Raising my two youngest daughters to respect money is a becoming a challenge.

My approach toward their weekly allowance probably differs vastly from most parents views on the topic; though, on hearing my rationale, many parents I’ve spoken to agree that it’s a good idea. Paris is 10 and Ciel is 9. They each receive [...]]]>

Raising my two youngest daughters to respect money is a becoming a challenge.

My approach toward their weekly allowance probably differs vastly from most parents views on the topic; though, on hearing my rationale, many parents I’ve spoken to agree that it’s a good idea. Paris is 10 and Ciel is 9. They each receive their age in dollars, per week, in the form of an allowance. They spend it as they wish – books, toys, candy, treats – all I buy is the food they eat and the clothes they wear. If they want to download music, then they need to buy their own iTunes card. If they want McDonalds, they pay for what they order (unless it’s an “emergency drive thru”, where our evening is just so busy I don’t have time to make dinner. In this case, I pay as it’s my choice), they buy their own gifts if they attend a friends birthday party, and so on.

Paris saves her money, and when she really wants something, she will buy it if she has the money. If she doesn’t have the money, she’ll save until she does.

Ciel is not so thrifty, and doesn’t believe in saving her money. It burns a hole in her pocket (or bank account). She wants what she wants and she wants it now. She won’t wait for something while she saves for it, she’ll try every trick in the book to borrow money, have someone else pay for what she wants, get an advance on her allowance … whatever it takes.

We just left Borders after a full on battle of the wills. Ciel had just bought a book last week, “The Name of this Book is Secret” by Pseudonymous Bosch (of course it’s a real name!), and finished it in a couple of weeks. She was itching to get the next book in the series “If You’re Reading This, it’s Too Late“, so I offered her the 33% off coupon I had received in an email from Borders.  She hounded me until I agreed to take her to Borders. Paris checked her bank account, and had $36 to spend, so she was happy to tag along.

Once at the store, we found Ciel’s book, and the girls roamed around the “Independent Readers” section while I grazed on the inspiration fodder in the Art & Design section. Once they had settled on the books they wanted to buy, and I had my fill of inspiration and color theory, we headed to the checkout. Then a fairly big box caught Paris’s eye and she was soon rushing back to return Babymouse #12: Burns Rubber to the shelf in favor of an origami gift set. This then meant a whirlwind tour of the bargain bins, where Ciel found a book about dogs that she absolutely needed.

“Mom, I need to buy this book.”

“No, baby, you already have a book, you don’t have enough money for both.”

“But I can owe you.”

“No, I don’t have enough money to give you your allowance early.”

Wednesday is Allowance Day

“I bet someone does.”

“Oh yeah? Who’s that?”

“G-ma”

“Grandma’s not here.”

“But she’d give me money. Why won’t you?”

“Because that’s the way allowances work – it’s the same as getting paid. You get your allowance on Wednesdays, just like I get paid every other Friday. If I spend all my money before I get paid again, then I can’t buy what I want to buy. That’s just the way it is.”

“It’s not fair.”

And the bemoaning continued all the way …… to the end of the parking lot! Once she opened her new book and started reading, she had totally forgotten about the dog book that she would die without.

I don’t mind going over this scenario, I really don’t, but it seems to happen every time we go into a store!

Photo credit: sxc.hu/Claudio Jule

Have you seen their sale for today? Two of my favorite brands are [...]]]> You’ve heard me rave about 6pm.com and their great deals – in fact, most of the shoes I buy come from 6pm. They have a “deal a day” type arrangement where they choose certain brands that go on sale for just one day.

Have you seen their sale for today? Two of my favorite brands are on sale!
Bass Footwear- All Styles $19.95 or less Today Only!
Easy Spirit-All Styles $17.95 Today Only! !

I haven’t seen these before, but I might pick some up for the summer for the girls:
Mion Footwear -All Styles $12.95 or less Today Only!

DC shoes are always comfortable, always in style, and they always have something I want – and just for today, they’re 60% off!
DC Footwear and Apparel- All Styles 60% off or More Today Only!

And this is also where I bought Heelys for the girls The price is right!
Heelys Footwear-All Styles $16.95 or Less Today Only!

Is it still snowing where you are? We still have snow in our forecast!
Snow Blowout 60% off or More Select Styles Today Only!

