Feel.Like.I'm.Winning.

Sometimes it seems futile, this quest to save money.  But, today God has helped me reign victorious!!  I actually have 27.00 left over from my groceries.  7.00 for paper and milk, 10.00 for grocery stockpile and 10.00 for VACATION!!!  Ever since I got away a little, I have craved that for my family as well.  Well, I am off and running and can't wait to add to my stash..

Yeah!!!

Today I went to Walgreen's and got a mascara and eyeliner for $1.89 and got 10 Snickers bars for $0.00!!!!! I love my coupons and love saving money! Today was a good day!

Thoughts

I think sometimes I am way too hard on myself and after rethinking my goal of 20.00 especially when John is just starting school was probably way too hard for me. I think such lofty thoughts and then I set myself up for disappointment. Last week I read something that stayed with me, it was - "Living frugally is about making a thousand tiny choices." If I am choosing to save even one dollar rather than spend it on something silly, then I am succeeding and that is progress in my world. So, my new goal is 10.00 a week. Anything extra will just be gravy.

Some Disappointments

So, here I sit after my first shopping trip with my extra 20.00, i.e. 100.00 for a week's worth of shopping. Did not go so well and I am not sure how that happened - I only planned on two meals and one night to eat out. I think it went to extra snacks for John's first day of school. I intended on spending only 80.00 and spent 106.00!!!!! And that was after I saved 25.00 on coupons and specials! I am trying and in this process I have to cut myself some slack and realize that some days will be victories and some will be defeats. I am still single-minded focused on savings and was able to save 12.00 toward John's birthday presents and over 130.00 in our savings from our paychecks. For that I am grateful. I am grateful to have this problem - many people do not know how they will eat dinner so I will close with gratitude and resolve to just keep watching every dime!

Time for a new challenge..

I have recently been lamenting the cost of groceries and items we need at BJ's and Sean and I have decided to raise my weekly allowance for groceries to $100.00. The exciting thing about this is that when the time comes to go to BJ's, I never have enough left over from groceries to accomodate for anything which means we either pull the money out of savings or (eek!) use our credit card. Enough. So, this is the first week that I will be getting my raise and I want to save 20.00 from that amount. I am getting much better about saving at the grocery store and making things s-t-r-e-t-c-h. Well, now we can actually get a pizza every once in a while or I can just go into BJ's and take it from my stash. Now that I am on this savings kick, I am establishing a short-term goal and a mid-term goal and a long-term goal. So, here they are: SHORT: Spend $80.00 on groceries this week and saving that extra $20.00. MID-TERM: Pay off one credit card by the end of this year. LONG-TERM: Buy a house. All noteworthy goals and I will let you know how I am doing!!!

Doing better...

I have been doing a little better. It seems that no matter how much I conserve and try to watch that gas consumption, the tank tends to lean a little more to the left than I would like! But, all in all, I am still doing better to make positive steps than I have in a long time. It has been eight days and I can honestly say that I have been driving the speed limit the whole time even when time was crunched and the desire was there to speed. So, for that, I am proud of myself. I have not kept that 15.00 in my pocket that I talked about in a previous post. I used some on ice cream and stuff at Joann's. I made a cute little pin cushion, so for that it was worth it. I am a little disappointed in myself. But I refuse to come down on myself because I am spending this money on my new computer. I am a glass half full kind of girl. Always have been. And no matter what I know that Sean and I will make our way out of this mess. And we will pay off these credit cards. With constant vigilance and self-control, we will make it and thrive. I just know we will. Every day, every month when the line marked "new purchases" says nothing, then I know that we are making progress and fighting for our family.

How am I doing?

Well, I have been pretty wound tightly with this whole money thing and saving gas and such. It was to the point that I had a huge pain in my neck because of my constant vigilance. So, I threw my hands in the air and said, "Lord, I cannot do this without your help." And almost immediately the pain left me. I somehow started this venture, foolishly, without Him. I know He will bless my diligence. I have almost a full tank of gas and only three working days until I get another allowance. This is so much better than I have ever done. I am so glad to see such great results so quickly. With the extra money I can go shopping at Joann's! Woo Hoo!