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Mar 19, 2012    |       17 comments

Increasing Income

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While the spending cuts continue, I’ve spent a little time brainstorming some income generating ideas.  Hubby and I have a storage room of “extras” that we didn’t need when we combined our families.  In addition to wanting to cut that $35/month cost for the storage space we have discussed selling the “extras” in the storage unit.  Our original thought was to keep everything for the eldest when he goes off to college but I think we just made a blanket decision on that and didn’t really take a good inventory of what we have, what he can realistically use and–most importantly now that we are tackling debt–what we can make money from selling!  We have a refrigerator, washer and dryer, lots of furniture.  We’ll do an inventory soon, figure out what can go and put all proceeds toward debt.

I also have some leads on side income that I can work on during the “kid free” weekends.  I’m looking at doing some side jobs in my professional area as well as some new things that are out of the box.  I have a telephone interview for a position as a reservation clerk for a major company…but they already sound perplexed by my application.  Oh well….I’ll just be honest and tell them I’m on a debt elimination plan!  All of the ideas are “work from home” opportunities so there will be no additional costs incurred for commuting.

I did a closet clean out this weekend and have a good size box of random Ebay stuff.  I’ve sold on Ebay before—mainly craft supplies a few years ago.  I might have $200-$300 worth of random items so I’m excited about that!

I took two big boxes of my daughter’s clothing to a consignment shop this weekend.  I had taken a small bag of things to this store in the past just to see how I did and from about 15 items, I made over $50.  I am excited to find out what I earn with this batch.  I had a load of adorable Easter dresses from over the years and I’m glad I actually got them TO the store well before Easter!

I’m looking at things through these new glasses and asking myself if something I find around the house can make us money!  Let me hear your unique ideas for income!

Mar 17, 2012    |       17 comments

Grocery Success

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I’ve managed to shave about $25 a week so far off of the weekly total. I’m happy to report we did last week with just one gallon of milk…that’s right….ONE. Granted we only had the 3 younger kids but they were home all week for Spring Break! So, yes…this is a major! I made a big pot of pinto beans and we did all sorts of cost cutting meals with beans (chalupas, soup, quesadillas…)

I just returned from this week’s grocery store trip and found some HUGE deals! I’ve determined that the best time to shop our local grocery store is Saturday night. Around 8 pm they shut down the butcher department and often you can find the fresh meats from there packaged and marked down in the regular meat section. If I am lucky, I might find a package or 2 at a good price. Well, tonight I hit the butcher closing time AND a “reduced for quick sale” jackpot and got lean ground sirloin (93/7) for 99 cents a pound!!!! I bought 13 lbs and will cook some tomorrow, then freeze for later use. There were also some great deals on chicken tenders and ground turkey that can be used for all sorts of options! Tonight’s grocery bill was $74 so that’s coming down slow but sure. We only have one major, family owned grocer in San Antonio (HEB? perhaps some of you have heard of it…) and while they are certainly a monster in the market that not even Walmart can begin to touch…and that has its drawbacks for sure, they do have these great meal deals offered on a weekly basis. They usually require the purchase of the main dish and then you get a TON of sides for free. Last week it was a package of beef or chicken fajitas for about $8-$10 and then you get the tortillas, lettuce in a bag, shredded cheese, refried or whole pinto beans in a can, sour cream for free. Tonight was a bag of fish fillets ($4.32) and I got a can of corn, a good size box of Uncle Ben’s brown rice and a large, family size box of mac and cheese for free. I stretch these items out to at least two, usually 3 meals.

Anyway, just wanted to share my grocery store success! Thank you for helping me “stop and think” in the grocery store. Honestly, when I found all of that meat on such great sale…my immediate thought was to take a picture of the price tag to share with all of you! I DO want to make you proud! LOL!  In the past I would not have thought about the best time to go to the store as I just went when I absolutely had to and without a great plan. I also wouldn’t have taken the time to figure out the timing to increase my odds of getting these great deals. That’s changed thinking and that’s a very good thing!

Oh!  And that $74 included my $11 John Frieda hair color.  I’m going for the foam on the first try since I had a nightmare last night that I got streaks of hair color down my face that I could not get off.  It was pretty funny as I sat in a work meeting trying to play off the black streaks all OVER my face.   So I guess that means the grocery bill was actually only $63!!!

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