Getting out in front of it!

I have made a real effort this year to get out in front of Christmas.  Meaning not waiting to the last minute (for once) and making December a month for enjoyment.  I was so uplifted to read this post about just that idea!  November was a busy month filled with planning, parties, and sickness for my whole family.  High and low moments for sure.  Here's a quick recap.

My husband turned 30 the week before Thanksgiving, and we enjoyed a fun morning at the park with a (thankfully) healthy Amelia.

I can't believe he's 30!  I know it's still young, but I've been dating my husband since we were 16 and it's just amazing to me how quickly the years have flown.

I sent him out that afternoon so I could work my trickery.  He was pleasantly surprised to come home to family and friends!  I even found his college roomie who he hadn't seen in over 6 years.  Score one for me!  He truly deserved to feel loved and blessed, and I'm so happy he had fun.

Dirty 30 Pudding cups!  Thank you, Pinterest.

A collage of pics on the front door to greet him.

Another Pinterest score!  Had to make it my own with these delicious organic pops!

Thanksgiving!  Mission accomplished.  If you read about my fear of cooking a large, dead, naked bird you will be pleased that we succeeded in roasting it to a golden brown.  I'm not ashamed to say that I hid in the other room while my husband prepped it.  I was just relieved to shove it in the oven!  But, man, it was delicious.  Well worth my fretting.

We had a lovely holiday weekend with my in-laws.  Amelia was content to check out the Black Friday ads and build play-doh every morning.  

I have a few more Christmas goals to mark off my list before December rolls in next week.  

• Complete decorating the house
• Get Christmas tree next weekend (if available from our favorite church)
• Buy stocking stuffers
• Wrap Christmas gifts 
• Mail gifts 

That sounds like a tall order, right?  I'm just relieved to have the major shopping completed (I love you, internets) so I can stay out of the malls and not suffer from a case of Want-itis this year.  It's challenging not to impulse shop for everyone right until the last frenzied moment.

We are working hard on baby step 2 and are getting close to getting that credit card down to a $0 balance - hooray!

What are you goals this week?

Dave Ramsey Journey - Part I

Disclaimer:  This post has been sitting in my draft box for quite awhile.  This experience is a big reason I started She Lives on Less, and why I am bound and determined to be debt free.  I'll be breaking it up into a series over the month of October.  Come back and check it out!


I drank the Dave Ramsey Kool-Aid.

It was informative, inspiring and humbling with a splash of fruity flavor.

We are coming up on our one-year-anniversary of beginning Financial Peace University.  We were extremely blessed by some close friends who gifted us the class.  They saw the impact it made on their own finances and their marriage.  FPU forced my husband and I to band together in a new way.  It's hard to put in words just what is has meant for us and our family tree. I'll share our story as we journey towards our future of "financial peace".

The Beginning
Matt and I had been stumbling (rather happily and quite oblivious) through our first several years of marriage.  We acquired new debts and got additional degrees.  We did not live an extravagant lifestyle, but we failed to plan for our wants.  We thought we were normal.

But, something just kept gnawing at our heals.  Truth.

The truth was we were buried under student loans and other small consumer debts.  So much so, that we couldn't get a handle on the whole budget thing.  We tried, but couldn't make traction against interest fees and just, well, life.

The A-HA Moment
I knew as soon as I was pregnant with our daughter, that I wanted to stay home.  Sure, I danced around the idea, but I knew what my decision would be.  I also knew my husband wanted that as well.  We crunched the numbers and my teacher salary would basically be paying for quality daycare and the expenses that go along with that choice.

As my belly got bigger, we started socking money away.  Simultaneously, my husband's loans came out of deferment and we tried to pay those down the best we could.  We made spreadsheet after spreadsheet, but nothing ever seemed to stick.  Either our math was wrong, or our lifestyle was.  I believe it was a bit of both.

When Amelia arrived, we felt pretty decently about our finances.  We wanted to be doing better, but were so overwhelmed with her arrival, many things fell to the wayside.  Not anything unique for new parents!

In October of 2010 we started FPU at a friend's church.  Immediately, we were smacked in the face with a big dose of healthy reality.  The way we viewed and managed money would never be the same.  I credit the birth of our daughter for maturing us in a way that I hadn't thought possible before.

