Day 196 - $1500 Costco Gift Card

I got my 2 Costco gift cards - totaling $1,500!!! I love completing Online Offers.  This is the largest one I have completed and I only spent $360.06 (I have about $20 more that I need to spend).  Let me know if you are interested in Online Offers and I will write a very detailed post on how to complete them.

Day 196 - No Menu or Grocery Week

I did not go grocery shopping this weekend.  I have been super busy at work that I did not have time to even get the menu done for the week.  I will need to get it done soon since the hubby almost convinced me to order a pizza for dinner - which would have counted as 1 of 12 for our yearly eating out allotment. 

Day 191 - Getting Promoted

I was scheduled to interview last Friday (15th) at a job I had applied for.  After much consideration, I called the CEO on Friday morning and told him I had decided to withdraw my application.  He seemed annoyed, which I can understand - I was scheduled to interview with the Board that day.  I called him at around 10ish.  I was called into my boss' office at 11:00ish and he had me close the door.  I was a little paranoid, I thought he knew about me applying for the job. 

Turns out I was freaking out about nothing - my boss offered me a PROMOTION!!  I told him I would think about it and get back to him on Monday (18th). 

So I decided to take the job. If I can structure this correctly and hit the ground running I should be able to get my work hours down to the 50-55 hours a week mark.  A promotion, raise and fewer hours - can't beat that!

Day 190 - January Goals Update

More than half of January is gone...here is our progress.

1. Pay off Macy's, Dell and New York and Company Card.
• Done - all have cleared except for Dell.
2. Generate $300 of extra income.
• Done - the Hubby has a side job that he works at 16 hours a month.  We got his paycheck and that put us over.  I also sold a few books on Amazon.
3. Apply for community college teaching positions.
• Almost done - I just need to type a cover letter and get a letter of reference.  I am hoping I can get this done this week.
4. Study at least 10 hours a week for certification exam.
• Have not started.  I have so busy at work...I know excuses, excuses.
5. Run at least 3 times a week and select 1st half-marathon date.
• The first half-marathon that I signed up for is in April.  I have not done any running though. 
6. Clean out pantry and start "shopping" for canning jars and items for the garden.
• Haven't started.
7. Post at least once a week.
• I have averaged at least one a week; however, I have not been consistently posting. 
8. Stick to the budget.
• We had some unexpected expenses this month. Our cat got sick, pre-paid cell phone costs, education, vehicle repairs.  I cashed out some of my PTO last paycheck and so we were able to get by. 

Day 189 - Shopping Trip

Last week I only spent $10.90 on grocery since I had spent way to much the week before.

Total Spent this week $56.96.

Albertsons
Total Spent = $12.59
Total Saved = $41.53
$12.59 Shopping Trip with 77% savings

Safeway
Total Spent = $27.51
Total Saved = $57.54
$27.51 Shopping Trip with 68% savings

I love shopping at Rite Aid and Walgreens!

Rite Aid
Total Spent= $31.09
Total Saved = $45.98
Will receive $22.00 in Rebates
$9.09 Shopping Trip with 88% savings

Walgreens
Total Spent = $12.73
Total Saved = $20.98
Received $5.00 RR back
$7.73 Shopping Trip with 77% savings

Day 189 - Weekly Menu

Here is the menu for the week:

Sunday:
Jambalaya

Monday:
Steak & Corn

Tuesday:
Chicken Pitas with Fruit Salad

Wednesday:
Shrimp Salad

Thursday:
Lemon Pepper Chicken and Green Beans

Friday:
Sphagetti and Garlic Bread

Saturday:
Chicken Quesadillas

Day 178 - Looking for another job (I forgot to post this one)

I am not actively searching, but I am looking.  I am on salary and make a decent salary; however, I work way to many hours that my decent salary does not equate to a whole lot when I calculate it on an hourly basis.  I had a meeting with a CEO of a company today and I will be interviewing with the Board next week.  The pay will be the same; however, the benefit package is much better as it pertains to retirement and I will probably only work 40 hours a week (compared to my 60 -70+ hours a week).  I love where I am at - I am challenged everyday and I NEVER run out of work.  This job that I am interviewing for is about 1/8 of the size and will probably not provide me with the professional growth I need.  I am not sure what I want to do.

Day 175 - Grocery Shopping

Total BUST!!!

I shop once a week on Sundays.  I make one trip and stop at 4 stores - Albertson's, Rite Aid, Walgreens and Safeway.  I try to spend no more than $50 a week.

This week was a different story - I spent over $100 and that was with coupons!!!

I never spend this much money on food/household in one trip.  It does not look like I will not be doing a shopping trip next Sunday unless I see great deals. 

Safeway and Albertsons Shopping = $99.74

Albertsons
Total Spent - $27.96
Total Saved - $37.69
$27.96 shopping trip 57% savings

Safeway
Total Spent - $71.78
Total Saved - $58.28
$71.78 shopping trip with 45% savings

I got all of this for $.96!!!

