Shared Mar 7, 2011
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Summer Bucket List
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This Week’s Menu Plan
Lasagna Casserole — recipe coming on Thursday
We have a really busy week this week (I try not to plan more than one or two extra things each week outside of our normal routine and schedule, but somehow I totally didn’t follow that rule of thumb this week!), so I’m sticking to super simple meals for our menu. You know, the kind which can be whipped together in 15 minutes or less.
Breakfasts:
Homemade Granola, Fruit
Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Fruit
Cold Cereal, Juice x 2
Orange Cream Smoothies, English Muffins
Baked Oatmeal, Fruit
Overnight French Toast Casserole, FruitLunches:
Leftovers x 3
Macaroni & Cheese, carrots, apple slices
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, fruit
Cheese Quesadillas, frozen veggies, apple slices
SmartOnes meals, frozen veggies, orangesDinners:
Marinated Chicken, Toast, Frozen Veggies, Fruit
Sausage Potatoes Onions & Carrots in the Crockpot, English Muffins, Fruit
Brown Bag Burritos (from the freezer), Green Rice Casserole (from the freezer), Fruit
Lasagna Casserole, Broccoli, Bread Machine Buttery Rolls
Dinner with Friends (we’re bringing a veggie tray and dessert)
Dinner at Extended Family’s House
Dinner Out
What are your favorite 15-minute meals?
Shared Mar 6, 2011
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Super Savings Saturday: Dave Ramsey Live Event + lots of great bargains this week
Super Savings Saturday: Dave Ramsey Live Event + lots of great bargains this week
We spent all day driving up to Kansas City and back and attending the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover Live Event. It was our third time to attend and we always learn something new each time. We took Jesse’s brother with us which made it even more exciting since it was his first time to attend this event.
Jon Acuff was there (of Stuff Christians Like fame) and we enjoyed chatting with him for a few minutes about blogging and how he juggles everything he does. If you’ve not read his blog, you’ll definitely want to check it out. He’s an amazingly gifted and funny writer. I’m halfway through his book Gazelles, Baby Steps and 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me Debt. It’s hilarious and so poignantly true.
As far as my shopping trips this week, here’s what all we ended up buying:
Dillon’s Shopping Trip #1: spent $13.98 — see the full details and coupon match-ups here
Health Food Store Shopping Trip: spent $5.32 — see the full details here
Target Shopping Trip: spent $0 (used a gift card) — see the full details and coupon match-ups here
Dillon’s Shopping Trip #2: spent $8.05 — see the full details and coupon match-ups here
Aldi Shopping Trip: spend $30.34 — see the full details here.
Did you snag any great deals or bargains this week or save money in other ways? If so, be sure to post about them on your blog and leave your link below. Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order to keep this weekly round-up focused on helping and inspiring others in their efforts to save money, links which have little-to-no content other than promoting affiliate links, etc. will be deleted. Also, to make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Super Savings Saturday post.
We Paid Cash! :: Cruise to Mexico
A testimony from DeAnna
My husband and I only take one vacation a year and usually try to plan it around October 4th in order to celebrate our wedding anniversary as well.
He is a truck driver and I am a nanny and full-time student (recent graduate, actually!), so money and vacation time are both pretty tight. However, we managed to save up enough money to not only go on a five day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico but to also take his mother and my grandmother along for the ride — all expenses paid! They’ve never been on a “real” vacation before, and his father died just six months ago, so we felt that it’d be a lovely gift to share with them. Both women live on disability/social security, so we knew that we’d be covering the whole bill.
How we saved for our trip over three months :
- We used $1500 from our tax returns to pay all but $150 of the cruise. This included two staterooms, tips and insurances. The additional $150 was taken from my savings account.
- I worked extra hours at work and dropped our grocery budget down to $25 a week (from $40ish) to come up with the $300 it would take to board our four dogs for a week.
- My husband made an additional $3000 by staying on the road for six-week stretches instead of coming home every four weeks.
Saving for more than just the cruise
We used the $3000 to pay for gasoline from Kentucky to Miami, Florida (roughly $200 roundtrip; my car gets 40mpg, thankfully!), two hotel rooms for two nights, food for the trips down and up, spending money for everyone on the ship and ports of call and $250 for the overpriced but beautiful on-ship photos.
My husband also set aside $400 of that money to cover bills for that week, since he does not get paid vacation. We did not end up spending all of the money set aside (had $800 left!) so when we returned and learned that one of our dogs caused $66 dollars of damage, we were able to pay without blinking an eye.
Already thinking about another cruise for next year
A cruise worked well for our family because it was an all-inclusive vacation and provided many activities for everyone to do at all hours of the day.
