Tag: frugality

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Every Day

Bare Bones: Make Every Penny Count

Remember to make every penny count! Those pennies become dollars. When you are living on a bare bones budget, it is important to scrutinize every expense. Don’t just look at it once, do it twice, or even three times to make sure that you are getting value for those pennies and dollars you are spending.

If your income has been drastically reduced, pay the basics to keep yourself afloat. Here is a video by Dave Ramsey who gives great advice on what to pay if your income has been reduced or you have been laid off from your job: Dave Ramsey


He has many more You Tube videos out there that you can google if you want to learn more.

My goal is to live Bare Bones so I can pay some large bills the rest of the year without touching savings and investments.


So I will show you what we are doing in a day to help with that goal. I need bread for Hubby and West this weekend. It was not on my grocery list this week because I can pay $1.00 to $4.00 for a loaf or I can pay about $.35 to $.50 to make a loaf. Bread is baking in the bread maker as I write this. 

It is daylight as I write this so no lights are turned on in this house.

Our A/C is now off because the temps have cooled off a bit. We are hoping to be able to keep it off until Tuesday. If I had a loss of income, I would turn it off and use a fan in the room or rooms we are in.

Here was my grocery list this week. As you can see, I crossed many, many things off. I have produce that needs to be used up so no produce purchased. The Tostito chips are to use with salsa we already have for a snack or lunch. We will need mayonnaise soon and Hubby will only eat Hellman’s. The mayo is necessary to make sandwiches. The ice cream is because West will be here this weekend and I promised him I would get his favorite kind which is cookies and cream. I purchased it at Walmart because it is a whole lot cheaper there than Top’s. These two stores are 1 block apart.  I shopped on Tuesday to take advantage of the 6% off senior discount at Top’s.

Hubby is installing wire shelves on the wall in the garage to house items that are on the floor and in a cabinet that we will sell to get them off the floor. He did a pick up order from Lowe’s and paid for $200. of the order with gift cards that I purchased almost two years ago at a discount. I got cash back for this order from Rakuten.

He is putting in enough shelves to house my very large appliances. I keep them on a roll around rack in the garage. Now I can use that rack in the basement for my stockpile. 

We had homemade cold cuts to use for dinner last night. I cooked a ham that I purchased at $.89 a lb. last Thanksgiving and we sliced it up on our meat slicer so that we could have ham sandwiches over the next few months. The homemade bread will be used for Hubby’s and mine will be in a lettuce wrap. 


When I drive I am still starting up from a light or stop sign under 2 x 1000 rpms to save on gasoline. No jack rabbit starts which eat gasoline. 

I washed our SUV in the driveway. I vacuumed it out with the handheld vacuum. I washed the windows with homemade “windex”. I rarely use the car wash unless it is the middle of winter. 


I have planned out our menu for this weekend while West is staying with us. He requested my homemade spaghetti and meatballs so I will take a precooked bag of it out of our freezer to thaw for dinner tonight. The bread I am baking today will be used to make parmesan garlic bread and sandwiches. I will keep it fresh in a reused bread bag.

Breakfasts will be homemade muffins, cereal and fruit, or scrambled eggs and bacon. Tomorrow night, I will use some frozen pizza which is in my freezer. His lunches will be cold cut sandwiches with cut up carrot sticks or PB&J which he loves. I also have some Annie’s mac and cheese if he prefers that. Snacks will be fruit or some of the ice cream. 

Entertainment this weekend will be walks, tablet time, playing some Pokemon Monopoly, etc. He also loves watching sports with his Grandpa.

 We did no impulse buying. The shelving was a planned purchase.

I managed to slice open a finger while I was helping with the shelving. It took a long time to stop bleeding but now it has a bandage on it and I didn’t have to go to Urgent Care. That was not the way I wanted to start my Friday. 


I hope you all have a safe and fun weekend.

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Every Day

In My Quest for Bare Bones

Over the weekend, I thought a lot about my quest to stay bare bones. I spent some more time updating my stockpile list with pantry items and refrigerator items. Hopefully, I will be done with that in a few days. I am only spending about an hour a day working on that. I already have the freezers’ list done.

