Sunday, July 28, 2013

How We Save Money at our House



When we got pregnant with our first child, we decided that I would stay at home with her.  That meant we would have to manage with much less income.  We had to make a lot of changes to make this work.  I thought I would share some of those things with you here:


1)  Drop cable/satellite.  You may be paying between $35-$80 a month for cable (or satellite).  Drop that bill & use a combination or Netflix & Redbox.  To get unlimited instant viewing on Netflix, its $9 per month.  We decided to use Redbox for new releases since it's just $1 & no waiting.  Not to mention, if you join their email list or get their texts, they will send you code for free movies or 1/2 off all the time.  See, way cheaper.




2)  Shop at ALDIs y'all.   You probably can't get every single thing on your list there, but you can get most of it.  You could shave $50 off your grocery bill.  Great place to get inexpensive flowers, too.



3)  Don't be too proud for the Dollar Tree.  You can get cheap socks, canned goods, plasticware, paperware, gift wrapping supplies, party supplies & craft supplies for the kiddos.  At Christmastime, you can get great deals on the larger-sized ornaments we all love.  I know interior designers that go there to get their supplies when decorating homes for Christmas.  Seriously!



4)  Consider refinancing.  Rates are at an all-time low (for example we went from 4.99% to 3.6%).  We were able to shave $200 off our monthly mortgage payment.  It saved us about $20,000 on our overall loan amount.

5)  Buy second-hand.  We get the majority of the things we own used.  We buy furniture & tons of home decor items from Craigslist:





we get clothes from the Goodwill, yard sales & thredup.com.


thredup



6)  Become an Amazon Prime member.  Great benefits.  You get free 2-day shipping, free instant-streaming of a lot of movies & shows, borrow free books from the Kindle Lending Library.  Many things we buy are cheaper on Amazon &, since we don't have to pay shipping, it's even cheaper.


amazon.com


7) Shop Ebay stores.


You can get new products with free shipping & sometimes save a ton.   We bought a new large leather storage ottoman for $150 & free shipping.  This one:


8)

How It Works

How Icon 1

Pick Your Plan

To start getting eMeals, just choose a meal plan
based on your eating style, your family size
and even your favorite grocery store.
How Icon 2

Get Great Recipes

Every week, your meal plan arrives in your inbox —
complete with seven simple, creative, family–friendly
dinner recipes. Each includes an entrée and side dishes.
How Icon 3

Shop and Save

Along with the meal plan, you'll receive a detailed
grocery list organized by section and coordinated
with the weekly sales at selected stores.
How Icon 4

Relax and Enjoy

We take care of the meal planning, the grocery list and
the budgeting — while you take credit for making healthy, 
home–cooked meals
 that your whole family will love.





What is eMeals? from eMeals on Vimeo.

The real money saving here is that:

-Each meal plan is very affordable & can be customized to the store where you shop
-All of the meals share ingredients, so you end up buying less groceries at the store.


My readers can save 15% by entering promo code: SCHOOL15 


- - -

These are the first things that came to my mind tonight.  Hope it's helpful to you!  Let me know what you do to save money!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Shout Out from the Rich Mom

Do you follow the Rich Mom blog? The author is Renae Christine & I love her! I recently started reading her book, "Rich Mom- Home Business Startup Bible."  I am really getting a lot out of it.  I also watch her daily YouTube videos.  She is super.  Watch her.
 
She gave me a shout out today!!!

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Reclaiming Our Spaces: Reality!



Let me tell you about this afternoon.  I forgot someone was coming by.  I was still in pajamas (at 4pm!) Both children had no bottoms on, the house was a wreck.  I was so embarrassed!!!

- HOWEVER -

It really got me thinking.  This is reality.  This is my life.  Sometimes it's messy, ugly, disorganized--just crazy.  I am sure some of y'all can relate a little?  My sweet friend (& her husband & her 2 kids!) was so full of grace for me in the chaos of the moment.  That was such an encouragement to me in that moment when I felt like a complete mess.

See, my plan for this week was to work on organizing my daughter's room.  It's fairly organized, but I have needed to deal with the crazy amount of dress up gear that it always thrown all over the floor.  I hang it up, but it gets pulled back down & she's not tall enough to get it hung back up.  

I think the best solution is a trunk for her to store it all in.  Something like one of these maybe:








It would be easy for her to clean it all up, but she also wouldn't need my help getting it out when she was ready to play.  So, I'm on the lookout for one, but I haven't found one yet.  I also want to move her room around a little.

So, this project will have to be stalled until I can find what I'm looking for.  That's the reality for me right now.  Sometimes it is a real struggle to get even simple things accomplished, but I am pointed the right direction & making progress all the time.  I hope my transparency is an encouragement to some of you that may feel overwhelmed at the thought of your clutter; by trying to carve out the time to sit and think about where to start.  I am right there with you!!

Baby steps are still steps!

This week Holly felt a little frustration this week as well, but still got some work done.  Check out her post here.