Archive results for “March 2009f 2009”

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On Oprah Today – Celebrity Chefs

It looks like Oprah may be pretty interesting today to those of us who are looking to stretch our grocery dollars. There isn’t much on Oprah’s site yet about the show (probably will be more later), but they are claiming that celebrity chefs will show us how to save some money.

Here’s a link to the show page on Oprah.com.

I probably won’t get a chance to watch it, so I am hoping they offer the 50 easy recipes they mention for download. I could use some easy recipes!

Thanks Beverly for the tip!

Posted by Tricia on March 11, 2009 at 6:46 AM in Saving Money | 4 Comments »
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Credit Card Debt Update – Under the $4K Mark

I love days like today where we can hit little milestones. I actually updated my debt tally on the right earlier today but I didn’t get a chance to write a post until now. Danielle was eagle-eyed and spotted it:

omg, are you really only $199 away from savings=debt now? Aaaahhhh!

Yeah, it sort of feels like that – Aaaahhhh! Our savings is at $3,800 and our credit card debt is at $3,999. I wanted to be able to pay $199 more but we just couldn’t do it right now. By the end of the month, we should be able to hit that milestone.

Then will come $3K, $2K, $1K, $500. We still have a way to go, but I am getting excited that we are getting so close!

Posted by Tricia on March 10, 2009 at 9:25 PM in Debt Updates | 13 Comments »
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Saving Money = Feeling Deprived?

I read an interesting post by Jennifer at SavingAdvice. She asked if saving money makes you feel deprived. I think it’s only natural to feel that way, especially if you were used to spending money when you wanted to but you’ve been forced to tighten your wallet.

We went through that feeling of deprivation for a little while. I think the biggest thing for me was home updating. Our home was stuck in the 60s when we bought it and we spent some money (on credit) to spruce up some rooms. We did it cheaply – which I kick myself about now. The cheap stick-on tiles in the kitchen are not holding up at all. We did still spend money we didn’t have at the time.

After we started our debt reduction journey, that spending stopped for a while. I did start to feel a little deprived because not all rooms in our home were updated. Our bathroom has been a biggie. It’s pretty darn u-g-l-y and there is trim missing. I’m glad I only have to see it a few times a day. I feel a bit petty to be talking about our bathroom in such a way. It is functional, after all. Just ugly.

To help combat my feelings about the bathroom, I have been picking up things here and there for the past three years. I had an idea in my mind of what I wanted and thanks to giving the project some time, I now have almost everything we need to work on the bathroom this summer. The best part is that we saved some serious money by doing it that way because almost everything was a deal. From the 99 cent clearance borders to the “mistake color for another person but not for us” discounted paint purchased at the hardware store. We spent about $75 so far. The last thing we need is some trim and we’re ready to go. I haven’t caught that on sale, but I’m hoping to be able to make it to a discount lumber store this summer.

I guess that would be my contribution as to a suggestion on how to combat feeling deprived. If there is a project that you really want done – pick at it here and there over a long time frame. Gather all your materials and shop for the deals. Every time I found a deal for our bathroom I was so happy. I still have to deal with the ugly bathroom for a while, but at least it won’t be for too much longer. If all goes well, it will be a nice summer project

Posted by Tricia on March 9, 2009 at 11:45 PM in Spending Money | 13 Comments »
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Keeping Track of Receipts

There was a question in the comments a little while ago. A reader was wondering how we keep track of receipts. To be honest, something so very simple sometimes is pretty tricky.

For my husband and I, we have become accustomed to getting a receipt for everything. Some stores ask if you want a receipt, and we always say, “Yes.” We also ask that it is not put in the bag. That way, it can go in our wallets.

Here’s where it should be simple. We take the receipts out of our wallets and put them in a designated spot. Having a designated spot works well for our bills. I have a letter rack where our bills to pay go, as well as anything else that needs our attention. The bill rack is hanging near the calendar so we get a daily reminder of anything important.