In order to use up what we have already spent money on, this is an important inventory to keep. The last thing that I want to do is end up with freezer burned meat or expired food. It has also helped me make a list of canned goods that I want to purchase for the winter. So many canned goods are becoming scarce in our stores. When I can find what I need I will purchase them. The prices have already gone up and I think as things get more scarce, the prices will climb even higher. When and if they climb to a price that I will not pay, we will just go without them. There are always things we can substitute and do differently. 

We have a small seating area in the front of our home. It has always had 2 chairs and a small table. Hubby and I enjoy sitting out there when the weather permits. Many neighbors stop by but we have to scrounge up chairs if they want to stay and visit for a while. This happened on Friday night. So I grabbed a spare chair from our office and a chair from our dining set out on the patio. This wasn’t ideal but it worked. Hubby had saved two of the best chairs from our old dining set which were stacked in our locked shed. He decided on Saturday to put those in the seating area and to put the two that we had been using in a corner of the garage to be able to easily access them when company comes by. Those chairs are smaller to store. The seat cushions on the chairs he put in front are satisfactory and comfortable for now. But we will have to replace them in the next year or so. I will be on the lookout for a good deal on those.

Using the ads that came in the Sunday paper yesterday, I have made my bare bones grocery list for Senior Citizen’s discount (6% off) day tomorrow at Top’s. My son was looking my list over and said it looked good. He wanted to know why I crossed off so many items. I told him they were unnecessary items that I wanted but did not really need. There was a great price on the frozen pizza that Hubby likes but he also likes my homemade pizza just as much. So the pizzeria frozen one got crossed off. Shrimp was on sale but I have so much fish that needs to be eaten so shrimp was not really important. Pasta sauce is cheap with coupon but I can make a huge  homemade batch for just pennies using a large can of tomato sauce, some paste, and some spices.

I had put some fresh local veggies on my list but I still have some to use up in the fridge so we will eat those before we get more. 

I thought I needed Scotties but while counting my stockpile ones, I found I had 18 boxes so they are not necessary right now. So they got crossed off. If I run out before we get more, we both have handkerchiefs. 

Hubby has been working on a project on our shed. he bought shims because the shed needed to be jacked up in areas and the shims put under. From settling, there are areas that need this. He and my son tried to jack it up a little yesterday but the crowbar broke. Hubby can not find his car jack so my son will bring his next weekend. In past winters and springs we have had critters live under the shed. A groundhog did a bunch of damage to the lawn near the shed because he dug there. Hubby has repaired that but he is putting wire fencing between the ground and where the shed begins to keep them from living under there. He will be working on that today. 

My son and Hubby also told me yesterday that they think a mouse is living in a storage cabinet in the garage. I hate mice. Hubby said he would clean the nest out and clean up the mouse droppings. But I want to make sure it is gone for good. So when I put my thinking cap on, I realized that the sticky boards that I use to keep bugs out are for mice too. So we put sticky boards down in front of the cabinet in hopes of catching the mouse or mice. I will check those later this morning. 

I was going to wash a load of laundry this weekend but realized that it wasn’t quite a full load so I put it off til I have a full load.

My “jet dry” was gone in my dishwasher. The light came on to alert me so I filled it up with the usual vinegar as my “jet dry”.  

We have an on demand water heater. So I took a shower right after Hubby this weekend to use up the hot water that was still in the pipes before it cooled down. 

We are so happy that it is supposed to rain 3 days this week because we probably will not have to use the sprinkler system this week. We need rain badly.

I am off to make some phone calls. We got two bills in the mail this weekend and they are both incorrect.

I hope you all have a great day! 
 

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Every Day

What Do I Mean By Bare Bones?

Bare bones is ONLY essential expenses. I consider them to be mortgage payments or rent, utilities(water, electricity and natural gas), transportation( car payment, gasoline and maintenance), from scratch food made with actual ingredients(no processed food), basic health and paper items(like toilet paper) taxes, medications, and medical insurance if you can afford to keep it. In my estimation, car insurance, homeowners or renter’s insurance, and life insurance are also essential expenses. They are things either mandated by law or that would not be to your benefit to let lapse.

