Budget x2

Well I did my grocery shopping. I was actually surpised at how well it went. I picked up extras for lunches, but no junk food. I was actually really really lucky! I found that canned veggies were on sale 3 for 2! I know it may not be super healthy since its not fresh, but this works for us for dinners and its an easy fix. They had rice mixes on sale 9 for 10! So I grabbed those because they are our favorites!! I grabbed some noodle boxes and called it good on sides. I avoid all isles that had junk foods! I did amazing! I was super proud since I am such an impulse shopper! They had only 1 thing at the meat counter worth getting so I grabbed it, it was a 2 for 6 strip steak, and its one of our favorite meal nights so I figured why not!
Hyvee has a military discount, and even though its a 15 minute drive, its worth it to me to avoid crouds on payday and get those 10 for 10 deals and whatever else they have. I saved 9 bucks on the military discount and who knows how much on bundling those deals. I spent less then 200 bucks on grocerys! That includes formula and diapers!..which I will have to buy more formula later on but thats ok. I am saving my recipts and I can look online to see how much of a difference my one month will make. Because we are going on leave (gag) and we are going to be obligated to spend a little money (not give it away I hope) there wont be much saving this pay period, but hopefully we can at least save some next pay period.
I got home and spent a good 25 minutes organizing my cabinets and cleaning out the fridge. I made it all work as you will see below. I want to take a minute to answer comments on my blog from.. Cassidy who wrote this:

I've been following for a short time, but have become engrosed in your blog. That and I like to follow other military wives. I'm a ARMY wife on Ft. Hood, and my husband is deployed currently. Feel free to follow me if you'd like. I saw you're open to suggestions on saving. I hope you don't mind my input.

*Coupons at the Commissary. With my husband being home I spend no more than $100 per pay period. Set a limit.

* Saving is great: I save $500 per hubby pacheck and $500 per month of my paycheck.
* Lunchmeat, Soups and Bread I buy in bulk. I freeze the loafs of bread I don't use and soup and sandwhiches make just as good of a dinner as lunch.
* Packed lunch. I always pack a lunch for my hubby while he's home. This cuts down on gas I use to take him lunch and he doesn't eat out.
* I never eat out (maybe once a month during deployments). Save Save Save.
* Make larger dinners. Extras are great for lunches and dinners for the next day or 3. I do chili, soups w/ rice, hamburger helper with veggies added (larger), pastas with chicken and sauce, and spaghetti with meat. Those are some ideas. Roast can be great for left overs too with veggies or as a sandwhich. Stock on these.
* I drink a lot of water so I bought a Brita pitcher. No sodas, and rare on juices. This will cut down cost on extra liquids.
* Fill your gas tank up. It cost more to put 1/2 a tank after 1/2 a tank in, and yes drive only when you need to.
* Electricity: turn everything off especially during the day. I never turn lights on during the day and I have the electricty saving bulbs through out the entire house. My heater is set at 70 and I use my fireplace as much as I can when it's cold, or I bundle up. My water, I do the same.
* Water: Quick showers no more than 10 minutes. Wash all clothes in cold water. I wash 1 load per week (2 when the hubby is home). I keep them at MEDIUM load to cut down on water usage. Just think minimal usage. Same with the dishwasher.

I hope this helps. I'm a saver, especially with the hubby being deployed.

I really appreciated this! I havent thought about freezing bread, but I am going to look into doing that. I dont have a big freezer so it would be an iffy thing if I did it. I am not sure how it would work out in my freezer but I am going to keep it in mind for my next trip to the store. After I recived this comment I was already done shopping! I was pretty bummed. We live on post so we dont pay for heat or electricity right now. I did just buy a PUR pitcher because I LOVE purified water and I have already noticed a difference, plus it free's up a TON of room in the fridge. I am going to keep these in mind for when we move to Bragg, since we are possibly living off post :)

Also Kelsey my cool Candian said this:

hey lovely!! while I'm really not a good budget-er because I only have myself to look after. But.. make sure you're still eating lots of produce! I don't know how much money you would really save having your won garden.. but it woul dbe a nice hobby and you would be able to have a few fresh veggies for free every now and then! or even a herb garden. Just some food for thought :)

I cant grow a garden outside since I am "renting" on the military post, but it would be deffinitly something to look into for herbs and such. I am not sure how to really garden. I am moving in March so I'd hate to start something I cant finish here. I have been super bad at eating my fruits latley. I need to buy juice since apples and oranges are just not my thing right now.

Rice Cereal!

My baby is getting so big! When I went to take Evelyn to her 4 month check up, the doctor told me I could start giving her rice cereal! I was actually pretty excited because if you havent seen this photo...

