip code or phone number when it is not really needed, you might ask? Well, it's a privacy issue. I come into a store usually to buy a specific thing, not to apply for a home loan or credit card. And I don't need to be told whatever "wonderful" products they have, so I don't need spam or junk mail. I am an adult capable of dialing a phone or getting on the internet to find out what they do have, but they don't seem to understand that.

I think the only thing that I hate worse is when I go into a store and they want to sell me a credit card to save me some money. Yea, right, a 25% interest credit card is going to "save" me money.

I was just wondering how many other people there are out there like me.

I don't especially seek out no spend days, but when they happen, I do celebrate. I am trying to trim our expenses where it is possible in order to save more to buy a replacement car. I don't want to go into debt to buy a car, unless necessary. I am also trying to get the credit card paid down. I would not mind using it for every day expenses and paying it off immediately, but I am not that disciplined yet.

Yesterday, I was at the grocery store wondering what to buy to eat. My hubby is a little picky and whiny. He grumbles about "how I never fix anything different" but is not specific about what he wants. So, it's like finding a needle in a haystack. Anyway, I saw this top round roast (2.09 pounds) for $2.99 a pound on sale. What a bargain! I thought I could cook it in the oven first and eat probably about 1/3 of it with some cooked cabbage and green beans. Then, we could eat some on sandwiches. Any small amounts left over we could toss into omelets or stir fry. Yum. I can't wait until the roast is done. I can already smell garlic all over the house.

This coming Thursday I am supposed to show up for jury duty, but I hope I don't have to go. I won't know until the night before on that, though. It is a big inconvenience for me to POSSIBLY be gone from work for a day but not to know whether I really will be or not. I know it is my duty to serve, but I think they ought to be able to organize it better than this. Arrgh!

For those of you who saw an earlier entry I wrote, we were having trouble with the toilet running all the time. We replaced the black bubble thing with the copper tubing on the end. Sorry, I don't know the correct term, but that's what we were told was causing the problem. It sort of helped, but the toilet still runs to some extent. We think we need a new toilet and the hubster thinks we should be able to get a decent one with some water saving ability for around $100 or thereabouts. Upon looking at Homedepot.com for just a guesstimate on this, the cheapest ones I could find were around $200 and go up to nearly $600. Ouch! For those of you who have bought new toilets, is this normal?

I get paid every two weeks. Two months out of every year, I have 3 paychecks in a month. With September, I have 3 paychecks. I am planning now what I plan to do with it.

$1228.12 (total amount of paycheck)
-20 mortgage extra payment
-60 emergency savings deposit I am changing this one to 100
-50 car account I am changing this one to 100
-50 house account
-20 towards chest freezer
-50 water bill
-200 groceries
-40 stock up on staple grocery items
-100 credit card pmt
-50 towards eyeglasses I am changing this to 75
628.12

I am not sure what to do with the rest, but I think this is a good start. Per the ads on Home Depot, I will need around $700 for a chest freezer, so this is just a mere start. I will likely need around $150-$175 for new eyeglasses.

Update on 9-5-2011: I have updated a few numbers above and added one. I changed the eyeglasses one, because I really need new eyeglasses. Mine are falling apart. I already have $63.00 set aside for this and will set aside $50.00 more on September 16th. After that, I only need probably $25.00 more than originally allocated to get a new pair. I also decided to stock up on some staple grocery items, such as canned tomatoes, dried beans, bread, toilet paper, spices, and paper towels. I may also add another category to stock up on some health supplements, but will need to check my supply first. But before doing any of this, I will make sure ALL bills get paid first.