Flexible Spending Account - OOPS!

Last year, was the first time I used a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) to help cover expences. For anyone who is not familiar with this, you choose a set amount of money that goes Pre-Tax into an account for you to use to cover medical expences and daycare. Medical expences can be co-pays, balances due, Prescriptions, and other OTC medicines.

I set mine up to equal $500 for the year. Which was a good amount for us for the year. We used ours to cover the kids mostly. But this year we are hoping to get myself and my husband back on track with our own preventative medical examines. By this I mean it has been 4 years since I have been to the doctor for a check-up, it has also been 3.5 years since I have been to the OBGYN. I also know I have very high cholesterol and the doctors want to put me on meds for it- but you can only take it if you are not pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant. So until 3 years ago, I couldn't take it. Now that we are done having children I need to get on that medication. So this year I raised our contributions to total $600 for the year.

Now about my OOPS... last year as of Dec. 31st I had about $30 left in my FSA spending account. I have found a few reciepts (small ones) to put in for reimbursment, but still have about $25 in the account. My oops is that if you don't use it you lose it. So that $25 is like throwing money down the drain. My mistake. I thought I was closer to $0, or else right before 12/31 I would have run to CVS and brought a bunch of cold medicine, children's tylenol, advil etc.. so that I could have put that reciept in for reimbursement. But I didn't ... so my money is BYE-BYE!

Bad organization is not Frugal!
So is letting $25 get away from me.. if anyone has a reciept from December that has OTC medical stuff on it-- let me know, I could use it.

Garage Sales- Do I or Don't I?

This is a two-part question:
1) Should I really try Garage -saleing this spring/summer?
2) Should I have one of my own this summer?

As money has been tight for about 18 months and I money will continue to be tight for at least 2 more years. I have found myself reading frugal blogs about garage sales and the great finds they get there. I have been asking myself if I should really try to get out and "garage -sale" this year. I do foresee some needs coming up that I may be able to find a good deal on this items at a garage sale. Last year- by pure chance, we got a new-to-us dishwasher for $25 at a garage sale. it works great- actually better than our 2 year old dishwasher ever didand that one died after only 2 years of use. ($400 down the drain). But our garage sale find is running great!! I would love to find more great deals like that but I do realisee they are few and far between so I am caught with the notion- is it worth my Saturday mornings to go out and hope to find a treasure or do I just sleep in? My head says if I go I'll surely spend money on some piece of crap and if I just sleep I'll save myself lots of money and clutter.... Should I or Should I not???

The second part is about my own garage sale. Almost ever year I have one garge sale in July. Last year we had one during a heat-wave and the turnout was terrible. We had so much left over that instead of bringing the big stuff and the nicer stuff back into the garage for next year. We just left it all at the curb with signs saying "Take- Free!" Last year's sale soured us to having another one this year. What if it is another flop- no people. I was thinking of skipping one year. Since we gave everything away after last years sale- I don't have much that we could sell. But on the other hand with the economy the way it is- I have heard garge sales will draw huge crowds this year. (as in my first note- I may even venture out to some- which is not my norm). So maybe a sale would make a few bucks.. even if I dont' have a ton of stuff to sell.

On both of these things I am still thinking...
Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

Anaylsis of bulk-shopping

I have been going to BJ for most of my grocery shopping since the end of the summer. My sister and I joined together (actually she "treated me" to membership). But it makes sense to join with a friend. The memebership costs $40 and you get 2 membership cards, which can have 2 different names on them and they don't even need to be related. So for my sister's $40 I got a card and she got a card.

My first trip to BJ's was in August and my sister paid- and since she paid- I am not counting it. I will begin my analysis from my first solo trip at the end of Sept. So my analysis will be over about 4 months from Sept. 22-Jan. 14 (I have already gone shopping and won'tbe going again until I get paid on the 15th, so my numbers include all I will by until then).

