Meal Plans

I dunno about you, but I don't like hearing "What's for dinner".  It usually doesn't end well because I generally don't have an answer.  Especially after I've been working all day.  But the last few months or so, I've been working on my answer.  Its been coming to me slowly.

First, I heard/read of people planning out their weekly meals.  Some crazy people do it by the month.  Even more insane are people who cook multiple meals at the same time and freeze/save for later.  I promptly forgot about this nonsense.

Second, we wanted to work on our monthly budget.  Food seems to be the easiest thing I can alter around here.  At little bit of planning can go along way.  Coupon clipping takes up time and I haven't figured out how to make it work for the things my family buys.  I have to find another way.

Third, I am mentally exhausted after a day of work.  Making decisions about food while starving turns into a fast food binge.  Even that can be taxing on my brain.  The only worst question than "what's for dinner?" is "where do you want to eat?" 

One day, while browsing at Anthropologie, I found these pads of paper.  They had lists on them.  My type-A personality had a heart flip-flop.  Maybe these lists could help?  Imagine a weekly list of what to eat for dinner, plus lunch, breakfast, and snacks!  Yes, its silly to spend money on something I could easily concoct myself, but it might be worth it to motivate myself.  So I did. I bought them.  I took it one step further and used them.

These are some examples of meal plans from the past month.

I found it helps tremendously.  I try to sit down on Friday or Saturday and plan out the meals based on my work schedule.  On evenings I am off, I plan to make dinner or have something in the crockpot.  On evenings I work, we either have leftovers, frozen food, or hubby gets pizza.  I also like to write out what snacks we have so we can know at a glance what is stocked instead of staring at the pantry.  Once I have a meal plan, I make a shopping list.  Yes, I also have the handy-dandy shopping checklist.

 I keep both on the refrigerator and, yes, we actually check off what we are out of during the week.  I add to it once we make the meal plan.  My goal is to go grocery shopping once per week.  In reality, we go two to three times.  It's usually a milk and bread run, or a chocolate run.

Meal planning is worth the effort.  I enjoy spending money deliberately rather then off-the-cuff.  My money should be working for me, and this is one way I can ensure it is.  Plus, I don't have to give up eating out, I can schedule it in so I have something to look forward to.  I also like saving the plans so I can look back over the last few weeks and remember what was amazing, easy, and what not to make again.

So, what are you having for dinner?

Fixing Stupid

Have you ever done something stupid?  Over ten years ago (I think) I opened up a store credit card.  A Gap card.  I loved the Gap.  And I thought it was a great way to save money on clothes.  Buy now, pay later.  Earn reward points to use on future purchases.  The catch?  In order to redeem the points you must use your Gap card.  It was a vicious cycle.  For the most part, I was responsible and paid of the balance every month.  However, at some point I decided I didn't NEED to pay it off every month.  I'll just pay half now, and the rest next month.  I bet you know how the story goes.  In no time, I had a balance I wasn't proud of.  I stopped spending on the card close to two years ago, yet it wasn't until the last six months that I got serious about paying it off.  This month, I made the last payment.  It feels amazing.  AMAZING.  I paid it off ahead of schedule.  One stupid mistake now corrected.  Please don't make the same mistake I did.

Now, I have two cars and three student loans left.  The hefty balances.  My payment calculator estimates I'll be done in 2019 and that feels forever away.  I'm sticking with my stressful job in hopes of making a big dent in our debt.  My dream is to be able to work part-time (or at least 32 hours per week) once my student loans are paid off.  Its good to have dreams, they help motivate you.

Sticking to the Budget

What's better then sticking to your budget?  Doing it in style.  As you may remember from previous posts (here and here) Hubby and I strive to operate on a mostly cash budget, utilizing an envelope system.  While the system works well, paper envelopes do not.  We also tried a small plastic accordion  folder, but didn't have success with that either.  Thank goodness for the internets.  I found an awesome solution on Etsy and took the plunge.

This is the carrying case.  Don't you love the gray and yellow?

This is the interior.  It is lined with a thicker cloth and feels rather substantial.

.....And of course the envelopes.  I love that they are all different patterns.  The seller pre-printed the category labels for me.  The zipper pouch is for coins.  We have been using these envelopes for over a month and I LOVE them.  Hubby can just take one or two envelopes and leave the rest at home.  He actually prefers that method since he thinks the carry-case is too girly.