Next time I'll talk about the process we went through with FPU and Dave Ramsey.  The bones of a budget and how to unite the nerd and free spirit in your household!

The Art of Couponing: Organization

Welcome back to The Art of Couponing series.  If you missed last week, we talked about finding and gathering coupons.

Like most anything in life, there appear to be many differences when it comes to organizing coupons.  I'll talk about what has and has not worked for me, and send you in a few directions to figure out your own way.  One thing I have learned is that pre-planning and putting some time into organizing WILL help you get in and out of the store faster and more efficiently.

Go with no plan and a handful of loose coupons?  Prepare to be annoyed and lose money.  Been there.

File Method - This method has you place all of your coupon inserts into an accordion file.  With a black sharpie, you note the date on the front of each insert.  You do not clip any coupons until you are about to go grocery shopping.  Then, you simply clip what you need and go!  No need to lug anything to the store, and you just have your own list and a small bag of coupons.  Or you can tuck them in your wallet or purse. Jen at Southern Savers is amazing and notes that this is her method of choice.  She talks about it here and I count on her to do my weekly coupon matches.  More on that later.

(Note the Toy Story band-aid stolen from my daughter. Not off a booboo, but from the box. That would be mean.)

I used this method for a few months when I first started.  It was the best place to start for me, especially since I was overwhelmed with the amount of coupons I had lying around.  It got them together in one central location and initially, saved me money.

However, as I got savvier, I realized I needed to have access to my coupons all the time.  Meaning, if I saw a great deal at the store, I wanted to be able to have the coupon easily accessible.  That's harder to do with the file method.  It was also easier to forget I had certain coupons.  If I couldn't see them all, it was harder to recall what I had and had not already clipped.  I also found myself not needing a large amount of the coupons I was saving.  From each insert, I might only use half or less than half of the available coupons.  What was I supposed to do with the rest?  I'll answer that later too.

So... I moved on.

You will need: 

• one accordion file
• one sharpie
• plenty of inserts

Simple, right?

Binder Method:  The binder method is the creme de la creme of couponing.  It's where most people end up when they get really serious.  Heard of the Krazy Coupon Lady?  This is her method of choice, along with many other hard-core couponing champions.  These ladies have a great video tutorial about getting your binder organized.  I suggest starting there if you really want to use this method.  It requires more up front work than the file method.

But the payoff is sweet.  I'd say now, on a given week, I clip and organize for about an hour.  When you think about the hundreds of dollars I'm saving us, it's time well spent.  (Oh, I love a good pun!)

You will need:  

• a sturdy 3-ring zippered binder w/ pockets (this is the exact one I use)
• LOTS of top-loading card holders (something like this or this) 
• several dividers OR post-it tabs (see pic above)

Ultimately, I am saving time when I head to the store.  I have my binder organized by very general sections.  I have designated areas for baby items, home goods, pet, health/beauty, grocery, freezer/meats, dairy/misc., and store or catalinas.  I can easily flip to a section, locate the coupon I need, and move on.  I  usually pre-pull the coupons I know I will use, and keep them in a front zippered pouch in my binder.  But, I love having all of them with me (security issues? maybe) so I can use one on any other deals that pop up.  Stores are constantly changing their sales and I never want to miss out.


Combining Methods:  I mix both of these methods together and my new system seems to be working really well.  I still keep all my inserts filed in my accordion file.  Most coupons expire every 6-8 weeks, so I keep the oldest inserts in the front of the file.  Then, as they expire, I yank them out.

However, I am pre-clipping all coupons that I think I will use over the next two months.  Whenever an insert comes my way, I cruise through it quickly and clip away.  Every week I do a quick "getting to know you" with my coupons.  I pull expired ones, mourn the loss, and move on.

If I have two coupons for the same product, I keep the one that will expire first, on top.  Then, I layer additional ones behind.

I feel this is the most efficient way of handling the mountain of coupons I have now, although I am still a newbie in the coupon game.  Whatever your method, just know it will take time to work out the kinks.  You might find you hate how tedious keeping a binder can be, and may resort to just the file.  Stay on top of what coupons you do acquire, whatever way that may be.  I tend to shut down when I slack off for a couple of weeks and the pile of inserts starts to stack.  It's not pretty.

