Layout:
Home > Archive: July, 2013

Archive for July, 2013

Jar Money and Grocery Planning

July 31st, 2013 at 06:27 pm

I went to look in my jars, and I was surprised that I had $40 in my Food jar and $20 in Entertainment (which is usually dining out). Friday is payday and I have $80 to spend on food. (Not including the jar money.) So if I can spend less than $80, then that is just more for the jar. I may actually be able to apply that money to something. But its nice to have it there.


My grocery shopping has to last us for almost 2 weeks (Except for milk and some fresh veggies). I know I will have to cook 9 meals. My husband works late on Tuesdays, so I don't cook. And we usually eat out once a week. And I send leftovers with him for lunches. I came up with 8 meals so we may just have to have cereal one night. Smile My list comes to $69.25 before coupons and store savings. I am curious to see what it comes out to. I'm guessing with wrong pricing or list errors it will still be $65. I am still shopping at Kroger so I can get double fuel points. I have 201 points which means $0.20 off a gallon for this week. And since I will be shopping in August I can start earning points for it.

No spending until Thursday

July 30th, 2013 at 09:45 pm

My intention was to not do any spending this week until Thursday. Well I was doing really great yesterday until my oldest dog got stung by a yellow jacket. Unfortunately I did not have enough children's benadryl or any children's aspirin, so I had to run to the dollar store. I spent $7. I had the cash in a jar to use, but I was so worried about her, that I ran out the door without it. But the rest of the week should be ok. My work took us out to eat today and I still have a half tank of gas.


Last week I bought some magazine subscriptions as Christmas Gifts. I went through Ebates, and Magazines.com has $5.00 subscriptions right now. So I bought 2 at $5.00 each and I will get 40% back on Ebates. Just a word of caution if anyone ever buys from Magazines.com. If you do not go in and change the renewal, it will automatically charge your card for the renewal. So I went in right after buying it and changed it so I wouldn't have to remember!! But it was a good deal.

Its been 2 weeks since I posted

July 26th, 2013 at 06:44 pm

The last 2 weeks for me have been ridiculous. Closing at my real job. Working at our shop. Surprise visit from my nephews and sister that live out of state. And other things. I have spent way too much money. I haven't seen my nephews in 7 months....so is it good, no, but its justifiable to me. So needless to say, my numbers haven't changed from my sidebar. Although we did manage to increase our savings $124 and my retirement is up to $3141. But no debt reduction. Tonight we are having our last get-together, which luckily I do not have to pay for. And everyone leaves tomorrow.


July has just been a very off month for me. I haven't been able to accomplish the goals I have set. Think I need to make smaller goals but I need to focus more. I will look over the finances this weekend and see where I am at.

Property Taxes

July 12th, 2013 at 08:31 pm

So after looking at our statement for the county, I realized that it was wrong. They have it listed that we live in a mobile home....but there is no mobile home on our property. This is actually something they were supposed to fix when we bought the house in January of last year. So at the end of the day, our taxes are going up to the tune of $869.00/ year. I thought they might go up if I ever got this fixed so I have been putting extra in escrow, along with the surplus from the escrow account last year. I am guess that I will have to get with the mortgage company and have our payment adjusted so our escrow account will be right? Not real excited about it, but I would rather fix it now then have to do it later and them retro it back years.


Today is payday. I have every single penny accounted for. Frown So, since we were invited to a short notice dinner tonight with friends, I may have to raid the coin jar to pay for it. Yes, I do have $20 in the budget for dining out. But with it being so hot here (100 - 103 degrees) I sometimes don't want to cook! And I want to have some money in case I need to buy dinner out during the week. I would like to come up with $20 - $30. But we will see.

Still organizing...mentally and physically

July 9th, 2013 at 09:28 pm

I super cleaned my house and did a lot of organizing. Then I did a lot of paperwork, so it looks a little crazy now. But when I am done with the paperwork, hopefully it will look even better. We also had some employees over for the 4th (with their kids) so I am still straigtening up. My husband will probably be home later tonight, so I should have some time to focus on a few things.


I find that I do better when I have things written down. I do better with our finances when I write them down and blog about them. And when I keep notes. I also have a whole binder dedicated to our finances. With cleaning, I do better if I have a list. Then I know what I have to do. And I have a sense of accomplishment when I can see things marked off. And even taking care of myself - I almost need to have a checklist just to remember to moisturize my face. Then I probably need a checklist for our business. Ugh...maybe that's too much!

Even the universe is telling me....

July 2nd, 2013 at 02:35 pm

Everything is overwhelming to me right now...including finances. I felt the need to read my horoscope and although they can be generic sometimes, it is definitely fitting.


Today July 2, 2013
Daily Overview
Money issues are taking up too much of your mental energy -- so settle at least one big problem once and for all! It could involve forgiving a debt or taking on a second job, but it's likely to be major.