If you are the crafty type, I'm sure you could make this easily.  I am not.  It is my first purchase from Etsy and I am incredibly pleased.  (link to seller here.)

What do you think?  Any Etsy addicts?  Would your Hubby carry this around?

twenty twelve

I have a ton of goals.  If I think about them too much, I get overwhelmed.  Sometimes, goals are frustrating because you can't always do much about them right away.  I suppose those are technically called "long term goals".  Last year, I was able to mark off some long term goals (moving!) so its time to re-evaluate and make more.  Tis the season, right?

get out of debt.  Specifically, pay off credit card and a private student loan.  Its embarrassing to admit I carry a credit card balance.  However, I've already made the baby step of not using it and not carrying it with me.  We paid off two (small) student loans and a credit card last year, so its time to step it up to the larger balances.  I'm excited to see how fast it can be knocked out know that I can almost triple the minimum payment.

buy a house.   Ok, so this has been a long term goal for sometime now.  Hopefully, we can actually make it happen this summer.  Once our taxes are completed and we have a better idea of our down payment, its off to the bank to get pre-approved, then house hunting!

manage budget.   More precisely, track personal and food spending better.  I've discovered my online banking service has budgeting tools and more pie charts then I know what to do with.  The past few months I've learned our "personal" and "food" budgets can vary widely and really make or break staying on track with our money plans.  I'd like to come up with a more realistic expectation for the budget and an improved plan for staying on track.

improve balance between work and home.  Is this on everyone's list?  So this is probably the goal of a lifetime, but seriously, I have some work do be done here.  I want to leave work on time two days out of the week, but obviously I need to have my act together at work.  Its all about prioritizing and time management.

have more quality family time.  Another no brainer, I know.  Dates with my kiddos, dates with my hubby, and turning off the computer while the kids are awake are how I planning on making this one come true.  (anyone have any ideas for inexpensive kiddo dates?  let me know in the comments)

really find a church.  enough said.  well, maybe except we need to attend said church and get involved.  seriously, we need friends.


make time for personal fitness.  walks on the beach are easy when its 80 degrees and sunny.  not so much when its 45, windy, and the sun sets at 5pm.  I should probably invest in a windbreaker and work on leaving my job while its still daylight.  Or push this one to the back burner until spring.

See how I get overwhelmed with goals?  I didn't even really include my long term ones.  Or the ones like "buy a pair of Frye boots".  Maybe next year.

Southern Savers

I'm not much of a coupon-er.  But I like a good deal.  And with two little ones, a one family income, and a goal of getting out of debt; I'm certainly looking into it.  I was introduced to this website SouthernSavers by my momma.  It's helped me tremendously.

I feel like I know the basics in eating frugally, eat at home, plan menus, don't go to the grocery store every day, etc.  However, that's easier said then done for me.  Since we've moved, I've also faced another dilemma: where to shop.  The stores I normally shopped at aren't available here.  No super Target, Dillons, or Hy-Vee.  No Price Chopper.  We have Food Lion, Bi-Lo, Lowes and Wal-Mart.  There are a few Krogers and Piggly Wigglies.  Its like learning to shop for groceries all over again.  Each store has a different selection; there still are things I can't find.  Plus, food is more expensive.  We aren't living in America's Breadbasket anymore.

Enter in Southern Savers.  My momma heard about it from a woman she met in a grocery store.  Then she told me.  The website posts the ads of the grocery stores in the South, plus the local drug stores.  The author also posts what coupons you could add to the sale to get the item even cheaper.  She flags the REALLY good deals.  There are links to sites you can print off coupons, or get e-coupons.  She has a coupon database, and a section on how-to-coupon.  This site has a ton of information.

While I still have a lot to learn, the website has helped me focus.  I'm getting better at looking at the sales and planning a list before I go to the store.  Browsing the sale ads for a few weeks gives me a better idea of what really is a good sale and what a normal price is for food items.  In short, I have a better perspective.  My first trip (right before Thanksgiving, mind you) I saved over $60!  And I had a cart full of food!  I didn't even use a coupon.

I realize many of you don't live in the South, but don't despair, google.  I did a quick search, and there are numerous coupon websites, not just Southern specific.  Anyone else into coupon-ing?  Are you an extreme coupon-er?  How do you find the deals?