If you are curled up watching TV or a movie, just clip a few inserts and organize them.  It won't take long once you get in a routine.

Next time, we'll talk about additional places you can score coupons and websites for coupon matching.  There is no point in reinventing the wheel when it comes to coupons, there is a wealth of information out there in cyberspace.

Get organized before you hit the store.  You will be so grateful in the end.

Happy Couponing! 

The Art of Couponing: Getting Started

I have been considering starting a coupon series for awhile now, and I think I have enough experience to give it a whirl.  However, I will say that I am not an extreme coupon-er.  In fact, I would still classify myself as a newbie.  I have been doing a good deal of research for several months, and am thankful to all the wonderful ladies who work tirelessly on their coupon sites.  I would never have that kind of focus or patience!  So, with that being said, I will share my experience with the Great Art of Couponing with you.

Coupons have changed and grown our grocery budget.  The food envelope is the first one to empty in this house, and my family really enjoys eating.  We like snacks, fresh produce, and just having food in the fridge.  My husband starts to sweat if his granola bar supply runs low.  We also value eating organic when possible.  There are only three of us, and I still believe we overspend in some areas.  It's like feeding a house full of teenagers at times, I swear.

So where do you start with coupons?

Well, first, you need to FIND them.  Gather, gather, gather.  Here are some places to look.

• Sunday paper inserts - A gimme, but I get them from my parents or hubby's work.  We have not caved and bought a subscription yet.  Ask your neighbors or local businesses if you can have their inserts.  Doesn't hurt to ask!  
• All You - Do splurge on a subscription to All You magazine.  I got mine at a discount when I saw it pop up on another deal site.  This happens pretty regularly, so I would wait and get it for cheap!  It's worth it.
• Online - There are TONS of sites that allow you to print coupons.  The most popular and easy to use are Coupons.com and SmartSource.  There is the cost of keeping your printer stocked with ink and paper, but the payoff is good.  Most online coupons average $1, so you will save over time.  
• Catalinas - Catalina coupons usually spit out from a separate machine at checkout.  I always watch carefully to see which ones will pop out!  Some grocery stores even run specials with catalinas, so you can stock up when you see a good deal. 
• Binkies & Peelies - Sounds like the latest cartoon craze, right?  Blinkies are the old-fashioned coupon dispensers located around the grocery store.  Keep an eye out and grab one (not 10) when you pass by.  Peelies are sticky coupons attached to a certain product.  Be sure to buy the product if you plan on claiming the peelie.  It's so sad to see a shelf where someone helped themselves to every peelie in sight.  Play fair, people.
• Mailbox - I love getting coupons in my mailbox, it really gives me a thrill.  I can hear you rolling your eyes!  Don't automatically toss those inserts, sale ads, or booklets.  Take a peek, you might be  surprised.

Though there are more ways to gather coupons, I think it's important to start small.  I was quickly overwhelmed by the amount of coupons I gathered in a short time, and it makes you want to quit before you even get started!  Go slow, turtle.

Next time we'll talk about how to organize your coupons without losing your mind.  Nobody wants to find you huddled in the corner with paper cuts while muttering about the latest BOGO deal.  Trust me, that was almost my life.

Till next time, happy gathering!

Trash or Treasure?

Lately, I've had an incredibly strong desire to purge our home of lots of "unnecessaries".  Couple that with the need to pay down debt, and guess what you get?

That's right.  Yard Sale!

Yard sales of my childhood were fun times to practice simple money skills, bartering, simplifying, and working the merchandise.  Also, a chance to sell my rocks.  You thought I sold lemonade?  Think again.

I've been gathering books, old toys, clothes, and other knick knacks that are not adding to our life.  It's my hope that when we do make a move, this will allow us to make it swiftly and with less headache.

I am finding that organizing a yard sale as an adult is much different from childhood.  In fact, it's a lot of work!  I want to do it right, and make it worth our time.  I found this article from Money Saving Mom really helpful.  The Small Notebook also inspires me to live simply and with less stuff.

Do you feel weighed down by the material possessions in your home?

