Category: Budget

Being aware of my spending, making a plan and sticking to it to save money

Posted in Budget

February Budget Challenge Day 24 – $157.56 Over Budget

Posted on by 3toddlermom

I’ve heard the saying “Fail Forward.” The premise is basically that if we don’t fail, we don’t learn! So rather than looking at failure as an end we need to view it as a stepping stone in our journey of life. (I’m pep talking myself here! Ha!)

Perfectionism runs thick in my blood from me, to my mother, to her mother. We all wish we could just do everything right (and perfectly) the first time. To give you an example; I was devastated when I got an A- in high school because it completely destroyed my 4.0 GPA. My mom even went in to talk to the teacher about how I could raise my grade only to find out that the teacher thought I was one of the best writers in her class. I just wasn’t perfect so I didn’t deserve an A. Grrrr! I promise I’m over it now…….it’s only been about 17 years since that class. I can move on. I just really want to be perfect.

But I guess the sad reality is that none of us are perfect. If I think about it, it’s actually more relieving than sad. If no one is perfect, then it totally takes the pressure off of me to be perfect! We’re all just in this life together trying to figure it out best we can. Life really isn’t a competition. It’s a community. So I’m going to try to let go of my quest to be perfect, and accept the fact that I never will be. And neither will you. And that’s ok! We’re in this together.

Ok, so I can use my failure this month as a learning launching pad for the future. My goal was to stay under $300 this month. I actually did it last month, with $20 to spare! But for some reason this month just didn’t happen.

So let’s see what else I’ve spent. On Friday, I got groceries. I stuck to my list and found some great deals at Hyvee. I try to avoid shopping there if I can because I want to buy everything!! So I started at Aldi and got most of my list but grabbed some $.77 pork chops and raw shrimp for $3.99. Amazing deals! I ended up spending $62.99 at Aldi and another $15.75 at Hyvee.

Grocery Total for February: $279.23 compared to $159.72 in January.

Cute thing: my kids helped me meal plan this week! They wanted to make homemade pizzas so we bought some mini naan bread from Aldi and topped it with our favorite pizza toppings and voila! Delicious, personal pan pizzas in minutes.

Our meal plan this week:

Personal Naan Pizzas

Broccoli and Cheese Quiche

Pork Chops and Sweet Potatoes

Garlic Butter Shrimp and Pasta

Yum! I’m excited for a week without beef recipes. We have a quarter cow in the deep freeze so I’ve been trying to meal plan using that so I don’t completely overextend my budget but when I saw the pork chops and shrimp on sale this week I couldn’t resist!

Today I needed gas AGAIN! So another $45.07 out the window. I’m super grateful to have an amazing van to drive so I’m grateful that I get to fill it with gas. It just adds up! $117.72 so far in gas this month compared to about $21 last month. (I guess my cheating last month caught up to me!) And honestly, Hubby filled my tank once this month so I probably spend about $150 a month on gas.

I’m going to keep trying to use this “failure” to propel myself forward and keep my budget lower next month.

Posted in Budget

February Budget Challenge Day 21 – $33.75 Over Budget

Posted on by 3toddlermom

I splurged today! Okay Okay….I know. I’m out of money so how dare I splurge?!? Do you ever feel like – I already failed, might as well fail big time?! Ha! No, I’m totally trying not to have that attitude.

Anyway, since I missed my goal I had to make a new one! I’m attempting to keep our credit card bill under $1000 this month. Some bills get charged to the card. Hubby uses it for non-business related things. So $1000 budget is a pretty low amount for us right now. Last month when I only charged $280 to the card, our bill was still close to $800. Which is AMAZING for us!

So back to my splurge. My friend babysat Sweet Love for me this morning while I recorded a video at church. And I wanted to bless her back, plus I had a free coffee on my punch card! So I swung through our amazing local coffee shop to grab us some drinks. Her’s was literally only $3 and mine was free but I decided to get a couple muffins too! So total spent = $8. Not bad. I know I shouldn’t do it every day or even every week but I think the splurge was worth it today! 🙂

I also ran to Aldi Tuesday morning, mainly for diapers which are crazy inexpensive at Aldi!! Have you used them yet?! I’d HIGHLY recommend them. I bought 100 size 3 diapers for $10.99. That’s unheard of!

