Friday, February 7, 2014

Finances on Friday

Here We Go Again...
 How I saved and spent our money this week...
For just the pure heck of it. 




- The kids and I made our big batch of laundry soap. This time around I had to buy the borax and washing soda which cost about 10 dollars total...I was able to make a five gallon bucket of laundry soap and I still will have enough washing soda and borax to make another 10 gallons. So...you do the math - cheap cheap cheap!!! That should be enough for the entire year... depending on how dirty my kids get. 
- I slaved away at couponing this week and found several good deals on things we use. At check out I saved $32.00 bucks in coupons making our weekly groceries $80.00. Considering the fact that I don't have a garden or chickens that lay eggs or cows to slaughter (which I wouldn't anyways) I think that's a respectable total for a family of 6.
- I found sprouted organic bread on closeout for $2.19 a loaf so bought 5 loaves to shove in the freezer
- I found Applegate Farms (no preservatives, fillers, vegetarian grain fed, no antibiotic, gluten and casein free) hot dogs marked down to $2.20 a package so bought two for the freezer. I would like to interject here since many of my readers are new to  me blog.. my husband and I have two boys with autism so we are very selective in what we feed them ... mostly we live a preservative, food dye free life and I try to avoid gluten whenever possible. I'm vegetarian (I usually eat at least 75% raw ) and also can't eat legumes so meals can be challenging but we are managing just fine...especially when God give us little surprises like fun hot dogs for kids and sprouted bread and huge bags of Costco carrots ! I have given up some of my personal preferences ...mainly the amount of produce I eat...for the sake of the family budget. So far I'm still living.  
- I found a deal where I could buy 4 boxes of puff kleenexs and then there was a digital store coupon for them PLUS when I checked out they printed me off a $2.00 off my next shopping trip - bringing them down to .44 a box. 
- I found coffee creamer for my husband super duper cheap. Coffee cream is one thing I buy every week that is a pure luxury and full of high fructose corn syrup. The man has tried half and half with stevia, honey...lots of options and he still prefers his International Delight Hazelnut creamer - as hard as he works I think he deserves it. His high fructose consumption might shave a year off his life, but in the end...we will know he started his morning off comfortably and tastily. It's all good. (I may even indulge from time to time...shhhhhhh)



- we received our federal tax return this week and were able to pay off our smaller credit card completely and put a rather hefty chunk on our larger credit card.
- Zac called Comcast and tried to bring down our bill to no avail. So he canceled them and was able to get Century Link for half the price then what we usually pay a month AND they are sending us a prepaid Visa card for the same amount as the "hook up" fees.
- Found out that at the fire department there MIGHT be a test Zac can take where he can get a little extra every month because he speaks Spanish. We won't know about this until next month.


Now...for how we SPLURGED. 
Yes...I have to be honest so people actually know we are human.



The morning we went to get our groceries our car battery was dead...in the -7 degree weather. My poor Zac had to scrape ice and jump the car...we all loaded up and drove straight to Wal Mart (my least favorite store on earth) and was able to get us a new battery, then trade in the old for some cash back. So, unexpected expense. 
Next, I found a set of frames that I LOVED for our wedding pictures. It has been ten years and I still have no pictures for my walls, I have tried contacting our photographer at least 5 times to get prints to no avail. So, I made the choice to take out a few of our pictures from our, ahem...professional rather costly albumn, so I could have a couple pictures for my walls. All in all, I'm pleased with decision because I can actually enjoy seeing my pictures instead of them all being tucked away in a box under my bed. Back to the frames. I found exactly what I wanted...for full price. I'm generally a thrift store frame shopper...or at least a highly discounted frame shopper - but this time I threw caution to the wind and got exactly what I wanted. They are simple, rustic...and the mat looks like tweed or something. I love them. 
I took Trinity to Hobby Lobby for "girl time" and she found this adorable giraffe that she has been wanting for a couple of months. I had looked them up at Toys r Us and on Amazon and the going price was about $7.95. At Hobby Lobby they are $5.99 PLUS you can use your 40% off coupon. She was rather smiley all the way home...I mean, Binky Boos are all the rage now...or didn't you know?

For this week coming up...I'm afraid a toaster purchase will be in the near future as ours is now down to only one side working (makes a simple meal like ,toast, for a family of 6 ...a huge ordeal.) I think this time I'm going to do some wheelin' and dealin' and may invest in a nice 4 slot toaster. Tis a dream...we will see if it comes to fruition. 
ALSO, our coffee maker is blinking on and off. We have had it about 4 years and it's also just a simple brand (I think it cost about $20 dollars.) We will see if we can repair it, if not...more wheelin' and dealin'. 

How we saved and gave...

- we have a portion of Zac's pay check deposited into a savings account automatically
- gave to World Vision
- tithed to our church
- Zac was in a check out line at the thrift store and the lady in front of him was trying to pay for her total and came up short. Zac took over the bill and according to him all of the women looked at him with awe and said things like "now that's a nice man" and "wow...just wow." The total? It was $6.00. I have done this at the dollar tree from time to time...covered someone's measly $1.00 and people have looked absolutely shocked. I think it's just a teeny bit sad that giving little bits to help out another person or make them smile is kind of...not as common as it should be? We live in a world where no one blinks at buying a $3.00 cup of coffee but to give a buck to a lady needing a pregnancy test....or a pack of gum...or a pair of shoes at the thrift store...now THAT'S a big deal. I am happy to know that I'm with a man who loves to make another's load lighter when he can. 



That's it folks....My open book financial status for the week.

linked up with Rebecca 

4 comments:

  1. Sweet husband! And you are a good wife to know what's sensible, and when to give in (as far as the creamer goes).

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  2. I can't wait to get our tax return back. PLEASE SOON! That will be so awesome.

    I need to call about our phone/internet service. There has GOT to be a way we can lessen that bill!

    Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!

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  3. I make our laundry soap too, but I've had to trouble shoot a bit after we moved to Oklahoma-maybe the hard water or some other minerals?
    I know the coffee is just not the same without the creamer! I use Stevia too, but I still sneak in my creamer.

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  4. Have you considered getting a toaster oven in replacement of your toaster? I love our toaster oven since it can toast/bake/keep warm just about anything that will fit inside of it. :)

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