SweetTarts taste like Halloween J
Friday, July 9, 2010
You win some, you lose some.
We had ALMOST gotten rid of all our revolving debt. Then our tire shredded on the interstate and I had to advance ourselves some money. Luckily we have those resources- even if they do cost high interest. I am sooo ready to be out of this mess so we can start a savings account. However over all we have done pretty well in reducing our revolving debt. This setback has only set us back by 2 weeks. Roughly $700 of Revolving debt should be resolved our next paycheck and the remaining $1-200 will be resolved first of August. Phew and good riddance!!
Yesterday I spent $140 on groceries for 2 weeks. That included laundry supplies, hygiene supplies, a swimming pool for Nora and groceries. I always smile a bit when we can get away with such a “cheap” amount for groceries. I am looking forward to being able to increase our variety of fruits and veggies more in a couple weeks, but $125ish per week has been doing well for us.
Nora is really growing up. Her vocabulary is increasing every day, and we are trying really hard to not fall into the pattern of understanding what she wants so not making her fully vocalize.
We spent the 4th of July weekend in Wyoming with my parents and the Cousins. It was SO much fun. It was great seeing Nora play with her cousins and really enjoy their company. The next “big” purchase I want to make is a bike for Nora. She wants one so bad. What do you think? A bike or a Tryke? Nora finally mastered the forward pedaling on the tryke. I think that is pretty good since she has only ridden it about 2 or 3 times! But she is already asking for a bike. And she LOVES riding on the child seat of my bike. So I am thinking we might skip the Tryke stage. Or maybe we will buy both if I can find a good deal at a thrift shop!
I wish I could get about a week off of work. I got so much done around the yard yesterday. I watered, weed whacked, mowed, worked in the garden, got Nora’s pool set up and wanted to get even more done. I need to buy some better tools next pay day to trim the trees in our yard. Some of them are getting flat out of control. I love the shade they provide, but we need to be able to drive our cars under them and mow around them. I also need some tar or something to see off the sucker branch forming areas.
The good news is that the garden is doing great. The carrots are growing long and straight, the tomatoes are coming along, and we have apples all over the tree. I am going to try to put in a fall garden since I didn’t get as much variety as I wanted planted this Spring. Our local Extension Agency lists each month things you should do in your yard per the growth stage and what you can plant. I am going to try to get back in “tune” with their schedule.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Budget Win
I budgeted $150 for Groceries and the total bill came to $96.00! And I only cut a few things from the list because I realized we had alternatives at home (like brown rice in our cupboard instead of buying a bag of white rice).
Unfortunately, Doug has come down with this Flu so I might have to spend some of the savings on buying "sick food" but that's okay! I am thrilled that I got 99% of our groceries for considerably under budget!
Unfortunately, Doug has come down with this Flu so I might have to spend some of the savings on buying "sick food" but that's okay! I am thrilled that I got 99% of our groceries for considerably under budget!
Economic Check In
So we just got our first Paycheck of the month.
So far we have paid an extra $550 in debt, not including what Doug paid since he has his set up to come out before his paycheck gets direct deposited. I know he makes a bit more money than I do since he has been their longer so I know it had to be around $300 that was paid. So roughly $850 in debt payment right off the bat.
We had an eating out night at Outback so that was approx $50, had car maint that was $35, Rent at $725 this month, Cable at $125, Electricity at $100. I still need to pay some bills but we are on track so far for the month (mostly).
We also have a LOT of left over food from the past few weeks of buying so I am writing my shopping list around reducing what is in the house. I want to set up a better food rotation system. I love having food in the house but not if we end up complaining that there is "nothing" to eat when there is a bag of brown rice, frozen meat and veggies, flour, budget mix, milk etc. Just because Doug doesn't like the brown rice as much doesn't mean it doesn't need to get used up.
I also am looking into maybe moving my shopping day to Sundays so I can take advantage of Sunday coupons. Or maybe I will reserve $2 to buy the Sunday flier the week I go shopping. Not quite sure yet.
So far we have paid an extra $550 in debt, not including what Doug paid since he has his set up to come out before his paycheck gets direct deposited. I know he makes a bit more money than I do since he has been their longer so I know it had to be around $300 that was paid. So roughly $850 in debt payment right off the bat.
We had an eating out night at Outback so that was approx $50, had car maint that was $35, Rent at $725 this month, Cable at $125, Electricity at $100. I still need to pay some bills but we are on track so far for the month (mostly).
We also have a LOT of left over food from the past few weeks of buying so I am writing my shopping list around reducing what is in the house. I want to set up a better food rotation system. I love having food in the house but not if we end up complaining that there is "nothing" to eat when there is a bag of brown rice, frozen meat and veggies, flour, budget mix, milk etc. Just because Doug doesn't like the brown rice as much doesn't mean it doesn't need to get used up.
I also am looking into maybe moving my shopping day to Sundays so I can take advantage of Sunday coupons. Or maybe I will reserve $2 to buy the Sunday flier the week I go shopping. Not quite sure yet.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
I haven’t done an update in a while.
So far my weight loss is about 6 lbs. Yes I have been cheating. But at the same time I feel good that the weight loss will stay off. Even with my cheating I am still losing and it is not coming back! Yay! Each morning it’s exciting to see if I get to update my weight ticker. It’s really interesting to see what your body does and how much energy you burn during sleeping!