Take a look at all of your last three month’s of spending. If you haven’t tracked it, then look at your checkbook register or bank statements and credit card statements to see what you have been spending your money on.

All other spending except for those mentioned in the first paragraph are non essentials. Clothing is not essential unless you have nothing to wear. Eating fast food, going out to restaurants and stopping at Starbucks or anywhere else for coffee is definitely not essential unless you were gifted a gift card that will cover the total cost. Going on vacation is not an essential item nor is buying home decor or kitchen utensils for your home. Going to the movies, sports games and concerts is not essential.

Cable TV is not essential if you have had a loss in income. Nor is Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime, etc. The first two you pay monthly and can cancel. If you have Amazon Prime, you can cancel at any time and they will refund your money for the months you have left on your membership. Magazine subscriptions, the daily newspaper,  warehouse store subscriptions, and gym memberships should be cancelled. Some kind of telephone, whether it be landline or cellphone, is essential. The most expensive plan is not. 

I am not giving up cable TV, Hulu or Amazon Prime because I have not had a loss in income. If you have, you should consider cancelling them. 

Question each and every purchase. Am I buying something that is really unnecessary? Can that money be used for something that is basic to your survival? Will it help keep the lights, heat or A/C on? Will it buy oil, flour, fruits and veggies, dairy products or some more meat? Do whatever you have to to make sure that you have all of the basic expenses paid. Look at each and every penny that is being spent and decide whether it is really important to do it.  

I will be scrutinizing our expenses until at least the end of 2019 to be able to get to our goal of not touching savings and investments to pay for upcoming expenses that are important to us. 

Come and join me. You don’t have to let anyone know that you are doing this. Just do it!   

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Every Day

A Day in My Life

Yesterday was a weird day. I had so many plans that just didn’t pan out. I took my navy shower and air dried my hair hoping to finally get our “New Year” in full swing. There is so much I wanted to do.

However it didn’t take me too long to realize while I was drinking my coffee that I felt worse not better like the day before. So off to Urgent Care I went. Something had to be going on besides a virus. Sure enough I have a bad infection. The doctor, who reminded me of Doogie Howser,  sent a prescription with a combination of two antibiotics to my pharmacy. He says I should be feeling better within three days. I sure hope so. For those who have no idea who Doogie Howser  was, he was a 16 year old M.D. on a medical show named after him. My doctor, I swear, was about the same age. The older I get the younger the doctors look.

I decided on my way home to use up $14. in CVS ECB’s that were expiring. I had no deals worked out so I just picked up some milk, Puffs, and spices which we can always use. I ended up spending $2.28 after the ECB’s were deducted from my total. So I have 
$275.86 left in my grocery budget this month.

On Wednesday, our property tax bill for this year arrived so I stopped at Town Hall to pay that. Our bill actually went down $7.00 this year due to the county decreasing their budget. It was a pleasant surprise. 

Next I went to the pharmacy to pick up my antibiotic which cost me a whopping $ .95 out of pocket which I paid with pocket change. 

My last stop was at our local cash only gas station to fill up the SUV with gasoline. We had under 100 miles of gas left and I don’t like the tank that empty in the winter. So after checking the gas buddy app on my cellphone, I determined that this station had the best price at $2.529 per gallon.

When I got home, I put a load of laundry in the washer before we had lunch. I decided I was definitely using the dryer since I didn’t feel that well. After taking my first pill, I laid down for a quick nap. I was tired from all of the things I had done. But I was happy that they were all on my route and that I didn’t have to waste gas for them another day.

I woke up at 4:40pm so it was more than a quick nap. Hubby offered to make dinner but I told him that I felt like doing it. So I quickly made up some Copycat Shake N’ Bake Pork Chops .
We love this recipe for the Shake N Bake and it is much cheaper than buying the boxed one. It makes such a delicious crispy coating on the chops and keeps the meat really moist. My chops were about an inch and a quarter thick so I added about 5 more minutes to the cook time. They turned out perfect and paired with mashed potatoes and green beans were delicious. I meant to get a picture when they were done but forgot.

Knowing that I had much more coating than was needed for 2 chops, I just spooned what I needed onto a plate and coated them that way. The rest has been put in my pantry to use another day. 

