Saturday, July 26, 2008
The $100 food budget
Well for the past 2 weeks we have been trying to scale down our food budget to $100 per week. This has been working out really good, and I have been able to stock pile some things for future use. I am still trying to perfect the menu idea, I really want to do breakfast, lunch and dinner for the week, but have so far only been able to do dinner. We have been using a lot out of things out of our pantry and freezers. We just bought half of a pig, so that filled up half of our freezer. I need to learn how to really watch the ads for good deals on meat, and stockpile the meats that we use a lot of, like ground beef and chicken. We ended up with about 18 pounds of ground sausage, and found out that this is great for making tacos and cheeseburger pie with, it's not as good for you as lean ground beef, but we need to figure ways to use all that up. I am going to start posting my weekly menu, and what we spent for the week, and I'm always up for any advice any of you can give me, so keep those e-mails coming!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Credit cards, the root of all evil!
Well, I was going through all of our bills and noticed that a couple of my credit cards rates went up AGAIN! There is no reason for this, but I'm kinda glad that they did this because they made me so mad that I shredded every single card I have, even though my inner BRAT was screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO"! I then started reading my "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" again, and I went on a quest to look up frugality and getting out of debt.
The number one thing that I have read over and over again to do first is set up an emergency savings account of $1000. This is strictly for emergencies only, no a new tv or some new clothes do NOT count as an emergency, but a new fridge because yours just died, or unexpected medical bills, do. So I started a savings account at ING Direct tonight, with only $5, but it's more in a savings account than I had a few hours ago! I also set up weekly automatic payments to this account of $5. I always round up when I write a check or use the debit card, and I usually have around $20 per month from doing this, so I would like to graduate to $10 and even $15 in a few months once I quit spending and see what my unnecessisary spending was costing me.
The next thing I did was say to myself..... "I have a problem with debt. I got into this because I spent money I didn't have. But I believe that there's a way out, and I can do this. I can control my spending, make a plan, and slowly get out of debt.". This was BIG for me, but it was also a relief to finally admit that I had a serious problem and face up to it! It seemed like that inner brat just shut up right away!
The thing that put the fear of god back into me, and made my heart race, was when I went through and wrote down all of my debts and figured out that I was -$500 at least per month! I'm not sure how I have been getting by with what I have been doing!!! So I decided to just focus on 1. saying over and over that I can do this. 2. saving as much as I can 3. quit ALL unnecessisary spending as of right now! There are so many things that I can do to cut way back I know, and when I do my normal weekly budget it's way different then when I do a monthly one. But when I did the monthly one it was a real eye opener.
My next goal is to start a debt snowball. I read on Zenhabits.com to try and find $100 somewhere, which is usually easy when you quit spending, and put that towards the lowest bill you have, along with the minimum payment, then when it's paid you go to the next lowest bill, and so on. I want to do this, but I might start with the 2 credit cards that keep raising my rates so that they can go bye bye first! But the thought of actually paying some of the smaller bills off in a short amount of time makes more sense to me, no matter how mad I am at CHASE!
When I was doing all of this at the kitchen table my 13 year old walked in and asked what I was doing. I told him and he kinda looked at me like "Why did you rack up credit cards?" I told him one thing, and hope that he always remembers it, I said "What ever you do, NEVER have a credit card!" If you can't pay for it with cash, you don't need it! If you have a good savings account set up you will do just fine without one!"
So, wish me luck on this new found journey, hopefully I will be able to scream back at my inner brat that "NO WE DON"T NEED THAT MAGAZINE" & "NO, WE HAVE PLENTY OF CLOTHES AND SHOES!". She is not going to win at this fight! I have been reading "The power of now" and it has really shown me a lot about the mind, and why it does the things it does, like thinking of the past and the future, when you really need to be living in the now with a quiet mind. This has helped me so much in the past few days. Today was the first day that I wasn't putting myself down, calling myself stupid, for all of my past financial mistakes. They are mistakes that I am for sure learning from, and they are in the PAST! So I am now using the PRESENT to fix the PAST! You can't go back, so why worry and beat yourself up over it! Get a plan together and fix it! Check out the book "the power of now" by Ekhart Tolle, from your library, it's definetly one that I feel everyone should read!
Will be trying to blog every day about my trails and triumph's when it comes to this new getting out of debt and no more digging myself into a deeper hole, lifestyle. So check back often, or please subscribe to my blog so that you can be updated when I post a new blog!
The number one thing that I have read over and over again to do first is set up an emergency savings account of $1000. This is strictly for emergencies only, no a new tv or some new clothes do NOT count as an emergency, but a new fridge because yours just died, or unexpected medical bills, do. So I started a savings account at ING Direct tonight, with only $5, but it's more in a savings account than I had a few hours ago! I also set up weekly automatic payments to this account of $5. I always round up when I write a check or use the debit card, and I usually have around $20 per month from doing this, so I would like to graduate to $10 and even $15 in a few months once I quit spending and see what my unnecessisary spending was costing me.
The next thing I did was say to myself..... "I have a problem with debt. I got into this because I spent money I didn't have. But I believe that there's a way out, and I can do this. I can control my spending, make a plan, and slowly get out of debt.". This was BIG for me, but it was also a relief to finally admit that I had a serious problem and face up to it! It seemed like that inner brat just shut up right away!
