Beach on a Budget

For the past few years, vacation funds have been very tight.  Last year, we opted for a "staycation".  It was great, but we really wanted to get back to the beach this year.  I know these options will not work for everyone, but I wanted to share what has worked for us. 

Accommodations: This will most likely be the most expensive part of your vacation.  If you know someone who has a timeshare, ask them if they have weeks they would like to sell.  You may not get your first choice destination, but if they have weeks they may lose - they will most likely take a reasonable offer from you.  Also, check craigslist vacation rentals in the area you would like to visit. If you find one, ask for references. 

Food:  We always look for a condo/hotel room with a kitchenette. We arrived last Sunday evening & left today. We ate dinner out once (the night we arrived) & breakfast out once (this AM). I realize the thought of cooking on vacation is appalling to some people, so do what works for you. It's worth it for us to save money!   

Breakfast ideas: bagels, cinnamon rolls, cereal, sausage biscuits

Lunch: always sandwich & chips for us

Dinner: BBQ, chicken pie, pasta bake, spaghetti, chicken legs, leftovers!

Attractions: We like the beach & we like to enjoy it. Between the ocean & the pool, we are content. I know some folks like to go-go-go!  Look for local attraction books, early bird specials, state parks, military discounts. 

Planning: Start a vacation savings club for next year. Contributing as little as $10 a week will give you over $500 next year!

Again, these are my opinions & what works for my family. I realize they may not work for all. 

Electronics, Cell Phones, and Tweens oh my!

Happy October 1st!  Throwback Tuesday -- Here is a picture of super-son his first Halloween -- wasn't he a chunky pumpkin?  Ahh,  I miss those days!

I'm not even sure where to start with today's post.  Maybe my frustrations are a sign that I'm getting older :(    Society has made lots of advancement with technology over the past decade.  Does anyone remember when cell phones had to sit in the passenger seat of your car?  They were far from mobile!    Their purpose was to provide communication when a land-line wasn't available.  And, texting came along and changed the world & let's not forget the world wide web (WWW) - now, it's available along with thousands of apps for our smart phones.  Let's face it - some of us have dumb phones too.  

So much electronic gibberish!  I certainly support the advancement of technology.  BUT (you knew that was coming didn't you) at what expense do we trade our communication skills, etiquette, and personal interactions for an electronic device.   Super-son started middle school this year.   I knew the "cell phone" conversation was coming but in our minds we had thought thirteen seemed a reasonable age to CONSIDER one.  ;)    Of course, the first week we had a bus issue and the second week another bus issue & the third week having to stay after school for a project - all of which set the wheels in motion far sooner than we expected.

We know folks whose kids have had cell phones since 4th grade.  Yes, fourth grade.  I don't know why -I'm still scratching my head trying to figure it out.  The "phone was free".   Ahh - yes the phone was free but the monthly data plan and cell phone usage and texting are NOT!   To each his own,  my circumstances don't fit their needs and my situation is not theirs. 

So, the short of the story - Super-son is not getting an iPhone4 even though they are "cheap" right now and it would eliminate the "need" for his iPod.  A co-worker has an old Blackberry that she is kind enough to let us have.  We found a local company that has a $12 plan - (250 minutes & 250 texts).  Honestly,  it is all we feel like he needs right now.  The future may necessitate changes to the plan but for a twelve and half year old - we think it's the most reasonable. 

It's less likely with this plan that the cell phone will become an appendage.  We want him to understand the importance of actually having conversations (face to face) & not looking at a cell phone while having dinner with other folks (yes, these are pet peeves of mine).  

Getting Organized...

