Spending Goals: Budget Check-Up

12 Weeks into the year and I don't feel like we are doing too bad, although I know we can do better.  At 12 weeks in, we've spent $826.29 on groceries and drugstore purchases.  That's $68.85/wk and about $76 more than we budgeted for.  Typically, when I go over budget, it comes out of my personal envelope.  Paul hates that I do this, but I figure groceries are something that I primarily deal with so if I go over budget, it's on me and I should take care of it.

As far as I'm concerned, our April budgeting period started on Friday (based on a 4wk budgeting period), and so far we are doing pretty well.  With 4 trips under our belt, we've only spent $25, which leaves us plenty to pick up more fresh produce throughout the week.

Total Spent This Year: $826.29
Total Saved: $1957.98 or 73.28%

Got Our Kitchen Prep Set (another great Housewares Deals deal)

My hubby brought in a package this morning with a shrug.  "I don't know what it is but it's too big to be a book".  When I finally got a chance to look at it, it took me a minute to remember that I'd ordered the deal I posted about last week from HousewaresDeals.com for the two cutting boards and three resin coated knives.

I was a little disappointed that they weren't orange, as they appear in the pictures, but red.  Could just be that my color is off on my laptop...lol.  But, I was happy with the overall product.  I'd mentioned it to Paul before ordering and he concurred that he thought it sounded like a good deal at just $14 (with another $4ish for shipping).  The package arrived quickly and we pulled the items out and they all looked good. 

I grabbed the paring knife this afternoon and used it to peel a kiwi.  Hubby had just commented on what a pain they are to peel and I had it peeled in about 30 seconds with that knife.  It was SWEET! And the Kiwi was pretty darn good too!

This is the second deal we've purchased from HouseWaresDeals.com.  The first was a spice rack, which we bought two of (one for my mom) and have been very happy with both the rack and the spices.

Coupon News: Ex-Target Employee Accused of Coupon Fraud

Maybe all these new coupons policies aren't so much because of their worry of abuse by couponers, but by the employees!

Evidently, this guy was working a scheme with some friends where they would come in with high dollar coupons for one item and then he'd override to allow them to use them on other more expensive items (like cell phones).  Evidently, he was also manipulating gift cards.

Read the article here.

Might Want to Get an Extra Paper Tomorrow!

This Sunday's paper is looking to be a GREAT one for coupons and you might want to pick up an extra copy or two.  We usually only buy 1, but we'll be buying 2 this week with all these great coupons.

Check this out (and these are just some of the ones that I personally am looking forward to)....

$1.50 Off Colgate Total Advanced
$2 Off Bic Disposable Shavers (Hybrid, Soleil, Flex 4, Comfort 3 Advance)
$1/2General Mills cereals
BOGO Clean & Clear Body Wash
$1/1 Clean & Clear any Save
BOGO Axe Shower Gel or Detailer
$1/1 Dove Beauty Bar 6- bar pack
$1/1 Dove Body Wash 10oz
$1/1 Dove Men+Care Body and Face Wash

Check out the Sunday Coupon Preview to see the list of what to expect tomorrow, and figure out how many papers you need to buy!

Publix Trip: $20.05 - I wish I had a picture

With the big changes we've made this last week, it's had a big impact on the way we shop.  We've decided to incorporate a LOT more fresh fruit and veggies into our diet and, as you all know, those can get expensive.  My husband's first instinct after last week's $30 Kroger trip was to up our budget. I felt (and still feel) like we can do this without changing our budget.  Granted, I've yet to stay exactly within the $50/wk budget but I'm getting closer and closer.  Last night we went to Publix and picked up a few sale items and a whole lotta produce and managed to spend only $20.  He's pretty set on exactly what he wants to eat but I'm a little more flexible, so I tried to look at what was on sale.  The four things he HAS to have are apples, grapefruit, celery & cucumber.

Here's what we got for that $20


Green Beans (packaged) = $1.41
2lb white seedless grapes (on sale for $1.69lb) = $3.36
Bag of Red Grapefruit (on sale) = $2.99
Celery = $1.49
Bag of Granny Smith apples = $4.99
Cucumber = $1.99 (on sale)
Package Strawberries (on sale 3/$5) = $1.67
Sliced Mushrooms (on sale) = $1.69
2 packages Kraft shredded cheese @ 2/$4 = $4
4 Kraft chunk cheese @ 2/$4 = $8
1 Weight Watchers Ice Cream bars @$4.89 BOGO = $2.45
Egglands Best Eggs @$2.59

=$36.63 (after sale discounts)
-$4/$40 Kroger Q
-$.50/1 Egglands Best (doubled)
-$1/1 Weight Watchers ice cream bars
-(2)$.55/1 Kraft Cheese
-(3)$1.50/2 Kraft Cheese (Target Q)
-(3)$1.50/2 Kraft Cheese (Publix Q)
-$1/1 Kraft Cheese
$1/1 (I have no clue what this was).

=$18.53 + tax = $20.05

As we were ringing out the guy bagging asked the other guy about the Publix Q for the Kraft Cheese, because it says "retailer coupon" but rings as a "manufacturer coupon". The guy ringing me is a csm (and my favorite cashier) and he said that yes it was a manufacturer Q but it didn't beep so he took them all. He still had another q to scan as he was saying this and I mentioned that it might not go through because I may have too many then. He said it scanned so no issue.  Cool!

Looking back at this, that's still a lot of produce for just $20 and we got the cheese basically free!

I Got Highlighted on the ChaChing Challenge!

