Black Friday

So I have to say today has been very long and exciting. It started at 4 this morning when I got up to hit up a few of the sales. We wanted to get two main things, a laptop and if the price was right, a blue ray player. Well, it was a pretty lucky day and we ended up getting both things. It was actually really calm, and organized this year. There were lines but they went fast and there were lots of the items that were advertised still there when I got there. I was pretty happy about it. I did end up with a few extra things but all in all I feel like I did ok, and I did not buy a single toy for my daughter (Well, ok, one toy from a second hand store for 1/6th the price for a new one and I have been planning on buying one anyways). We did spend ALOT of money but I guess when you are buying a laptop and blue ray it isn't exactly cheap.

So I know we wanted to do homemade Christmas this year but we are learning that sometimes, homemade is more expensive. We are both getting used, half price, or made things for Christmas which I think is good. And we will have home made things, just not only homemade. I decided to just make sure we fit within our Christmas budget this year, and we have been doing pretty well. One thing I think I have had to come to terms with is that I probably won't be getting my daugther a play kitchen. I have searched for months for the perfect kitchen. I finally found it but if we got it we would have very little left in our Chirstmas budget. So as hard as it is for me to set it aside for now, I think I am going to wait on it. I have found several other little things that she can open and I know she will LOVE. Most of the things she is getting will be used, the rest is things I bought either last year at the black friday sale or through out the year on great sales. Sometimes it is hard for me to let go of something I have in mind, but I know she really doesn't care if she gets a new kitchen for Christmas or not, so I am trying.

One thing that made today great was that when we got home from all the shopping we had a check in the mail from when we moved (we got an insentive payment for moving ourselves instead of using professional movers). The check covered everything we spent today plus some to save. That was a really nice surprise.

Travel and Savings

Well, this month I haven't been home much, our house that is. I went to my hometown for my brother's wedding and stayed for two weeks. I think travel does something to you and your wallet. I really tried to stay on budget but we ate out a lot and hit all the second hand stores, and there were just things there that I ended up buying. One of my biggest frustrations was purchasing airport food. I really thought I had enough snacks and food to last, but on vacation and with how long it takes to get across the country both my daughter and I were starving at our layover. I tried to find something semi healthy but cheap as well but that doesn't happen in an airport. On the way home we had a 3 1/2 hour layover and after a 4 hour flight with a 3 hour one ahead of us I bought dinner. I know this month hasn't been the greatest money saving month but I also feel like I have held off spending much more than I previously have, so that is a victory. I feel like I have let myself down, sometimes it is so hard not to spend.

As Christmas gets closer I am so tempted by all of the beautifully displayed items in windows and magazines. We have a list of what we are getting for Christmas for each other and others but I have that weakness to buy things for my daughter, especially when I can justify it by adding it to our Christmas list. We decided her one present would be a toy kitchen but now it has grown to a few other things that I either found on clearance or second hand. I am contemplating skipping the kitchen all together and just give her what I have. On the other hand I have been looking for months to find that perfect kitchen. One that meets all my expectations and has the perfect price tag. I have yet to find it, and even made several attempts at re-purposing but didn't get far.

Another thing that has made it hard was that we had yet again another car issue come up as well as a couple other big ticket items. I am trying to keep my mind on denying myself of worldly goods but it is really tough. I haven't reinstated Netflix so far, which I am surprised I have made it so long with out. I am proud of myself when I do make good decisions about saving and I feel like we are still saving, maybe just not half our budget.

I have been learning a lot about money though. We had a few opportunities to shop at costco and Sams Club and I realized how much cheaper it was to shop there, as long as we use what we buy there. I realized that if I sat down and made a menu with similar items for the week we could get what we need for cheaper, make a bunch of it and have a weeks worth of meals ready to go. Like if I go on a Saturday and cook all day Sunday I would be ready to go for the week. Or I don't have to make it all on Sunday. But I think having a plan for your meals is a huge help.

Well, I think that is as long as I should make this post. I can't wait to see how our November budget turns out.

Deny Yourself

I was reading and found this and thought I could pertain it to this blog.

. . . avoid spoiling children by giving them too much. In our day, many children grow up with distorted

values because we as parents overindulge them. . . . One of the most important things we can teach our

children is to deny themselves. Instant gratification generally makes for weak people.

Elder Joe J. Christensen, “Greed, Selfishness, and Overindulgence,” Ensign, May 1999, 9.

I really love this quote. I think too often I do this with my own daughter. I can think of several times that I just had to get her that because she would love it and she is only this age once and what if I don't have another girl and I will have regretted not letting her have that and so on. I have realized how much she really doesn't need. I have a habit of letting her pick out just one thing (with in reason) to buy when we go to the store. Often it is one or two dollars but it is something we certainly don't need and I now realize may be overindulging or spoiling her. It sounds horrible and I don't do it all the time but I have done it nonetheless. She is quite content with the toys she has yet I drool over toys that "I know she would just love." I know is is so young and could really care less if I bought her things or not so this is my resolve to put an end to the frivolous small purchases and I will start having her denying herself so she can learn that you earn what you have. I also am going to resolve to not buy her any more toys, unless it is already what I have planned for Christmas, for the remainder of my challenge. I know this is going to be a hard one but I really want to not spoil her.

Also an idea that we have done is put some toys away and pull them out again after a few weeks or months. It will be like getting new toys all over again.

