Today is the last day of February - total of 19 no spend days this month.
Today was spent taking care of a sick one. I hate when the kids are sick.
I have been declutettering and laundry/cleaning all day. I hung out 5 loads of laundry today and have one on the rack tonight.

How my february goals are going
February Frugal Goals:

February I want to -
~continue to track all expenses ~done~
~continue to keep the grocery bill down ~done~
~18 no spend days ~done - actually will have 19!!~
~hang laundry out ~done all but 3 days this month so far, then the rest was put on the rack~
~reduce kwh as much as possible ~done~
~learn to cook a few new recipes ~done~


WOOHOO I met or surpassed most of my goals! Very please with how the process is going so far. Now off to think of some goals for March.

Well I ended up spending money today. $20 for this bar with 2 barstools - It was my neighbors and I have been trying to find one like it for some time. I wanted it in my kitchen for extra kitchen counter space. Well I price the one she had - $160!! I wasn't going to pay that - I didn't want it that bad. Well I mentioned to her a few weeks ago that I loved it and if they ever decided to get rid of it to let me know. She came over today and offered to sell it for $20 to me. UMMM I HAD to take it. I really wanted it for awhile now. It wasn't a no spend day now, but that's ok.

Yesterday turned out not to be frugal at all! But today's a new day. I knew we would be spending money yesterday - I just hate to part with it. LOL

Today:
~laundry using 1/8 cup of soap - in cold water 2 loads hung on the racks last load will either wait until tomorrow or be put in the dryer.
~refilling shampoo bottles adding a little water when I refill them.
~finish the decluttering the 3 little one's clothes
~organize the boy's closet
~print out a copy of the meals going to be made this 2 week period and post on the frig
~make cookies for lunchboxes this week
~track the kwh
~organize the checkbook, update the totals
~give the dog a bath and cut her nails - frugal so I won't have to take her to the groomer
~continuing to unplug things when not in use
~make up some furniture polish
~dinner will be in the crockpot - love that thing!!

Today will be a no spend day. It will make day 18 of this month.

Just wanted to share something with you. In late December we came up with a theme for our family - We're gonna thrive in '05! Well that has been our motto so far this year. We have it in our mind and are willing to do *whatever* it takes to get us to our goal and to thrive. I read somewhere that 80% of budgteing is mindset - I believe it soooooo much now! Is it easy to be in guerilla frugality mode all the time? UUUMM NO! Is it worth it? Oh yes!!!
So far this year (only 2 months into the year)
~ We have paid off one medical bill, working on the last one (already paid $325 on it this month - the payment is only $50 a month, so we've done extra- trying to wipe it out).
~ Dh is getting some overtime - which is normally short hours this time of year.
~I found a job, when I wasn't exactly looking for one. It will eliminate a monthly payment and I will be getting paid.
~zero based budgeting is getting so much easier
~sold our truck within 12 hours of listing it Now we have an EF that we are comfortable with
See it's mindet and hard work, but it's really worth it.
Things that have happened so far:
~Our mortgage went up this year $114 - not as much as Kathyann's - but to us it was alot.
~insurance came down $30 a month by taking the suburban off
~we were able to save cash the last year and with our tax refund get dh a new to us car (a convertible)- with only 64000 miles on it!!!
~lowered the electric bill in one month's time by $48
~our gas for the cars is going down - since I don't drive the suburban anymore.
What we have done so far:
~hang out clothes - even though I don't really wanna BUT it does add up!!
~ate out of the pantry for almost 2 months- thanks Julie!!
~tracked all spending
~In my wallet there is a little note - Is it a need or want? Remember thrive 05! It's not that I don't every buy things that I want - it's just that we have bigger goals and in order to reach those, sometimes we need to sacrifice some things
~We don't eat out
~I prepare a few meals like oamc to pull out when I really don't want to cook.
~pack lunches for kids and dh
~open the windows instead of a/c right now
~only used the heater 3 times this past winter (I am in florida, so we weren't freezing our children )
~cut phone service down to just basic and caller id (thanks to a teenage dd)
~reuse whatever can be reused

I am not posting this to brag but to encourage each and every one of you. Set a goal and get in a mindset that you *WILL* make it. We can *ALL* thrive in '05!!

Ok - down to 1659.xx on the medical bill - every extra penny is gonna go towards this. We have our emergency fund -where we feel comfortable with it right now.

My new job will help with this, ebaying a few items, staying in guerilla frugality mode a little longer. We can do this!!

I got the job I interviewed for yesterday. It will be 20 hours a week - and by working there I will also eliminate a bill for 32 a month.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!

