$66 for 33 days Challenge

I love challenges. I thrive for competition and a goal. Whether it was with school or sports, I have always took being one of the best seriously. When you become a grownup, being the best involves your career and your competence at home. For a SAHM with a part-time position with the state and a fun side business creating wedding items, I have had very few times that I could stop and consider whether I was the "best". Not sure anyone else could be better than me at my own life. Right? For those who have positions in a "real" office, you compare yourself with coworkers. I don't have coworkers and I dare not compare myself to other parents. So here I am. The only person to compare to is myself, so I enjoy challenges still. I dare push myself to be better and better because thats my personality. Competitive to a fault! :)

So, last night I was pondering while making 3 hand=painted aisle runners, how can I challenge myself this month? I came up with the $66 in 33 days challenge. For the next 33 days, Rob and I will have $66 worth of cash in hand. This cash will be the only thing that we can use for non-bill or gas related expenses! We each get $1 a day. Freaking awesome! Haha. (Do you love how poor hubs got draw into this...). We have our bills on auto-pay. Have shut down the credit card use completely a couple weeks ago and have deposited a good amount of our checkings into savings! With the $66, we must pay for groceries, toiletries, and recreation. With Kennedy's milk costing about $4 a week, we have about $50 to play with for almost 5 weeks!

If I didn't have a stockpile of items that I bought while on our $35-50 budget for groceries for the last months, this may not be possible. But the truth is that I think that we have done so well stockpiling, that we can live comfortably (yet restrained) with the $50 leftover!

So, no more trips to Walmart for "one thing" or "just browsing" at Target. Time to get serious and tell this challenge to bring it. Anyone else in? I challenge you but warn I am super competitive! :)

Bump in the Road...

So, we have had a huge bump in the road for our goal of saving $15,000 this year. This is it.....

On Valentines Day, Rob had an accident (and thankful was not hurt!!!). We were borrowing the car from Rob's parents until we could afford to purchase one. Needless to say, we are now in the market for a new car, which brings me to the conclusion that our goal will not be possible this year.

With that being said, I am even more motivated to save! The stress of buying a car unexpectedly this month will lessen as we drop expenses that we no longer need. Right now, we are cutting our Data Plans on our cell phones. We are currently paying $85/month for both of our phones. We were paying $100/month until I lowered my data plan last month. Our goal is to sell our smartphones and we have just purchased two cheap simple feature (calling and texting only) phones online for $20-25 each. Once they come, we will trash the data plans and lower our monthly expenses by $60!!! yay!

Saving money has always been important to me and as I get older, it becomes more and more important. Even though we can't make our goal this year since a new (which really means used...haha) car will take up most of our potential savings, rest assured that we will not give up on our goal. I might even find better and more creative ways that I might have not considered otherwise! :)

When you are given lemons make lemonade! You work with what you have and for us that is currently motivation!

Emealz Giveaway Winner!

And the winner is.....Dara Nebel!!

Congrats Dara! I will be contacting you shortly with the prize information!

Thank you to all who entered! I love giveaways and plan on having more in the future. Now back to saving money I go!

EXTRA 20% OFF EVERYTHING FOR BABY AT KOHLS! TODAY ONLY (2/7)

Kohls has a coupon that is good only for TODAY (2/7) that takes 20% EVERYTHING you buy online or in store for baby!! This is in addition to sales and markdowns! You might be able to use Kohl's Cash or another coupon with them! I went yesterday and there is a ton of baby items on sale right now that are 60-80% off. Good luck and happy shopping! Link is below! :)

http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/45320/14d/ig.rsys2.net/responsysimages/content/kohls/020711babyprintpass_fb_new.htm

Packers or Steelers? Neither. Free Pizza? Yes Please.