While I was sleeping, Hubby decided to tear down the humidifier that is attached to our furnace. The humidity in our house has been non-existent so Hubby decided to find out why. He quickly realized that there was a clog. After clearing the clog and putting it back together, the air is humidified. I can’t even imagine what it would have cost if we had called our heating guy to look at it. Hubby has saved us thousands of dollars over the years by teaching himself how to repair so many things around our home.

After dinner, I watched some You Tube channels and fell asleep again. I woke up at 4am this morning and got up completely rested and ready for the day. So I am hoping to have a productive day around here. I hope you all have a productive one too!

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Every Day

Just being Spontaneous!

I know I wasn’t going to post but I am just being spontaneous which has given me a great idea for posting in 2019! More on that in January.

We had a recipe box that was really a large photo box. I have been collecting our favorite recipes in it for over 51 years. Hubby likes to cook and this box was driving him crazy. Recipes were filed behind alphabetical dividers which meant every time you wanted to make a recipe, you had to go through every “C” recipe or “S” recipe.

He found a better way. He used a recipe program online and typed all of the recipes into it. It let him categorize them into appetizers, meats, desserts, etc. He then printed them out on blank “Franklin Planner” paper that fit a planner 3 ring notebook. These were both items that weren’t being used and had been sitting in the office for years. We had over 200 recipes when he was done. We can easily add recipes to it when we find a new one. He even made a Category Index. It is still a work in progress. He is awaiting custom tab pages from Franklin Planner to separate the categories and he has to put a label on. He has named it “Mom and Dad’s Cookbook”. We are hoping someday to gift it to our kids. 

But just to give you an idea, it is open and pictured above. Last night I made the Chicken recipe and of course I forgot to take a picture before we dug into it.  I made a huge pan that will feed us three nights because I am busy and don’t have much time to cook this week. We loved this and I hadn’t made it in a few years.

Yes, he spelled Bleu wrong but it is easily fixed and he is fixing it now.

Hubby and I no longer exchange Christmas gifts but this is the best gift that he ever could have given us for Christmas. It took him many hours to do and I am most appreciative. Now we can easily find whatever recipe we are looking for.

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Every Day

Sometimes You Just Have To Ask

A couple of days ago I purchased two turkeys at the supermarkets. I spent about $58. on the turkeys and other items for my winter stockpile. Things like cream soups, stove top dressing, eggs, spaghetti sauce, crescent rolls, English muffins, shredded cheeses, provolone cheese slices, Dole Mandarin oranges, taco seasoning, wet wipes, and ranch dressing were all on sale and after coupons they were dirt cheap.  There are a few other items I need over the next few weeks for Thanksgiving and for my winter stockpile. When I get those I will be pretty well prepped which should get us through to spring and beyond. Things like cranberry sauce, fresh potatoes and onions, frozen veggies, soda for Hubby, etc.


I use the cream soups in crock pot dishes and the stove top for a quick side with chicken breasts. I had already purchased stuffing mix in bulk at B.J.’s to go with turkeys that I buy this season. The sauce is used for a base in homemade sauce. I buy it when it is cheaper to do so than tomato sauce. Crescent rolls are to use with all of the little smokies I purchased a week or so ago. We love them as a wrapper on the smokies and then baked. They are a nice snack during the holidays. The English muffins and eggs are for family breakfasts. The wet wipes were $ .25 each after coupons so I use them to clean especially our sinks in the bathrooms. The rest was to fill in the stockpile. 

After buying a turkey at one store, I started seeing  pictures of coupons everywhere online for a free turkey when you spend $50. and a bunch of $5.00 off coupons for other items.  People were checking in on whether they got those coupons in the mail or not. Most people were complaining that they did not. Most of the people who got them stated that they had not shopped at this particular store in a number of weeks.  So let me see if I have this right. If you don’t shop with us, we reward you!

I know that it is just a marketing campaign to draw shoppers in over the holidays. But I was a bit frosted since I spend the majority of my grocery money at this supermarket and plenty of it annually. 