A New Year, a new resolve to try harder to stay on top of things and keep the 10 balls juggling in the air.  :)    Last year wasn't perfect - but I feel like I was able to stay on top of things better than previous years.  Super-husband and I had the discussion the other day - it seems like the busier I am - the more on top of things I am - how crazy is that?!   I certainly don't want to invite more "busy-ness" into my life, so for now I'll try to take advantage of some resources that have helped me.  (Note:  I'm not paid or compensated in anyway to say what I am about these services/products - but I thought I would share them with you)  :)

Erin Condren planner:   First off,  I will say that I do think these are on the expensive side.   For months, I read all the hype in blog land about how great they were;  how beautiful they were; and then around  March of last year I found a discount code and decided to go for it.  I'm not sure if I used it because it was the most expensive calendar I had ever bought in my life & I didn't want the money to go to waste or because it really worked for me.  

I like that each day is divided into Morning, Day, Evening -- 3 blanks boxes to fill as you wish - I like to put my "to-do's" for the day in those boxes.  Additionally, on the side of the week lay-out, there is list for "to-do's" -- here I put my list of "would like to get done" -- it helps keep items on my "radar" and if I get to them great.  It's a little on the larger size compared to another planners - but they have some really cool design and personalization options to make up for that.  :)   I didn't order one for 2013 but I put it on my Christmas "wish-list" and was happy to unwrap it from my brother.

Meal Planning:   I did meal-planning off and on during last year.  I subscribed to 5 Dinners in 1 Hour.  It was a great way to get a list of meals that weren't in my regular rotation.  She includes a shopping list and directions to make the meals ahead of time.  This was a huge time-saver when I was taking night classes.   She offers three different types of menus:  classic, clean-eating, and gluten free.  Not sure if it is for you or not,  you can view a free week on her website.    Not only does this help with meal-planning, but I found it helped with grocery spending too.    

In addition, I came up with a list of around 32 tried and true meals for us.   In October,  I tried to meal-plan the entire month & do one big grocery shop.  The one thing I didn't account for was how many meals would leave us leftovers, so on a good note - we didn't even go through all the meals I had planned.   Pinterest was another source of inspiration.  I had a new recipes board of eats that sounded yummy & delicious, but I found inspiration for meal planning too and created a meal planning board.

Household cleaning:  Once again, PINTEREST helped me find a system that worked for me.  I don't use it every week or follow it religiously.  It's a very reasonable plan and time efficient too.

 

 

Not sure who to give credit too - the link on Pinterest is a dead link.

Also, I try to email my pals (A&S) a list of to-do's that I would like to get accomplished each evening.  Sometimes, this proves to be very productive for me and other times I'm flat out lazy - either way, I have to report back to them the next morning.  Accountability!   If you are looking to organize your home, I recommend A Bowl Full of Lemons organization challenge.  


These are just a couple of things that help keep me on-track.  I can honestly say when I try to follow the cleaning plan or meal planning plan,  I am less-stressed and more balanced.  Do you have any tips for staying organized? 

A Dollar Saved is a A Dollar Earned

Money, money, money, mo-n-ey!

I saw this idea on Facebook and it didn't link to a website, so I don't know who to give credit.  I like this idea.  One person commented they would do it backwards - starting at $52.00 and decreasing by a $1.00 each week, so they were putting less in toward the end of the year.  Either way, it's worth trying - don't you think?

New Year's Resolutions & a Money Saving Tip

I'm not saying you should or shouldn't make resolutions, but I found the top 5 resolutions for 2012 interesting

1. Be financially-savy
2. Read at least 1 book per month
3. Eat properly
4. Get enough sleep
5. Keep a journal of awesome moments (source: wikipedia)

I would guess that most people's resolutions revolve around self-improvment in some way (diet, exercise, financial health, being a better person).   Personally, I'm not making any resolutions this year.  Instead of using the New Year as a dawning of "new" resolutions -- I want to make each day fresh and new!   Living my best each and every day... when I "fall off the wagon",  I won't wait until the New Year.  I'll dust myself off and move ahead the next day.