Have you considered downsizing for sanity?

Zen Habits has a great article on how to purposefully purge.  He challenges you to pick the 100 items you cannot live without.  Then, you work hard at cutting out the fat from your life.  Do you really need the three pairs of black flip-flops or 1997 text book?

Yard Sale To-Do List

• Signage!  Get the word out with good ol' sharpies.
• Advertise on Craigslist with specifics we are selling.
• Team up with other families or friends looking to sell too.
• Organize the goods in an appealing manner.   Since we have some gently used clothing, I'd like to borrow a stand or make a cheaper solution to display them.
• Do some research for what a good sale price would be on our nicer items.
• Consider a two-day sale to really move items out.
• Sell baked goods! Not rocks.

Thrifty Thursdays - Cell Phone Plans (aka fat, bloated cows)

I am still an English teacher at heart, so I love, love, LOVE alliteration.  My daughter's name is alliterative, and hence all series on this blog MUST be too.  Also, I am allowed to make occasional grammar mistakes, forgive me.  I consider myself a modern Emily Dickinson with new words, breaking lines, and wild prepositions.  I digress.

Welcome to this week's Thrifty Thursday!  I'll share something thrifty that has worked for me, or something I really want to try.  I'm a newbie to true frugal living, and it's all a learning curve, right?

One way we have found to save is with our Verizon cell phone plan.

The world would have us think that we must have an IPhone, Blackberry, or other beautifully invented device.  We must be connected 24/7 to all our social networks.  What if your buddy Larry from Iowa bought a new shirt?  How would you know?!  Priorities, people.  Priorities.

Hence we are one of the last (if not the second to last) people I know who have not jumped on the Smart Phone bandwagon.  I see these handy phones as a true luxury.  I'm human.  I would love having something new, sleek and user friendly.  However, there are other goals and  motivations lately that keep me with my old LG sandwich phone.  My tried and true.

We recently got a little crazy and finally updated our old phones.  We had waited (drumroll please) over two years to finally update together.  Verizon is making it nearly impossible not to update to a smart phone and have recently changed their talk and text plans.  Amazingly enough, we were grandfathered in with our old plan and advised to keep it.  Ha!  The support tech was almost jealous of our old and outdated, simple plan.  I thought we were already a bit excessive with unlimited text and data.  Not until we realized the price of the new "tiered" data packages.  These would increase our monthly bill by $60 if we were to update to smart phones.  That's a saving of $720 a year!  We also opted for the simple and free phone upgrades.

The reality is that in years to come, I'm sure I'll have the phone I want.  But, for now, I'm happy with the simplicity of our plan.  It leaves me time to focus on other things.  Like the sweet sleep creases on my daughter's cheek.  Or the way her hair curls perfectly around her ear.

How much are you paying annually for the luxury of a smart phone?

Could that money be better spent on debts or other necessities?

Where can you tweak your monthly bill?

Small changes add up quickly.  Several small streams create powerful rivers.

Mystery Shopping Review - Beyond Hello

As promised, I want to do a quick review of my first experience with mystery shopping.  Technically, this is Part I, since I am still waiting for my payment.

I started with Beyond Hello in mid June and completed my first two shops in early July.  Beyond Hello pays out through PayPal, so I promptly set up my own account.  There is some sharing of personal information, so I did extensive research on the company prior to signing up.  Beyond Hello scored high with the BBB and it was hard to find negative reviews online from shoppers.  So, I jumped in!

Mystery Shopping is a really fun mix of talents for me.  I get to do a little acting, window shopping and note-taking.  Best of all, I am using these brief excursions as my alone time.  Most mothers embrace the chance to drive alone in perfect silence or with a favorite tune blasting.  We could all use a break from tossing cheerios in the back seat and singing The Wheels on the Bus for the hundredth time.  Am I right or what?  I use it to catch up on phone calls with friends and family, and generally unwind.

