living on less

Hello! I do not have any pic to post tonight but they will come... I just wanted to say I have really enjoyed some recent blogs I have been reading through and some of the helpful tips people have given me. You may not even know you have ... but you have:). I have been on this kick to get out of credit card debit this year and YES I KNOW we should have never put money on there to start with. This is no excuse but being in school and only having one income when we first got married was not smart. I am taking responsibility for this since it was me in school and I was not helping pay the bills but now that I have a job and am able to work I am determined to cut cost where we can and not indulge in convinces all the time and try to live a little simpler life style. This does not mean I am going to go all country on you but there are a few fun things I am excited to start trying.
*First I am going to start using coupons. (I have already contacted the local grocery store and they said I can have any left over papers that have coupons in them from Sun on Mon when my mom goes to work there) hehe.
*Second I am going to try and make laundry soap. (If you have any tips...bring them on!!)
*Third I am not buying anything for myself that is not on the Clearance Rack for the rest of the year. (I have to put this in writing or I know I won't stick to it. I was so excited this past weekend I have to share my good finds. I was given a birthday gift and so we went out to eat and decided to mostly go window shopping (but if we found something that was fine too) since my husband and I try not to go out much because when we do we spend money not in the budget. So anyways I took Kimber into Penny's to look at Clearance Racks and to my delight...the Clearance racks were ...drum roll...$1.97!!!! YES!!! Jackpot. I found 2 new sweaters for the rest of this lovely Northern Minn winter and for the fall. And one turtle neck. Not normally a fan of turtle necks but it was hot pink and looked cute under one of the sweaters. Plus it was under $2!!! When I went to the register the girl was like is that ALL for you?? I said Yes proudly with my 3 new shirts in hand all for under $6. Total savings over $75.00)
*Fourth~and for those of you who know my husband this may be the most challenging one of all! I am going to try and convince him to let us cancel our TV for the next year. I know people out there who do not have a TV other then to watch movies on. When I look at the $75 a month it is not so bad but when you think that is $900 a year that is money wasted for me. I am tired of the TV shows that bleep out every other word. That is not something I was raised to listen to. Now as a parent I do not want my toddler picking up bad words at a young age. I do not think it is cute at all when I hear a 2 yr old swear! I would rather rent a movie or two once a month and have family time rather then try to entertain Kimber in another room so the TV can be on in a different room.
For now those are some goals to work on. We will keep you posted on how this is all working out. God is faithful and I am excited to see where we are in 6 mo.