Kaley over at Cha-Ching on a ShoeString, highlighted my blog yesterday and somehow I totally missed it until today.  She's been running a Cha-Ching Challenge where she shares her weekly savings and invites others to do the same, then she picks one each week to highlight.  This week she picked me and it makes me happy :)

Set Your DVR: Extreme Couponing Series Premier April 6

It's less than 2 weeks away, so it's time to set that DVR to start recording the new series of Extreme Couponing. Check out the preview below!

I've Never Had to Work So Hard To Spend $10!

I had a $10 ECB (that's Extra Care Bucks from CVS) that was going to expire this weekend and I needed to spend it. I'd been watching the ads for the last month looking for a great deal to roll it into or just a great deal to spend it on and hadn't really seen anything that we needed that seemed worth it.  This week I saw a couple of really great deals in the ad, but they were so great that they mostly equalled out to FREE, so I ended up wondering around for about a half hour trying  to find ways to spend my $10.  The first $6 went pretty easily... 2 boxes of cereal and a bottle of Head & Shoulders... it was that last $3.01 that was giving me issues.  Here's what I ended up with only after my husband happened across a $.50 package of cocktail straws (something he'd been asking for for a while).

2 Boxes of Total Cereal: On Sale 2/$5
5 Dawn dish detergent: On Sale $.97
2 Listerine (8.5oz): On Sale $1
1 Head & Shoulders: On Sale $4.99
1 Formula 409: On Sale $2.50
Cocktail Straws: $.49

With all that it seems like hitting $10 would be no problem, but factor in these coupons....
(2) $1/1 Total Cereal
(3) $1/1 Dawn Hand Renewal
(2)$.50/1 Dawn
(1)$2/2 Listerine, etc (Random list of J&J products) printable
(1)$1/1 Head & Shoulders
(1)$.50/1 409

And in the end the whole lost cost me just over $1 out of pocket and I got back another $2ECB from the Head & Shoulders.

Fear the Mail No More

I can't say I've feared getting the mail in a long time, but for the last few years it's just become rather dull.  We pay most of our bills automatically, and really don't have many bills to begin with (the upside of being debt free).  Most of what came in our mail was just confirmations in regardes to insurance or updates to various things, oh and the constant credit card applications.  There were times when we'd go a week without bothering to check out mail, because there just much worth checking it for.

That all changed when I started working to save money.  Now, every day getting the mail is like Christmas. I wait for the Mail person to show up and I can't wait to see what they brought me.  Today was no exception and it felt like Christmas when I opened the mailbox and found two boxes inside.  Here's what was in those boxes...

 

On top is the free sample of Mio Water Enhancer.  It looks like it might be a really good way to add some occasional flavor the to the massive amounts of water that I drink. 

Below that is the Beauty Bag from Target that I posted about a couple of weeks ago.  The bag itself is quite nice and will come in handy for carting small amounts of make-up various places.  Inside it were several different samples and $25 worth of coupons for beauty products from Target.  WOOT!

Working Out on a Budget

image credit FunnyAnimalSite.com


I posted a little bit last week about how we are working out on a budget.  Since then I've gotten my husband on the EA Sports Activebandwagon and he is also doing the 30 Day Challenge.  I'm happy to say that I'm now almost 2 full weeks into it and I'm still holding strong.

A couple of nights ago I even used some of my Amazon credits (earned via Swagbucks, thank you very much) to order an extra leg strap, so that we can work out together.

In the past (when I thought I had money) I've worked out with a trainer, and I have to say there are upsides to having a trainer, but overall, I think that EA Active does the job just as well, if not better.  The routines are very similar to those I would have done with my trainer.  We were in a gym and would also use the weight machines, but the trainers I've worked with always tended more towards a circuit style training, which is what EA Active uses.  The biggest upside I find to using EA Active is that it's an every day kind of thing (almost).  It's actually set up to work you out for 2 days, then you rest for 1 day and then back to the 2 days of working out, and so on.  Even when I could afford a trainer, the most I went was two days a week, what was I doing the other 5 days of the week?  At best, I was getting on the treadmill, and that's just not enough if your goal is to actually lose weight.  I did lose weight, but no faster than I probably would have just doing weight watchers alone.

With a trainer, I had someone to hold me accountable. They would look at my food journal and ask me what I did when I wasn't with them.  But, what's the worst that could happen? They'd give me a disappointed look.  This time it's different, because if I'm going to work out five days a week, I have to be doing it for me.  I am doing Weight Watchers at the same time, but more to help me keep myself in line with what I eat.  With the new Weight Watchers system I actually find it hard some days to eat enough food.

Working out on a budget, is all about using what you have.  Whatever you have.  If you have a Wii, you can pick up a used copy of EA Active on Amazon for under $20 (and you can probably do the same in a local video game trade in store).  If you don't have a Wii there are still plenty of great free and cheap options for working out, that don't require a gym membership or a trainer and with the weather getting nice, the options are just increasing.

• Walk the dog (if you have one), if not just go for a walk
• Go for a hike, find local trails and start wondering them. You'll be amazed at what you'll find.
• Go for a bike ride (most of us have an old bike in the garage, you just might want to air up those tires first).
• There are plenty of great exercises you can do without leaving your house 
• Crunches
• Push Ups (start out slow by doing pushups against the wall while standing, as you get better, do them with your hands on a chair or the couch, then work your way to the ground).
• lunges (side and front lunges really work your legs)
• Walk or run in place.
• Look for free workout videos on Youtube (there are plenty).
• Don't have hand weights? Grab a couple of cans of vegetables or bottles of body wash

Whatever you do, don't use money as an excuse not to get a good workout.  The only excuse you have is yourself (and I know, because I was my own excuse for way too long). FWIW, I've lost 2 pounds so far!