I have been contemplating this post for a long time. Seeing how I vowed the other day to stop thinking and start doing I thought it would be a perfect time to share with you all some knowledge I have gained.
In case you didn't notice, times are difficult for lots of people. We are included in those people who have "difficulties" but we have begun the path to overcome this "barrier" and I think that we are doing much better with a few easy adjustments. I fully plan on getting a good budget started and buckling down in order to see an even bigger reward but for now, this is what I have done.
Cable/Satellite:
You may think I'm crazy on this one, but cancelling our DirecTv was the best thing ever! We hardly watch TV and when we do we kind of get bored with it. We were so dependent upon our DVR that we never watched the news. Now, we watch it if its on when we get home from work. Just getting rid of that silly box we are saving roughly $80 a month! WOWZA! Seriously, amazing. However, we kind of cheat because we have Netflix on our PS3. We stream movies and kid shows all the time. We aren't paying for our subscription because Kevin's brother gave us the disc... but I don't think it is that expensive a month to get Netflix to your PS3 or Wii. Plus, I think not having TV readily available makes both Kevin and I look to do other things around our house besides sit on our bums on the couch and veg out for a couple hours.
Laundry Soap:
Use up the rest of your laundry soap and then never buy store bought ever again! Why? Because you can totally make it for yourself way cheaper and it will last so much longer! I first got this idea from my friend
Heather who hosted a Laundry Making part with her friends. I did the same, but didn't take pictures. You can get the "recipe" from the
Duggar Website as well. So far, I have been using mine and haven't noticed anything bad about it. I will admit that I add more than it says, but I'm just a weirdo about my clothes being clean I guess. Also, I have been using Vinegar as fabric softener instead of the store bought kind, and Kevin thinks our clothes are just as soft. This is such a simple and easy change! Seriously, you should do it.
Grocery Shopping:
Eating at home saves you money, if you do it right. My friend
Andrea did a 4 part tutorial about being prepared in the kitchen and how awesome it is. Check it out here:
one,
two,
three,
four. I have found that by planning out meals, making a list, and really focusing only on that list will save you lots of money. Both Kevin and I are impulse buyers and purchase things that we don't necessarily need, which ends up costing us $$$. I also agree that you should set a budget for your groceries and stick to it. It'll help you to be creative and feel accomplished.
Finances:
I am not fully prepared when it comes to budgeting and getting my finances squared away. However, my friend E*Rocka introduced me to
Mint.com. Its a free website that you put all of your accounts into, banking, credit cards, student loans, home loans, vehicle loans, 401K's, everything and it helps you to monitor your spending. It even told me the value of my house. How awesome is that? You can set your budgets on it and it will alert you when your accounts are low, you get charged a finance fee on your credit card, and when your payments post. It really is great, especially if you are into monitoring your accounts online. I suggest you check it out.
That is all I can think of at the moment, but I promise the next post will have pictures of my kiddos and fun adventures that they have experienced in the last week. Hopefully it will be up tonight once I get them in bed.
***If you have any suggestions for household cleaners please send them my way. I'm looking to test those next. ***
