January Challenge To Save Money Post 4

Don't you just love a good sale???

Today is Saturday - Day 7 of my Challenge for January and for the most part - I am on track... I haven't had an impulse buy - nor have we visited a fast food.... We did go out to dinner last night - my beautiful niece from Australia was out on business and our entire Southern California family met up with her at Mimi's Cafe in Long Beach... Before we arrived - I asked both of my girls to not order soda - I'm the ice tea queen of the world but I also opted for water... I asked that they share a plate due to the portions at Mimi's are huge... I enjoyed a cup of my favorite soup - French Onion and a small dinner salad... I learned that although the "soup and salad" meal is a lunch special - most restaurants will let you order it for dinner - Imagine that!

During my last post - I was making grilled pork chops, rice, green beans, corn, and apple sauce... I grilled them to perfections... They were so tasty in fact both of my girls ate everything on their plate... Granted my oldest gagged a little on her green beans - At that moment I realized that I have not introduced my kids to the joys of vegetables... Thankfully - it's not too late and before I am done - my kid will crave those green beans... instead of ice cream... Yup.. I can dream...






Tropical Mum - shared some of her ideas with us - The recipes sound fabulous! Thank you Tropical Mum

January Challenge To Save Money Post 3

I learned something today..... When you don't eat out - You run out of the basics more quickly -ie: Milk, and bread.... This morning - I did a Target run.... Usually when I go - I take a circular route - through the shoes... to the book section... to the DVDs... and then to the food... Many times along my journey - I would randomly throw books or movies into my basket.... I made the decision when I walked in the door - that I knew what I needed... and that is all I'm going to get...
Bread - $1.99, Brown paper lunch bags (I can't get my kids to use lunch boxes) $1.02 (on sale I bought 2 packs of 100. Target brand Sweet n low - on sale - bought 2 boxes (1/2 the price as the brand name product and tastes the same), 1 gallon of milk - 1/2 the price than Albertson's... Now I did make a purchase that I did not intend to make - Frozen fruit... I'll tell you why on my next post.

Last night - was the last night to have "kid favorites" - yummy - Cheese burgers - I personally like barbeque sauce on mine... How do you eat yours?





Tonight it's Grilled pork chops, rice, green beans and apple sauce..

Day One - January Challenge to Save Money

Happy New Year!!! It's been a crazy couple of weeks and I have not had a chance to blog... The good thing about being too busy is that I have gotten a couple of new clients and I am starting to make some money again.... Just in time for the new year!

One of the presents my loving husband gave me for Christmas was a compact chest freezer - it's perfect!!! Yesterday - I set it up in my office - it's small enough to not be in the way and close enough to the kitchen to not be a pain in the back side to reach.... After it cooled down - I tossed all the meat bargains I had purchased in December... My goal is to keep my weeks food in the freezer in the kitchen so I have exactly what I need on hand.

Today - I clipped some coupons... Went to Target and shopped for groceries for two weeks... In addition to food - I purchased kitty litter - laundry detergent (coupon $2.00 All detergent) - dog food (coupon $1.50 Pedigree) - and a couple of other household necessities.... With the coupons - I saved a little over $10 and using my Target credit card (I pay the balance each month) - I saved an additional $ 5.88... The only thing I could not find at Target was garlic cloves, biscuits (they were sold out), and frozen hamburger meat..

By the way - the month of December we ate fast food once and it was last night - My daughters and I went to Carl's Jr and got cheeseburgers and fries.. January was to start the no fast food rule but I decided to try and cut back in December and I did pretty good... - this is a family that eats fast food regularly.. Last night - When I purchased the cheeseburgers I did not buy sodas like I typically do and I realized that just by doing that - I saved almost $6.00.. crazy isn't it?

So tonight's Menu... Chicken Fried Steak, mash potatoes, country gravy, corn, and biscuits..

The steak - I purchased cubed steak in a buy one get one free at Albertson's last month...

4 steaks = $3.80
Mashed potatoes = I used the bag of frozen potatoes I had in the fridge since Thanksgiving.
Corn - $.90
biscuits = $1
gravy = $1
Flour = $1 or less
eggs - 3 = .75

Total: $8.45

Recipe for easy chicken fried steak..

Season steak lightly with seasoning salt.
dip steak in flour - tenderize steak by lightly pounding
dip steak in flour again.... dip in egg and then dip in flour..

pour 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in skillet - heat skillet till it gently pops if you flick a drop of water in it.. (that's how I test it any way.. lol)

Cook each side approximately 4 minutes until a golden brown using med/high heat..

I really did not get a chance to take a final picture - the potatoes were ready to be mixed and the biscuits buzzer was going off and the gravy was starting to boil... You know how it gets....

Tomorrow - I'm trying a Chicken and rice crock-pot dish with broccoli.... And the chicken I also purchased on a buy one get one free... Love those!