I have 2 side notes before I begin. One, at my first trip toBJ's my head was spinning with prices and units and unit prices- after 2 years of carefully tracking my groceries I know what is and what is not a good unit price for items I usually buy. I was skeptical- not thinking it could beat generic prices at Walmart. Before BJ's, I spent an avearge of about $105/week at Walmart buying food and a few "impulse" buys. A big drawback for me at walmart is I tend to buy other non-food items that then get factored into my food busget even thougth they are not food. Second, Some things are not cheaper at BJ's and since they buy only the Top Sellers- they do not carry alot of variety- so some things I need I can not get there. I do not buy bread, pretzels, 2 liter bottles of soda, Cat food, or ice cream at BJ's. Why? Bread, soda, pretzels & ice cream at cheaper at both Walmart and Shop Rite. And the cat food my cat needs- is not sold at BJ's - I usually buy it at Shop Rite.

Here are the crazy numbers. Do not think I am crazy for having this- I track EVERYTHING!! How else can I make an informed decision if I do not have the information.

I started on 9/22 & hoped to make it 3 weeks before returning to BJ's

9/22- $209.94 @ BJ
9/26- $22.07 @ Shop Rite
9/27- $27.88 @ Shop Rite (not all food- 2 b-day cards,a bat mitzvah card& chips to take to hang with friends)
9/30- $14.19 @ SR
10/3- $7.07 @ SR (ice cream splurge-better than spending $20 at Wally's for everyone)
10/5- $28.49 @SR


Total for 3 weeks: $309.64 == $103.21/week-

**If not for ice cream splurge and trip to get cards and chips.. total would have been $274.69 or $$91.56/week**Not bad for a first time- without the two "extra trips" to SR- I was under my average Walmart weekly spending by about $15/wk or $60/month.



Starting on 10/11 and hoping to make it 4 weeks this time!!

10/11- $196.00 @BJ
10/12- $37.19 @ SR
10/21- $27.53 @ SR
10/24- $40.54 @ SR
10/27- $30.81 @ SR (included our large pumpkin to carve for Halloween)
11/2- $59.14 @ BJ


Total: $391.21 for 4 weeks== $97.80/week

This is a savings of about $10/wk or $40/month.. NOT BAD considering it appears to not only save me money but also TIME!! Although it looks like there are alot of trips to SR they are quick- run in and out trips not hour-long grocery shopping. And the few times I have been to BJ's there are never any lines- so checkout is a breeze- compared to Walmart's standard checkout time of about 40 minutes. So saving money and A TON OF TIME! (my best guess is I saved about 5hours this month by bulk shopping)

But I do find it hard to have $200 once a month- our budget is truely paycheck to paycheck- so pulling that much out of one paycheck hurts that single week.. so at this point I changed to continuing to shop at BJ's but stagger our needs so I would go there every 2 weeks- or about $100 out of each paycheck, which is a smaller hit.

So here's how that went..

Started on 11/9.. planning to make it 2 weeks.



11/9- $146.92 @BJs
11/11- $18.14 @ SR
11/16- $23.89 @ SR

Total for 2 weeks : $188.95 == $94.47/week... about what we had been spending..good so far!



Again looking to buy food for 2 weeks.

11/22- $78.80 @ BJs
11/26- $63.79 @ SR (Thanksgiving stuff and Snacks/drinks for car ride to Hershey)
11/28- $25.36 @ SR (last minute Thanksgiving stuff)
12/1- $94.28 @ SR (UGH! Could have saved money I am sure by getting this stuff at BJs)
12/5- $54.72 @ SR


Total: $316.95 for 2 weeks=== $158.47 /week!! EEEKKK!!! What the f..?

Ok, some of that was for Thanksgiving and some "convience foods" for the car trip, but really I think most of it was "lack of time and planning" and I could have done better to get some of that stuff I bought at Shop Rite at BJs. This is why planning and staying organized saves money. UGH!!


Oh- but it only gets worst from here... the holidays, the lack of time, rushing not thinking.. deadly combination... oh my aching budget...


The next trip to BJ's should last us 3 weeks right up until shopping for Chirstmas dinner.

12/6 - $326.26 @BJs (BUT.. this included 3 Xmas gifts, sprinkles and cookie stuff for our Holiday baking with Laura and a gingerbread kit for another December Friday) The actual total for GROCERY stuff was $ 273.88.. so for 3 weeks that works out to $91.29/wk-- or right on budget!


I did go to BJ's for Christmas dinner stuff but that is not part of my fammily grocery budget so I am not including that receipt. My FIL also reimbursed us $60 towards Christmas dinner. We lived on the left overs from that dinner for a few days.