Additionally, by booking and paying ahead, we saved a great deal of money. We saved $200 per stateroom just by booking three months in advance!
I think that my husband’s favorite part of the whole vacation would have to be the amazing food and 24-hour room service, since he never gets waited on at home and we’re too busy to cook elaborate meals.
For me, a week of pampering and getting dressed up for dinner was worth the small sacrifices made along the way and not having to work, study and keep house definitely has me saving money already for next year’s trip!
DeAnna is a recent graduate of Austin Peay State University and a full-time nanny who is currently applying to law schools and hoping to keep her family’s debt as low as possible. She and her husband of two years, Brandon, are parents to six special needs “furchildren” and are striving to be debt-free and career-secure before having children some day.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
Monthly Financial Update
While there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot to report this month, we were able to bump our retirement up to 10% of our income and we’ve also been working on slowly funding our children’s educational savings accounts with the amount we’ve decided to put in them. So here’s the rundown:
1. Significantly increase our giving to needs in our community and around the world. This is an ongoing goal, so we’re keeping it uncrossed off from the list.
2. Pay cash for a replacement washer and dryer for our very used set.
3. Pay cash for a replacement for Old Blue Van.
4. Pay cash for a couch for our basement family room.
5. Pay cash for bunk beds for the girls.
6. Fully fund our IRAs.
7. Bump up our retirement savings to 10% of our income.
8. Fund our children’s educational savings.
9. Double our Emergency Fund Savings (Instead of having around six month’s worth of expenses set aside, we’re planning to set aside a year’s worth of expenses.)
10. Save for our next BHAG.
We’d love to hear about your recent financial goals and successes! You can post about it on your blog and leave your link in the comments. Or, just share about your progress/goals in the comments. Let’s all keep each other accountable to be better stewards of our resources!
Last Night’s Dillon’s Shopping Trip
In addition to Aldi and Target, we also made a quick stop at Dillon’s last night. Here’s what we purchased:
3 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios — on sale for $2.18, used 3 $0.55/1 coupons (these “doubled” to $1 off), $1.18 per box after coupons
2 Green Giant Steamers — on sale for $1.29, used 2 $0.50/1 coupons (doubled), $0.29 per bag after coupons
2 bunches of red-taped ripe bananas — $0.29 per pound, $1.28 total
1 package of Brats — marked down to $2.29
1 tub Cool Whip — used my last free coupon they sent with the gift basket
My total after coupons with tax was $8.05
I also noticed they had Mom’s Best Cereal on sale for $1.50. I didn’t have the $0.75/1 coupons with me, but those will make the cereal only $0.50 per box after the coupon “doubles” to $1 off.
Tonight’s Aldi Shopping Trip
I stopped by Aldi expressly to stock up on fruit and a few other staples. I was sad that they were completely out of the $0.99 pineapple and $1.49 strawberries, but happy for the great deals on apples and oranges. I might have to make another trip to get the strawberries and pineapple as they told me they’d be getting in another shipment tomorrow.
Here’s what I ended up getting:
Chicken Breasts — $5.49
Milk — $2.80
Three bags of apples — $1.29 per bag
Paper Plates — $1.29
Tortillas — $0.99
Kidney beans — $0.55
Cream of Chicken soup — $0.59
Applesauce — $1.19
Two bags of oranges — $1.49 per bag
Oil — $2.29
Butter — $2.38 (Yikes! This is much more than I usually pay. Must. look. for. a. sale. on. butter. stat! Or, buy a milk cow. :))
Carrots — $0.99
Two cans of refried beans — $0.69 each
Raisins — $1.49My total was $30.34 including tax.
And no one flip out that I bought plastic plates, okay? We’re going to be hosting some folks for meals over the next few weeks and I just decided to make it easy on myself and stick with plastic so we didn’t have to mess with dishes when we had company.
Also, those of you who are observant will notice I bought oil. It’s been months since I’ve bought oil, but I’ve been hankering for some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and they just really taste better with oil instead of butter or applesauce or coconut oil. So I caved. Yes, I did.
Tonight’s Target Shopping Trip
Coffeemate Creamer – $1.46
Used $0.75/1 printable
$0.71 after coupon
Reach Floss — $0.97
Used 2 $1/1 printable coupons
Free after coupons
Rimmel Mascara — $2.99
Used $2/1 coupon
$0.99 after coupon
Cool Whip — used one of the free coupons they sent with my gift basket
Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut cereal — $2.50
Used $1/1 coupon from the 1/23 RedPlum insert (expires 3/6)
$1.50 per box
Kashi TLC Bars — $2.65
Used $2/1 coupon printed from RecycleBank
$0.65 after coupon
My total was $4.79 after coupons. I used some of my gift cards I earned last week to pay for my total, so I paid $0.00 out of pocket.
