Sunday, September 26, 2010

More Grocery Shopping... And Baby Wipes!

Maybe I should just call this the "grocery shopping blog". lol ;) After all, I do talk a LOT about my adventures in grocery shopping. But it's an important part of keeping our family running and saving money at the same time (both of which are equally important for achieving our long-term goals).
So some highlights from this week:

Kroger- I love some of the deals you can get at Kroger. This week, I snagged 2 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios for $3.00 :) (I combined a $1 off coupon with their discounted price)
I also got almost 7 lbs of chicken breasts for under $7. So that was fun. :)
After picking up some more produce, OJ, and a few other random items, I was on to Aldi.
Total spent: 22.45
Total saved: $14 and some change :)

There I got my regulars- Fruit cups and applesauce, Cat food and litter, lots and lots of produce, and tons of other stuff.But my absolute FAVORITE new find at Aldi? Their baby wipes. They make me smile so much. Because, as most mothers know, baby wipes are the world's greatest invention. And ALDI sells them in the great little travel wipe containers (even has the convenient snap open lid) for 1.49. Most stores charge 2 or 3 times that much! I use them for EVERYTHING... wiping down the kitchen, the table, while we're on the road and I notice Abbie is covered in a mysterious substance... EVERY thing! So I get real excited about that ;)
Total spent: 38 and some change.

Total on the majority of the groceries this week: $60. On another note, my husband swung into Walmart the other night and spent the same amount. I'm not real sure what he bought besides fajita meat, doritos, and sliced bread. But I love him anyway ;)

Have a great week!
Melissa

Saturday, September 25, 2010

So my favorite thing about shopping is getting home and laying everything out... just so I can remember all the fabulous things I found. And it's even better if I have an audience to display them to ;) ;) Well right now I couldn't be much happier (shopping wise anyway) because, as I blog, I am sprawled out in my living room floor. And my 3 year old is pulling out all of the fabulous things we got at Divine Consign tonight.
I will admit... I was a DC virgin. Had some idea what I was getting into, but was pleasantly surprised. My eyes lit up when I realized how organized it was (organization and I are great friends.) And on top of that, we got the following steals:
A Halloween Costume for my precious girl. She's gonna be Pocahontas, which I could not be MORE thrilled with because she is totally in love with Indians and princessess right now! And b/c it was $5 and it's much more original than all the $50- $100 costumes I'd almost talked myself into splurging on.
3 adorable dresses (2 with matching leggings)
A PERFECT Christmas dress, perfect for pictures, church, gatherings... whatever!
3 great, dressy sweaters
a few more matching outfits (cute tops with jeans, sweat pants, etc.. including a real cute Halloween outfit that looks like it came from a boutique. very cute)
A pair of cute casual pants.
3 pairs of fall/winter PJs
5 pairs of shoes, including the CUTEST slouch boots that are probably still too big... but there was NO way I was walking out without them! Also, some tennis shoes, Mary Janes, black dress shoes, and some others that will be great for preschool.
1 pair of rain boots
1 pair of elmo slippers that she just HAD to have!

The other perks of the evening? She had an amazing time and she feels totally spoiled! And mommy only spent $109 for what will make up a good chunk of her fall and winter wardrobe! :D :D :D :D

After a super-crummy day, this sure was a nice way to end it. Now off to wash one of the long sleeved dresses... because it looks like she will actually be able to wear it to church in the morning! Yep, 78 high in Texas! That, too, makes up for the rest of today's crumminess. :-P

Have a great weekend!
Melissa

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Walmart: Fail

I don't really like Wal-mart. And every time I venture back over there, I remember that. I had a long grocery list this week and a tight budget, so I thought the best plan was to divide my groceries between Tom Thumb, Wal-mart, and Aldi. In a time crunch this afternoon, I went to the closer of the last two on my list: Wal-Mart.
Parking was a huge pain, as usual. The upside was that I didn't get cut off 16 times just getting a parking spot. :)
The produce was over-priced and none of it was impressive. In fact, I couldn't bring myself to buy the 1st bag of spinach I found and I took it back, miraculously finding a bag that looked pretty good. And I almost put back the grapes I'd picked when I was checking out because of all the brown ones (I had sorted through them and that bag had the *least*amount of brown grapes. *Insert rolling eyes*).
I bought quite a few things that just don't even compare to other store's products. Nothing was cheaper than anywhere else, and of course I had to do 3 times as much walking as I would've done in Aldi or another store.
And checking out was a bit of a pain, too. Of course the lines were super long, the store was unbelievably crowded, and I nearly got run over quite a few times. But those weren't even what made checkout a pain- I EXPECT those things from Wal-Mart.
And when I left, I had spent more money than I'd wanted. *More rolling eyes*
Yes, I'm whining. But groceries are important in my house. I'm feeding 4 adults, 6 animals, and a 3-year-old who could probably out-eat all of us combined. We need good, healthy, affordable food. We need products to help get us through our day-to-day routines as healthy and happy as possible.
THESE are the things I go to the grocery store for. But going to Wal-Mart only makes me wishing I'd gone elsewhere.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Sticking my boot-covered foot right in my mouth...