I finally went back to BJ's last week and I am hoping this will make it until January 15th.

12/30- $ 139.99 @ Bjs
12/30- $ 21.31 @ SR


Total: $ 161.30 for 2 weeks== $80.65/week -- WAY UNDER BUDGET!!



So my final analysis.. BJs saves me money but also does sooo much more! I save, on average $15/wk or $60/month. But I also spend about 5 less hours per month in the stores. I also spend almost no time watching sales flyers, clipping coupons and looking for great deals- which I did religiously in order to stay at my $105/wk budget at Walmart. I also get Name Brand items when at Walmart I was almost always buying generic. I do not have any problem with generic products, in fact I find them to be as good as the name brands- but name brands give extras like "box tops for education" which my kids' schools collect and run raffles for those who bring in box tops. For every 5 box tops you bring in you get a chance to win a $50 target gift card. They run this raffle every quarter of the school year. So hey, I could even win a gift card!


My Goals for this for 2009-- are to continue what I am doing! I like BJs! I do have a few small changes- I am going to aim for under $90/week, but still buying every 2 weeks, which works well for our budget. I am also going to try to do more cooking from scratch- and buying less "convience" foods which aren't that healthy or cost effective. I am hoping that our Healthy eating and cooking from scratch will help me keep to under $90/week. Buying staples such as flour, butter, eggs, milk, sugar etc.. instead of cookies, snackcakes, and other muchies. Better for our budget and better for our health!

Frugality is a Trendy Lifestyle Choice

The process of becoming Frugal doesn't happen overnight. Just like a journey of 1000 miles starts with one step. So does any change you make to yourself and your lifestyle. No one changes overnight. So don't beat yourself up if you can't do it all, everytime.

The changing ecomony has caused troubling financial times for many. Lots of people are now looking to make every dollar count. Being Frugal has gone Mainstream. I have been doing the "in thing" even before it was "in". I feel so trendy.

As many look to change how they view money, it can be frustrating to try to change too many things at once. You are setting yourself up for failure. I once read somewhere that you shouldn't try to save money and lose weight at the same time. You won't be able to be successful at both simulateously because they are both require significant changes and long-term commitments. You need to choose one thing- focus on it until it becomes the "normal routine" and you can accomplish it with out thinking too much about it. Them move onto the next big change.

Over my 2 years of being frugal I have made minor changes, little-by-little. It has made the change easy. I always say it is easy to be frugal- I think because by making small changes one or two at a time, there was no BIG/Difficult undertaking to overcome. As I continue in my Frugal Journey I think of each change as just one more step in my journey of 1000 miles.

The best place to start in the frugal world is to track your money for at least one month. Write everything down that you spend money on- everything! That morning paper, the cup of coffee, the candy candy bar from the vending machine and your bigger expenses like rent and your electric bill . Once you have a full month of "money watching" written down. You need to analyse what you spent money on. Many people can tell you that last month their electric bill was $82 but if you asked what they spent eating out- they can't - or at best can give you a ballpark figure- but in reality have no idea. When you write it all down you can see where those "leaks" are -where the money keeps going that you don't realise. Once you have all the numbers - take some time and look at all those things you spent money on, make categories (eating out, entertaining, gas, clothing, medical prescriptions etc..) and then you can see where you might be able to make cuts. Or you may be surprised at how much you are spending in certian areas.

When I did this, I though I knew where my money was going and where it was "being wasted". After I added up all my numbers that first month. I realised I was spending a fortune on groceries. ($600 that month). The next month I took a better look at my grocery shopping. I realised that if I just bought what was on my list I really only needed to spend about $125/wk- not $150. That "extra $25" was on "inpulse" buys. You know when you get there and you see something marked down and think-"well... it's on sale and we all like this.. so I'll get 3!" I also picked up more non-grocery items, like maybe a DVD. I tried to change this by making a list and sticking to it. The next month I did better, but not perfect. I spent less but still had trouble staying to ONLY the list. When paying with a credit card or debit card- it is easy to go over the planned $ amount. The next month I did a "cash only" grocery shopping for one month. I only took $120 in cash each week with me for groceries. This worked well- but was inconvient. It also highlighted a HUGE hole in our budget. I did not always have enough CASH to pay for $120/wk in groceries. I realised that in reality I put about half of my groceries each month on credit cards!! One of my first true "A-HA!" moments in dealing with our budget. I realised that I would need to lower my grocery budget even further (which didn't seem possible at the time) so it showed me we really needed to cut something somewhere ELSE! and ASAP!

