Well, some of you know and some of you don't (so I will share) that I am working hard this nest year to try to become more disciplined in my life. I know some of you are shocked to hear me saying this because you think I am disciplined already, at which I just laugh. In all honesty, I put on a good front. Anyway, my goals are to be more consistent in my quiet time, spend more QUALITY time with my kids and husband, keep up with things around the house better, and bemore disciplined in my spending.
I have been trying to do "school" with Josiah three days a week. We have been doing a lot of coloring, painting and gluing and it has been a lot of fun. One day soon I will have to post a picture of the wall of stuff he has done. It is rather cute. And yes, I have to help him out a lot, but give him a break. He is only 2! :o)
I have given myself a spending budget, not because I have to have one, but because I wanted one. I only have an allotted amount of money for the week to go spend on food or whatever else. If I am under, I get to put what is left over in the "bank" for whatever I want to save it for. If I am over, I have to pull money out of my "bank" to make up for the difference. It makes me think twice about that large sugar-free vanilla iced coffee that I have to have from McDonalds. (Okay, so I don't think twice about the coffee, but maybe the double cheeseburger?!?) :o)
Another thing I have done is to start using coupons again when I can. I used to use them all the time when I was single and living on a Christian school teacher budget. There is really no reason that I shouldn't still do it now, even though I have a husband who is supporting me and I am not on the limited budget that I once was. I want to be responsible with the resources God has given to us, so I want to try to cut expenses where I can.
All this said to say that after lunch at McDonalds today, I went with the kids on a trip to Walmart. Here is my purchase:
The entire purchase before tax is worth 24.44. I paid 15.56, including tax. Without tax, 14.69. When you take out the eyeliner that I didn't have a coupon for (and it comes out of my personal budget), everything was 11.91.
Here is the breakdown:
Toaster Strudel - 1.88 $1 off coupon Price paid: $0.88
Deli Creations - 2.50 $1 off $1.50
Juicy Juice - 2.57 $1 off $1.57
Kotex pantiliners - 1.00 $1 off FREE
Granola bars - 2.58 $1 off $1.58
Wet ones - 0.97 $0.75 off $0.22
Baby soap - 0.97 $1 off -$.03
Diaper rash cream - 2.24 $1 off $1.24
Now I know this is not as incredible feat as some others have achieved (i.e. Pam & Sherri), but I felt pretty good about it. I find couponing to be somewhat of a game.
Just a note on the Juicy Juice - the 64 oz bottles were priced $2.57 and the 46 oz were priced $2.67. Go figure.
Well, since spending my time blogging on the internet when I have other things to do is not being disciplined, I had better run. I will return when I am caught up.....
3 comments:
i am like you...i really think i need to start coupon-ing more often. its hard to be on a "budget" and coupon-ing is kind of like a game to me. see what kind of good deals i can get. i guess that means i need to start clipping?
I think you did great! :) I will be praying for you about the threes too... :)
Go to grocerygame.com if you haven't already. She does all the hard work for you, telling you which stores in your area are having sales and when the item will be at it's lowest possible price so you should stock up. I haven't used it yet, b/c I don't buy a whole lot of packaged items, but it looks great. Let me know if you do it!
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