Rite Aid

Total Spent - $2.99

Total Saved - $34.46

Will Receive $3.00 Rebate for the Listerine

FREE shopping trip

Walgreens

Total Spent - $1.96

Total Saved - $18.59

Received a RR for the Electosol

$.96 shopping Trip

 

Day 175 - Weekly Menu

The hubby and I have done a 180 when it comes to eating out, we use to eat out at least twice a week - now eating out is a special treat.  Every Saturday night we sit down and create the menu - our menu runs from Sunday through Saturday.  I do all my shopping every Sunday.  I purchased a few cookbooks and try to cook at least one meal a week from the cookbooks.   It is always exciting to try something new.


Here is the menu for the week:

Sunday:
Smoked Chicken Breast & Salad

Monday:
Slow-Baked Macaroni & Cheese (Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two, page 82)

Tuesday:
Sauteéd Tequila Lime Shrimp Tacos w/Mango and Pineapple Salsa and Spicy Black Means (Cook Yourself Thin, page 140)

Wednesday:
Chicken & Sugar Snap Peas Stir Fry

Thursday:
Spinach & feta Chicken Breast & Salad (Pick up the recipe card at Safeway a few months ago)

Friday:
Chicken Fettuccini

Saturday:
Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry

I will admit this was not easy for us to get use to, but we have been doing this since September. 

Do any of you plan weekly menus?  How often to you go shopping for food?  What is a reasonable budget for 2 people? 

Day 174 - Is it possible??

When the hubby and I started this blog we said that we wanted to pay off our debt in 730 days. By looking at the numbers we need to do find a way to bring a lot more money to accomplish this. Is this why we constantly fail?  Is it because we always set unrealistic goals?


Being that today is Day 174; we only have 556 days to go. That means that we need $.20 a second, $12.14 an hour, $291.34 a day or a little over $9,000 a month for debt repayment only. I am starting to become a little discouraged.


For the month of January I have budgeted $1,089.01 for debt repayment, far from the $9,000 we need. It is time to re-evaluate the budget and our goals.

Day 173 - January Goals

Goals for the month of January:

1. Pay off Macy's, Dell and New York and Company Card.
2. Generate $300 of extra income.
3. Apply for community college teaching positions.
4. Study at least 10 hours a week for certification exam.
5. Run at least 3 times a week and select 1st half-marathon date.
6. Clean out pantry and start "shopping" for canning jars and items for the garden.
7. Post at least once a week.
8. Stick to the budget.

Day 173 - January Budget

January Budget

Total Income: I have built in $300 of other income for my Flex spending account for medical expenses.

Vehicles: Includes 3 payments, insurance, fuel and service. (I think I know where I need to cut expense at).

Personal: Life and disability insurance, medical expenses and personal care.

Home: All utilities, rent, and a cord of wood. (I will expand on a later post on our rent).

Credit Card: This only include minimum payments.

Student Loans: Again only minimum payments.

Savings: From experience every time we go on a budget we tend to budget for "big expenses" as they come up. This is where we become discourage and begin to live off the budget. Not this year - every month I will send these funds to ING and we will only use them for our "big expenses". Included in the section are: emergency fund, Christmas and birthday gifts, Halloween party, annual vacation, home insurance and taxes.

Day 173 - 2010 Goals

Financials Goals:

1. Establish a $1,200 Emergency Fund.
2. Eliminate all credit card and vehicle debt by December 31, 2010.
3. Generate $5,000 of extra income ("sell stuff", teach a college course, surveys, online offers)
4. Eat out no more than 12 times this year. (Got this great idea from SS4BC).
5. No clothes or shoe shopping for the whole year!!

Personal Goals:

1. Pass certification exam by August 31, 2010.
2. Run at least 2 half-marathons.
3. Grow a garden.
4. Bake at least once a month.
5. Become a better blogger. (Post at least once a week).

Day 173 - 2009 Re-cap

I have not been the blogger I had hoped to be. Hopefully this year will be different.


2009 Re-cap:

• The hubby has a full-time job. We should see about $1,900 a month - this will go all to debt. With a full-time job he will receive benefits (i.e. - Health insurance), which means that we will not longer pay $96 a month for his health benefits!!


• I managed to re-consolidate my student loans from $260 to $160 - the difference will go to debt.


• I calculated what our taxes will be for next year and have maximized our take home pay.
  

How we ended the year = unfortunately not great!

Here is the breakdown as of 12/31/2009:

Assets
Cash: $94.25
Retirement/Investments: $4,981.67
Total Assets: $5,075.92

Liabilities:
Credit Cards: $22,858.29
Vehicles: $20,649.06
Student Loans: $118,479.82
Total Liabilities: $161,987.17

Net Worth ($156,911.25)