Getting Ready To Save Money - Join Me? 2

Pictures Of My Beautiful Girls At Their Christmas Ball

Last week I invited fellow "want to save money" bloggers and friends to join me in a January Challenge - Feed A Family of Four on $10 a day... The challenge also includes any tips on money savings - stretching the dollar... I am asking for tips, recipes, ideas, and whatever you can contribute to the January Challenge - So far I have a few bloggers ready to share - Also - anything and everything that is submitted will have a link and credit that will go back to the contributor...

I would love your input - Please email any tips, recipes etc to me at Ivebecomemymother@yahoo.com

So what have I done so far??

Yesterday - I created a menu using only the items that I had in my kitchen... So here it is

Breakfast (it's Christmas break so it makes it easier).. Frozen pancakes, Frozen french toast, eggs, cereal (all kinds), and Nutrigrain bars.

Lunch - lunch meat, canned chili, fruit, tuna, boxed pasta, frozen corn dogs, soup, frozen chicken nuggets, egg salad.

Sunday night -Jerk Chicken - Homemade - This is my husband's favorite recipe.. It's easy and really yummy - (I found an old post with this recipe and a video of my youngest making it - I had forgotten about it - nice find.)

Monday night - Ahi Tuna - I bought 2 steaks from Trader Joe's a while back and I keep forgetting to make it - the kids will have Bertolli's Chicken parmigiana - this is surprisingly really good....

Tuesday night - Beef and cheese enchiladas, re-fried beans ( I had 6 cans, really), Spanish rice, and salad. I had bought a couple of cans of Target brand enchilada sauce - I have no idea how it's going to taste - I typically make my own sauce but I was looking for a short cut - I will finally use it - I'll let you know how it tastes.. And the other 5 cans of re-fried beans - they are being donated in a Christmas food drive tomorrow morning at my husband's work...

Wednesday - Mini slider burgers, tater tots, and corn. I am hoping the burgers are still tasty and not too freezer burned... They were purchased a few months ago - I don't have mini buns and I went by Albertson's yesterday and they no longer carry them - we just might have to use regular bread or the we can double up the burgers and put them in a large bun... I'm sure we'll figure it out...

Thursday - Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic toast, and Caesar salad - simple.. I will have to buy lettuce....

Friday - Pork chops, apple sauce, and cheesy potatoes... Last week - I grilled them - I usually bake or fry them... But I have to say the grilled ones were amazing and I'm doing it again...

Saturday is Christmas Eve - We will be celebrating with my mom that night -We are attending service at her church and then take her out to dinner... Looking forward to this...

Sunday is Jesus' Birthday also known as Christmas... Dinner will be at my in-laws... Looking forward to it....

So yesterday- I went to the market for dog food, fresh fruits and veggies and what did I see?? The meat department was having an amazing sale.. So I loaded up on buy 1 get 1 free chicken breasts - 50% off on beef rump roast and lean hamburger at 2.75 per lb - got a few pounds... The prices were good..

Today - I have also cancelled all movie channels as of January 1st.. So glad Dexter's season finale was last night.. ha

Getting Ready To Save Money - Join Me?

The other day I was paying my bills and realized that the last couple of months - We were spending more money than what we were bringing in.... I had a very rude awakening - I realized that I have been extremely foolish with our money - spending too much on things that we don't need - eating out for almost every meal and being just plain irresponsible and it's stopping NOW!

I went through my cupboards and refrigerator looking for areas I could save... I looked at our different bills we pay.... And this is what I came up with....

For the entire month of January I am going to...

Feed A Family of Four on $10 A Day!

So how will this work? This is where I am hopeful that fellow friends and bloggers can send me money saving ideas and recipes - I will post and link back to the contributing site... On January 1st - I will add a linky to every day posts and have a month long hop and I hope we can get some great stuff to help everyone who wants to participate...

Please email me at: ivebecomemymother@yahoo.com - be sure to send recipes with pictures would be awesome - ideas on how you save money - coupons - anything and everything that can save money - send it.. Be sure to add your name and your blog address... If you are not a blogger I will be happy to give you credit too -

This is where I am starting today...

We average $25 a day on eating out... It could be more... I know it's NOT less - No more eating out - January is a NO EAT OUT - time... I have already let the kids know...

We pay $49 a month on movie channels through our cable service - the only show I watch on cable is Dexter... I can wait for it to come on Netflix... January no more movie channels - except Netflix - this is used often and is very inexpensive at $7.99 per month.

I buy the cat and dog food in little bags so it can fit nice and neatly in my box in my office - this is expensive - I noticed yesterday at the store - the size I get is twice the cost per oz then it would be to buy in bulk... January - buy large bag and store big bag in garage and pour into my box in my office for convenience...