I spent a little over $300 out grocery shopping today.I went to 3 different stores.

then I went to goodwill here in town and got some uniform pants for dson and a few other things.

Not a terrible spending day- but............. tomorrow needs to be a no spend day! LOL

All this KWH tracking was starting to get old as I have made tons of changes this last month - I was just tired of doing it all. KWIM? Well I got the electric bill for last month-
It was...............................








$48 lower!!!!!!!!

Ok I am convinced and renewed to keep tracking!

I made up a menu last night, then a grocery list from that. I am ready to do the shopping for the next 2 weeks today.

Worked on the budget a little last night. Need to finish that up today.

Today will be a spending day - but I will stick to my list!!

Well I was talking about adding $50 more by today into the EF - well I will be able to do it.

17 no spend days for the month of Feb. Only one more to make my goal of 18!! WOOHOO!!

The suburban is now sold!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!

I got the truck listed on a free classified board locally this morning. I will call the paper in a few minutes and find out all the specifics with pricing and how many words etc. for the ad. I will start that one on saturday I think.

Already started seeing savings in just gas since we took it off the road! WOOHOO!!!!

I have a ton of stuff to do today.
~Deal with code enforcement about a tree not on our property - that will save us $300 if the county takes it down instead of us.
~making out budget, menus and grocery list for tomorrow's paycheck
~refilled the conditioner bottle this morning
~washing everything in cold . 1/8 cup detergent
~hanging or dry racking everything
~checking the kwh
~I have an interview at noon today!!! It's part time and I wasn't even actively looking for a job- it kind of fell in my lap yesterday. The hours are only 4 to 8 pm about 4 days a week and saturdays from 8 to 12. Dh and I talked about it and I think those hours would work for us. SOOO wish me luck!!

I haven't been actively looking for a job - but curves that I have been working on in is hiring!!! I talked the manager/owner today and we set up an interview for tomorrow at noon!!!! I am really excited - the hours are 4 pm to 8 pm and 1 saturday a month 8 am until 12 - but I told her I would be willing to work every saturday cause it's only 4 hours!! I have an interview with her and her husband tomorrow!!
WOOHOO!!! This could help me find that extra money for our EF alot quicker!!
I really hope I get it!!!

What's the minimum $ amount you could do it on if you had to? Just the basic expenses plus gas and groceries . Cells, cable, internet are not necessary to live. Even though lots would disagree with me. LOL

I figured ours would be $1800 minimum a month for our family of 9 - so our 3 month EF needs to have a goal of at least $5400.

We have $650 in it right now - so the balance would be 4750 - next goal is to see how fast I can add $50 to it.

This thursday is payday - but normally most of it's already gone with regular bills but I am gonna try to get $50 added in on thursday.

Then I will set another goal.

Something that we have done was set up a realistic budget based on last years spending adding $10 to $20 depending on the category.
Then we strive to come under this amount - whatever comes under gets put into our EF.
So far my electric bill has been alot lower. Goal is to have 3 months of living expenses in the EF.

Pretend *YOU* are the bill collector and you must pay yourself at least $50 a month. Start paying yourself something. Find ways to make that $50 or more and put it in your emergency fund. If you had a bill that *had* to be paid monthly or else you would find a way. Do without dinners out, coffees, soda whatever to get that $$ together as soon as possible.

Even if you are paying debt off you still need an EF so you don't go back to charging in an emergency.

I will be adding $$ to our's today, not sure how much yet - but I would much rather have some securtity blanket than nothing. KWIM?
This is the main reason I am frual - I want us to have an EF - without being frugal we can't save anything.

I only used 37 kwh yesterday for a total of $2.96 of power for the day.

I am aiming to get the average under 40 per day before turning the a/c on for summer time. Some of my neighbors turned their a/c on permanant this past weekend. I am gonna try and go until March 1 before turning it on. In the past it has *always* been on in the last 2 weeks of Feb through Nov. NOT this year!!! The a/c adds at least $3 a day to the bill. On March 1 we will set another goal. We want to keep it off as long as possible this year.

We have a big above ground pool that we will be resetting up in the next week or so - that should let us keep our goal a little further off.

Today is day 16 of no spending in February. Goal was 18 - almost there.

In 2005 there will be 59 days through the end of Feb. If I make it to goal - 42 of those days will be no spend days so far this year.

Well today I need to take my flylady book back to the library. While I am out taking the boys to school, I will run dson's check by the bank and deposit it into his account. He wasn't sure when he'd get around to it.

Laundry - hoping to hang it on the line - but the fog is sooooo bad I will probably wait a little while - if not on the line I will put it on the racks to dry. Probably won't be able to get it all done that way though.