Packers or Steelers? The question of the SuperBowl Sunday? Nope. Will there be overtime? YES!!! I am not a football fan but now that Papa Johns is offering a free pizza if there is overtime, it might actually be worth tuning in for a few mins at the end! There are also a ton of giveaways tonight at 6pm while everyone is in football mode, so non-football fans, get ready to scope up the deals! :)

Join My Papa Points Rewards System and you could get a free pizza this Superbowl Sunday if the game goes into overtime. If the score is tied at the end of regulation, Papa John’s will be giving My Papa Rewards members 25 points each which is good for one Free Large Pizza! Join today!

(Thanks Bargainbriana!)

Woot Woot for Shoe Loot!

Went to Children's Place today to get Kennedy black socks for her birthday outfit. On my way out, I found these! $2.99 a piece! Woohoo!!! I also had a 15% off coupon you can find on the internet, which made them $2.50!

Spent $10 and saved $73 off original pricing (which in my opinion is crazy to begin with!)! A diva needs shoes, but mama doesn't pay full price! :)

Serial Dieters and Savers

Its been a month since Rob and I proclaimed our journey to our friends and family. I laid out the groundrules and the cutbacks and provided a budget! The strict budget had to be adjusted here and there because we forgot a few things, but we came to a workable budget! One thing that I didn't realize when you become a purger of expensive luxuries, is that you begin to feel like a dieter.

As a serial dieter, I have learned what I need to maintain the diet because all too often you want to go back into your old behavior. Throughout childhood, my stick-like figure was cause enough for kids to make fun of me. I hated my flat chest, lanky stature and what I refer to as my "skeletor" facial features. I was SO active that I couldn't keep any weight on. All my skinny loathing ended when I went to college and plumped up. Then it was something I had to try to control with fluctuations and horrible diets. I became the definition of the "serial dieter". I thought I was fat. BAHAHA. This is a picture of me fat in college and post-Skeletor so use your imagination as to what Skeletor looked like (on the right)!
Then 5 years later, I had my daughter and I looked like this and this picture became my dieter "fridge pic" to remind me of my goal.

So, I began to diet...and lost my goal weight. Then began eating like I did before with a bit of a modification.

You ask, what does this have to do with savings? I view serial dieters like serial savers. The same rules apply to savers as you hear about dieters. This thought hit me while I was enjoying my first bath in a month. I had shedded that "luxury" a month ago and began taking showers. I used to only take baths. It helped me unwind and just rest when Kennedy was super tiny. Last night, I told Rob that I just was too tired to stand in the shower, so I went for it.

If you give up every luxury or feel too restricted, you will not stick your plan, whether it's a diet or budget! Here are some rules for dieting that you should take to heart about savings!

1. Choose your friends wisely: Make sure you have supportive friends around you. If you have a friend that always wants you to break the rules, you will be tempted to spend. On the flip-side, friends that harass you when you take in your once-in-a-while luxury, will make you feel guilty and you will end up quitting because you can never take your much needed break for your savings diet. Moochers are a savings dieters worst nightmare. Don't be pressured to spend money you don't have and definitely don't feel pressured to spend money you don't have on friends that want you to pay for them.

2. Plan your indulgences and take them: If you know that you will need indulgences, plan for them. Just like planning out meals and desserts when dieting, set out a goal amount you are willing to part with each month or some other specified amount of time, and plan something that will help you relieve your spending urges. While you need these indulgences, don't forget your goal. If you feel like you need to go to the movies with your love, maybe you can still be budget-conscious by skipping the candy (or bring your own...hehe).

3. Drink lots of water: Not only will you help your health and probably shed some pounds, you will also spare your wallet! The average American drinks 57 gallons of soda each year. That is almost 108 2-liters per person! The price of each 2-liter is around $1-2 for bottles and $2/glass at a restaurant. My biggest pet-peeve is getting water when we're out to eat. I see no reason to order soda that costs more than a 2-liter for a 45 min meal. If we eat out once a week with our spouse and both order water, we would save around $208/ year! Let's put that in perspective for parents!