What are you waiting for? Get out there and shop!

Today’s shopping coup netted $159.37 worth of goodies for just $24.36 (and I still have $15 in catalinas to spend on my next shopping trip). Here’s what I came home with:

6 jars of Hellman’s mayo 15 [...]]]> I felt the need to go grocery shopping again today. Donating groceries felt so good that I needed to donate more!

Today’s shopping coup netted $159.37 worth of goodies for just $24.36 (and I still have $15 in catalinas to spend on my next shopping trip). Here’s what I came home with:

6 jars of Hellman’s mayo
15 Progresso soups
24 cans of veggies (beans, peas, corn, creamed corn)
11 boxes cereal (Golden Grahams, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cheerios & Cocoa Puffs)
11 packs of Chex mix, Gardettos & Cheerios mix

No paper towels this time LOL!

I put the brand names in there because when I donated the cereal, they said “Oooh! It’s REAL cereal!” I don’t know what they thought they were going to be getting!

This really isn’t anything extraordinary – you, too, can learn the art of smart couponing from Retire With Coupons – if I could get just 10 friends to shop like this, I’m sure we could help some of the local food pantries get through the crisis they are currently experiencing.

Actually, it’s not just the food pantries that are suffering. Think about your local woman’s shelter, the Salvation Army, “halfway” houses, homeless shelters. There IS enough food to go around if we all were to shop just a little bit smarter and use the tools the food manufacturers provide to us. And they really do need more than just food. You can get some amazing deals on shampoo, deodorant, over-the-counter medications, cleaning products, toothpaste, paper goods such as tissues and paper towels.

Would you think about it, and see what you can do to help?

Now, I think I’ll go have some soup for dinner …

Yes, it was hard. I wanted to convince myself that I could keep one card in a draw somewhere because I would surely have a future emergency that necessitated the [...]]]> It’s been just a couple of weeks since I cut up the credit cards, and I’m looking forward to my debt-free future with renewed enthusiasm!

Yes, it was hard. I wanted to convince myself that I could keep one card in a draw somewhere because I would surely have a future emergency that necessitated the use of funds I don’t have – but that’s the thinking that got me here.

I, like everyone else, started off with one credit card. When the bank raised the limit for the first time I seriously thought of calling them and telling them that I didn’t need it, and could they lower it again, please. But my “what if” thinking tricked me into believing that I wouldn’t go over my previous limit, and it would be good to have that buffer in case I had an emergency. There’s that word again!

Now, there’s a little history here that you may not be aware of. When I moved from Australia to the US, I pretty much sold everything I had and used all the money I had to get me and my “stuff” here. Rightly or wrongly, I believe the man who told me he loved me and would take care of me. The same man who told me he was “doing fine” – he was working all the overtime he could and was in a position that I wouldn’t have to work. The same man who, I discovered once I could see through the bullshit, earned about $28 an hour, worked many hours of overtime, but couldn’t put food on the table for his family. But that’s another story.

Long story short, when the marriage was over, I had no money, no income, no support, and two babies to feed and take care of. Of course the credit card was a godsend! It enabled me to feed my family, to clothe my family, to pay my utilities … to get by. I realize now that using a credit card is like using a drug. You get to rely on it. Heavily. And I did.

I did OK, I got a job, paid the bills that were left when I was abandoned for another woman, bought a car to replace the one that was given to me as a gift then taken away again, and I bought a house. Yay for me.

But I still have the credit card, and day by day I’m digging a deeper hole.

I thought it would help my bookkeeping skills if I had a credit card that I could use JUST for purchases for the girls. Then I could use that little ol’ child support check to pay it off each month.

MEEP.

Wrong!

The 0% interest was wonderful. But of course it ended.
The theory that I’d use it just for the girls was wonderful. It was just too easy to bend the rules.

Before I knew it, I had one credit card with a $10,000 balance, and one with a $2,000 balance. And I’m barely making the minimum payments each month.

But I can refinance my mortgage!

I set those wheels in motion, and I had joined mint.com to try to get a handle on my finances. Mint.com is fantastic. You can see all your accounts in one place, see what you’re worth, see what you’re spending, and see how to save money. One of those graphs showed me that I could save $2,000 a year on my credit card by switching to a different credit card. So I applied. The deal looked great, zero interest on balance transfers, zero interest for 6 months – how could I lose?