Stories of Hope: How Converting to Cash Saved Our Finances
Lisa emailed in the following testimonial which I found so encouraging:
About three years ago, my husband and I were in big financial trouble. We each carried a checkbook and a debit card that shared the same bank account. We would each make daily purchases using checks and debit.
Most of the time, the purchases were for small items such as coffee, gas, lunch, etc. We were never very good with keeping track of our money because we were always broke anyway and we felt like we were just robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Every week, we would go into the negative in the bank account because we would be out of money, yet we still needed to provide food for the family and put gas in the tanks. The NSF charges applied to our account multiplied with each and every purchase we made, sometimes even adding up to more than what our direct deposit checks would cover on payday.
This continued for several months and we found ourselves in a big black hole that we could not get ourselves out of. The total of the bank fees alone totaled to over $3,000 in a three month period. Needless to say, all of our bills got behind including our rent.
It was a huge mess and we were struggling to turn it around. We decided the only way to stop the bleeding was to close the bank account and stop using checks and debit cards all together. We have never used credit cards so that was not an issue.
We closed the checking account and opened a savings account. We made a written budget that included putting money away for an emergency fund and we started using cash only for everything.
Since then, we keep all our cash in the savings account and we have to go to the bank to make a withdraw each time we needed money. We have not turned back.
We continue to use cash only. I can look around my house and honestly tell you that everything in it is paid for completely with cash. Now, we never have to worry about a debit purchase not getting posted before a deposit.
If we need or want something, we save up for it and purchase it with cash. We bought a new stainless steel kitchen appliance package, a nice HDTV and TV stand, our sofa, our dining table, as well as our car — all paid in full with cash.
Using a cash system has taught me patience. I have to save money before I can buy anything, and I wait for the best deals to come around for things that I would have bought on impulse in the past! I now believe that even only one overdraft charge is one too many.
We all make mistakes and of course, our family’s mistakes got way out of control. We had to be honest with ourselves and be willing to make changes to better our lives according to the truths that we know. My husband and I have never been good with managing our money and therefore, we had to force ourselves to make drastic changes.
Now, we are working together in our finances. We are no longer slaves to the bank card. We assign each dollar that we make. It is freeing, not restricting.
We are debt free! There is help and there is always hope!
Lisa simply wants to share her lessons learned. She knows that many people are in the same boat as she was and are afraid to admit it. She believes it is nothing to be ashamed of, and that we can all comfortably live within our means if we just commit ourselves to putting the effort into it and it pays!
Frugal and Fun: The Pizza Game!
Laura from Ten Things Farm has a fun and creative idea for teaching math skills to young children through this homemade felt pizza game.
OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!
Click here to download!
25 Ways to Waste Your Money
Amanda emailed in the link to this article on 25 Ways to Waste Your Money. I thought it was packed with a lot of great advice. Here’s a snippet:
Has your budget sprung a leak?
Nearly everyone has spending holes. And as with other kinds of leaks, you may have hardly noticed them. But those small drips can quickly add up to big bucks. The trick is to find the holes and plug them so you can keep more money in your pocket. That extra cash could be the ticket to finally being able to save, invest, or break your cycle of living from paycheck to paycheck.
Here are 25 common ways people waste money. See if any of these sound familiar, then look for ways to plug your own leaks:
1. Carrying a balance. Debt is a shackle that holds you back. For instance, if you have a $1,000 balance on a credit card that charges an 18% rate, you blow $180 every year on interest. Get in the habit of paying off your balance in full each month.
2. Overspending on gas and oil for your car. There’s no need to spring for premium fuel if the manufacturer says regular is just fine. You should also check to make sure your tires are optimally inflated to get the best gas mileage. And are you still paying for an oil change every 3,000 miles? Many models nowadays can last 5,000 to 7,000 miles between changes, and some even have built-in sensors to tell you when it’s time to change the oil. Check your manual to find the best time for your car’s routine maintenance.
Read the full article here.
Reader Tip: Purchasing Grains in Bulk
Cherie emailed in the following tip:
I started getting into bread making for our family of nine, so we purchased a Bosch mixer and a Nutrimill to grind our wheat. I was purchasing from a local whole food store, but I found a company that ships anywhere in the U.S. for less than $5. The site is honeyvillegrain.com.
I buy my oatmeal and grain from them by the 50 lb. packages as they sell many items in bulk. Some church friends of ours have even gotten together to buy quantities in bulk, then divide it up among their families so they can get the products cheaper. -Cherie
The prices of HoneyVille Grain looked mostly higher than what I typically pay, but it might be a good deal for some of you who don’t have access to a bulk food store.