I ended up spending $23.76 on this trip. I went in with a list and stuck to it. Boom! I’m learning!!

BUT I was terrible at meal planning this week! Fortunately, it didn’t cause me to over spend. Yay! But I literally wrote TACOS and SLOPPY JOES on my meal plan calendar. That’s it! We had plenty of food for left overs yesterday. Wednesday is typically our left over day because the kids have “Grandma Day,” I volunteer in our church’s youth group and Hubby works late.

Now the dilemma…..what to make for dinner tonight and tomorrow?! Anyone up for left overs two nights in a row!? Haha!

7 days to go. $33.75 over budget.

Posted in Budget

February Budget Challenge Day 17 – I overspent!

Posted on by 3toddlermom

Well folks, with 11 days to go, I’m already $1.99 over budget for the month.

Not worth crying over. I still plan to stay focused and keep my spending as low as possible for the rest of the month.

How did I spend my whole budget in 17 days?

  • GAS In January, I only spent $21 on gas total. Hubby filled my tank most of the time and I chose not to count it towards my budget goal. This month I have already spent $72.65. So that hurt my budget.
  • GROCERIES In January, I had a huge stock pile of food in my pantry, freezer and fridge. I used most of it up. So that made grocery shopping a bit more expensive this month. Plus I’ve been trying to have more fresh veggies and that seems expensive. Mainly because I buy them and use them up within a week. When I buy a box of rice or noodles I make them last a couple weeks. Not so with fresh veggies and fruits. It’s all just a learning experience! I’ve already spent $172.47 on groceries this month compared to only $159.72 total for the month of January.

So what am I learning?

  • BE AWARE OF MY SPENDING I now save all my receipts and put a note in my phone’s calendar every time I spend money. Before this challenge, I had no clue how much I was spending. $10 here….$20 there and it didn’t seem like a big deal. Until the end of the month and Hubby would be upset about our giant credit card bill. And I’d realize that stopping at Chick Fil A once a week and getting a coffee at the local drive-thru a couple times a week were adding up quick.
  • RUNNING ERRANDS ISN’T A DAILY NECESSITY I used to think I always needed to “run errands.” Turns out it was more just a reason to go spend money on things I didn’t necessarily need. Or I’d go get something I need along with 5 things I didn’t need. So now I’m more intentional with my errands. I’m either going to the grocery store with a specific list or ordering items online so that I don’t overspend at the store.

This budget challenge honestly does feel a little bit restrictive and I have urges every once in a while to just go to Target and blow $100 for fun! But I’m trying to keep the end goal in mind. I’m learning self-control and to better analyze my financial decisions so it’s definitely worth it…..right?!

It has actually been a big help to our marriage as well. Hubby doesn’t get upset if there aren’t certain groceries in the kitchen any more because he knows how intentional I’m being about cutting back on my spending. And it gives him something to be proud of me for which makes me feel amazing as a wife! Plus, he’s the only one who has an income in our house so I think it shows him I respect the money he’s making and I’m not frivolous with how I spend it.

So I’m going to continue keeping track of my spending this month and try to keep it under control.

Posted in Budget

February Budget Challenge Day 10 – $91.28 Left

Posted on by 3toddlermom

I broke my grocery shopping rule today! I went to Aldi with all three kids. During a busy time of day. While hungry. Oops! But I followed my other 2 rules: Meal Plan and Make a List so even though it was a somewhat stressful situation, I didn’t overspend. Yay!

I’m eating meat again this week which helped my budget because I have a bunch of beef and deer meat in my deep freeze. So I decided not to buy any meat this week (besides deli meat) and was attempting to keep my bill under $25.

My meal plan is:

Beefy Potato Soup (I have all ingredients on hand.)