So try it for one month. Track EVERY PENNY! And don't lie- you're only really lying to yourself.
For some- this may seem tedious. But to make it easy stick up a sheet of looseleaf on the fridge and each night when you get home write down everything you bought. (how much you spent and what you spent it on). It doesn't need to be neat- legible- but not neat. Dates are not required. If you fill up that sheet of looseleaf- flip it over or start another one. Do it everynight- or you'll surely forget something. Remember- if you "cheat" you are only lying to yourself. And you deserve better than that!

After the holidays this year- my grocery budgets have been crazy!! I write down all my grocery reciepts because I am still trying to figure out if Bulk-buying at BJ's is saving me any money. It is definately saving me time- and is way more convient that my ususal shopping at Wal-mart. But I have yet to truely decide how much it is saving me. I do know it is not costing me MORE than I was spending at wal-mart. I will save all the numbers for another post- this one is getting long. But I do want to analyse how my BJ shopping is going.

5 Painless Ways to Save $1000 in 2009

As I began to work at creating at my own Financial Goals for 2009 I began to think of ways I could cut more out of our budget. Some ideas I have are reasonable and others I know I won't be able to keep up with, therefore I have decided to post a few ways I think would be painless.



Five Painless Ways to Save $1000 in 2009



1) Brown bag lunch to work just one day more than normal. (One lunch ($5)/week) Savings: $240



2) Stop using Paper Towels & Paper Napkins -switch to cloth napkins & dishtowels. ( I did this last year and love it!!). Puchasing one 3-roll generic pack of paper towels ($2.70) per week= Savings: $140



3) Hang clothes to dry. Just 2 loads per week will save you about $100 a year!



4) Once a month, instead of "dinner out" go out for dessert. Eat dinner at home but go out for dessert. Average dinner for two= $45, just two desserts and drinks= $20-$25, Saving you $20 per month. Savings $240/yr.



5) Make one "Meat-Free" Meal each week. Saves you about $6/meal for not purchasing that steak or 1lb of meat or a package of chicken cutlets. $6/week equals Saving $312 a year. Some great meat-free meals that still fill you up are : Lasangna, spagetti with italian bread, mashed potato bowls (mashed potatoes covered with gravy then corn then shedded cheese melted on top- YUM!)



So if you total my 5 ideas you save $1032 in 2009!!!

Not too bad for some small changes in your routine.



I am planning some more money saving lists (some easy, some not so simple) for getting the New Year off to a Frugal Start!!

One Woman's Trash Is Another Woman's Treasure. Well maybe not treasure- but stuff I can use!

My sister-in-law gave me a bag of junk.


It was stuff she saved when cleaning out her kitchen, thinking of me, she put it all in a bag.


In what she may have otherwise throw away I have found some useful things. Here's what I found and what I will now use it for...


1) 1/2 a bag of clothespins (the clip kind). I will keep these for when I get my Clothesline. I have wanted to put up a clothesline for about a year and although I can find the "line" I can not find the "pulleys/anchors" that you attach to your tree or the side of your house that allow you to pull the line in and out. I would LOVE a clothesline! According to something I once read.. Your average dryer, based on your average electrical rates-- cost about $.40/load to dry! I generally wash and dry about 12 loads of laundry a week.. that's $4.80 each week, or $19.20/ month- on average. WOW - I'd love to lower my electric bill by almost $20 a month. In reality I probably wouldn't line-dry ALL the laundry- the line would only hold one load at a time and each would take seveal hours to dry- -but if I line-dryed 1/2 of it- that would still lower my bill about $10/month. And that seems very do-able!


2) 5 small whisks (I think left over from her bridal shower). These will be filled with a few red and green hershey kisses and cute gift tags will be attached that say: We Whisk You a Merry Kissmas. Makes a really cute gift for a teacher or bus driver or anyone. (Who wouldn't want hershey kisses?)


3) a small tupperware-type container with a lid. This will be great for lunchboxes. Kaitlyn does not like sandwiches- so she sometimes takes chicken nuggets , and this little tupperware will be perfect for putting ketchup in.