I need to stop buying frozen quick foods - frozen french toast - waffles - pancakes - chicken nuggets - I need to organize myself and precook and set up a menu plan... I know that this is a BIG money saver -it's HUGE.. I love the weekly menu planner from $5 Dinners - I will be using many of her recipes in January...

I buy a bunch of crap thinking we're going to eat it.. or I buy stuff with intentions of eating it and it just sits in my pantry and/or fridge... Goal - eat it and then move on...







My last idea for the day - is I am a HUGE diet coke drinker and unfortunately my teenagers have also become addicted to the poison... I pay in upwards of $1.50 for a 2 liter bottle.. If I'm lucky I would hit a sale at $1 per bottle.. January - NO MORE Diet Cokes - I have no doubt that this alone will save us over $3 a day... Instead of diet coke - I will make homemade ice tea - using Target brand tea (tastes the exact same as Lipton for a 1/3 of the cost) and Target brand sweet and low again a huge savings with the exact taste.... This would cost pennies a day....



Would love for you to join me - In this economy every bit helps... If you want to join in on the January Challenge - Say "Count Me In" and if you want to add tips - recipes - anything helpful - Please be sure to email me at ivebecomemymother@yahoo.com..

Ways To Save Money and Make A Little Extra

I am a big believer in budgeting my money and my resources....Last year my frugal mindedness paid off... I can happily say that when my husband was out of work last year for six months - We did NOT go into debt... nor did we lose our savings.... this is why....

Menu Plans - I set up weekly plans - I did this a couple of ways... I took a complete inventory of what I had on hand... I created the plan on Sunday after viewing the Sunday paper coupons.. Many times there would be deals that would save us a lot of money... By planning weekly menus - you can buy by bulk... You can plan for leftover lunches... You can utilize what you have and not buy unneeded items.. This will save you a lot of money - Right away....

Check out your supermarket mailers - Each week I get the local market mailers highlighting their specials of the week... One week - Albertson's was having an 8 hour sale -there were many buy 1 get one frees - whole chicken savings of .75 per pound or more - buy one lb of beef get a 2nd lb free - diet coke for .79 a 2-liter bottle.. Stater Bros was also having a sale on many of the items I use... If I had thrown away the paper (like I used to) I would never have had the opportunity to save so much...

Shop Target - I buy many of my everyday items at Target - their prices are lower on many items that I purchase regularly AND if you use your Target card (be sure to pay off each month) you will get an automatic 5% off and after you have spent $1000 - you get an additional 5% for a total of 10% off on your day of choice.... Target also accepts coupons!!!!

Just because you have a coupon does NOT mean you need it... - Don't buy things that you don't need especially during the times that you need to save money...

Search for additional coupons on the net - there are many bloggers that offer links to savings. You will amazed on what you can find.. Check out Print Free Coupons This is an excellent way to obtain coupons on your favorite brands.

Save your recyclables! We drink diet coke... A lot of diet coke and we save all our cans and bottles - my husband brings them in every month and gets about $15.00 cash... It's a good thing.

Buy Used... Ebay is a good tool to buy pre-owned designer clothes... books... shoes... movies... work ties... My husband is a Tommy Bahama fan - He will buy a $125 shirt and pay around $10 for it... Work shoes - he'll pay as low as $15 on a pair of $300 shoes... The deals are out there you just have to look... In addition to Ebay - Thrift stores are also great places to check out....

Sell Your Used Stuff.. I have a yard sale about two times a year to clear out my kids inventory of unused clothes and doodads.. I sell my used books through Amazon.com and no longer wanted clothes on Ebay... It works and the extra money is a good thing too...

Save Save Save - Take advantage of any 401K plans or savings plans that your employer may offer - Self employed? Establish a retirement savings plan... Set aside a certain amount (pretend it's a bill) each month and save... This is so important... AND Just because you got a refund from your income taxes does not mean you have to go out and blow it... Save it - let it work for you.. That rainy day may come and you need to be ready!

Use Your Credit Card Wisely - We have a rule in our home - Only charge what you can pay off when the bill comes in - this rule has been in effect since the day I was married (22 years ago) and it has saved us thousands of dollars. Our credit card like most cards nowadays have reward programs.. This summer I am lucky enough to use our rewards... We received three (3) round-trip tickets to DC from California for Free AND several days of Hertz rental car FREE... When I say free - I mean free - no hidden costs.. no extra interest paid.. or finance fees... FREE money and this is good..

Get A Job... any job - If you are short on funds and have some free time - GET A JOB!!! Who cares what it is.. Who cares if you have a college degree and you are working at Best Buy? A job is a job is a job... You won't make money watching Maury Povich from your couch... Get out and Do.. It's just as easy to find a great job while you are working then it is if you are not.... If you don't have any money coming in - do something about it.. You may not get your "job" of choice at first but you will - just give it time and patience......

So There was my two cents worth of advise that has worked for me... What to you do to save money?