So I sent an e-mail off to their corporate headquarters and was very nice about it but stated my case. I let them know that I felt very slighted because I am a good customer who spends a lot of money in their market. Since the coupons said Christmas Bonus on them, I asked where my bonus was for being a good customer. I happened to mention to them that they sent me coupons 2 weeks ago for cat and dog food and I don’t own a cat or a dog. I might have even mentioned that perhaps I could spend the next 6 months shopping at another supermarket and then maybe they would send me some coupons. 

Well a manager got back to me yesterday and informed me that they are mailing the coupons that I complained about to me. She did state that the coupons were sent out randomly though. I doubt that. Why would you tick off your customers by sending them out randomly? Are you hoping people  won’t tell other people about them? In this day and age with the internet, everyone is going to find out about it. I suspect that they really were sent out to people who hadn’t shopped there in a while. Well, whatever the reason, I am looking forward to the coupons. I will wait for them to do my next stockpile trip and then get a third turkey. It never hurts to ask when you feel something isn’t right.  

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Every Day

Simple Ways We Save Money Every Day

There are so many simple things that we do every day to save money that many people new to frugality may not realize. I became aware of this when a friend came over to see my stockpile. I showed her why I buy powdered lemonade in bulk. She asked me why I didn’t tell her about that a long time ago. I have been doing these things for so long that they are second nature to me now. But it was an aha moment that made me realize that not everyone knows about these things.

So I have been compiling a list for all of you. Here they are:

– Almost all of our meals are eaten at home. It’s healthier and cheaper than fast food or eating out in a restaurant.

– We drive as little as possible. When we do drive, we do a lot of errands at one time. Now that we are going to the YMCA, we run many of them afterwards. We run them in a circle to be as fuel efficient as possible.

– I take Navy showers. Wet down, soap up and rinse off. I turn the shower off while soaping up. This saves on water and natural gas to heat the water. When we are at our swim classes at the YMCA, we shower there.

– Most of our laundry is hung to dry. I use EcoEggs to wash our clothes instead of detergent.

– Last night I cleaned our dishwasher using powdered lemonade. It is so much cheaper than the dishwasher cleaner you can buy. They both have citric acid. I have been using it for years and it does a great job.

– I use vinegar instead of Jet Dry as a rinse agent in my dishwasher.

– I cover my pots on my stove to keep the heat in so that our food cooks faster. I use a burner that is perfect for the size of the pot.

– I turn off the oven 5 minutes before things are done.  Afterwards, I leave the oven door open to let the heat out into the room.

– We rarely buy bottled water. We drink filtered tap water.

– I don’t drink soda. Hubby does but he has been drinking more and more homemade iced tea lately than soda.

– We have given up most snacks except for popcorn, tortilla chips, and potato chips. Both kinds of chips are used in meals.

– I buy 99% of Hubby’s clothes from LL Bean. I wait for sales and use coupon codes when possible. The clothes are classic and wear like iron. They last a long, long time.

– We wear casual clothes 99% of the time. Lots of T shirts, shorts and jeans. I buy mine on sale with coupons from either Kohl’s or J.C. Penneys. If we are doing something in the yard or washing the car, we wear old stained clothes. I do the same to clean.

– I haven’t purchased floss in years. Between the samples the dentist gives us and a stockpile of Reach that I got for free after coupons, we are set for years. The dentist also gives us toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash. 

– We use every free sample that we get. Right now I am using travel size shampoos from our last Disney World trip to take to the gym with me for when I shower. 

– We never wear shoes in the house. Our white carpeting looks new and it is almost 9 years old. We shampoo it ourselves rather than hire a company to do it.

– I clean my toilets with cheap Equate dental tablets and a brush. Put it in and let it dissolve and wash the dirt way. Right now I am using all natural toilet cleaner that I got for free. 


– I use a pump bottle in the shower to dispense shampoo. It prevents me from pouring too much.


– We purchase our razors and blades from Dorco online. They are cheap, work as well as name brands like Gillette and the blades last so much longer. I also like the fact that any blade fits any razor head.

– We don’t let the water run while washing pots and pans or dishes in the sink. I fill the sink a little ways on one side with soapy water and then the same with rinse water on the other side.

– I use cold water to wash clothes unless I have an exceptionally dirty load. That rarely happens though.