Pot Roast (Also have all ingredients on hand)

Tacos (Needed tortillas, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream)

Mom’s Beef Stroganoff (Since I was getting sour cream, I figured I’d use it for two meals. It was the only ingredient I didn’t have for this recipe.)

I’m making soup and roast early in the week because I usually have left overs for the rest of the week for Hubby to take for lunch or for the kids and I to eat for lunch.

Surprisingly, we ate through most of the $91 worth of groceries from last week so we were kinda bare bones but I knew I could still keep my budget low if I was intentional about planning. I’m starting to get comfortable with less food in stock in my pantry and fridge and freezer.

Items I have on hand for this week’s meals:

  • 3 lbs hamburger
  • Chuck Roast
  • 3 lbs potatoes
  • 1 lb carrots
  • Veggie broth
  • Cream of mushroom soup
  • Onion
  • Parsley
  • Garlic powder
  • Homemade taco seasoning
  • Salt and pepper

My grocery list:

  • Bananas
  • Apples
  • Eggs
  • Milk
  • Tortillas
  • Lettuce
  • Tomatoes
  • Avocados (These were $.99 each and I’ve decided not to buy them unless they’re less than $.99.)
  • Grapes (I looked at this week’s Aldi ad and found them for $.99/lb. Otherwise I don’t tend to spend money on them.)
  • Cereal (Dinoman’s choice)
  • Yeast
  • Shredded Cheese
  • Sour Cream
  • Sliced Provolone Cheese (Princess’ choice)
  • Cold Meat Chicken Breast

I kept track of prices in my head while shopping (it’s good to keep up my mental math!) and ended up spending $30.65.

$91.28 Left. 18 Days to Go

Posted in Budget

5 Easy Ways to Meal Plan on a Tight Budget

Posted on by 3toddlermom

Just starting making my meal plan for the week. I started the month with a budget of $300 and currently have $121.93 left to spend. Eek! I have almost 3 full weeks of meals left to make, plus gas to put in my van and whatever else comes up! But this girl is not giving up. She’s getting creative!

So if I divide it up, I have about $40 a week left. A tank of gas is $40. I’ll need at least one of those which means I only have about $25 a week left. I should be really cautious not to spend that all on groceries, especially this week when I have so much month left. It’s always wise to leave a little wiggle room.

In order to keep my grocery bill under $25 this week, I’m in desperate need of a plan!!So how do I make my meal plan?

1. Find a system that works

I like this little magnetic notepad that my friend gave me. It’s simple and straight forward and goes right on my fridge next to my oven for easy access when cooking. It’s not necessary to spend a ton of money in this area. Just find something that works for you. It could be as simple as a piece of notebook paper or you could keep it in an app or calendar on your phone.

2. Determine the week’s schedule

I keep most of my activities in my calendar app on my iphone but I also write them on a simple paper weekly calendar that I also got from a friend from the dollar section at Target. (See, this planning stuff doesn’t have to break your budget.)

I look over my schedule to see if there are any nights that we won’t be home and able to eat dinner together. Since our kids are so little, we don’t have any after school activities yet and we typically eat meals at home together. Especially since I started this budget, we try to not just run through Chick-Fil-A if we can help it. If I know we will be out at night, I try to plan a meal that is easy to take on the go.

3. Check the current pantry, fridge, freezer status

This is probably the most important thing I’ve learned since meal planning on a budget. I typically have a pantry, freezer and fridge full of food and then make a meal plan using little to none of these ingredients! It’s just silly. So I’ve started surveying all my food storage areas and I meal plan accordingly. I typically just make a mental note of what food we have on hand but you could also jot down a list if it’s easier for you to see that way.

4. Plan 4-5 meals

I only plan 4-5 meals each week and 5 is usually too many. There seem to be left-overs all the time so instead of planning a meal for every night, choose a night to eat left overs.