So I have to admit; I've been gloating a bit over the last few weeks. I have managed all of mine and my husband's finances, savings, spending, EVERYTHING for the last 5 years. My husband is no financial slouch, but I have often been resentful (and not always quietly ;)) of the many burdens I carry by myself. So last week I handed him the general information he needed to pay all of our bills and take care of our budget and I told him to have fun. And for the 1st time in my life, I actually let go and have not even looked at our online checking acct (hardly.) This is a huge feat since it's usually something I do 6 times a day. And I have gloated a little because I feel like it really is going to be an eye opening experience... for him.
And I told my husband with confidence just a few days ago that I could ABSOLUTELY make it on the spending $ I was getting this week. And positively I could do with the gas allotment- In fact, I reminded him of some other expenses he might've forgotten and even told him I could do with LESS gas $. As we spoke on the phone and he was figuring out our allowances, I was waving my imaginary, mental hand in the air and saying "Easy. Peasy. I've got this." After all, I told my husband, the only thing I use my spending $ for is Starbucks.
Well tonight I decided I would put a gift card to use and indulge myself. After all, I have been drooling over boots for weeks now. And I have yet to buy a single pair. And the gift card would cover at least 1/2 of the boot purchase, so it was a smart buy as well.
Weeeelll... 3 indulgences later (the adorable boots, a rare 6-pack of beer, and some chunky chocolate chip cookes), my "Easy peasy budgeting week" has officially gone down the drain. I am officially left with $2 to spend for the next 6 days. I sat in the parking lot, counted my money, and seriously considered taking the boots back for the time being. Because, obviously, I can't tell my husband that *I*- budgeting extrodinairre- is out of money and needs more. I can't admit that, during his 1st week on the job, *I* am the one who has had a reality check.
So here's my prideful plan: Scour the Sunday papers tomorrow. Pray that I find a coupon for Soy or Almond milk (b/c I'm lactose intolerant and can't work with the skim we have in the house). And then cross my fingers and toes and hope I can get said milk for $2 or less. I may have to start an entirely new blog about my withdrawls from Starbucks. And I promise their stock WILL plummet! But it's gotta be better than admitting fault to my husband, right? Right?

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Resisting the urge....

This morning, I really, really, reeealy wanted to shop. In fact, I started to. I was ready to purchase some designer boots off of Ebay (less expensive, in my defense, but spending $ nonetheless) and had an online shopping cart full of clothes for Abbie. But by a couple twists of fate, I instead found my shopping halted and found myself putting away laundry.
It was there that I remembered that Abbie and I really aren't in need of clothes. Putting away jeans next to all of my sweaters and in the same closet where I keep all the boots I already love, I realized those boots could probably wait. I could work with what I've got.
And watching Abbie's clothing pile up, I realized that she probably didn't need all those shirts and accessories I had thought earlier that she just HAD to have.
It got me thinking about how I really need to be more organized when I shop. Because, you see, I am all about a good deal. But I am NOT all about setting a certain amount aside to shop with. No, I tend to be the "We need it; I'll buy it" personality. And that can add up. I am frugal and I am smart when it comes to shopping. but I must also be more organized.
And I've found being organized around the house helps me save $ as well. Because it makes me realize that we really don't need to buy as much stuff as I'd like to think ;) :)
I *did* give into my shopping urge just a little. I headed to the Dollar Store and picked up an adorable fall-themed center-piece for the kitchen table. And I grabbed 2 cute little scarecrow buckets that are serving as great accessories in my kitchen. (One is holding random little items that were floating around my kitchen counters and the other is holding the overflow of my bread box- the tortillas and hamburger buns, etc that were just sitting sloppily on my counter). So today's shopping was not only affordable (at 12.99 for all three items), but also practical. And I'm much happier than I would have been with my boots and 3 year old clothes. :)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Learning about the home-buying process....

I'm glad we've shopped around for a house without having the money to buy for SOOOOO many months now. I feel like (and excuse my arrogance) an expert on the real estate in this area. LOL! Every day for months now I have looked, compared, contrasted, and broken down every possible property in every possible area we might want to live in. I have compared schools, compared zip codes, compare price per square footage, sized up every single neighborhood and street and location. I can look at a map of every street within a 15 mile radius of here and visualize the neighborhood. I have driven hundreds of miles looking at house after house after house, getting so excited about ones that could possibly be ours. Imagining what we could do with them. Contemplating what kind of money we would need to fix them up. It's become an obsession, but a fun one. We've crunched the numbers and I know just how much more we need to bring in so that we can get into a house and live comfortable on one income.
And do you know what I've decided after all this shopping in this price range? We need to change our price range. Yes, folks, I believe it is actually a GREAT thing that I have been shopping somewhat aimlessly all these months. Because it took me this long to realize we need to up our price point 10,000- $40000. And that it wouldn't make THAT much difference on our mortgage payments. And that it made NO since to buy a home on basically one income when we would have 2 incomes 5 months later. It took me all these months of skipping over countless houses because they weren't up to our standards to actually crunch the numbers on more expensive houses. To come up with a Plan B.
It's a pretty startling revelation for someone who is so organized and always likes to feel like I'm on top of everything. Turns out, I was on top of everything. I knew what we wanted. I knew what needed to done. I knew what bills we needed to nix and what income we needed. I know what we want as a down payment and how we want to handle closing costs. I was just leaving out one important part of the whole "Chasing Our American Dream"-and that was making sure we actually GOT our American Dream.
And all this time we've been searching and searching so that we can settle. Why would we want to settle? So that we can leave a great house, in a great neighborhood, with almost everything we'd ever ask for? A house that we're paying NOTHING for? Nah, I don't think so. We'll up the price point, thank you.
I'm sorry if this is the most boring thing you've ever read, but it was a significant discovery for me and I'm in a bloggity-blogging mood tonight.
That's all for tonight. We're still chasing our dream. But we're learning it's defintely more of a steady up and down hil jog as opposed to a sprint.
God Bless!
Melissa