More Money

Ok, so its been over a week since I tried YNAB (you need a budget).  (read about the introduction here.)  And, honestly, I am disappointed.  You see, the free trial was to last one week, however, I didn't get a chance to check back in.  I spent a few hours setting up the budget in the program.  My plan was to check in again in a few days and monitor our spending.  But life happened, and the seventh(or eighth) day came and YNAB would not allow me to look at my previously made budget without purchasing the software.  All my work was lost.  I was mad and frustrated.  I didn't look at our bank account for almost two weeks.  I didn't want to face it. Yes, I realize this is silly, but hey, its the truth.  I'm not ready to commit 60 dollars to a download I'm still iffy about.  So I haven't.  But I have returned to my senses and looked at my bank account again.  I revisited Dave Ramsey's online budget tool, used an old fashion calculator, paper, and pen, and re-wrote our budget.  I found it oddly satisfying.

I think YNAB could be helpful, just not for my needs.  I was able to import the data from my checking account directly into the software.  I then assigned categories to each expenditure.  YNAB allowed me to view how my spending compared to the budget I set up.  It was easy to see where the money went.  I recommend it for those who feel they need help identifying who gets their money.  I, on the other hand, am well aware where my money goes.  I am a planner, so I want the plan on paper as to how I am going to spend the necessary money.  Once all my bills are paid, I want to know how much free money I have left to apply elsewhere; like paying off debt.  For this reason, I like the budgeting tool by Dave Ramsey. 

With Gazelle Budget Lite, I can plug in my income and the fields are pre-populated with the recommended numbers for each expense.  I can then change the fields to reflect what I actually spend, or need to budget.  It is easy to see if each category falls within the recommended range.  The old fashioned person that I am, then writes all of this down in my notebook so I can refer to it as often as I want to.  I also usually write out the subcategories and further breakdown the budget.  For example, in transportation, I also write out the amount to budget for tags, taxes, oil changes, repairs, gas, and insurance.  Overkill?  Maybe, but I want to be sure I don't forget anything and have a 500 dollar surprise later.

So have any of you tried these or other budget tools?  Any questions?

Money Money Money

Hubby and I spent a few hours one afternoon this past week working on a budget program.  We've sat down before to hash out a budget (one of the most intimidating things I've done) and have always scribbled it out.  I am a pen and paper kind of girl.  I like to see it.  However, that hasn't been working for us lately.  For starters, I spilled coffee grounds on my notebook.  Secondly, our living situation has changed since we made last budget (hello, cross-country move).  Finally, I was feeling like a failure with the whole thing.  I like to be able to review and read the budget frequently, and that wasn't happening.  Our life had some drastic changes, and we needed to re-visit where our money is going.  After the last few months of loosely watching our finances, we decided to take a closer look. 

I've read a few of Dave Ramsey's books and really like his outlook on money.  Reading The Total Money Makeover  opened my eyes.  It showed me how I could make a plan and take control of our finances.  It gave me some tools and assisted in making a budget and sticking to it less intimidating. Plus, it helps that I know several people that have used it to get out of debt successfully.  And I need all the encouragement I can get.  Eight years of college loans  (thank you expensive professional degree) plus hubby's four (or was it five?) years add up quickly...and that's just the beginning.

Recently, I have heard about YNAB.com.  (You Need A Budget)  A family member told me about it, plus I've seen the name mentioned in other web articles.  It has great reviews.  In short, its personal budget software you can download and tweak it to fir your needs.  We decided to download the free trial (7 days worth) and give it a go.  I feel like I need to move beyond pen and paper.  I am putting on my big girl panties, so to speak.  I'll give you an update once I have used it enough to form an opinion.  I sincerely hope it works for us.  We used many of Dave Ramsey's principles and his tool Gazelle Budget Lite to help us visualize the pieces of the pie.


Do any of you use budget software?  Any tricks that you swear by?  I like the cash/envelope system, but find it difficult to juggle.  It seems hubby has the envelopes and I'm the one at the grocery store, or we don't make it to the bank and use the debit card for three days.  They we aren't sure how much money to withdrawal.  I know these are just excuses, but its the truth!  I can't seem to find a good balance.  Let me know what works for you!