Yesterday, I went to the grocery store, and got gas too. Groceries came in at $90 - pretty good, since most weeks are closer to $170. I'm relying on a bit of what we have in the freezer and pantry, plus I caught a good sale on some stockup items that we'll use over the next few weeks. Tonight is lasagne, bread and salad.

I filled up our Plymouth Voyager - it was empty! That came to $35, but will keep us for two weeks at least. One of the benefits of where I grocery shop is that if you spend $50, you get a coupon for $.05 off every gallon up to 30 gallons. Well, $50 is not a reach for our family, for sure. So I only paid $2.12/gal - only, ha!

We went to early service at church, and then while the girls were at Sunday school, my husband and I tried out a new Caribou in our area. It was a nice little date (far and few of these!) But we both figured it wasn't quite worth the cost...so we'll look for another way to do this sort of thing.

That's all for now...take care!

In an effort to be more accountable for 'where the money goes' ....well, here goes....

I transferred some money over to the savings from the checking. I was going to do a smaller amount, but in one of the forum discussions, someone mentioned to try 10% off the top. Now, we already have about 14% taken out into retirement funds automatically off our gross wages. But, since it's taken out before we receive our checks, we don't even notice it gone. Our savings cushion has been harder to achieve, because we need to get the money transferred on our own. So, long story short (yay, right) I am trying to take the 10% off our takehome pay. We need to build a cushion for next month's expenses, and if we don't use it, it'll become our hidden cushion (or buffer as some use.) So, this act felt good, very good.

Other spending today - went to the discount bread store, and spent $10.39 for a month's supply for our family. I even found several items with whole grains (my mission is to integrate cheaper, but healthier food to the whole family & not just wayward me!) This is about $5 - 10 less than I usually spend.

Still need to get gas for our smaller van, as well as groceries, and maybe the dress for my daughter, if we find a bargain. 'Tis all for now....Take care!

After a very long evening of repair last night, my husband was able to fix the washer - yay! It's a very well-used appliance at our house, and would be sorely missed. Note to those looking for partners in life - it's absolutely wonderful having someone who is a jack-of-all-trades sort of person, because there is a good chance s/he can fix a great many things around the home and garage. His next project - replace the brake line in our old Ford van this weekend. Oh joy!!

We both received our checks today, and there were OT hours. So our first month of payments for November's ambulance, doctor and hospital bills were paid with a bit of breathing room. I'm putting some aside in our savings to have as backup for next month's payment, as well as, paying out the majority of our monthly bills (mortgage and utilities...) Hey, we can even get groceries (just kidding, though occasionally it does feel that short funds-wise.)

This weekend, I'll head to the discount bread store and buy a month's worth (most goes into the freezer.) I will make a trip to the grocery store, though except for some dairy and produce, we're not in too bad of shape, so it should be on the lower end of cost. I'll start to gather up everything for tax time, and can begin preliminary figuring (have to wait for the w-2s & 1099s to come before I can get too far into the forms.)

My oldest is attending her first semi-formal high school dance early in February, so we'll start looking at dresses this weekend. It should be fun, but she knows our limitations (so we're hoping for something cheap and gorgeous, while being a dress she'll wear again - is that a tall order, or what?!) I have a price in mind, and she could use some of her money for something more, but she is putting her earnings toward a mission trip with our church this summer. She's a pretty practical girl, so I think she'll find something great in my price range. (The lot of a mom - I'm very excited for her, being nostalgic from my high school days and the fun she'll have...but still, I'm in shock as to how we got here! Wasn't she just a little one in my arms in her ruffly pink dresses not all that long ago?? Hmm, pretty sure she won't go that route now!) Have a great weekend....take care!