$5 Magazine Alert!!

I know I need to update you on the final numbers of November's grocery budget....but this is TOO GOOD to pass up today!

Check out the $5 magazine subscriptions at Amazon! Good through today, December 1st.

I'm getting a few as Christmas gifts!

$30 Challenge: Week 2

Week 2 Meal Plan:

Sunday - out at Mom & Dad's
Monday - Beef Stroganoff
Tuesday - leftovers (Bec out)
Wednesday - London Broil with broccoli & mashed potatoes
Thursday - Grilled chicken over salad
Friday - Pork tenderloin with grilled veggies and rice
Saturday - Spaghetti


Shopping:
Publix $ 28.86

Overall, I'm still under budget, but with a mere $3 in my cushion fund :), how exactly will T-giving fit into my budget?? Still working a few angles on that challenge.

WA-HOO!! So excited to have actually met my challenge this week...$29 and holding. :) As long as I can stay away from the grocery store for the rest of this week, I'm good. My basket was surprisingly full for such a small bill. I bought a lot of fruits and veggies (Publix had some good vegetables on sale this week), eggs, sour cream, and just two of the B1G1 deals that were good items for my pantry.

One tip that I want to note for my future reference: the "stock-up" list this month included meat, bread, sandwich meat, and pasta. (The bread and pasta only made that list because they were B1G1.) Some other items would be good to include on that list, like a few back-up cans of veggies, dairy products, sauces, baking supplies. I'm going to consider a standard list, and leave out a few of the meat items that I might find later on sale.

Ideas? Opinions?

$30 Challenge: Week 1

Week 1 Meal Plan:

Sunday - leftovers
Monday - Pot Roast
Tuesday - out for Korean food! Yum! Dad's Bday
Wednesday - Chicken Cacciatore
Thursday - Baked Potato Soup & Salad
Friday - Italian Beef Sandwiches
Saturday - leftovers (after a long day at Kennedy Space Center)


Stock-up:
Sams Club $75
Publix $36
over-budget by $11

Shopping:
Sams $21
Publix $25
over-budget by $16

At this point, the "over-budget" amounts have eaten into my cushion fund, but I'm technically still under my monthy budget. I'll be mentioning this overall update weekly.

NOT a good start! HA! (At least you know I'll be honest.) Hoping this will even out as the month goes along... But here's to show that we're not planning on eating beans and rice every night. I love cooking yummyness.

New Month, New Challenge

This post is an update to my earlier promise to let you know how our financial class is going. Well...we're not so crazy about it, actually. The principles are excellent, but we're finding that the underlying values of this particular program do not exactly match our own. Nevertheless, we're learning and implementing a lot.

An obvious part of the monthly budget that I have the most control over is the food budget. What's the best way to manage this money? I've been reading blogs, talking with others, and trying a few different grocery-budget-strategies. (oh, and we've added another mouth to feed this month; now i'm cooking for 3.)

If I have any readers that might, in the least, be interested :), I've decided to share this month's experiment with you! We're trying to keep the grocery bill at $250 a month (doesn't include eating out), so here's the lowdown:

Stock-up. As much as I love shopping weekly sales, I really don't think Sams Club meat prices can be beat. So, I started the month there and gave myself $100 to "stock-up." With my leftover money, I grabbed a few of the B1G1 items at Publix this week like bread and pasta.
Weekly. Here comes the challenge: now I'm allowing myself $30 a week for the remaining items I need. Eeek! This money is primarily for buying fresh fruits and veggies. Other items on the list might include what I need for a specific recipe or great sales. :) I love the unexpected sales!
Cushion. If you've done the math, that only leaves me a $30 cushion. It's nice to have a cushion, but a mere $30 won't go far. I'll need to choose wisely and be willing to pass up on a good sale if my meal plan doesn't necessitate it.

This is IMPOSSIBLE without a meal plan! Call me crazy, but I currently have our meals planned for the next 3 weeks! Yep, there's a calendar on our fridge all penciled in. I started by looking at the meat I bought and the items already in my pantry, and then started filling in the boxes.

Don't ask me why I'm doing this now, the month of Thanksgiving, the year of which I'm hosting. Won't that be a budget-breaker?! We'll see!

For any PI readers, you should know the Yoons are gearing up for the Turkey Shoot with intensity. I told Joe we have to win the turkey if we're going to stay under budget. :) (ok, so my strategy is not to practice, but to bring more people to raise our chances! ha)

I'll keep you updated!

PS: This is actually fun for me. Of all the domestic duties, cooking for my family is on the top of my list! And shopping for said cooking is also part of the delight. I could go on and on about that....

Christmas....it's not too early

Yes, I've already started thinking about Christmas. Christmas is expensive, lets be honest. I'm determined this year to not let it get ridiculously out of hand, financially speaking. SO...I've set a budget for each person, I've started scouring the clearance racks, and I'm probably at least 1/3 done by now! It's been fun.

Here are a few ideas - please share yours!