– We check the furnace filters once a month to see if they need changing. On the advice of my furnace people, I use the cheapest furnace filters from Home Depot or Lowe’s. They advised that the more expensive ones block air flow.

– Anything involving money, we take care of right away. We don’t procrastinate. For example, we got a survey from our school district yesterday. They gave us a code to take it online. They want to charge us $ 35.90 more in our school taxes next September so that they can give a discount to a certain class of people. I jumped online very quickly to vote no. They wanted to know why I voted no. I advised we pay a fortune now with no kids going to school there. I also told them we are senior citizens on a fixed income and we don’t get a discount. I don’t understand why the school is pushing this discount. They had us vote on the same issue a few years back and it was voted down handily. Now instead of a vote, they want you to go online and vote. How many people will throw that stuff out from the school and not look at it? You can bet the class of people it involves will all vote yes. I am going to be furious if this goes through but we only get one vote.

– We keep our home clean and organized. That is the best way I know to take care of/and find our things so that we don’t have to replace them. 

– We wash our own car in the driveway except for winter time. We go to the car wash then.

– We use our outdoor fireplace in the Fall and Spring. We collected leftover wood from when they were building homes in here. We are still using it. Now they will be building again soon so I will be collecting it again. 

– I keep an online inventory of our stockpile and freezer contents so that I always know what we have and can make meals from those items. 

– I also have updated my price book so that I know where to buy items at their cheapest.

– And the biggest thing we do everyday is track our income and expenses. You can’t save money unless you know where your money is going. Do this for just three months and I think you will be shocked at what your expenses are.

That is enough for today. I will post more another time.

What are the simple things that you do to save money every day? 

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Every Day

Family Number Two

The second family who has asked for advice are the Jones(not their real name). They are in their 20’s.  Mrs. Jones is pregnant with their first child. They rent an apartment in the Midwest. Their net income after all deductions is $ 28,281. divided by 12 months equals $ 2357.

Here are their expenses each month:

Rent: $ 950. 
Groceries: $ 150.
Restaurants and Take Out: 60.
Clothing: $100.
Entertainment: $75.
Household: $25.
Travel: $100.
Medical Co Pays: $100. 
Car Insurance: $95.
Gasoline and Oil: $55.
Cell Phone: $ 64.
Electric and Gas: $75.
Emergency Fund: $50.
Renter’s Insurance: $ 10.
Miscellaneous: $ 50.

Total Monthly Expenses: $ 1959.

They have been putting the extra $ 398. into a savings account in case they have extra medical expenses with Mrs. Jones high risk pregnancy. They have a good health insurance policy through Mr. Jones employer.

This is what they have saved:

Retirement Fund: $2100.
Emergency Fund: $2000.
Medical Savings:  $1592.


When they were married a year ago, they took their cash wedding gifts and opened their retirement fund and their emergency fund. Mr. Jones has started contributing to his 401K through work and it is a deduction from his paycheck.

With a baby on the way, they are starting to think about buying a home. They would like to save a deposit of 20% down so that they don’t have to pay PMI. Housing is not really expensive in the area they live in but they still need to save $20,000 – 30,000. depending on how much they spend plus closing costs.

They want to know if they should start putting some of that $398. into a house deposit account? They also want to be able to save more money than what they are saving.


I told them I thought it was great that they didn’t have Cable TV or internet. He said it is included in their rent. They also have no car payment because they have a paid for car that her parents gave them as a wedding gift.


Mrs. Jones is not working because of her high risk pregnancy. They will rethink that after the baby is born. Her parents live close and would love to babysit. 


When I first looked at their finances, I thought this couple is doing great and they are for only being married about a year.  I also think it was very smart of them to fund some of their savings with wedding gift money.


I have had many conversations with them since they first contacted me. I have told them that I would continue to earmark that $ 398. for the high risk pregnancy. Then when they baby is born, if all or most of the bills get paid, they can just earmark it for their home deposit savings. I also reminded them that they need to get some life insurance for when the baby is born. Mr. says he already has it through work. 

They had a little outstanding credit card debt;however since I first starting talking with them, they have paid that off.