So in her bag of "junk" I found some great things that I will put to great use!

Save Money- Don't eat out, bulk cook instead!

What? Bulk cook?



The main reason people eat out mid-week is they are tired when they get home from work or they don't have time to prepare a meal after work. BUT if you have a freezer full of ready-to-go meals, even when you are tired or don't have time, you'll have a meal ready-to-go, so you won't order out.



Well that sounds great but if i don't have time to cook how am I going to get a freezer full of Ready to go meals? Well, you bulk cook!



I have heard of doing this two ways.

One way is to cook twice as much food each time you cook a meal. So you set out to cook BBQ chicken and pasta. make twice as much as mornal and freeze half to eat another time. This sounds easy and takes no extra time, since you are cooking the meal anyway.



The second way is to set aside a few hours every few weeks to cook up several meals to freeze. I just did this on Sunday. This week I have 3 workshops I have to go to for work (Mon, Tue & Thurs from 7:30-9pm each night). So dinners will need to be easy and ready to go this week. So I planned an hour this Sunday to make a bunch of meals. I browned some meat and then seperated it into 2 containers, to one I added in taco seasoning, covered it and put it in the freezer for tacos later this week. The second one I added to a casserole dish to make a rice-bake. (rice, water,cream of mushroom soup, peas,shedded cheese and meat- bake for 30 mins at 350). Which I baked and is now in the freeezer for another night. I also baked up 5 chicken cutlets with mustard/marinate. And 5 more chicken cutlets marinated in BBQ sauce. I made a big pot of mac & cheese and froze half. The other half was part of dinner Sunday and then for lunches for the girls for Monday. I also baked corn bread, to go with the taco night. And a tray of brownines (for snacks this week). So all week I will only need to add a vegetable and a side dish, but the time comsuming parts are all made.

Eating out costs even more than buying lunch. And when I saying eating out I really mean ordering in, since that is what my family tends to do. In the past we used to get together with another family every Saturday and order in. One week it would be Chili's, the next Friday's, Outback, pizza, chinese, Uno's Grill, wherever. Once money got tight we did this less- by eating dinner at our homes before getting together or getting together to "potluck" and bring what we had at home and cook together, or we would feed all the children and then only order in food for the adults. Once we started to do this I realised how much money we were saving.

The scary facts:
If you eat out just once a week (for a family or 4-5, we typicaly spend about $40-$45/meal)
Once a week, 52 weeks a year = $2080 (assuming $40/wk)

But in reality when money wasn't a factor we usually ate out Saturday with friends and at least once during the school week. We's ordered pizza or chinese.... so if we figure $45 Saturday plus $25 on a weeknight.... 52 weeks out of the year.. that totals: $3640!

That's alot of money!! Just because I didn't feel like cooking.

I think the above senario is pretty typical for most families. Eating out 1-2 times a week cost alot. We still order in about once every other week. Actually last night we got chinese food. You can't deprive yourselves or your frugalilty becomes stingy. And we are not "cheap" or "stingy" we are frugal people. Using our money in the best ways possible to stretch every dollar as far as it will go, but not break.

SO go get cooking!

Use What You Have on Hand

One of the biggest Frugal tips I have taken to heart is Use What in Your Hand.



America is the land of the consumer! When we need it we run out and buy it and if we don't have the money for it we finance it! Well even if you don't finance it, and can pay cash for it you probably don't really need it.



Next time you are thinking "Oh I need ...., and I better run to .... to get it." Take a minute and think about it, better yet take about a week and think about. We do this for larger purchases like TVs, Cars, Larger Furniture pieces. You may even "shop around" before buying a larger purchase. But we rarely do it for smaller purchases. We see, we want, we buy!



At the end of the summer, knowing school was right around the corner and all the papers that come with it. I was thinking I need something to organize all the papers the kids are going to be bringing home. My first thought was "lets go to Staples" and get some "paper-organizing-thing" or maybe I'll look next door at Michael's and they'll have some cute baskets that I can put each child's name on. Oh, the ideas were endless-- the shopping ideas were.. the money wasn't. So I took a few days looking for something that would hold papers (even over-sized project-type ones) and something I would have 3 (one for each child). I eventually noticed the Flat-Rate shipping boxes I have for our eBay business. I realised the flat ones, when folded, were about the right size. They just needed the one side cut off. I did this and wrote each child's name on the one end with different colored markers. They line up nicely on my hutch and hold all the papers. This is just one option I have found by waiting and looking at other items in different way.