I used to go on pinterest to meal plan and choose crazy new recipes where I had to buy all of the ingredients, often times even down to the spices. I’ve changed my tactics now. I still use pinterest but I start with ingredients we have. This week I have almost a full 10 lb bag of potatoes so I could search potato recipes. Then I choose recipes that I could make today with the things I already have on hand.

I don’t always stick to the specific days on my schedule but I do use the 4 meals I’ve chosen. So I might have written down hamburger soup for Monday but Monday comes and roast sounds better. No big deal. I just flip flop them. Sometimes this doesn’t work because the roast might not be thawed out yet but typically it’s not a big deal to change the dates of meals. As long as you’re not running to the grocery store for extra ingredients every day!

5. Make a grocery list and stick to it

Then I make my list using my reminders app in list form. That way I just check things off as I go. I head to the store and I only buy the items on my list. This was a really hard skill to learn and I still fail so often but I’m getting better the more I practice and you will too.

So what are you waiting for?! Grab some paper and start making a plan 😁

Posted in Budget

February Budget Challenge Day 6 – $121.93 Left

Posted on by 3toddlermom

Valentine’s Day is coming up and I have 3 kids. I’m not a huge proponent of buying gifts for my kids for every little holiday. My mom is amazing at it and always has cute little gift bags for them. She even had a bag of goodies for Dinoman when they had a sleep over. She’s awesome! But it means I don’t need to get them gifts all the time because they get showered with them from Grandma.

Valentine’s Day seemed like an occasion to get them a little something though, so I made a plan. Remember, this planning business is new for me. In the past, I’d walk into Target and spend about $20 in the dollar section first on things that will break or they won’t play with after a week. Not this time.

I have been paying attention to what they play with most and what they most want. For Princess, it’s these Lil’ Woodzeez, adorable little woodland creatures with a doll house and all kinds of accessories. Dinoman can’t get enough of Rescue Bots and Transformers. And Sweet Love, well, she’s just along for the ride as far as toys go! So I researched prices for these things and found reasonable pricing at Target. I considered buying online but I thought I’d swing by the store since I was kid free and I’m way more self-controlled in stores these days so I decided I could handle it.

Crazy thing! I skipped the dollar section completely!! Ah!! It was a little bit torturous but I did it. And I’m so proud of myself. Haha! I went straight for the toys and found one of Dinoman’s favorite Rescue Bots on sale for under $10. (Oh yea – I determined to spend only $10 or less on each kid before I went in the store.) Then found the animals Princess had requested for $1 off! I was doing well. Now what to get Sweet Love. I hadn’t really planned for this. So I walked to those glorious end caps with clearance toys!! And found a Melissa and Doug magnetic board for $3.88. I had to do a double take! Melissa and Doug for under $10! That’s unheard of! I snatched it up and went to the check out. I glanced at the dollar section at this point just in case but ended up not grabbing anything.

I checked out and after using a $5 gift card and my Target RedCard I only spent $16.29. That’s amazing! I budgeted $30 for Valentine’s Day so only spending about half of that just rocks!

I then met Hubby for a coffee date. We spent $5.46 on two cups of black coffee. I debated whether this was worth it. I mean, I could buy a whole bag of coffee beans for $5.46! But spending the hour of quality time with him someplace other than our house or his office was definitely worth the $5.46. Man, I forget how important date night is until I have it. We need to get back to doing it once a week.

So I spent $21.75 today.

$121.93 left. 21 days to go.

Posted in Budget

February Budget Challenge Day 5 – $143.68 Left

Posted on by 3toddlermom

We drank through milk like crazy this weekend. Probably because we had a zillion and a half kids here for a super bowl party. There must be something in the water at my church because all of my girlfriends just keep getting pregnant and we’ve got kids running all over the place. I actually really enjoy having so many friends with kids because my kids have all kinds of friends.

Anyway, they drank through my milk so Sweet Love and I ran to Aldi after dropping the big kids off at preschool to pick up some milk. I have to tell you…..this budget is helping me to be so much more disciplined in so many areas of my life! It’s amazing! I walked into Aldi and grabbed 2 gallons of milk and a $.99 stuffed toy for Sweet Love’s baby friend’s birthday and left only spending $4.26. Insane!