If you and your partner order water for every eat-out meal for the first 18 years of your child's life, you could save $3,744 to go in their college fund! Thats enough for me. Imagine giving up soda altogether? Who could have thought drinking water could help prevent your children from taking out student loans? :)

4. Buy Filling Foods and less crap: By buying foods that fill you up, you will be eating less and therefore spending less. Buying foods like chips, candy, or other junk food adds to your food bill but doesn't fill your stomach long.

For all the other serial dieters/serial savers, take heart. There will be ups and downs. Not everything that works for one person, will work for you and your family. Find your groove and you are bound to be in good shape!

Emealz Giveaway! :)

In our home, we LOVE anything we can try before buying! We also love FREE! For readers looking to save money this year, whats better than getting something free, save money in the long run and also get to try something before buying???

Emealz.com (you might have heard Dave Ramsey talk about them!) has offered a 3 month subscription to one lucky Mama Can Save reader!! I started using Emealz last month and I loved that they told me what to buy aisle by aisle and even told you what coupons to use! Best part is that they build recipes (that don't repeat) that are based on whats on sale for the store you pick! We are using the Publix for 2 plan. With Emealz, you are cutting out the "Whats for Dinner" guessing game and you will save time and money.

From now until Feb 10th at midnight central time, you can enter up to 6 times to win the 3 month of Emealz by:

1)Following Mama Can Save on Facebook (link to the right!)

2)You can earn one entry for each friend that tells me on my facebook wall that you recommended them to my Mama Can Save Facebook page!

3)Following Emealz on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/emealz)

4)Following Emealz on Twitter ( http://twitter.com/EMEALZ)

5)Visit Emealz.com and leave a comment with which meal plan you would choose!

6)Visit or follow Emealz blog: www.maketimeforfamily.org

For each one you do, be sure to leave to a separate comment with your name, email and the task you completed for the entry. For every comment, you will get one entry!! The winner will be picked using randomizing software Feb 11th and announced soon after.

*I was not paid or given any kind of products by Emealz.com to do this contest.

Free Dinner Anyone?

Right now, Panda Express is offering a printable coupon (http://184.106.246.200/Zodiac/coupon.php) to get FREE Firecracker Chicken Breast on Feb 3rd. Make sure to print your coupon asap (they sometimes pull coupons early!). Its no purchase necessary, so I suggest you spare your wallets and go through the drive thru and just get the chicken! Add a side to your chicken entree at home and WHALA- Nearly free dinner! :)

Putting It All On The Line

Smells often trigger the past. And nothing triggers the past for me like the smell of line dried laundry. Growing up, I remember that my mom used a clothesline to dry clothes in the summer on nice days. When times were hard or the dryer was broken, no matter the weather, the clothesline was the fall-back plan. I spoke to my mom recently (she currently uses a clothesline since she doesn't have a dryer) and she explained how much her electric bill has gone down since she has line dried. We have a high efficiency front loader washer and dryer, but I am very aware that NO energy use is better than even a little.

So, last week I went to Walmart and bought a retractable clothesline for the whopping investment of 7.68. We hung it proudly, yet not in the best location that night. The next morning I could not wait to get a load of laundry of the line to see how long it would take to dry and how the clothes would feel. The first two loads took me about 20 mins to hang on the line and within a few hours they were dry! I decided since they were a bit stiff hard as a rock, to throw them on the air dry cycle (no heat) for a few mins. And thats all it took- 4 mins -and they were soft and just like they were dried in the dryer. Another option to soften line dried laundry is to add vinegar to the rinse cycle. The vinegar smell will not remain but you will have a natural way to soften!

This is what a clothesline in a small home looks like. Everytime I take my daughter to nap, she plucks the clothes from the line for me. Such a little helper.....

Although, it did take more time than just throwing it in the dryer and walking away, I was willing to sacrifice the small amount of time it took to "get paid" to line dry. During my research I found, for every hour you spend hanging laundry, you are saving $10 (estimate). That will add up. In the US, dryers consume 70 billion kilowatt hours each year!!! According to Green Energy Efficient Homes, If every American line dried once every seven loads, they would reduce energy demand by one billion kilowatt hours!!