Repurpose and reuse, it is not only Frugal but Green. I love ideas where the two come together.



Some ideas for where to find things:

1) Look differntly at furniture pieces.

Put an unused dresser in the dining room in place of a new hutch. It will hold folded linens, trays and stemware(laid flat). Put a table runner over it for a more formal look.



I wanted a dresser for my bedroom, even though my clothes all fit in my closet. I though awhile, and realised I just wanted "surface space" to put things down on. Instead of a dresser I moved an old "console/ sofa table" under the window. It works great, totally filled the need and didn't cost a cent!



2) A can of paint can do wonders.

Painting anything- furniture, walls, even floors. A coat of paint can really make something feel new again. Just painting one wall in a room can change the feel of the whole room and the furniture in front of it.



I have "good" tables in my living room. Real furniture- real wood not pressboard. But they are 10 years old and looked like they were 20 years old. They were so dinged and scratched. So I painted them an off-white (using leftover paint from painting our kitchen cabinets) and sandpapered the edges. I figured- it wouldn't cost me anything to try it. They now have that "shabby chic" look, and several people have asked me if I bought new tables! Cost: nothing!



I also painted my "rec room" walls with my sister's help. It had 1970's wooden paneling all over it. And it was dark and dreary. I wanted to pull the paneling off and re-sheetrock the entire room, but it is a big space and would have been big bucks. So I painted the paneling instead. A very light blue (very light- almost white). You can still tell it is paneling on the walls but it made the room so much brighter and alot less 70's. The room gets alot more use now that it feels more welcoming.



3) Don't just think big- look at small things too!

Need office supplies, desk items.-- look in your kitchen for old mugs or cups that can hold pencils, paperclips, scissors. Got a really nice tray you only use once a year- use it as your "in box". Need something near the washing machine to collect coins and other lost items- I rinsed out a detergent bottle cap and use that to hold those little things. An old cup holds toothbrushes in the bathroom. Reused baskets, received at "gift baskets", are reused in my bathroom and linen closet for holding toiletry items and medications.



4) One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Maybe you don't have something perfect to reuse but maybe a friend does. I love the phrase "New to me" not hand-me down, or used.. but New to Me. I have lots of New to Me things. Both my cars are New to Me cars, my living room couches are new to me, as are both of my downstairs couches. Just recently I mentioned that I wanted to turn my downstairs playroom from a babyish playroom to a more "older kid" play room- to make less floor space and more storage for entertainment things like game systems, radios and speakers, and a computer downstairs. In telling people what you are "up to" or "thinking about", you'll be surpised what they may be planning to get rid of. My SIL asked if I could use a piece of furniture from her dining room she was planning to get rid of and it is now my "New to me" entertainment center for my "older kid" redo downstairs. My mom mentioned she was getting rid of a coffee table and asked if I might want it- well, of course I do! Rather than running out to redo my downstairs, I have "found" several pieces and if they don't work best here I am sure I can find something else to use them for.



5) Remember not everything needs to match perfectly- we do not live in the pages of The Pottery Barn Catalog. But a great idea is to look at the catalogs you love, but create or repurpose what you have to create the same look. I once found a great project for a youth group craft from looking in a Pottery Barn catalog. A friend saw an table of "stacked old suitcases" in the catalog and was able to create the same thing using old suitcases she never used. She stained then using wood stain from another project(to make them look older) and stacked them in the corner of her living room. They looked great, and so stylish, and cost her nothing! (Pottery Barn price: $400) Think outside the box. And if you get a bunch of pieces from friends and you want a more unified look- paint them all the same color.

Keep your mind open and your wallet shut!

You'll be surprised at where your imagination can take you.

Ways to Save Money- Lunches

We are finally back to healthy here.

And now I hope to get back on track with my Ways to Save Money series I had planned to do last week.



This first post will focus on lunches.

Now common sense tells you brown bagging lunch saves money. It is usually more of a motivation issue to actually do it. Your head says save money and your body says oh- just grab a $20.