Receipts in a wallet get clunky and folded. They also stay in the wallet for a little too long and sometimes those thermal printed receipts fade. I tried using a cheap organizer basket but it didn’t work out. The basket would get moved around and receipts wouldn’t always make it there. Having a designated spot is definitely what we need.

We also need a routine for our receipts. There are days, sometimes weeks where we don’t spend money (except for bills which are paid by check or through online bill pay). So a daily emptying of our wallets is not an easy habit to get into. I have to admit – keeping track of our receipts was easier when we were spending more money…probably because of the daily routine!

I think what we need to do is find a nice basket that can hang on the wall somewhere. It has to be big enough to handle clunky receipts and probably be nice on the eyes. I’m sure there is something that could be bought to fit the bill but I’d rather make something if possible. I looked on instructables.com and didn’t see anything (that is my new favorite site for DIY projects). Any out there have any suggestions on a receipt routine?

Posted by Tricia on March 8, 2009 at 10:13 PM in General Personal Finance | 23 Comments »
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Some Credit Card Rewards are Shrinking…

We have some credit cards with rewards, and we have some that we could redeem. I haven’t done it yet – I was thinking of doing it as a celebratory measure once our credit card debt was paid off. But this article at Yahoo Finance made me wonder if we should cash out while the gettin’ is somewhat still good.

Citibank’s move is just the latest in a flurry of reward program cutbacks. Nearly every major issuer has altered their reward offerings over the past year in some way: attaching more strings to membership, limiting cardholders’ earning ability, scaling back reward offerings or inflating redemption levels.

Via Yahoo Finance Article

We don’t have too much that we can redeem for. We have used our cards quite a bit, but some of them were used before a reward system was in place. But anything back from our credit cards is better than nothing so I’ll be doing some rewards shopping this weekend.

Posted by Tricia on March 6, 2009 at 11:11 PM in Credit Cards | 6 Comments »
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Sickness Sweeps Through the Household

Ah, it’s that time of year where sickness sweeps through the household. Usually our son gets sick first and then me and my husband follow. Somehow my husband escaped this latest germfest. Not sure how he did it.

When anyone is sick, I’ll be the first to admit that our food budget is pushed aside. I am a comfort food type of gal, and when I get sick I want strawberries. Lots and lots of strawberries. They could be $6 a pound, it doesn’t matter. I need those strawberries. Our son gets some tasty Minute Maid juice bars and some sort of “treat” that he is craving.

Thankfully it looks like we won’t need doctor care this time around. I’m basically better and our son is starting to get better as well. Even though we have health insurance, it isn’t the best plan out there. I remember a time when our employer-sponsored health insurance covered 100% of almost everything. We didn’t have to pay a dime for our son’s birth. I wonder if any employers still offer insurance like that now-a-days.

There is some talk of our health insurance rates going up as much as 55%. If that happened, our health insurance would cost $620/month. I try not to think about it too much, but every time I open our bill I get a little nervous. I hope things get better with health care costs across the board.

Posted by Tricia on March 5, 2009 at 11:37 PM in Life Experiences | 10 Comments »
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A Generic Observation

On Sunday, I printed out our grocery price sheet and we headed out to the grocery store for some major shopping. To try to keep grocery costs down, we have been doing one major trip to the grocery store a month and then weekly trips to get things like milk, eggs and produce.

I’m not a big coupon user. If I have some, I may use them. For the most part, though, we buy generic items since they are the cheapest. I do happen to glance into other customers’ carts while shopping (I admit it ) and I usually see a lot of name brand products.

Well, during our latest trip, some of the generic products that we normally buy were completely sold out. Other things only had a few boxes left. I looked around at other generic items and they were either very low or empty. The brand name items were almost fully stocked. I checked out a few carts and noticed quite a few with generic products.

I found this very interesting – perhaps it is a sign of the times.

Posted by Tricia on March 3, 2009 at 11:21 PM in General Personal Finance | 22 Comments »
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My Debt

Original Debt: $38,495.86
Added Debt: $1,781.50
Total Debt: $40,277.36
Paid: $36,084.36
Remaining: $4,193.00
Broken Down
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Student Loan: $4,193.00
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