Even with the most efficient appliances, its best to remember that ANY energy use costs money. Also, buying dryer sheets or laundry softener can be a thing of the past! If you find an alternative, use it. It make take so extra time but a penny saved is a penny earned. Get paid to save. Think about it like this. If you hung your laundry each month, you could afford to go to the movies or out to dinner. Even better, you could put it into savings!

I will keep you updated as to whether we run into any problems and feel free to write comments for suggestions to others! :)

For additional information on line drying, check out these links:

http://www.green-energy-efficient-homes.com/energy-efficient-washer-and-dryer.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/Lazy-Line-Dry/

Reader Q&A: Stockpiling

"Most of coupon shopping seems to do with stockpiling items on sale. But the items don't always seem to go together in such a way to make a meal. I guess after several weeks of stockpiling, your pantry will lead to meals. I guess that because of that I don't see what makes couponing better than just careful meal planning around the weekly sales ads and only buying the things you really need. Can you help me understand? Thanks!" -Naomi of Knoxville

Stockpiling often brings hoarders to mind. And maybe this is so but its hoarding for a real purpose. Stockpiling is buying and stocking a great deal of food for the purpose of a rainy day, to save money or to just not have to run to the grocery store every five minutes! We pretty much always make budget conscious meals but to buy materials even for the cheapest meals sometimes is more expensive than it needs to be. For example, Spaghetti is $1+ a box, but in most cases on a good sale you can get it for free or under 10 cents. Spaghetti sauce is normally $2 a jar but on a good sale,its 50 cents. Most meals are made with "staples", meaning can soup, pasta, rice, etc. These staple items are used in the majority or our meals. Also, we use sales to plan our meals. We use staples mixed with perishable goods that are on sale to create our meal ideas. By stockpiling, you are allowing yourself to pay the best price for a items you are probably going to use instead of paying full price in a rush because you need it now. Grocery stores go on 6 week cycles with their sales, so I stock up on 6 weeks of a great sale each time they have it. That way during the 5 odd weeks, I don't have to pay full price, which I HATE DOING! Haha.

Hope this makes sense to you. Couponing should be used in conjunction with budget conscious meal planning. Another thing, I think couponing helps is allowing you to cook different meals because you are getting to try some stuff for free and it changes things up a bit. :)

Here are some quick shots of my stockpile items (not to include whats already in my pantry..haha):

Have a question? Send it to candiceburnham@gmail.com to be part of the Reader Q&A! I will do my best to research great answers for you!

Here are some additional resources to help you start stockpiling today:

http://www.suite101.com/content/save-money-on-food-and-toiletries-a213504

http://www.ehow.com/how_6601484_create-stockpile-food-using-coupons.html

www.southernsavers.com

Shopping Success 1/23 Kroger Trip

Today was a great success at Kroger. I don't usually like to do the primary part of my shopping at Kroger because their sales are okay most of the time but not as great as Publix. I am a bit spoiled with Publix because each week I get a ton of groceries there for next to nothing. But this week was Kroger's Mega Event and I thought it might have potential. I prepared for the trip by using Southernsavers.com (SOSA). I printed and clipped all the listed coupons on SOSA and managed some great deals! I got all of this for 19.96 after tax! I like stocking up when things are on sale, so you will notice that I buy a great deal of sale items when 1)I have a coupon and 2) when its a worthy sale.

At Kroger this week, they have DelMonte Veggies and Hunts and Rotel Tomatoes as part of their buy 10 get $5 back promo. 50 cent can veggies are not amazing since you can buy them at Walmart everyday for 50 cents but I think that Delmonte (and not having to go to Walmart) are worth the price even more! I was THROUGHLY excited about the can tomatoes which were also 50 cents a can (and I had coupons for!!!). You know you are old when you get more excited about can veggies than your Saturday plans (which just so happen to be planning my grocery trip.....haha). If you are in need of can veggies, jump on this deal! In addition to that, I found French's mustard (with coupon!) was also a great deal.