The girl has been super interested in food for a while! its actually kinda cute, she wants to sit at the table with us and she wants to be involved in our meals. We have ordered her a high chair so hopefully that will keep her entertained for a while.
So I had to do my grocery shopping so I went to Wal-Mart where they had her diapers and formula and picked her up some bowls and spoons plus an All Natural Rice Cereal, Stage 1.
We decided to try and feed her at night, hey if it works we would get a little extra sleep maybe :) We made her a thick one at first...it wasnt her favorite. I wasnt suprised though. She spit almost everything out. I had a friend tell me to try juice, but I am going to give it a while before I give up on mixing the formula and rice. We did give her a liquid one, but because the doctor told me not to put it in a bottle, she wasnt really liking being spoon fed.
Needless to say she spit everything out, but its a work in process! Heres some funny photos of her first rice cereal experience!

Budget Time!

Recently I have discovered how much we have been digging into our savings, mainly because of Christmas and mainly because Hubby came home and wanted to buy things, which is fine and all, but concidering we are PCS'ing in March to Fort Bragg, NC...we need to be keeping money in our savings account for a deposit on a home.
We've never ever lived in a house! We lived in a fourplex in our first home and now we live in a duplex. Because my husband is a Staff Sergent we do qualify for a 3 bedroom home on post at Bragg, and majority of the homes (at least on the site) are single homes. But after doing some research thanks to an AMAZING blogger and facebook friend, we found houses off post we really like, and are within our BAH range.
We are pretty excited about the homes we have found..I actually found my dream home but because its avalible right now, theres no way it will be avalible in March. But renting a home costs alot of money, which means the down payments are high too!
So here we go going into major budget time.

I decided that after December we will be putting at least $250 or more in savings a month, or at least a paycheck. I have started coming along on finding some deals, and trying to find different ways to budget around.

I finished Christmas shopping for Evelyn and Hubby so I have no more worries about that next month. We have R&R for a week in California which is going to cost us some money, but hopefully we can stick to it. I'd love for us not to dip into savings at all during our trip. But with my MIL, I seriously doubt she'll let us walk off without giving her money. end rant.
These are one of the times I am super glad we never owned a credit card, or have any debt! We bought a car and thats the only debt we have at the moment.
Because I think Grocery Shopping is the biggest money sucker, I decided that this payday (tomorrow) we will stock our freezer with meat! I made a menu for everyday of the month, for the time we are here and excluding Christmas, New Years and our Anniversary, so I know how much meat I need to buy. Therefore freeing up next payday for that major chunk of change. I already have steaks and hamburger meats from when they were on sale. Seriously the Hyvee Meat Counter is my friend. Then I will be buying all the things that will not go bad while we are away this pay period too! Saving us another chunk of change for next payday. Next paydays, after vacation grocery list is done and that has the items that can go bad on us while we are away. Not too much for the bill that payday.
I have to admit my plan is not full proof...I dont actually know how well this is going to work. I plan to not drive anywhere unless I have to, to save some gas money. No eating out. I am buying Evelyn more diapers and more formula so hopefully no more buying those for the rest of the month. I will be couponing at the store, since Hyvee has them plastered all over! But I am no expert. Also I dont make my husband lunch, he can make a sandwhich or something of that nature.
If anyone has any ideas on how to help me budget, please feel free to let me know! None of our meals are super expensive, we have hamburger helper on the menu for a few nights as well since thats so much cheaper to make. But I'm always looking for ways to save money and I think we could all use a little extra cash!
I'll let you know how my plan goes! Hopefully if it works in my favor we will be able to do it for a long time! It would be nice to only do one huge grocery shopping trip once a month!

My Brag Post.

Seriously. My Child is a rolling over, blabber mouthing Queen! I am always in such awe to watch her roll over and roll to all sorts of places! I am also in AWE that while I type this she is on her belly, trying to get on her knees! I am going to have a crawling...or scooting baby soon!!

Its really true what they say about your children growing up fast, I still cant figure out how she went from this:

2 days old

November 29, 2011

4 months!

Shes so much fun! I absolutly feel so blessed to be her Mommy! She is a very independant girl already. We stopped breastfeeding (sadly) about a month ago. I wasnt producing enough milk and finally started to run on empty with getting up every 2 hours to feed her, and needed help. I miss it though for sure! But the girl from day 1 has tried to hold her bottle, she usually can but she still needs a little help.

She loves her Daddy sooo much!! The girl looks just like him!

She absolutly LOVES to be naked! I usually dont let her since I dont want her to grow up thinking its ok to run around in her underwear, but when I let her, she giggles and smiles and wiggles all over!!

I just wanted to share a few things about my precious baby! I have tried to not turn this blog into a Mommy Blog, but the truth is, I am a Mom. I love my child with every fiber of my being, and its nice to know I can brag about her and have a few people love to read about it! Everyone deserves a blessing like this! Being a Mom is the best thing I have ever done! I couldnt be happier with my little girl! She's sheer perfection!