Beginning of the Goals list!

So my #1 goal for the year is to get caught up on the bills.  I am not setting super unattainable goals this year like I have in the past.  Would just love to be caught up again, that hasn't happened in over a year.  This year it will happen because I am cutting back.  In the past I would talk big, but then eat out or shop for some house stuff that we needed?? Not!! This year I have gotten the family on board, they are supportive because I have never spoiled them.  We live a mostly modest life, DH makes in the 35K range which really isn't alot in the real world.  Unfortunately we have spent a bit more than we make for quite a few years now.  The last part of 2012 has been very eye opening in that I refused to take on any more debt, we have managed with what we have made, which has definately been difficult. I have been juggling bills for quite awhile. 

January will be a no/low spend, we are eating out of the pantry/freezer.  We only have some sports games for the kids that we need to attend so I am budgeting for that.  The rest of the $$ is going towards bills.

After shopping yesterday and fueling up the vehicles I am not planning on doing any shopping for two weeks.  Hope the fuel can last that long but will have some $$ set aside in case we need to gas one up.  I sent all the rest of the paycheck to bills.

I spent about $165.00 for groceries/booze and $105.00 for fuel.  I am planning on making that last...

A good day!

Dh got paid today, his paycheck was 500. more because of OT, was able to get some bills paid, but was really frugal with our regular expenses like food and fuel.  Hoping that we have a quiet two weeks with no crisis like we've had lately.

Got a few goodies for our New Years Eve stay at home evening with the kids, starting the year out with only frugal thoughts!!

Will post my goals soon!!

Confessions

Well, a confession, I haven't posted any receipts for my business this whole year.  I obviously need to get caught up on this since it is almost tax season.  Every year I have good intentions but it always gets away from me.

I want to get all my Christmas decor put away, I don't like to start the new year with Christmas still all over.

I am working on my goals list for this next year still.  Like alot of other people, I am wondering how the fiscal cliff will impact us.

First order of business is getting caught up on the bills, we have been chasing our tail so to speak all year.  DH has some overtime coming, plus I am planning on a No Spend/Low Spend Jan.  It will take this month and next and hoping to get completely caught up on the bills with our tax return.
Tomorrow is payday and I am making some changes to the budget. Will keep everyone posted to my progress.

Time to get serious!!

Just because I am not blogging, or posting comments doesn't mean I am not around!  No, I am a terrible lurker, I read everyones blogs and never post comments.  Shame on me!!!!

I am glad to see everyones Christmas was lovely, ours could have been better, we lost a very loved pet Christmas morning, so sad for our family.  But life does go on, and I am on the frugal band wagon to stay.

Our 2012 was quite rough, probably because I refused to go into more debt and borrow more money to keep our lifestyle going.  We are still behind in bills, but now that the holidays are over and we have fixed both vehicles, I am planning to get caught up in 2013. 

I am making a goals list for 2013 and my list of how I am going to get that accomplished.  My resolutions have always been be more frugal and get more organized, obviously those two general statements are not working for me, so we need to get more specific.

Will keep you posted!

I'm Back!!

Obviously I have been gone for a bit!!  I wish I could say that in that time I got all my bills caught up and paid off, but alas no...

We are still behind on some bills.  This summer was a bit rough, even though DH had some OT, we also had quite a few expenses. 

Murphy decided to visit us in a big way last week, one of our vehicles needs some major work!  I have some money coming in this next month so the plan is to fix it then.  My original plan was to get caught up with the bills, do Christmas and have a bit put away to get us through the winter. 

Those plans are not gonna happen, we definately need to get the vehicle fixed as we live out of town and need two vehicles.

I am back on the frugal band wagon, reading everyones blogs for inspiration as I will need it to get through the next few months.

Wish me luck please!! I will keep everyone posted to our progress.

Quarterly Update

I have worked really hard to use my Quicken program this year.  I have posted all our income and expenses and the figures are in and they don't lie!!
We spend more than we make!!!!!

Ok, now what to do about it...some of the extra spending was from our tax return and some of it was from a few bills I needed to postpone due to Murphy coming to visit and staying!!!

April included a crown for my honey and a new "used" washer for me, woo hoo, love those splurges.
Of course the problem was from not saving any of the tax return and so now we are behind, again...

I am working on my May budget, of course trying to catch up with bills and I am starting to look at making some hard choices, maybe we can't do some of the things we have done in the past, we just can't afford it. Glad school will be out soon, no more school lunches, but now more food needed at home,
I am definately a creature of habit, if we always do it, its like its written in stone!

I am planning on taking each line item in my budget and see how to whittle it down, but the budget killers have been food, eating out and just misc spending.  After a very large necessary purchase weekend before last, we were broke after putting gas in the car!  The pot was empty!!! So I HAD to fiscal fast, and it was ok!! I always step up, I made bread, goodies, used up stuff around the house and packed our snacks for away games.