Since they would like to save more money out of the paycheck, they need to cut their expenses. I do not believe that they can cut their groceries. It is pretty low. Nor can they touch the household amount because they will be needing diapers soon. However, they could consider cloth diapers which would be much cheaper in the long run. 


The expenses I think they can lower or cut are clothing, restaurants and take out, entertainment, travel,and perhaps their car insurance although it is pretty low compared to what I pay. So these are the ones they need to work on.

Okay, now it is your turn to give them your $ .02!
What do you think they should do?

Lastly, I wanted to let you know that Bruce and Noreen want to thank all of you who gave them advice.  

I will be updating you once a week on what they are doing.   


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Every Day

Family Number One

I told you previously that I have agreed to give advice that hopefully will help two families who have asked for my help with their finances. Both families have asked that I keep their names anonymous. I have agreed. 

So couple number one are Bruce and Noreen(not their real names). They are in their mid- forties and have one son who they would like to see go to college. Bruce has a professional office job and Noreen is a stay-at-home mom. They live in a home in suburbia in one of the Northeastern states.

I am going to give you their net income and expenses after Bruce’s Federal and State taxes, Social Security, Medicare taxes, 401k deposits, and healthcare payments through his employer have been taken out. They have $ 55,397.  yearly left for all other expenses.

I want to remind everyone that this is a no judgement site. I and you are here to help with suggestions not criticism. Bruce and Noreen have told me that they made some bad choices in the past so they have $21,000. in credit card debt. They have consolidated them onto the lowest interest card and they pay $1500. a month towards paying them off.  

Their monthly spending that is deducted from the $55,397. figure is as follows(all numbers have been rounded):

Mortgage and Property Taxes:  $1298.
1 Car Payment:  $ 570.( a second car is paid off)
Groceries: $ 300.
Restaurants and Take out: $150.
Clothing: $100.
Entertainment, Hobbies, and Misc, etc. – $250.
Household: $160.
Travel Savings: $120.
Car Insurance(2 cars): $160.
Gasoline and Oil: $ 121.
Car Registration and Inspection: $ 19.
Car Repairs, Tires and Other Maintenance: $100 
1 Cellphone: $60.
Home Telephone: $43.
Electric and Gas Bills: $ 183.
Cable TV, Internet: $123.
House Insurance: $ 71. 
Credit Cards: $1500.


Total Monthly Spending: $ 5328.
Total Yearly Spending: $ 63936.

They have $125,000. in 401K savings.They have drained their bank savings to help with their credit card payments. They only have $2,000. left which is $500. more than one monthly payment. They have no emergency fund. 


Any spending that they can’t account for they have added into their entertainment, miscellaneous figure above.


They are spending $ 8539. more per year than income. Hence they have asked for advice on how to fix this. They were absolutely shocked once they started tracking their income and expenses to find how much money they were in the negative. This is the reason why everyone should track this every month. Otherwise you have no idea what you are spending and for what.


I asked how they have kept afloat and they told me by spending down their savings which was an inheritance they received. But as you can see they don’t have much left.  They also rob Peter to pay Paul within their budget.


My first look at this told me a few things. They are paying too little on their debt so the interest is eating them alive. They must cut expenses and Noreen needs to make some income by either finding a job outside the home or finding one that she can do from her home at least until the credit cards are paid off. They need to sell anything in the home that is not being used to help pay their debt. I don’t think their grocery spending is out of line for a family of three. But with careful use of every morsel of food and all the other tips that I will give them via the blog this month, they should be able to knock $100. a month off of that spending. The restaurant and takeout and clothing budget spending needs to stop until their credit card bills are paid. The miscellaneous budget needs to be reduced. 

I asked them what the household amount encompasses. They said it is everything for the house inside and outside except for food. So basically it is HBA, cleaning products, personal care and yard and house maintenance. That probably can not be reduced by much. But they can try.

I also noticed that they had no money shown to pay for garbage pickup or water and sewer. They told me that it is included in their property taxes. 

The monthly travel savings needs to be stopped until their debt is paid. 

They can research other auto and home insurance companies to see if they can lower those amounts. The gasoline and oil figure is reasonable since Bruce commutes to his job and Noreen only runs local errands. 

Perhaps they can cancel the home phone since they have two cellphones. Bruce has one that his work pays for and Noreen uses the one they pay monthly for.