So for Lunches: Motivation and Ideas to make it easier:

First, Motivation:

Looking at lunch as $5/day doesn't seem like much, but if you add it up.. let's say you buy lunch only 4 days a week for $5/day- and you work 48 weeks (take out vacation and some sick days) , that works out to $960 A YEAR!!!! And I think $5/day is a very conservative amount. If you normally spend $10/day and eat lunch "out" all 5 days each week, in 48 weeks you will have spent $2400 in a Year!!!! That's a lot of money!!



Hopefully that number is a bit shocking. Is McDonald or cafeteria food really as good as $2400?? So now that we have some motivation there is still the battle with your body to actually pack and take your lunch.



To make it easier:

I have some tips but since you may be new to this I will start with the basic.

**Keep all supplies for making lunches together. Either clear a cabinet in the kitchen or put all the "lunch supplies" in a basket on top of the fridge. Lunch supplies might include: bread or rolls, snack packs of chips, zip-lock bags, snack cakes, drinks, and brown bags or an insulated lunch bag- buy snack that you like so you'll be more inclinded to pack a lunch- you can always convert to "healthy lunches" once you have the brown bag routine down.



**Ideally, pack your lunch the night before. This way if you are running late in the morning you do not revert back to the "I don't have time, I'll just buy lunch today". Also, don't forget your lunch. Put a post-it note on your keys, or the door you leave out of in the AM. My SIL says she puts a plastic bag on the door knob - so when she leaves she see it and remembers to grab the bag in the fridge.



** great quick lunch ideas: Left overs- especially in winter , when come lunchtime you want something hot (not a cold sandwich). Invest in a thermos, and bring in soup or chili. My daughter hates sandwiches, so for her I pack (in her thermos) chichken nuggets, pizza bites, mac & cheese, or spagetti. If you have access at work to keep your lunch in a fridge and have a microwave, stock up on "frozen dinner" style packaged food. Weight watchers, Lean Cusine- when they go on sale for $1.77- $2.00 each- grab a bunch of your favorites to take for lunch. Add a snack and a drink and you are ready to go. Or just keep them in the fridge for those days you are rushed and didn't have time to make lunch.



**Last note: Bring your drink and pack snacks for your work day. Vending machines are a financial nighmare. You can buy a 12 pack of Coke cans for under $4 in your local grocery store, that's about $0.33 each can. The vending machine would cost you $1.25 per can. If you grab a soda everyday for that 4pm sugar fix, by bringing your own you can save $20/month. And you aren't even giving anything up- you still get your soda- just bring your own. The same holds true for an afternoon snack-fix. If you hit up the vending machine for a snack each day- bringing your own also saves you another $20/month. Most snacks cost about $0.20/serving when brough at the grocery store.



All-in-all, you can save up to $3000 a year by bringing your own lunches and snacks to work- PER PERSON. By even changing a few of your habits- only bring snacks or buy lunch 2 days a week and buy lunch the other 3 days. You can save significant amounts of money. This is only the tip of the iceberg. We have lots more to save.

A few quick tips for saving money on gifts

My wonderful followers have lent me ideas to share.

I mentioned in a previous post when buying gifts on-line to first Google the item or store with the words "coupon codes" or "discount codes" after it. For example, if you wanted to buy a sweater from L.L. Bean, first google: L.L. Bean Coupon code or L.L. Bean discount code. Sometimes you can find great discounts, and then go buy it for less!

One follower mentioned the site, http://www.retailmenot.com/ . If you go to this site and type in the name of the store you were going to shop at, you can find discounts including free shipping, 10% Off and more. It only takes a minutes and is worth a look before shoppping. Thanks Laura!

My other follower mentioned that if you are planning to buy gift certificates to restaurant to first look at http://www.restaurants.com/ where you can buy $20 or $30 gift cards for restuarants for half the face value. Not all restaurants are available but it is worth a look before paying full price. And after my post on how Experience Gift are great Green Gifts- these save you money and the enviornment! Thanks Lisa!

The Evolution of My Grocey Budget

Two years ago I went grocery shopping.

There wasn't much to it. I looked in the kitchen cabinets, saw what was missing, made a shopping list and went to the store. I bought the stuff on the list and then some other stuff and came home. Not alot of thought went into it. The list was a guide but not the "be-all, end-all". I generally spent about $150/week on groceries.