Here lies the problem, if I don't have the money I don't spend it, BUT when I do have it, I spend it till its gone and the vicious cycle starts again...

Here is working towards a more frugal May!! Payday is Friday, will post how I do! I am also back to my business, so hoping I can get some income coming in.

Reality!

I have realized something from blogging and ready the PF blogs.  It is very easy to live in denial!

Since I have made an effort this year, even though I have made many efforts over the years, it is easy to pretend you spend less than you really do.  Especially when you have other accounts to pull from.

I am really trying to see things through a new MORE frugal light.  Had a day with my girls today, went shopping, needed to get Easter things, I always assume things will be less than they really are.  I never want to really think about the big picture, just one day at a time. 

I always figure what I need right now and to heck with the future.  Well that is what gets me in trouble, perhaps writing my weaknesses will help me to change.

Thanks in advance for your support, does anyone else live in denial??

Missing in Action!

Yep, I have been missing in action for the month of March! 

Why, not sure, busy with life and probably because I didn't stick to my goals.  I was my "normal" self and of course overspent!  I paid a few bills, bought a few things that were necessary, my honey's contacts for a year, new boots and car parts. 

Of course we ate out more, I bought a few "extras" and am hating myself this month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate when I have good intentions and fall off the wagon!  I am picking myself up this month, dusting myself off and working hard to get a handle on life.

How is everyone else doing with their tax refunds?

How to spend our tax return!

Ok, so I said in my last post how we were gonna spend it, but really, the reality is that I want a concrete plan.  Money has a way of just evaporating when there is no plan.

Our plans:
Emergency Fund
Pay-off some small misc. bills
Money for some repair work on our vehicles
$ for my business
now it gets scary...we will have a bit left, should I pay one more bill, or should we do a house project that we both want done really bad??
This project will make our life better, we will use it everyday, it will increase our property value, BUT, we don't NEED it, we could life without it, we have done so for the last 10+ years we have lived here.  But we really want to do it!!! After we do all the above, should we get something we want, or should we plug away at the debt????

I am looking for words of wisdom, since I am really trying hard to stay on track, even though I have had some grocery store relapses this last week, but that is for another post...

What should we do?????????

Taxes are Done!!

So the accountant called and our taxes are ready to be filed, and we should have our refunds in a few weeks.

We are getting a decent amount back and I am planning on paying some bills and catching up, using a bit of it for my business and putting some away for our emergency fund. 

We usually try to do some sort of a project every year with some of our tax return.  I am a project girl and want to see something done.  This year I am trying to get some stuff done around here without spending any money on a new project.  There are things we could do that we have supplies for, but they aren't as fun as a "new" project.  Oh well, I am fast approaching 50, time to start being responsible!

Do your tax returns always go to the bills, or do you do something you want with it?

Payday Friday!

So today is payday, I have already paid bills, just about caught up.  Next payday hoping to be back on track.  We have had alot of sports expenses this month along with catching up on the bills.  I have gone through and hopefully anticipated our expenses for the next two weeks.  Unexpected expenses always blow my budget, if I see money in my checking acct. I will spend it, not wanting to remember that I will need gas money next week.  I am working on this... does everyone anticipate their expenses??

Expensive Super Bowl Sunday!

We either stay home or go to friends to watch the Super Bowl, and yes we watch it as my honey and I both like football.

We were planning on staying home this year, so we could relax in our sweats, eat snacks and enjoy the game.  I made our snack menu and figured up the costs, ouch!  So when friends invited us over, I accepted figuring it might be a bit more frugal.

I went shopping yesterday to get snacks, since our hosts are providing the main dish,  I said I would bring snacks, mistake #1 taking the family with me!!!!! Mistake #2 deciding to take most of the snacks we were gonna have at our house!!!

So not staying at home and not saving any money, ugh!!! Hope the Patriots win!!!!!

Hoping for a more frugal week ahead...how did you do with your Super Bowl budget????

Am I normal?

So today I was still under the weather, so not in the mood to do food prep.  Wanted a down day so worked on a couple craft projects.  Had to go to town, we had a kids game, stopped at the store, mistake!! Bought crap, then stopped for dinner after the game, what was I thinking...BUT todays mistakes were less than last weeks mistakes.  So hope I am normal in this money saving quest. I have just realized I hate to tell myself no and if I don't read the other blogs to stay focused I fall off the frugal wagon, and it hurts!!!!Thanks to all the personal finance blogs out there, you are life savers!!!!!!(as long as I stay reading, lol)

Positive Attitude!

So instead of beating myself up for my setback, I have decided to push forward!  Today I cooked dinner with the crockpot, checked my power meter to start trying to lower our usage, made a goodie for the kids snack and counted up my no spend days.  I have had 11 no spend days so far this month, I so need to do better.  Tomorrow we have a road trip, we are packing food so we don't feel the need to stop and eat.  The more personal finance blogs I read the more motivated I feel, I just need to keep up the momentum, already wrote out the checks for the bills for Fridays payday.  Paying what is due and cutting back on any extras it will be tight, but I am sure we can do it.  DH will have some overtime and this is his first paycheck with his raise, still trying to get caught up from the holidays.  This paycheck will have us almost there, next paycheck I should be able to put a bit in savings.  Is anyone else catching up from the holidays??

