Thursday, December 31, 2009

Gearing Up

My new money saving program begins tomorrow. I am trying to keep myself from running out and spending all I can today. Wow, I didn't think that this would be so difficult and I haven't even started yet. I know that I can do this.

I can gain control of my spending, save and not negatively impact our quality of life.

I have to work on my cooking skills. I have promised my husband that I will cook more.

I found a great site that works well for me since we buy the bulk of our groceries at Wal-mart and they price match.

This site offers a look at everything that is on sale at local stores, so that I can get my list together easily. (some of the items are repeated, keep going, I found most of the meat deals on the last few pages) There are also some printable coupons on here if you are interested.

http://groceryguide.com/

I am hoping to begin saving by shaving some money off of our grocery bill. It has continued to grow rapidly over this last year and we are due for a food bill overhaul. We will have our first shopping trip of the new year on Saturday, January 2, hopefully I can find some great recipes using some sale items and we can dwindle down our food cost.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The Beginning

I have decided to write a financial blog for 2010.

My goal is to save 10% of our income by the end of the year. This means that I am going to have to record all of my expenditures, money saving tips and challenges. My plan is to end the year with savings, less clutter and more sanity.

My intent is to write something every day, even if I do not have any expenditures. I am not a financial expert, nor am I wealthy. My husband and I are Middle Class. We have two daughters, they are both teenagers.

I am a shopper, a spender and I have excellent (i.e.: expensive) taste. My goal for this year is to learn to control my spending habits and learn how to actually save money.

I do have the ability to save for a specific purpose (a trip with my family where I need X amount, to buy some large item, etc.) this is a skill that I have only learned over the past two years. Prior to that most stuff I wanted I put on a credit card. I have almost broken this habit completely.

I am the financial caretaker for our family and I really need to get control of the situation. As of right now, we only have about 2.5% of our annual income in savings and that is definitely not working. We should be saving at least 10% every year and my goal this year is to make that a reality by living below our means.

I do have a few purchases to make this year, but I want to do it frugally. I want to get rid of the clutter in our home and have some nice pieces of furniture that will last us for years to come. One thing that I have learned over the course of my life is that "You get what you pay for!" especially when it comes to furniture.

Here is the list of things that I will pay for this year:
Daughter's trip to Washington DC = $1,500 (I get to go, too, and this includes spending money.)
Desk for myself = $300 (hopefully I can find a great used one)
Dining chairs (6) = $1000 (Totally fabric, to go with the great table I got last year.)
Small Round Dining Room Table & 4 chairs = $500 (for the formal dining area)
Living room chair = $200
Family room furniture = $1000

There may be other items that come up as the year progresses, but I think that this is a large list for now.

The goal is to get the things that I want (need), get our credit card paid off, not have our quality of life change, and save 10% of our income.

I hope that anyone reading this enjoys my money and time saving tips and quips.