When I began reading about the frugal lifestyle I converted to "All Things Frugal" that went with Grocery shopping. I began watching the sale flyers, meal planning, keeping a price book, stocking up, using coupons, making a list and sticking to it, paying with cash only (so as to not overspend), and even did the CVS/Drugstore game. At first it was fun! It was like a game to see how much I could buy with how little an amount of money. But all of this takes time, and time is valuable, and when there isn't enough time, it causes stress.

When I first began "working" the frugal grocery games it was May or maybe June. And I was able to do all this very well for awhile. "Summertime and the living is easy...." especially for a teacher. I was spending an average of $100/week on groceries. But when the Fall came and school started (not just for the kids but for me too) there wasn't as much time to spend "working" the sales,coupons, meal planning etc... I began to take a good, hard look at what saved me the most money, on the things we need & use the most, and what took the least amount of time to get the best deal.

The first thing to go was the CVS/Drug store games... yes, they can save you tons of money and you can really get things for free. (I once got $156 of stuff at CVS for less than $3-- no kidding, ask my husband!) But since I had "stocked up" on all kinds of medications and toiletries over the summer, this part of the frugal grocery plan did NOT fall into the "things we MOST need" category. It also took ALOT of time. Many blogs say as you do it- it will take easier and take less time. It did get easier to put the deals together but it still took alot of time and usually several trips per week to get the best deals. So out went CVS/Drugstore games.

The next thing to go was reading all the sale flyers. I liked the idea of stocking up, better than planning my meals for the week, around what was on sale that week. I didn't completely give up sale flyers. But I only quickly scan the front page (where the store print their best deals, called loss leaders) and only if there is a "really great deal" on something we use alot of, then I put it on a "short list" and may run out to just get these few items on a really quick run to the store. And unlike my earlier days, I stick to my lists!

Just this past summer I discovered Bulk Buying. I joined BJ's, with my sister. I love this!! After over a year of watching prices , I have found that bulk buying gets me the best price, or close to it, for the items we use most often. And BJ's takes manufacuters coupons plus they have their own coupons. The biggest thing to me is the TIME I save. I can get really good prices, use coupons, and stock up on the things we use most often, but now instead of shopping for about 1 hour each week; I "bulk shop" about once every 3-4 weeks and it only takes 1 hour. I do run to my local grocery store once or twice inbetween these bulk trips, but just to buy some fresh fruit, bread (which is cheaper than BJ's), Soda (generic soda cheaper than BJs), and Cat food (Bjs does not sell the type my cat needs). All in all , one bulk trip per month with 2-3 small trip to the other grocery store, cost me an average of $85/week!! And saves me, literally, 3-4 hours each month.

Our Grocery Evolution:
Early 2007-- no plan-- spent about $600/month on groceries
Summer 2007-- frugal all the way!-- spent about $400/month on groceries
Current plan-- bulk buying w. coupons and occasional sale flyer deal-- $340/month on groceries.

Amazing! At each point I was thinking this is the least amount of money I need to feed my family. And yet, each time I have changed things up to make better use of my time and our money, we have been able to spend even less!

As the economy gets tighter and food prices rise, How has your grocery shopping evolved?

My Frugal Story- Part One

In the spring of 2007, when I began my frugal life, I decided it would be easier for my family to adjust if we made only a few changes at a time, and we should start with small changes. After reading the 25 Ways to Save Money post at Frugal for Life I decided we could do three of them, right away.
1) I replaced my old lightbulbs in our most used rooms with CFL Bulbs. We changed the living room, 2 kids rooms and the kitchen. Since they are expensive we figured we would replace the other rooms one at a time over the next year.
2) We bought and installed a programable thermostat. And we set it's schedule to very low temperatures. Since it was spring, this wouldn't save us any money for at least 6 months, but I felt is was another "painless" step we could take right away.
3) I diluted all liquid soaps by 1/3. I added water to bottles of shampoo, hand soap, laundry detergent, dish soap, anything liguid. Some may think this reduces their affectiveness, but no one in my house even noticed. And all our stuff (hands, clothes, dishes) were just a clean. We still do this today. I also cut dryer sheets in 1/2.

This is were our journey began.. three little changes that would be the begining of a new lifestyle.