Teaching Our Children to Be Givers
Monday afternoon, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find a young man with a stack of grocery sacks and papers in his hand.
He introduced himself and let me know he was doing a food drive in our neighborhood for the local food banks. He gave me a plastic sack, asked if I’d be willing to fill it up and said he’d be back later in the week to pick it up.
The girls and I immediately took the sack downstairs to our “pantry” (i.e. some shelves on the wall in our utility closet). We came up with tuna, pasta and a number of other canned and jarred goods to fill the sack with. As we were pulling things off the shelf, it provided an excellent opportunity for me to share with the girls again about how important it is that we live our lives with open hands, seeking to give to and bless those in need.
It was such a simple thing and a grocery sack full of non-perishables won’t really make that much of a difference. However, our hope and prayer is that by constantly looking for opportunities to teach our children to be givers, it can make a lifelong impact in their lives — and in the lives of all those they come in contact with.
How have you been encouraging your children to be givers recently? I’d love to hear your ideas!
10 Ways to Make Money Writing Online
Christian Personal Finance has a great article with ten ideas for making money by writing online.
Ask Jesse: Advice for starting a college fund?
I’m just curious if you have any advice on starting college funds for kids. I have two boys (nearly 5 and 2), and we are most likely going to be putting them in Christian school. How can we afford to put them in Christian school (which in our area is around $4,000 a year for elementary) and save for college. Do you think it’s a parent’s responsibility to pay for college? I know starting now will help with compounded interest, etc. but our monthly contribution will be quite small. I’m just wondering what advice you have for this major financial goal! -Angela
To answer your question directly, you really need to set priorities. If it is more important for your child to get an education at a Christian school now in elementary school then, say, go to an expensive college after he or she graduates, then you save for the elementary education and pray he or she receives scholarships and has great summer or part-time jobs to supplement and get by. It has been done many times and can be a great learning and character building experience.
You can always save what you can for college, but do not guilt yourself (or let others guilt you) into thinking you need to do more if you are doing all you can and you are setting your priorities as you feel led to do.
Besides saving for one’s house, saving for a child’s college is probably the most costly expense a family will face. And to many, not going to college is simply not an option. Because this is such an important aspect of a family’s financial plan, both Congress and state legislatures have set up special savings arrangements just for educational expenses. I am just now in the process of looking into these options for our children.
I believe that parents should help out if they can, but the child should also seek to help offset the costs of college whether it be through their accumulated savings, through working through college, through scholarships or through a combination of some of all these things. We’ve decided we do not want to be “boxed in” to only using any savings that we may accumulate for college or vocational training expenses as we want to have the option for the savings to also be able to be used for small business development or for a down payment on a house.
Because of this, we are looking into opening what is known in our state as a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act custodial account. In this account, any money saved is actually considered to be an asset of the minor child and we, as the parents, are merely custodians of the money for the child. Once the child reaches the age of majority, here 21, he or she will then receive the full account.
This has its drawbacks, as we do not know if that child will be mature or wise enough to handle anything coming their way, but by that time they will be adults and will be responsible for their own actions. It is my responsibility now while they are young to teach them and put them in the position where they will be wise stewards once that time arrives.
The other drawback to these accounts is that they are not treated as favorably for tax purposes as, say, Educational Savings Accounts or 529 plans. Nonetheless, that is the price you pay for flexibility.
As I said, there are several other options available for qualified educational expenses (see this link for what constitutes such an expense). These include the individual state-sponsored 529 college savings plans, the pre-paid 529 plans and the Coverdell Educational Savings Accounts (ESA).
From my research, anyone can open a 529 plan, regardless of income. There are even some 529 plans that allow residents from another state to participate in them. It is my understanding that the plan is preset in terms of diversification of investments to track the age of the child and to change investment holdings to get more conservative as the child gets older. With a Coverdell ESA (at least for 2011) you can save up to $2,000 per year per child pre-tax if you make less than $220,000 married filing jointly and any unused balances may be used by eligible siblings. This is definitely a good option if you have little ones and time on your side.
This is only meant to scrape the surface on these accounts. I am sure that many of you out there have already researched these out thoroughly and can explain some of the actual nuts and bolts of how the accounts work from personal experience. I would be interested in hearing what has worked for you. If you had to do things all over again, would you do the same thing?
Jesse Paine is a licensed attorney who owns his own law firm. He’s married to Crystal and is the numbers nerd of the MoneySavingMom.com team! If you have a question you’d like him to answer in a future column, you can submit it here.
The content of this column intended for informational use only and is not to be construed as providing legal, investing, accounting or other professional advice. Your situation is factually specific and you should accordingly seek qualified professional counsel concerning your specific legal, investing or accounting needs.