Would you rather...

I was visiting with a friend last week about Project Basement and was asking her opinion on how we should do the layout. In our conversation, she mentioned that she would rather have an old couch for the rest of her life, if that meant she could eat out whenever she wants (which, in her case, is everyday). She about died when I told her that we've only eatin' out once this month.

So, here's the question...Would you rather eat out whenever you want and live with home furnishings you acquired in college or would you sacrifice eating out in order to have nice home decor? And when I mean nice, I'm talking Ashley furniture, not Ethan Allen :)

Let me know...

Success!

McKenna and I made a trip to Dillons tonight since I didn't get to do my weekly grocery trip on Mother's day. I didn't need much, our freezer is overflowing and I already had fresh veggies and fruit, but I had some coupons that matched up to the sales this week. I stuck to the list, with one minor exception, which included-

• 4 boxes of cereal
• fr. pizza
• 2 bags fr. veggies
• 2 bottles of salad dressing
• 2 boxes of strawberries
• 1 bag of fresh spinach
• bag of salad finishers, bag of potato finishers
• deodorant*
• 2 toothbrushes
• pasta
• TruLemon-something that makes your H20 taste a little better than just drinking water
  
• 2 finger cereal for Presley
• 14 jars of baby food
• bag of m&ms-NOT on the list, but Kevin got a free redbox movie tonight, so I got them to go with the popcorn we already have :)
  

My total before coupons was $73.72. After coupons and a Rx transfer (Kevin's allergy medicine) my bill was $13.94!!!!!! Here are Avery and Presley posing with the groceries.
*I should have added deodorant to this post earlier today. I found deodorant on closeout a few weeks ago and bought several, thinking it was the same brand and scent Kevin usually wears. After a few days, he tells me that it's just deodorant, NOT deodorant and anti-perspirant. Ugh. So, I paid full price for the real thing. Apparently, anti-perspirant is a good thing to have this time of year.

I know you're trying...

Yesterday, Kevin says, "Honey, I know you're trying to save us money, but these Q-tips are horrible!" Yeah, I know. In an attempt to save money, I have bought cheaper products, only to regret it later.

• generic Q-tips-they're flimsy, and, well Kevin through them out
• toilet paper-I thought I had gotten used to the crappy brand I bought, until we went to my Mom's house for Easter. Her toilet paper was so soft and smooth, I realized how much I missed my Charmin
• Coffee-I bought Kroger brand because it was on sale and I had a coupon. After 2 days, I threw the 50 oz canister in the trash.
• wheat crackers-Avery threw a fit the last time I bought generic crackers. She only likes the wheat thins. Luckily, I just printed off several coupons for them
• diapers/wipes-lesson learned the hard way. From now on, it's Pampers diapers and Huggies wipes.

Have you ever bought something, thinking you saved money, only to regret it later? Do share...

Ways to save

I'm new to the world of coupons. I'm finding it takes some time and a little work to get the hang of the coupon game. I follow these blogs designed to match coupons with items on sale for maximum savings.

Money Saving Mom-she lives in Wichita, but blogs about deals all over. I love her site.

$5 Dinners-this Mom posts recipes for her family that can be made for 5 dollars or less. She also just had a guest post about e-coupons

Common sense with Money-this site is really good for Kroger, Walgreens, and Target sales.

Stretching a Buck-I read this every day.

Meal Planning Mommies-I found this last week and it is quickly becoming a favorite.

I just started using e-coupons. These are coupons that can be loaded onto your Kroger/Dillons card. I use cellfire.com, shortcuts.com, and P&GSaver

I also use printable coupons from here, here, and here.

Also, did you know that you can use manufacter coupons with store coupons? I didn't until recently. That means, if you have a Dillons coupon for an item and a coupon from the newspaper, you can use them both for one item. Also, Dillons doubles coupons up to a dollar. My friend, Lissa, told me about this site. I'm thinking of joining. I learned last week that Kevin's grandma gets the Sunday paper, but doesn't use the coupons, so I'm hoping to score extra coupons by using hers as well.

This does take some time. I "had" to buy a new purse to hold my coupon organizer. But I'm already seeing the reward and the money saved by using coupons and checking out the sales each week.

So, what am I missing? Do you have any favorite money saving sites? Leave a comment and share...

Save more, spend less

The phrase I keep reading on the frugal blogs I try to follow talk about making sure you save more than you spend. I honestly don't know how they do it for every shopping trip, but today I scored my 1st Walgreens deal. Here's the breakdown-

2 packages of Pampers-9.49 each (I actually had a coupon for this and forgot to use it, ugh....)

2 packages of Always-postpardom essential -B1G1 1/2 (had .50 coupon)

Sunsilk shampoo and Sunsilk anti frizz creme-B1G1 free (had 2 1.50 coupons)

2 Colgate toothepaste -sale was 2 for 2.99(had .75 coupon)

2 packs of trident gum-B1G1 free

Shout-on sale for 2.49

Nature Made Calcium supplements-B1G1 free

12 votive candles (coupon for 6/$1)

2 bags of candy corn-b/c I didn't know if I had spent the minimun required for the other coupon I had ($10 off of $40 purchase before coupons)

Total came to $79.16

had $4.79 in regular coupons

had $23.98 in Walgreens coupons

and $15.74 in Nature Made coupon

after coupons, my total was $34.63. I saved $44.51! I figured out that the diapers and 1 bottle of vitamins alone cost $33.97, so I basically got the rest of the stuff in the picture for less than a dollar. After the Walgreens trip, I headed to Dillons. I spent way more than I saved, so I'll spare you a picture and breakdown. I'm still learning...

Happy Anniversary

Aside from marriage and salvation, I think this is the best anniversary we've celebrated. September marks the 1st anniversary that Kevin and I have said "NO" to credit card use. We decided we were through with debt and made some drastic, and not so drastic changes to our lifestyle.

• we started living on a budget, and sticking to it
• we quit using credit cards completely
• we made a plan to be debt free in 6 years
• instead of eating out 2-3 times a week, we eat out once a month
• decided to not keep up with the Joneses

Since last September, we've

• paid off Kevin's medical bill from CO (fish hook in the eye injury)
• paid off Ashley Furniture-we now own everything in our house!
• paid off van
  
• bought used car and paid cash for it (trying to sell and pay off truck)
  
• cut credit card bill and student loans down significantly
  
• set up/established an emergency fund
  
• set up 2 savings accounts
  

Last winter, our small group from church went through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace study, and it changed the way we handle our finances. Just found out Dave is having a Labor Day sale so I wanted to pass on the info.

This hasn't been easy, hasn't always been fun. But we both know it will be so worth it in the end. Kevin's goal is to call Dave Ramsey and scream the famous "I'm debt free" on his radio show. Someday, honey, someday soon...

Post-traumatic Stress!

Is anyone else tired of paying such high prices for gas? I added up what we spent on gas last month and the amount made me sick to my stomach. Almost $600! We traveled to Colorado, Texas, Sterling and Abilene, Ks. We planned to spend more on gas in July b/c of vacations, etc. But I don't think we anticipated that total, which was 3x our allotted gas budget. It didn't hurt our overall budget, b/c we knew we would spend more on gas, we cut back on other things. Ugh! It still doesn't feel better, though.

Now, I almost dread getting in the van b/c I realize now that it costs money to drive. Before, it didn't bother me near as much. I find myself trying to consolidate errands and just not do some things I normally would have done with question.

What about you? How are you handling the higher gas prices? Has your life changed? Has your budget changed? Don't be shy...