Bad Frugal Woman

So last weekend, had a set-back.  Realized we didn't need to spend money on some events we thought we would have to attend, so instead of paying bills with the extra money we had two meals out!

Not a huge set-back, but could have paid two small bills with they money, not gonna lie though, I love to eat out!!  That is my biggest hurdle, not clothes, shoes, jewelry, ok I do love house junk, but I really hate to shop, so eating out is still my biggest problem.  Need to work on this...

What is your biggest hurdle that you deal with on a daily basis to try to keep your budget intact??

Things looking up!

Even though the weather outside is frightful today, I got 2 checks in the mail today, woohoo!!
One for work billed last October, and a deposit for work this year, my budget is starting to look up, this will let me get my other two checking accounts a bit ahead, and today is a no spend day!  Life is good!
This is the universe rewarding me for reading all the personal finance blogs this morning, I am sure, hahaha!  Hope everyone else is having as good of a day!!!!

Budgets are hard!!

So when it came to my budget in the past this is how it went:  wrote bills down that were due that pay period and pay them, what was left we lived on, but that didn't quite work out. I would be short and would take the money out of my business account or my savings.  The other scenerio was get food and gas first then pay bills with what was left, that didn't work as I was usually short to pay the bills.

As you can see neither of these systems have been working for me, now I am trying to anticipate my two week life, that is how often we get paid.  Go thru the fridge, freezer and cabinets, see what I absolutely need, I used to try to buy ahead, not anymore.  Get my basic grocery list, check the sale ads, go where I need to go to get the best prices. Then get gas, anticipate how much gas we will need for the next 2 weeks, also look at what we are doing, do we have kids games, family functions, appts, anything that is going to cost us money, figure the least cost for all of it, that gets put aside, now take what is left and pay the bills, of course it is not covering all the bills, so I am trying to juggle and make things work.

My plan at this time is to take what we get from our tax return to catch us up, and go from there, we have definately come to the reality that we can't afford the life we were living, we have made some life changes, stopped doing things that cost money, got rid of a money drain.

Just saying, this is harder that I thought it would be, I have always tried to be money conscience, but in a head in the sand kind of way, not really realizing that we couldn't afford our life, hence the credit card debt.  I would be frugal, but only for easy things, when it came to the hard decisions, wasn't willing to make them.  Now that isn't an option, I am determined come what may, we will be debt free!!!!! The Frugal Queen is my inspiration!!!!

Still Behind!

So I was hoping that this paycheck tomorrow was going to catch me up on the bills.  No, still behind from the holidays and a family event.  It doesn't seem like because you put some bills off one payperiod that it should take you 4 payperiods to catch up!

Things are getting busier, we have kids in sports, I feel it is a necessary evil, if our kids have sports it keeps them in shape and busy so they don't even think of getting into trouble.  They have to keep their grades up to play and it builds character. But sports are spendy!!!!! Not so much the sport itself once you get shoes, and maybe a bit of gear, it is the travel as us parents go to every game!
We live in a rural area so we have to travel and of course we do not have economical cars, but they are paid for woo hoo.

So have to add game admission and extra fuel to the budget, I pack a picnic dinner for the road so no eating out, I have a crockpot of soup waiting for when we get home so that helps.

Really going over the budget, cutting where needed, was going to start putting some extra into savings this week but I feel I need to at least catch up with the bills so they are all current so then I can start saving for an emergency fund.

Will keep you posted...

Happy Day!

Day 3 was a no spend day except for DH getting 40. in gas.  Today is turning out to be a fabulous day!!
DH called this morning to say he had gotten a raise, woo hoo!! During these times, I am just happy he has a job! Not a huge raise but something extra that will go straight into savings.

I also have gotten rid of an item that has been a money drain for years.  Was happy to see it go. So extra money coming in with a raise and now extra money not being drained out every month.  So a very happy day indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and it will hopefully stay a no spend day.

A New Year, A New Budget!!

I am FW, a wife and mom, who has debt that she needs to clear up and pay off by the time she is 50, I have a few years to go, so I am ready to kick it in the pants!!

I have been inspired by so many wonderful blogs, of course I am hiding behind letters, as I am not willing to put myself totally out there, maybe in time...

Goals this month, to catch up on the bills, got behind with Christmas, to live on my DH paycheck , and to get a total accounting of what we owe, I kinda have an idea, but I need to generate a plan to get it paid off!!  Going to try a low/no spend month if I can, but I do have 2 kids in sports, so we shall see.

I am hoping that this blog keeps me accountable and motivated, wish me luck!!