It has been incredibly rainy this year. The river is flooding and I hope it doesn’t rise much further or I might need to find a new temporary home for Tala until the flood waters recede. Tala is looking great though. Her three year old year is agreeing with her. She really is starting to look more like a grown up horse instead of a baby. I don’t always see it since I am around her a lot, but when I look at her pictures from last year, I can see big changes. She’s beautiful and such a sweet horse. It’s going to be an awesome summer with her! :D
Nora is growing and we are having lots of conversations about not cutting her hair. She has mutilated her hair so badly at this point *sigh*. Oh well. Hair grows. Her latest thing is that when she enters a room she’ll take a little jump, do a rock star stance and yell “Rock and Roll!” and then proceed to play air guitar! It’s hilarious!
The garden is loving this weather. Lots of rain seems to be just the thing. I am looking forward to some sun so the tomatoes can really take off. I want garden fresh tomatoes!!! I also need to replant some radishes and really work hard on some weeding. It’s starting to look like jungle out there!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
So Here is our budget that we try REALLY hard to adhere to:
Rent: $700
Boarding Tala: $265
Gas: $120
Food: $300
Water: $100
Natural Gas: $50
Electricity $100
Car Insur: $75
Car Maint: $50
NetFlix: $9
Website: $10
Daycare: $400
Clothing: $25
Total $2204
Phew! It sure adds up fast. We also usually end up having some eating out, especially at work since we can get decent priced fresh made salads (like $3). Hubby is making payments to his debt about $2-300 per pay period which ends up being between $400 and $600 a month! Lately we have had a few emergencies (getting car towed and repaired) and last month we still managed an extra $500 debt payment! YAY! I am really excited at the progress we are making!
I SOOO Cheated
But it's okay! Yesterday my parents treated us to Burger King (bun and fries!) and pizza which really really was bad cheating on my no carb diet- but it's okay! I didn't gain anything back! That gives me lots of hope for the end/transition phase of this diet.
Today is back to square one. Absolutely no carbs, no restricted items (sorry tomatoes) and more water than ever. If I can lose 5 pounds and keep off 4 from my first week, I want to shoot for more loss this week. It would be AWESOME to be back down to the 160's this week.
I tried on a pair of pants at Christopher and Banks while at the mall with my mom. I would have LOVED them...if I weighed 130 pounds. It was an unforgiving fabric and instead of hiding weight- it emphasised it. Yup...definitly left THOSE on the rack! YIKES. But the patter was super cute. It was a grey based pants with dark blue pin striping in various shades of blue and various widths. It needed a solid color top, but I really liked them. It also opened my eyes to a lot of the new fashions that are out there. JC Pennys had some really cute clothes and now I want to go back and find this one shirt. I might have to do that next pay period. I have been wanting one of those shirts for FOREVER.
In other news- it looks like Nora cut her hair...Again. There is a chunk missing out of the back, out of the front and she shortened the top. *sigh* I am never going to see long beautiful hair again, am I? Looks like another trip to the kids haircut place is in order.
Debt payments are coming along nicely. Got $500 of our Stupid debt paid off last pay period, now we just have to get the next $1600 paid off as well. I am looking forward to being free and clear of this and being able to get some other debts that are impacting our credit paid off.
That's pretty much the update for me today. I might have another post in me about our budget- I will work on that one while at work (Yeah email blogging!). A farmgirl sister over at MaryJanesFarm posted a challenge to see how little you can get by on. She is making do with $1,200 for the month for her large family! Way to go! We have a few other mandated bills that I can't avoid due to contracts and such so our's will be a bit higher, and several other farmgirls were mentioning they couldn't go that low either so we are going to be posting about our required bills and see if we can trim the "fat" in any other part of the budget.
Today is back to square one. Absolutely no carbs, no restricted items (sorry tomatoes) and more water than ever. If I can lose 5 pounds and keep off 4 from my first week, I want to shoot for more loss this week. It would be AWESOME to be back down to the 160's this week.
I tried on a pair of pants at Christopher and Banks while at the mall with my mom. I would have LOVED them...if I weighed 130 pounds. It was an unforgiving fabric and instead of hiding weight- it emphasised it. Yup...definitly left THOSE on the rack! YIKES. But the patter was super cute. It was a grey based pants with dark blue pin striping in various shades of blue and various widths. It needed a solid color top, but I really liked them. It also opened my eyes to a lot of the new fashions that are out there. JC Pennys had some really cute clothes and now I want to go back and find this one shirt. I might have to do that next pay period. I have been wanting one of those shirts for FOREVER.
In other news- it looks like Nora cut her hair...Again. There is a chunk missing out of the back, out of the front and she shortened the top. *sigh* I am never going to see long beautiful hair again, am I? Looks like another trip to the kids haircut place is in order.
Debt payments are coming along nicely. Got $500 of our Stupid debt paid off last pay period, now we just have to get the next $1600 paid off as well. I am looking forward to being free and clear of this and being able to get some other debts that are impacting our credit paid off.
That's pretty much the update for me today. I might have another post in me about our budget- I will work on that one while at work (Yeah email blogging!). A farmgirl sister over at MaryJanesFarm posted a challenge to see how little you can get by on. She is making do with $1,200 for the month for her large family! Way to go! We have a few other mandated bills that I can't avoid due to contracts and such so our's will be a bit higher, and several other farmgirls were mentioning they couldn't go that low either so we are going to be posting about our required bills and see if we can trim the "fat" in any other part of the budget.
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