I lost.

What I didn’t count on – and I feel stupid looking back – was that the credit card that I was issued had a limit that was nowhere near the amount I needed to transfer all my credit card debt! Stupid, stupid, STUPID!

So, by this time I have a credit card with a $10k balance, a credit card with a $4k balance and a credit card with a $2k balance. Oh, I’m not maxed out on the lower limit cards, I have some wiggle room, but the large one is busting at the seams.

But now the cards have gone. Cut up. In the shredder. No more. And I have a plan. And I have my bills lined up on the wall in front of me according to when they need to be paid. I’m using a combination of the wisdom of Jerrold Mundis and Dave Ramsey.

I’m so confident I can do this. The girls are both aware of the situation and know what’s going on. Nothing really changes for them. They still get their allowance each week, but they have to learn that we’re no longer swinging through the drive through for dinner. We are just really watching what we spend. We are being much more careful with the money we do have, and are putting 10% of my (net) pay in an emergency fund. I’ve come to realize that a credit card is not the answer to an emergency – an emergency fund is much, much better!

My financial health is improving. The holiday season is coming up and I have to make sure that I set some ground rules regarding gift giving and receiving, because I’m not going to get further into debt because of Christmas!

I don’t know how long it will take to get out of this mess, but I’m sure it’ll be less than the 10 years it took to get into it!

Why don’t you check back now and then to see how I’m doing? Right now, I’m ecstatic that I have $100 in my emergency fund! (Ha! No! That’s not 10% of my pay check. I sure wish it was!)

Before I update on our last day in the windy city, I have a shopping triumph to report:

After being in Chicago for 3 days, I really needed to get some REAL bargains at the grocery store – my budget for the month [...]]]> We survived no less than FOUR cab rides in Chicago! I feel quite accomplished!

Before I update on our last day in the windy city, I have a shopping triumph to report:

After being in Chicago for 3 days, I really needed to get some REAL bargains at the grocery store – my budget for the month is severely depleted (and eating into next months budget too!).

I headed to Jewel for the Kellogg’s/milk deal and remembered I had some coupons from the freezer deal (I bought a freezer from Cub Foods last week for $157 and got $160 in coupons) that I could use to get something for dinner.

One of the coupons I had was for a free Palermo pizza ($7.59), and they happened to be BOGO (Buy one, get one free)! The other “free” coupon I used was for Mars ice cream – we got a 12 count mini mix box ($4.99).

I found some of the Tyson chicken meals (stir fry chicken and chicken fajitas) were on clearance for 3.49 each (1/2 price) – they are made to serve 3, so they are ideal!

I bought 2 Glucerna cereals (4.49 – 50c with store loyalty card) and had a $5 coupon for each.
Bought 7 Kellogg’s cereals – 4 Frosted Flakes (had 2 x $1/2 coupons) & 3 of the other Kellogg’s cereals that were on sale for 1.98 (also had a 70c coupon)

4 Ronzoni Bistro packages for free (BOGO plus 2 x BOGO coupons)

Also used $10 catalina (or cats = coupon that prints from the cash register) that I earned on last weeks Kraft deal.

Total = 68.32

Jewel Osco receipt

I’ll take another post for the remainder of the Chicago trip!

I need one of those voice recorders you can talk in to when you get ideas. Because all morning, I’ve been thinking of things to blog about, then when I sit down at the keyboard I can’t think of anything!

Ciel just made a video

Ciel [...]]]> no, SNL fans, not Amy Poehler! It’s just lil ol’ me ….

I need one of those voice recorders you can talk in to when you get ideas. Because all morning, I’ve been thinking of things to blog about, then when I sit down at the keyboard I can’t think of anything!

Ciel just made a video

Ciel … again from Vikki Baptiste on Vimeo.

The weather is starting to look a little more spring-like – there are some lilies starting to poke their little leaves up out of the ground. I don’t know when they first appeared, but I wonder if it was during the last warm spell, and if so – would they have been harmed when the weather turned icy again?

I think that the danger of frost is over, though the offical “last frost day”, from a gardening point of view, is around May 20. So, I have to look at some websites and seed packets to see if I can start some seeds inside and be able to transplant them out when the time is right.