1.) Both Joe and I thoroughly enjoy gift-giving and have dreams of giving extravagantly. But as we've talked about it, we've had to convince ourselves that it's not about 'the gift' or the amount of money that we spend. The meaning lies behind the gesture of giving, which we would rather focus on. Practically, that means we've lowered the amount we normally spend on family members this year.
2.) I set an individual budget for each man, woman, and child. This has helped me both cap my overall budget and set a shopping limit for each gift.
3.) Within this budget, I still cut corners! For example, if I find something on sale, I count a reasonable amount for the item toward the overall person's $ limit, even if I spent less. Does that make sense? Like, I might choose an item that at full price was out-of-the-question. Whatever I spent on it (30, 50, or 75% off), I choose a reasonable price for it in my head and count that toward their budget. Translation: I end up spending less than my set budget in the end.
4.) I'm considering doing joint gifts for the married folks in the family. This would slightly lower the overall budget and give more money to spend on a bigger gift. Another idea is to combine $ with siblings to get a specific gift someone requests.
5.) Even though we've lowered the amount of money we're spending, it's important to me that I still give something useful and enjoyable. I don't just want to give everyone a new T-shirt because it's cheap...you know what I'm saying?
6.) Starting early gives me more time to scour the sales and spread out the bills. (One person's gift was bought in July...at 80% off with a gift card! super duper score!)
7.) Is this getting boring? Okay, I'll keep going...at least for my sake.
8.) Our financial class says 'make gifts'. I am totally for this, but totally out of ideas this year! Feel free to share if you've got any!
9.) I want to send Christmas cards this year. Don't forget to include the price of stamps into your Christmas budget! Those babies can a-d-d up!
10.) Joe and I will probably do our one-year-old traditions this year (ornament, stockings) and probably not much more. We're toying with the idea of planning a cheap vacay for Jan.-Feb. as a gift to each other instead. Otherwise, we're saving money!!

We hope that early shopping and a decreased focus on how much money we spend will simply serve as tools to prepare our hearts for the celebration of the Advent season! So many distractions slave for our attention during this holy, peaceful time of year. Let us truly worship!

Graduation!

Praise God! I graduated from the University of Central Florida on August 8, 2009 with my Masters Degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

More good ideas for this Saturday - FREE!

Saturday, September 26 is Free Museum Day, courtesy of the Smithsonian.

Some of the participating venues in the Orlando area are:

Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens
Bok Tower Gardens
Maitland Art Museum
Florida Air Museum

...and many, many more!

Check out more information here and find a full listing of Florida venues:
http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/about.html


PS...We did Bok Tower Gardens on July 3 and couldn't have loved it more! Highly recommended by the Yoons.

this just in....$5 Science Center on Saturday

ORLANDO, FL - (September 10, 2009) - The Orlando Science Center, in partnership with the Walmart Foundation, has announced the next “Walmart $5 Day” will be Saturday, September 26 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Thanks to Walmart’s generous support, all guests to the Science Center on September 26 will enjoy exhibits, films and live programs for the significantly discounted price of $5. General admission fees are usually $17 for adults and $12 for kids (ages 3-11).

Anniversary Weekend

If you have read any of my much earlier posts, you might remember that Joe proposed to me at the beach. My mom's family has a house in New Smyrna Beach FL that has been so special to me all of my life. Good choice for a proposal!

We also returned to that beachhouse for our first anniversary celebration. It was a fabulous weekend! Saturday was a little grey, so after a walk on the beach, we went out to lunch and to catch a movie. Then we headed home for our anniversary steak dinner. Yum-O! We packed most of our groceries and really enjoying eating at home. (tip o'the hat to saving money!)

Sunday was gorgeous and we got some wonderful beach time in. But Sunday afternoon was definitely the highlight of our weekend! The next post will be about our little Sunday trip to Jacksonville for a very special event.

We came back to spend one more night and half of Monday back at the house. It was such a relaxing weekend and I can't say enough how much we enjoyed being together and celebrating our marriage!! Love you hubster!! Happy One Year!

Walgreens Register Rewards

I live about 10 minutes from civilization, except for my Publix and Walgreens, so you'll hear a lot about deals at these particular stores. It's not easy for me to run up to Target for some household need, so I'm at Walgreens a couple times a week. (sadly...I call Walgreens my "target" because if I have an itch to shop or just need some time alone, I can wander around Walgreens for an hour...you know, like normal people do at Target :))

Anyway, I have found the Walgreens Register Rewards to be very useful. Scratch what I'm about to write if you won't use the Walgreens money! For heavens sake, don't lose it! :)

Every week, the Walgreens circular (in your paper or easily read online) advertises several items that, once purchased, will print out a coupon in the form of Walgreens money. I don't think much about a lot of their items, but I always look to see if (1) it's something I use reguarly or (2) it's free! Yes, they have at least 3 -4 items weekly that once purchased, the money is fully refunded to you in the form of a gift card.

Here's an example of what I've gotten free:
-a toothbrush
-feminine products
-Softsoap NutriSerums Body Wash
-large bottle of Jergens handsoap
-and more...

Just a tip to look in the paper and see if you find anything fun to treat yourself to! I go back and use the money on a variety of other things. I know Walgreens can be more expensive than say Target or Walmart, but they also have great weekly coupon sales that I can usually double up with manufacturer coupons.

One final note: you cannot use a register reward coupon to purchase an item that will spit out another register reward. BUT, you can purchase one item, get the register reward, and immediately use it on anything else. You don't need to wait for another day.

Questions? Just leave a comment. I hope I explained that ok.