I even walked down the fun aisle of Aldi. You know, the aisle with the toys and special stuff that changes each time you go in the store. It’s my favorite aisle! Plus, I only had one kid and the store was almost completely empty. So I could take my time and browse. But I didn’t buy a single thing! Because I’m being intentional about what I spend money on. Kinda blowing my mind here!

Then I was driving home and decided a car wash was a necessity before the salt and grime eats away at my van and leaves me with a rusty mess! It cost $8. Ugh! I’ll have to do some price checking around town to find the best car wash deal in the future. But for today it was worth it to have a shiny clean van.

So in total I spent $12.26. Total spent for the month is $156.32.

I did the math and I have about $40 a week to spend for the rest of the month. It’s going to be interesting. Maybe I need to start making some calls to get gumball machines placed in businesses. Hmmm…

$143.68 left. 23 days to go.

Posted in Budget

February Budget Challenge Day 3 – $155.94 Left

Posted on by 3toddlermom

We ran errands this morning before church as a family. How sweet! We own gumball machines as a side business so we went around town refilling them and emptying the quarters. I should be clear….my husband did all the work. I sat in the van on pinterest. Ha!

We swung by Walgreens to pick up a prescription (covered by insurance…score!) and I grabbed some kid’s toothpaste and a couple 9V batteries. Our smoke detector battery died a couple days ago and I decided I should probably spend some money so we don’t accidentally sleep through our house burning down just because I wanted to save a couple bucks on batteries. Yikes! So I was carefully comparing prices and found a $2 coupon for Energizer. Score! So I got 2 9V batteries for $7.99 instead of $9.99. And the toothpaste was $2.79, plus I had $1 in rewards so in total I spent $10.57. I was feeling pretty good about my thriftiness until I got back to the van and started bragging to my hubby. Turns out we are a dealer for a battery company in town and we can get 9V batteries for a little over $1 each. So much for thinking I saved us some money. Whatevs! I guess I keep learning.

Then we swung by Aldi after church because I needed salsa and flour for our Super Bowl party tonight. I returned a bag of mandarin oranges because they were all squishy and rotten. Yummy, huh?! So I ended up leaving Aldi with the salsa and flour and $.12! Boom shaka laka! I love making money at the grocery store.

So I spent a total of $10.45 today. Total of $144.06 this month.

$ 155.94 left to spend. 25 days to go!

I told my hubby that I’m going to need an extra $120 on my budget this month because I’ll actually be paying for my own gas this month. If you recall, in January I only spent $21 on gas because Hubby filled my tank most of the time. My businessman husband’s response?! “Well, if you get 4 gumball machines placed in locations around town, you can have the extra $120.” I love this man. It’s always his response if I want extra money for something. I just need to do it! I’m doing hard things that challenge me, right!? So I can do this! (This is my pep talk to myself.) I’m not naturally excited to do sales type things. This isn’t that hard…especially because it’s a fund raiser as well. We donate part of our proceeds to different charities. But I’ve had a bad experience. I tried calling a hotel once to simply see if they’d be interested in trying a new laundry soap and I got turned down hard. I cried…..like sobbing. For way too long. And I was a grown woman! It’s ridiculous, I know. But it’s true. So I tried this gumball machine thing once too. I did it in person at my mechanic’s shop while getting an oil change. I got turned down. I didn’t cry! Yay! Big step for me. But I never tried again. I need to try again. Anyone own a business that needs a gumball machine?!

Posted in Budget

February Budget Challenge Day 1 – $166.39 Left

Posted on by 3toddlermom

January went by faster than I expected so why not try this $300 budget again in February! It is only a 28 day month so it should be a breeze, right?!? 😬

We finally got out of the house for the first time this week and guess what? We needed gas! So already spent $39.91.

And we were basically out of groceries. Plus I’m going to try fasting a bit this month. My husband got inspired by a couple different friends. One friend was fasting meat for 21 days, another sweets and another friend is almost always fasting something. He’s even done multiple day water only fasts. No food. Just water. What?!? I’m not quite to that point yet but maybe someday!