Just a little triumph

So I have been learning a lot about saving. I have learned that I am not always as good as I should be but I am learning about lots of good ways to save. I finished the book a while ago but I have been practicing several of the money saving ideas all month. One thing I am really proud of is that we have been without Netflix for 2 months now. We have had it for so long that I really didn't think we could go without and now I know we can. I haven't really missed it terribly. We did rent a movie from Redbox once, but I mostly watch my shows on line and movies we get from the library. It isn't much saved but if you add it up it is $107 a year.

My big triumph for this post is that we got very close to our goal of cutting our budget in half. I was shocked when we calculated everything and figured out that we only spent 60% of our income for the month. I am so excited. And that was including an airplane ticket to go home. I feel like I have held off on so many purchases that at times have been so hard not to buy, but I feel like it has been worth it. When we broke down the categories we were under on everything except food. Food was about the same. I did work on stocking some of our food storage this month though so that is probably some of it, and we ate out more this month so hopefully I can work on that this next month and start using our stored up food.

I feel like it has been good for us to watch more closely what we buy. I don't feel like we have had to sacrifice much. I think a lot of it is that the little things matter. I get so tempted to buy a little thing here or there when I got to a store and I have had to be ok with leaving a store without buying something. I struggled a couple times but honestly after a few days I can't remember what it was I wanted to buy so obviously we aren't missing out. I also was tempted to buy Halloween decorations and decided to make them instead. We have some cute decorations made by my daughter and I that we can save for next year now, for free. And it was so fun to make them together. We also really wanted to go to a farm to do the petting zoo and pumpkin patch and all the fun activities but we decided not to because the ones in our area were really expensive, and I don't think my daughter feels put out any. We went to plenty of free Halloween events. It has been really good for us to try this. I can't wait for next month and to see how we do.

We have been thinking about something that we can do with our savings and one thing is that we may be able to afford a bigger place in a good neighborhood when we move next time. Another is, since we love to travel, we could take a trip after this training is over. Or we don't have to use it at all.

I have several other thoughts to share so I will post more later.

Weekend Shopping Spree

So this weekend we made a trip to the mall. We didn't really have a plan which is a bad idea when you go to a store, we just wanted to walk around since it was freezing outside. We did leave with some purchases but I think they were pretty reasonable. We got two clearance shirts for my daughter and a pair of sale mittens for her as well. I probably could have waited on the mittens but I guess I am still not perfect on the not spending. At least they were not full price. I also used a gift card I had forgotten about it for something I did need. My total 10.00. Not bad for a shopping spree.

I think the biggest success for me is how many times I said no. I am pretty proud of myself for that. So at least I can say that I am proud of myself for keeping myself in check. I think this month we may meet our goal. Cross finger, close wallet.

Ideas to make it through

I have found that it is getting harder to not spend money. Sometimes I am really iching to make an impulse buy. I know that I shouldn't but it is so hard. It also is really hard to think about the whole month and how to gauge what I should and shouldn't spend for the whole month, so I thought of something that I think will work better. Since I know how much we need to spend to spend half of what we normally do I can cut that in half again and just think about it for two weeks. I can do that. Two weeks isn't hard. I can prepare myself and think of what we are doing in the next two weeks. And if I really want something but it will put us over I only have to wait two weeks until I can get it. I think it sounds good. Hopefully it will work.

Something else I wanted to share was that I just got a whole new wardrobe, for free. I went to a clothing swap and there were so many things there that I ended up coming home with a ton of clothes, not just for me but for my daughter, husband, sisters, mom, brothers, and niece and nephews. I was so thrilled. I know a couple areas that do a clothing swap and I think it is such a great idea. I really want to pull a group of people together to do it again.

How it could work if you choose to do it with friends is set a time that you will do it (maybe once or twice a year), then let your old clothing pile up and when it is time for the swap, the amount of things you donate is how much you can take with you. At the end if there is still more, anyone can take what ever is left. If there is still anything left over donate it to a thrift store. That way if you have changed sizes or just gotten tired of a certain shirt you can switch it up. Everyone benefits and you aren't loosing anything because they are clothes you were getting rid of anyways. If anyone tries this I really want to know how it turns out.

Tips for Traveling

So we have been really busy here trying to keep up with things but now things have calmed down and I am ready to continue. Last week we took a quick trip to another city. I really thought I was prepared for everything and realized that I really could have saved myself a lot of money.

One of the biggest things was that I left things behind. I think it is a curse of mine. I somehow always seem to leave something, no matter how careful or thurogh I am with packing up. This time it was my daughter's beloved panda and her blanket. She had them in hand when I was taking stuff out to the car then decided to shove them in a little cubby hole in the cat's scratch post. I didn't notice and we left without them. The first thing I thought of doing was running out and buying new ones because she is so attached to them, but ended up not. I just wanted to see how she would do without them. Well, I am glad I didn't buy her a new one. I explained that she left them and that the person would be mailing them back to us but she wouldn't have them for now and she seemed to do ok with it. She has missed them because she talks about them but she hasn't lost any sleep over them. Yeah.

So double check everything before you leave somewhere.

Another tip is that you could find someone to stay with when you travel. Bring a cooler with food so you don't stop along the way to eat out, it is unhealthy as well as expensive. Bring snacks with you. Have a plan. Know where you are going and how much you are going to spend and then add 10% to whatever it is you are budgeting, because something always comes up.

Our trip cost was mostly gas because of how far it was but we stayed with a friend, brought snacks and bought food at the grocery store when we got there. We didn't really have a lot of time to spend money but I thought the trip went over well budget wise.