A (small) thank you for vets!

B&Bs across the country are giving a free nights stay to Vets over Veterans Day weekend. Wanted to make sure you all saw. Please pass along!

And then there was $15

We treated ourselves to ice cream last night at Baskin Robbins (yum!). We had a bogo coupon, so for $5, we both got double dips. I know, not very frugal of me, but I was in the mood for some Mint Chocolate Chip!

Also, I think I mentioned I was having dinner with my brother last night. Anyway, at first I was going to include that in the weekly budget. In the future I will, but there was no way I could feed the two of us for $19. A little fuzzy math, I know, but just being honest.

So now, $15 to get to Saturday night...we'll see!

We are down to less than $20

So we began yesterday with $60. Since then we have spent $25 on gas for both cars, $1 for metered parking and $15 at Target for some food essentials. So its Tuesday night and we have (drumroll)...$19 to get us to Saturday night. I admit I am not optimistic, but this exercize is good in that it has made me think long and hard about what we need and what we need now. Target is a very dangerous place you know.

The other thing I realized is when I made this decision on Sunday, I forgot to factor in some yearly expenses that, ironically, are coming due now. So not included in our budget is the nearly $500 the good state of Virginia charges us for the privledge to drive here...yippy.

Saturday can't come soon enough.

Down to $60

Spent just over $24 at Harris Teeter tonight. Bought 2.5 lbs of various deli meat which will last my husband likely two weeks for his lunches, for $10; half and half, milk, tater tots and a tomato.

Tomorrow our only real expenses will be gas related. I think this might be my biggest challenge. I have a playdate about 30 miles away. I like to go on playdates with my son, A LOT! I like for him to be around other kids and I enjoy seeing my friends.

Sweet dreams.

Back to being honest

I have gotten out of habit of writing here, and it has shown on our monthly budget. So today after I decided to redo everything and see where things stand (and not liking what I saw), I decided I am coming back and STAYING! And if its only interseting to me and helps keep me honest, so be it.

I read somewhere recently that its easier to budget for a week than a month, this sounds right. So starting this week, we will have $85 to spend out of pocket on all items not regularly billed, this includes food and gas. This is $85 total for both of us. And once the $85 is gone, its gone. Not included in this $85 are things we previously committed to as of TODAY, or say big items like mortgage and car payment. It also doesn't include the money we are saving each month, currently $100.

Each day I pack a lunch for my husband, so that helps us save considerably. Beginning today though I have planned out our meals for the week. For the most part I am pleased to say we have nearly all the ingredients in the house. This weeks menu:

Sunday: burgers (ground beef here), need to buy buns.
Monday: Steak (have here frozen). Using this recipe from Ree Drummond, and we have all the ingredients sans the cream. I am going to substitute half and half to save money, will let you know how it goes.
Tuesday: Chicken Friend Rice Hamburger Helper (have)
Wednesday: I am doing my monthly ethnic dinner with my brother, so my husband will be home. He will have pasta and sausage (which we already have).
Thursday: Crock Pot meal TBD
Friday: Homemade pizza. Need to buy dough, but have toppings and fixins already.
Saturday: Crab feast, previously committed to.

Each night I will come on and let you know what we spent/bought and how we are doing.

Anything left over from the $85 will go back into the monthly pot, and at the end of the month if there is anything, will be put into savings. I guess the first update will be on Oct. 24, since I am starting this on Sept. 26.

Happy Sunday everyone and go Ravens!!!

Reusing ziploc baggies only gets me so far...

Lately I have been thinking a lot about whether or not I should try to re-enter the workforce. Since my second lay off due to the craptastic economy in May 2009 I have been home full time. I have looked for jobs, and am currently interviewing for two part time jobs, but nothing has excited me.

My most important job, I feel, is taking car of my family. That means cooking, cleaning, feeding, making sure my boys are healthy, keeping the house (relatively) neat, keeping myself healthy, shopping, banking, making sure our finances are in check...the list goes on and on.

Its this last point that has me on edge though lately. While we have enough to get by, or stay afloat and tread water as I have been expressing to friends lately, we are not moving forward AT ALL. I couldn't tell you the last time we put money in savings and for the first time in years we are carrying a credit card balance -- this is in large part because of the emergency bathroom work we had to in July. We can easily pay in full, but it makes me nervous to not have funds immediately available so I am taking my time with this for peace of mind.

The thing is, I really have zero desire to go do something else. I genuinely love being home three days with our son. We have him in daycare two days so he can get socialization and its payoffs have been huge! But I love that we can sleep in until 8:15(as we did yesterday) and I will be greeted by a very happy rested little monkey "Good Morning Mammeee" when I go in his room. I love that he shows me triangles when he sees them and that we can have playdates where he dances and grooves with his friends, as we did on Monday.

He is only going to be 2 once. We have food on our plates, a roof over our heads and are not completely deprieved. In the grand scheme of things, living in 800 sf is not the worst of all equations.

But we are still not moving forward. If anything I feel like I am in a permenant holding pattern waiting for something to happen.

I am very torn. The only job that seems the slightest bit appealing to me is that of a high school teacher. Its what I always wanted to do. I am a few credits short and I figure it would be two years before I realisticially can get in the classroom.

This is not a SAHM vs. WAHM debate. Everyone woman and family needs to decide whats right for them. There are no easy answers or solutions. The person who said you can have it all lied. I don't need to win the lotto (although we did buy tickets last night, alas we didn't win), but I do need figure out what is best for us in the long-term.

Do I stay doing the job I love that pays nothing but is rewarding beyond words, or is staying selfish? Should I go and find a part-time or full-time job and then be able to pay for things for my son, but then also be torn between doing things with him and doing all the other things I feel need being done (the aforementioned jobs) on the weekend and spend even less time with him? I simply don't know or have the answers....

Organic v. savings?

We are trying to eat healthier. For a host of reasons I have been reading labels, tracking vitamin content and making choices. An example, on vacation last month, my father-in-law told me my fat-free half-and-half was really just high fructose corn syrup. I had no idea. I will read labels up and down for my son, but never had before this for us.

Until now.

This week I spent $10 on two boxes of cereal bars for my husband for work. Expensive, but at $2 per meal over a two week period, I could stomach it. THen I compared against the cereal bars I buy for the monkey, and his bars are just as good at $1.69 a box! I can buy three boxes of his for the price of one for my husband. Since they are just as good, my husband and son will now have the same ones...that is once my hubby has finished his 24k gold-filled cereal bars. Ugh.

I read this article in Time yesterday with interest. It was the first one in awhile I had sat down and read. Now I am wondering if I should buy organic all the time? I have been hearing from friends organic milk is the way to go, and I am nearly convinced. With the egg recalls, I am wondering if we should get organic eggs too. The health content makes it a no brainer, but the price is insane. I am at a loss. And then meat, fruits and veggies too?

So I don't know. What I do know is I want my family to eat healthy. I don't want us in debt to the high ceilings. And I definitely want us all to live long healthy lives. I don't have any solutions....what are yours?