I will show them how to reduce their gas and electric bills. 

Can they look at cancelling cable and using some other services that are cheaper until their credit card debt is paid?

The lack of an emergency fund is one of the reasons that their credit card bills became so high. Every time prior to the inheritance, they would use the cards when an emergency came up.  

I also see no money spent on gifts and I asked them why. They said they charge them especially at Christmas. 

They have to do everything they can to reduce expenses and bring more income in to the household to pay off credit cards, bring spending into line so that it is less than income coming in. They have no choice or they will lose everything in the long run. They also need to do this so that they can save an emergency fund and save some money for their son’s college education.  


Being in their mid forties, they also need to ramp up their retirement savings.

These are my quick thoughts. This month I will show them how to cook cheaper meals at home and never get takeout or eat at a restaurant. They do have a stockpile and are doing the stockpile challenge this month along with me and others.

Anyone that has any quick thoughts for this couple, please feel free to comment.   

I will introduce the other family in my next post.

Categories
Every Day

The Cravings Were So Bad!

Yesterday, when I was at the market, I was craving an Arby’s roast beef sandwich. Fortunately, it was too early for Arby’s to be open.

However, today I had to go to the drugstore and pick up two prescriptions and my cravings for Arby’s was in high gear especially because it was lunchtime. I only remember the cravings being this bad years ago when I smoked and urgently needed a cigarette. 

While I was driving to the drugstore, I kept trying to talk myself out of going to Arby’s. I reasoned that there was no coupon out for them in my coupon folder or online to make them cheaper. I had looked before I left home. They were not on sale for $1.00 or $1.50. I had even signed up on Arby’s site this morning and they said they would send a coupon. I kept looking in my e-mail and the coupon never came. However, I could almost taste the roast beef with the horsey sauce on it. Yup folks, those cravings were bad.


Finally I reached the drugstore and went in to get the two scripts. As I got back in my car, I knew I had to make a decision quickly. 

Then the voice of reason really kicked into high gear. I knew I had tons of food at home and it wouldn’t take but a few minutes to make lunch. Two roast beef sandwiches and a large order of curly fries for Hubby and I would cost me with tax about $12.50 since nothing was on sale. Going to Arby’s would add 2.1 miles to my trip and would cost more in gasoline. I had just paid $100. for the two prescriptions I had picked up. Did I want to spend more money at Arby’s on top of that? I started the car and the cravings continued.

As I was driving I got to the intersection where I could continue onto Arby’s or take a turn and head home. In a split second, I turned the car toward home. 

After I got home and put the drugs away, I grabbed some cheese and the turkey that I purchased the other day for sandwiches. I made a delicious grilled turkey and cheese sandwich, added some chips to my plate, and grabbed an orange to go with it. The sandwich and chips satisfied me and the orange ended up going back in the fridge. My cravings for Arby’s were gone. Maybe some day when the roast beef is on sale for 5/$5.55 I will get us a couple or if the free coupon ever shows up and then it will only cost me about $4.12+ tax for 2 of them. Or I will wait for them to go on sale and only pay $1.11+ tax for 2 of them. Maybe I won’t have a craving for them for a long time. Who knows?

But what I do know is that my lunch today only cost me about $1.25. Hubby wasn’t hungry for lunch.

Also what I do know is that the roast beef sandwich was a want not a need. The lunch I made was a need because I was hungry.


Now as a side note, the $100. for the prescriptions was a need not a want. But we are working to get healthier and get off of one of those scripts. One is necessary.

I have often been accused of overthinking things but you can’t teach an “old dog” new tricks. And overthinking things has served us well for the 51 years that we have been married. 

It will save you money too that you could save for something more important like private schools or college for your kids or an early retirement. You could use that money that you didn’t spend to pay off debt or save for your emergency fund.

The money I saved today will do more for my net worth than giving it to a big corporation.

So when you have a craving whether it be for food, clothing, incidentals when you are browsing the mall or a cup of coffee, just think about it a little more when the urge hits. You may be surprised when that craving all of a sudden doesn’t seem that important. 

As usual feel free to leave a comment. Do you ever have these cravings? Can you shake them?