Though Kroger's deals aren't totally up to par with Publix, you can't beat a good sale! :)

If You Don't Know Jack, You're Might Be Missing Out!

A year ago, I was pondering life after having my daughter. After maternity leave, I had to return to my job but only part time from home. After discussing the linguistics of how my working from home was going to go, I realized that I would need a phone-not my cell phone- for the many business calls that I get each day because we couldn't afford blowing our small budget for minutes. My employer does not provide free phones to those who work from home, so I began to panic thinking that I was cutting my hours and now adding another cost.

During my research, I found Magic Jack. Don't let the name fool you, its not magic. Magic brings magnificent tricks to mind and thats not Magic Jack but it does offer a basic solution. Before I explain more about the Magic Jack, I feel you should have to watch a couple of informative hilarious videos on the topic.

Now that you have been schooled by an 11 year old, you can understand a bit of the potential for savings with the Magic Jack. We have used our for nearly a year now (all be it not daily) and we have found it to be extremely worthwhile if you need a home phone. It works for us perfectly when we need it and does exactly what it was meant to do.

There are cons for the Magic Jack though. You must have a computer and it must be on for you to be able to receive or make calls. The call quality is great for ours and when the computer is not on, messages are forwarded to your email. How amazing is that?? You can check your message from ANYWHERE you have a computer! Yet, its still not "magical" even with this feature. The customer service is also not great.

With all of that being said, I must say that for $40 (includes device and service) for the first year and $20 for every year after that, it is a worthwhile investment for those who have to have a home phone. For me, the best feature was that all calls to the US and CANADA are free! My best friend lives in Canada so I was sold. If you don't need a home phone and can rely on cell phones, this is not for you. A more reliable and cheaper option might be Skype. Yes, it still requires a computer, but its also free. What's better than free?

So now you know Jack. Maybe you will be friends or maybe you will choose to be a bit pickier! :)

365: A Year of Saving!

365 days doesn’t seem like a lot of time to change your life, but for anyone that has experienced life-altering circumstances, they know that even one day can change your life entirely. The life lessons you are taught by each day give you the opportunity to change.

Now, lets get to the life-altering moment in my life that brings me to creating this blog and taking on the hefty task of saving $15,000 in 365 days.........

As a child, my parents owned a business, a beautiful home in a quiet country neighborhood in Oklahoma and it was the picture perfect life for our family of six. But come on? That wouldn’t be interesting, right? No, of course not, so we continue.

Flash-forward one year. Switch the beautiful home in a quiet country to this....

No, we didn’t own it.....

For almost two years, we shared time living at this motel, a van and a WONDERFUL homeless family housing project. The time we spent homeless was stressful at times, but we also gained unimaginable memories and strengths from the lessons that we learned EVERY day. Surprisingly, some of my favorite childhood moments came from a time that my family and a dog camped out and lived in one van eating $1 Whoppers from Burger King for many dinners.

With that being said, it also created indescribable fears that I would carry through life and I will probably never be able to shake. I don’t ever want to live the life of uncertainty ever again, especially as a mother. And luckily, I haven’t since graduating college.

And here we are with 2011 freshly sprung upon us, we are changing our habits and everyday lifestyle as we “tighten the belt.” With our income, we could get by living comfortably like we have done in past years, but we wouldn’t be able to save for the all-to-common “rainy-day” that I know too well can come in an instant.

So here’s the plan: Cut every unnecessary cost, luxury and bills down to the bare minimum that our sanity can withstand! This blog will document our journey that leads us to $15,000 in 365.

And no post about childhood would be complete without a glorious family photo (sans dad). Marvel at our eye-catching style and please don't be too jealous....