I have a chest freezer in the garage I am thinking about plugging in again. It's huge and cost me about $25 a month in electricity - but I think I can save that by stocking it. hhhmmmmm something to think about.

Will finish inventory on the pantry and the freezer(this one above frig- it's full that's why I am considering plugging the other one in).

I bought a gallon of shampoo and conditioner at Sally's about 3 weeks ago - I need to refill our shampoo bottles today. I got the gallons for $4 each on sale and they work great.

Also need to call the paper about running the ad for the suburban this weekend. Want to get a price and find out how many words it can be. Dh will work on that tonight so I can get it listed in the next couple of days.

Today will be another no spend day here - total so far 15 days!!!!!
Getting closer to goal! Yeah!

Today I will do laundry, hang it out on the line and fix something for dinner from the pantry/freezer.

Have a great day!!!

We had a leaky faucet outside last month and dh fixed it after it leaked for a month. Our water bill only went up by 30 cents! Either we have made some water cuts or it wasn't that big of a leak as we thought. You could see a steady stream of water squirting out so I don't know...............

But I am happy - like to keep that water bill under $25 monthly and it is!! I was afraid it was really gonna be high.

February Frugal Goals:

February I want to -
~continue to track all expenses ~done~
~continue to keep the grocery bill down ~working on~
~18 no spend days ~working on~
~hang laundry out ~all but 3 days this month so far~
~reduce kwh as much as possible ~working on~
~learn to cook a few new recipes ~haven't done yet ~

My suburban was costing us $70 a week in gas and I don't go that far. I filled the minivan up for $25 and can't wait to see how far that takes me. I am hoping over a week. Even if I spent $70 every 2 weeks - can't really see that happening then I am still saving 140 a month on gas!!

We will be listing the suburban for sale in the next week and that $$$ will go into the emergency fund!! WOOHOO!!

Also started our new car fund - as we know the minivan I am driving won't last forever. We paid cash a couple days ago for dh's new car and will do the same when it's time to replace the van - hoping it makes it at least another year!

WOW the neighbor cleaned out her pantry today and brought over a ton of canned soups and veggies that she bought when her daughter was living there. They don't eat it and asked if the kids would eat the soup and stuff. WOOHOO Free food is always the best price! I ended up with 2 huge brown paper bags filled with cans.

Will inventory the pantry tomorrow and start making the grocery list for the end of the month - it's almost over and I am way under budget!! WOOHOO!!

I budgeted 18 for this month and am at 14!!!!! Yeah! With 8 more days I should have no trouble getting the next 4 days to meet goal!!!!!!

January's goal was 20 and I hit 24!!!

Today will be a no spend day here.

Decided last night that instead of paying the escrow down ($800) or paying on the medical bill that's left we are gonna put that $800 in our Emergency fund - which right now is at 0. As much as I want to be debt free - it will happen this year - we need that EF. We will add another $200 to it and then start agressively paying down the medical bill. The escrow on the mortgage, we decided to just do it monthly. We already started it this way and rearranged the budget for it...............
Will start working on the menu for the next 2 weeks. So far my budgeted amount for groceries was 450 or 500 I can't remember but I've only spent 199.xx - thanks to the pantry challenge. I will definitely come in under budget as there are only 8 more days of this month!!!!!!!!
Decided that since we are budgeted the extra gas $ for the suburban and the extra insurance - I will keep it budgeted that way - but send the extra $$ to the EF, then the medical bill.
Terrible headache yesterday so I ended up using the dryer and I sure could see that with the kwh reading this morning. Oh well, back to hanging it out today.

Have a terrrific day!!!!

We got a car yesterday - it's an older one 89 lebaron - but it only had 64000 mile on it and was in mint condition. It has everything and is a convertible.

We have needed to take the suburban off the road for awhile can't wait to start seeing the savings in the gas - already lowered insurance by 96.00 every 6 months!!!!!! WOOHOO

I just checked my kwh for today only used 38 yesterday - just last week we were averaging 62!! So a savings of 29!!

Here's a few tips I have done recently:

~I have unplugged everything except major appliances
~flipped the breaker for the dryer and bought a bigger drying rack - now I have 2 and can do most laundry with those and the outside line
~wash only in cold, 1 time a week I wash whites in warm
~I still use the dishwasher - it would save another 6 to 8 kwh but I HATE to see dishes on the counter and I don't always have time to dry them - thanks to flylady and that shiney sink. LOL
~reset my hot water heater timer - which I had unset for awhile
~when baking do several items at one time
~Will be putting black out lining on the french doors soon, gonna do it yesterday and forgot..............
~I even unplug the computer and modem at night before going to bed