The thing that put the fear of god back into me, and made my heart race, was when I went through and wrote down all of my debts and figured out that I was -$500 at least per month! I'm not sure how I have been getting by with what I have been doing!!! So I decided to just focus on 1. saying over and over that I can do this. 2. saving as much as I can 3. quit ALL unnecessisary spending as of right now! There are so many things that I can do to cut way back I know, and when I do my normal weekly budget it's way different then when I do a monthly one. But when I did the monthly one it was a real eye opener.
My next goal is to start a debt snowball. I read on Zenhabits.com to try and find $100 somewhere, which is usually easy when you quit spending, and put that towards the lowest bill you have, along with the minimum payment, then when it's paid you go to the next lowest bill, and so on. I want to do this, but I might start with the 2 credit cards that keep raising my rates so that they can go bye bye first! But the thought of actually paying some of the smaller bills off in a short amount of time makes more sense to me, no matter how mad I am at CHASE!
When I was doing all of this at the kitchen table my 13 year old walked in and asked what I was doing. I told him and he kinda looked at me like "Why did you rack up credit cards?" I told him one thing, and hope that he always remembers it, I said "What ever you do, NEVER have a credit card!" If you can't pay for it with cash, you don't need it! If you have a good savings account set up you will do just fine without one!"
So, wish me luck on this new found journey, hopefully I will be able to scream back at my inner brat that "NO WE DON"T NEED THAT MAGAZINE" & "NO, WE HAVE PLENTY OF CLOTHES AND SHOES!". She is not going to win at this fight! I have been reading "The power of now" and it has really shown me a lot about the mind, and why it does the things it does, like thinking of the past and the future, when you really need to be living in the now with a quiet mind. This has helped me so much in the past few days. Today was the first day that I wasn't putting myself down, calling myself stupid, for all of my past financial mistakes. They are mistakes that I am for sure learning from, and they are in the PAST! So I am now using the PRESENT to fix the PAST! You can't go back, so why worry and beat yourself up over it! Get a plan together and fix it! Check out the book "the power of now" by Ekhart Tolle, from your library, it's definetly one that I feel everyone should read!
Will be trying to blog every day about my trails and triumph's when it comes to this new getting out of debt and no more digging myself into a deeper hole, lifestyle. So check back often, or please subscribe to my blog so that you can be updated when I post a new blog!
Monday, May 26, 2008
You can eat what you want and still loose weight!
A different way of life
I have been working on loosing weight for years! I've tried Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, Counting Calories, you name it, I've tried it! I received some very good advice from my massage therapist and friend. She said to try eating in moderation. She has lost over 50 pounds in the last year from eating what she wants, but just half of what she use to eat.
When I first started on this journey I was STARVING! Then I got another tip from one of my best friends. She told me to take a big drink of water in between bites. This makes it so that you HAVE to put your fork down and take a minute. Also the water helps to fill you up. Once I started doing this simple little trick it made all the difference in the world!
My biggest weakness is Starbucks! I LOVE starbucks! My old favorite was a Grande pumpkin spice latte with a piece of pumpkin bread. Now I have a tall decaf brew with a little half and half, cinnamon & nutmeg or a grande sugar free vanilla latte with HALF of a cinnamon scone. I make sure to take a drink of coffe inbetween bites of scone so that I only have HALF of the scone.
I had the weirdest thing happen last night. My hubby and son talked me into having a bowl of ice cream and some cookies. So I decided that I would have just half of what i use to have, mind you I haven't had any real dessert in a month, I just haven't craved it at all! Anyway, after I had this little bowl of ice cream and cookies I actually felt sick! And my first thought was that this was a good thing! I have always been so bad about eating a lot of sweets, so it's awesome that I felt sick, it makes it so I don't even want to have dessert anymore! YEAH!
I have also started walking with my hubby and our little Jack Russell girl, Chelsea, every night before dinner. We walk for about 45 minutes which is about a mile, and it's perfect!
As of today, 30 days since I started this new way of eating and lifestyle I have lost 10 pounds! I love the way I'm feeling and the way I'm acting! I'm actually enjoying life again!
I have been working on loosing weight for years! I've tried Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, Counting Calories, you name it, I've tried it! I received some very good advice from my massage therapist and friend. She said to try eating in moderation. She has lost over 50 pounds in the last year from eating what she wants, but just half of what she use to eat.
When I first started on this journey I was STARVING! Then I got another tip from one of my best friends. She told me to take a big drink of water in between bites. This makes it so that you HAVE to put your fork down and take a minute. Also the water helps to fill you up. Once I started doing this simple little trick it made all the difference in the world!
My biggest weakness is Starbucks! I LOVE starbucks! My old favorite was a Grande pumpkin spice latte with a piece of pumpkin bread. Now I have a tall decaf brew with a little half and half, cinnamon & nutmeg or a grande sugar free vanilla latte with HALF of a cinnamon scone. I make sure to take a drink of coffe inbetween bites of scone so that I only have HALF of the scone.
I had the weirdest thing happen last night. My hubby and son talked me into having a bowl of ice cream and some cookies. So I decided that I would have just half of what i use to have, mind you I haven't had any real dessert in a month, I just haven't craved it at all! Anyway, after I had this little bowl of ice cream and cookies I actually felt sick! And my first thought was that this was a good thing! I have always been so bad about eating a lot of sweets, so it's awesome that I felt sick, it makes it so I don't even want to have dessert anymore! YEAH!
I have also started walking with my hubby and our little Jack Russell girl, Chelsea, every night before dinner. We walk for about 45 minutes which is about a mile, and it's perfect!
As of today, 30 days since I started this new way of eating and lifestyle I have lost 10 pounds! I love the way I'm feeling and the way I'm acting! I'm actually enjoying life again!
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