So I’m going to start simple next week with a Daniel Fast. So I’m basically cutting out meat and other animal by-products and sweets! Eek! Although I’m not a fan of giving up sweets I can do anything for 7 days. I’m determined. I think it will help me keep my body and cravings in check. It should also help my family eat healthier for a week. I’m trying to be the best wife I can be and it is partially my job to ensure my husband has healthy options…at least while he’s at home.

Here we go! But eating this meal plan requires slightly different foods than I typically have on hand. I always have cheeses, deli meat, eggs, bread and chocolate. So my meal plan and grocery list consisted of tons of fresh veggies and fruits. Wow! It’s going to be a great week.

I spent $91.56 at Aldi today. I stuck to my list. I went over the meal plan several times and made my grocery list carefully. I even priced out my estimates for how much each item costs so I had a rough idea of how much I’d be spending. I estimated $80. I wasn’t too far off. The good part is that tampons and kitty litter were also on my list so it wasn’t entirely all groceries.

Here’s my meal plan for the week.

I’ve already changed a couple things because ALDI didn’t have Brussels sprouts and my husband told me he didn’t like vegan meatballs. I’ll let you know what I decide to do instead!

After the grocery store, my sister picked up pizza and we headed to the mall play place because our kids HAD to get out of the house! We’ve been inside all week because of this crazy sub-zero weather. So I grabbed two Dr. Peppers at McDonald’s for $2.14. 😁

Ok, so I’ve already spent $133.61.

$166.39 left. 27 days to go.

Posted in Budget

3 Ways To Save Money At The Grocery Store

Posted on by 3toddlermom

I only spent $280 during the month of January!! What?! I’m amazed! This included groceries, some gas, extra toiletries, and basically anything that wasn’t a monthly bill. In the past, I would easily spend at least $400 -$500 on groceries alone each month. But I decided to be super intentional and it really paid off! If I can complete this challenge, you can too.

The top 3 things I learned from this challenge:

1. Meal Plan

Always make a meal plan before shopping and try to plan meals with food you already have in the house. This was amazing because I was able to use up food that I already had in the house and I didn’t throw as much old food away at the end of each week. See 5 Easy Ways to Meal Plan on a Tight Budget for specific tips on meal planning.

2. Always Shop with a List

Always make a grocery list and don’t deviate from it once you’re in the store. This was great for the kids too because I asked for their input while making the list and then if they wanted something extra while in the store I was able to simply reply that it’s not on our list this week.  Let’s put it on the list next time.  I’m helping them to be planners too! And I’m not having to say “We can’t afford that!” I can simply help them be better planners and not impulse buyers.

Making a list also helped me reevaluate what are “staples” in our kitchen.  Do we always need 7 jars of cream of mushroom soup in the pantry?  Having a meal plan and a list helped me feel like I didn’t need to buy extra of something to have on hand just in case I decided to make a different meal.  I just made the meals I planned for. 

I also paid closer attention to what we chose for snacks.  Apples, bananas and cheese slices are pretty important for us to have on hand because they are easy and healthy go-to options that hardly ever go bad because we eat through them quickly.  

I use my reminders app for my grocery list. It’s easy and I always have my phone with me so it prevents me from forgetting the list!

3. Never Shop Under Pressure

I learned to never shop with extra people or under extreme time limits. As a mom, you can’t always shop alone. That’s just crazy talk! But you can choose to shop when you have the least amount of kids with you. I usually choose the couple hours while my toddlers are in preschool so I can shop alone with Sweet Love.

I also go to the store at the least busy time of day. The Aldi in my town opens at 9 am so I head there right after school drop off and walk in as the doors open. On Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9am, there are usually only a handful of people in the store. Less busy hours make shopping easier because the pressure to go through an aisle quicker is removed. I can slow down and take my time to make the best financial decisions.

I can’t wait to hear how your grocery shopping goes this month!