Here are some general Pros and Cons from the experience:

Pros

• The Shop Log feature allows you to choose how many miles outside of your zip code you are willing to shop.  For me, a drive longer than 15/20 minutes is probably not worth the gas for the payout.  
• I made a mistake and submitted the incorrect form (rookie!) and was given a re-do.  I was allowed to resubmit my form with no penalty.  
• When I have had questions, I do receive a fairly prompt response.  The coordinators appear happy to help and support the shoppers.
• Good work pays off!  Some shops are graded, so shoppers who go the extra step will be rewarded with more shop opportunities.  
• Free!  I have not been asked to pay a fee to receive any shops.  
• Mystery Shopping is considered working as an independent contractor.  This makes it win-win for me and for the company.  We can both walk away at any time.

Cons

• I would prefer payment to be more prompt.  I was informed that I would not be receiving my July payments until the end of August.  I have not seen anything in my PayPal account yet, but will be watching towards the end of the month.  I'll update when I do get the compensation!
• The Sassie software is relatively easy to use, but I would like a cleaner form to work on.  There are lots of things highlighted, bolded, or in red.  Text size changes. I find it distracting, but that is a detail I can overlook.
• Beyond Hello does advertise getting your IC Pro status.  From what I gather, this will set you apart from other shoppers so you get more shops.  This involves putting in more information and connecting through JobSlinger.  I am investigating this further before I make a decision.  So far, I've gotten 6 shops without having this status.  We'll see how it goes!
• The shops I have completed do specify you cannot have children with you.  I don't believe all will be like this, but that does make it challenging if I don't have an opportunity to slip away alone.

Overall, I think mystery shopping can be a worthwhile venture for anybody looking to make a few extra bucks.  It won't make you rich by any means, and I think you have to keep your expectations humble.  My plan is to use the earnings for dumping debt.  I have tried some other companies, and am still reviewing them.  Beyond Hello has good service and an easy site - not a bad start!

Our Debt Thermometer

On our quest for Financial Peace, I decided we needed a visual aid.  A way to demonstrate how far we've come, and how much longer we have to go.  We use TMMO as our budgeting software, but I wanted MORE.

I looked around a bit, and saw a GENIUS idea.  Then, I fiddled with it a bit to make it work for us.

First things first.

 Once we crunched the numbers on our debts (since starting TMMO 10/10) we developed a scale for the thermometer.  We had to figure out how many hatch marks we needed for the thermometer.  I want to be able to fill in the red every month, as we get closer to our goal.  But, we also added benchmarks, each individual debt total is on the right side of the thermometer.  It took us awhile to figure it out.  At one point, I said, "We have four college degrees between the two of us - why is this so hard!?"

This is why I needed my husband's A-Type personality to do the job!  I was told to cut the poster board... and let's just say...he took over after that.

Using a Richard Scarry board book instead of a ruler? Check!

Of course, he needed to hydrate properly during this ordeal.

It's going to be a long road, but a worthy one!

Uh oh... maybe we hydrated too much.

See that red?  That's our hard work since last October, we're really hoping to add several more notches by the end of this year.  Piece of cake!  Right?

Frugal Sites

I have found a new kind of motivation this past week.  Hence the new blog updates!  I've been reading a ton of blogs about frugal living, couponing, debt managment, etc.  It's been really uplifting since we are looking to shell out a cool $1000 in car repairs over the next month.  Wait, make that closer to $1500.  Set backs are discouraging, but I'm pulling myself up by the metaphorical boot straps.  (weird visual, huh?)

Here are some fantastic blogs I've been following:

Frugal Dad - This blogger is a Dave Ramsey follower as well, and he has great information and uplifting articles about beating debt.  He really forces you to "man up" as DR would say :)

Money Saving Mom - She has a great blog series about becoming a work-at-home Mom that has been really educational.  I'm signing up to be a mystery shopper this week (no scams, promise!) and preparing to sell some old text books online.

Coupon Challenge - A VA local who coupon matches for Farm Fresh. You know I love my www.southersavers.com, but she doesn't match FF for me.  Thanks Dana for keeping me in the know!

Last night I stumbled on a link to make your own foaming hand soap at www.liverenewed.com using castile soap.  I think I might pick up some peppermint scented and cost compare to see how much it could save us.

Also, begging my dear friend Alexis at Dungeons and Diamonds to share her wealth of knowledge with starting container gardening.  I do NOT have a green thumb, so this might be easy enough for me to handle!

Got any frugal living tips??