We still have lots of seeds left from last year – some are appropriate for planting at the start of the season, and some are late season crops. I have to bear in mind that we need to plan for the community garden, as well as our own back yard!

I really want to expand our square foot gardens this year, but the initial outlay is fairly cost prohibitive. When I think of the overall savings in produce costs, it’s definitely worth it, but you just have to have that money for the initial outlay.

I’ve also signed up for a CSA this year, at Henry’s Farm. For a great price you get fresh, local, organic produce for 26 weeks of the year. As it says on Henry’s site – No GMOs, Pesticides, Herbicides, or Synthetic Fertilizers – you can’t beat that! I can pick up my box weekly at a local church, and there is usually extra produce for sale, either from Henry’s farm or from a neighboring farm. Either way, I know I’m getting quality, locally-grown product that is safe to eat. And that’s the bottom line!

This is another situation where the money has to be paid up front. And I was so very lucky that Henry allowed me to pay in installments because in today’s economy, it’s not easy just to come up with a chunk of change at a moment’s notice! I signed up for Henry’s CSA last year, and really forgot about it until he sent an email a couple of weeks back saying that he was starting to go through his 2008 customer list to see who was still “in”, and to be ready to be included if you were on the waiting list. I didn’t expect the “it’s your turn!” email, to be truthful! But I’m so glad I did. I can supplement what we grow ourselves with Henry’s produce – and he says on his website that he had over 630 varieties of seed this year, so I’m pretty sure that he’s not growing the same as me!

My “extreme couponing” is going well! As an example, yesterday I went to Walgreens, I spent $1.18 and came home with 1 Garnier Fructis shampoo, 1 Garnier Fructis conditioner, Sambucol (homeopathic) cold & flu remedy, 1 Oral B toothbrush and a bottle of Suave conditioner. After manufacturers coupons and in-store savings, my total out of pocket was .25c, plus .93c tax. That’s a saving of $27.20.

Jewel-Osco was almost as profitable – 2 pks Kraft Bagel-fuls, 2  Kraft Singles, 3 Kraft 2% cheese sticks and a nozzle for my hose – total cost inc. tax $30.17 – after coupons & Jewel card savings, I paid $3.42.

When people ask me “are you saving money?”, sometimes they’re surprised when I say no. And the truth is, for the first couple of months – maybe even three months – I won’t see a huge saving. This is because I have to stockpile. Where I used to spend $100 a week or more on my grocery order, I may be spending $60, and only buying a few products. That is my stockpile. If I buy 60 cans of soup, you can bet I’m not going to buy soup again for over a year!

Right now, I have a stockpile of toothpaste, deodorant, soap, paper towels, toilet paper, popcorn, hot chocolate, liquid hand soap, canned tomatoes, Healthy Choice soup, cheese (a freezer full!), Excedrin and Advil – and smaller stockpiles of a number of other goodies. Wanna come shop in my basement? LOL!

Kimberly (www.retirewithcoupons.com) has been doing this for a long time, and has the logistics down – she has an annual grocery shopping budget of $1500 for a family of 5. Right now, I’d be happy spending $50 a week ($2,600 a year) on groceries. I can work on a lower goal next year once I have all the tricks of the trade under my belt!

The girls are playing outside in the garden, I’m about to go out and see if the compost pile is defrosted yet.

Later!

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve bought both popcorn and soup for just what the tax cost, and got many more bargains as well. I just came home from the grocery store with 20 [...]]]> I took a workshop from Kim and Jenn over at Retire With Coupons, and have become fired up about couponing again.

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve bought both popcorn and soup for just what the tax cost, and got many more bargains as well. I just came home from the grocery store with 20 cans of tomatoes. The 28oz size.

This makes me wonder whether I’m just buying stuff because it’s cheap, or whether I really do need to buy this stuff! Granted, I will use 20 cans of tomatoes. It may take me a year, but they will get used.

This extreme couponing also means that I buy items that I don’t need, or that we don’t usually eat. I buy it because it’s either free or very cheap. And, let’s be honest, if I’m not going to use it, I can always donate it to the domestic violence shelter or one of the food pantries in the community.

My current couponing goal is to cut my grocery bills in half. Once I’ve done that, I’ll set another goal … maybe cut them in half again.

I haven’t got to the stage yet where I’m buying coupons yet, but I can see it’s not far off!