Since it is the New Year and folks are perhaps being more frugal this year, I'll share a Money Saving Tip!   I am not a coffee drinker, so I wasn't one of those folks who asked for a Keurig for Christmas.  :)   However,  I do love some speciality drinks - hot chocolate, chai tea latte, and frappuccinos.  I love some Starbuck's but I always feel guilty spending the money on a beverage that I could make at home.  For Christmas, I usually request a Starbuck's gift card & treat myself on Friday mornings.  This usually lasts me until around March and then the card is without money!    Over the weekend, I found a way to stretch the money & save some calories!  

Instead of ordering a Grande Chia Tea Latte - with skim milk (over 200 calories & close to $4.00),  I can order a kid's hot chocolate (with skim milk & no whip) (130 calories and under $2.00).  The hot chocolate doesn't come out piping hot (yeah) and it's nearly half the cost of my usual order.   The kid's hot chocolate was just enough to fill me up and satisfy my sweet tooth. 

Do you have a money-saving tip to share?

Craigslist... oh how I...

Do you Craigslist? I love to surf Craiglist, but honestly it is a love/hate relationship. Love finding adorable items, but hate having no where for them to go. :) We scored our living room furniture (sofa, chair and half, & ottoman) from there last year. Strangely, the seller turned out to be a girl I went to high school with - talk about blast from the past! Prior to that, we had purchased a small chest freezer, stove, and over-the-stove microwave. An older couple was remodeling their kitchen & we took the appliances off their hands! We did not have an over-the-stove microwave previously, but our handy dandy electrician neighbor installed it for us and I LOVE the room that was freed up on the countertop!

This week I've found...

It's a beautiful oak dining table with 6 chairs -- totally my style. We currently have a table but the top of it is in rough condition -- we've tried numerous techniques with no luck. I suppose we can't expect too much - we got for $40 at an auction -- it has beautiful harp style legs. ANYWAY, back to the picture -- I've been eyeing this week for a couple of days. I like that it has a leaf -- so we can have a "smaller table" the majority of the time and then use the leaf for family get-togethers. Not sure if we will look at this one or not.

I had two other items to show, BUT I saved the link but not the pictures & now they are sold! One was a Pottery Barn style coffee table for $45 dollars and the other was a colonial style dining room set for $125. Both were ADORABLE, so I'm not surprised they are gone! :)

What are you best finds on Craigslist?

Do you coupon?

Have you tried couponing? Are you a seasoned pro? I have tried before (10+ years ago) and failed miserably. Frankly, I think I had no clue what I was doing! I've been reading alot on blogs recently about huge savings from couponing. I would love to get our weekly budget for groceries down to $50 per week. In order to make this a reality, I know I need to invest some time and energy into couponing. I do have a few criteria...

1. I will not buy something just because I have a coupon for it - IF it is not something I normally use, I won't but it.


2. I will continue to prepare healthy meals for my family. In other words, I'm not stocking up on Totino's pizza because they are on sale and I can get them free.


3. I will try to make couponing a game vs. a chore. How much can I save this week?

Here are a couple of websites I have enjoyed browsing...

Homemaking Mom -- One of the reasons , I like this website is because she doesn't stock up on "junk". You can tell she trys to buy healthy!
Total Kitchen Makeover -- Again, she shops reasonably & offers great tips for produce, etc.
Southern Savers -- This is the "big daddy" of them all -- helpful hints, gettings started and a coupon database

Do you have any tips or advice to share?

Goals for 2010

I'm really not very good at this bloggin' thing - so it's probably a good thing I don't have any faithful readers. :) I thought I would post some of my goals here for 2010 - admittedly, they are completely random in some ways - but it's just who I am!

1 - Become more fit. In 2009, I completed a 5K training program. My goal was to run the entire 5K, but I ended up doing walk/run intervals. I really would like to "become a runner" - I don't know why - it's just something I want to do. I hope to complete 2 - 5K's in 2010.

Need some inspiration -- check out this blog - http://freshfoodiefitness.blogspot.com/2010/01/blogging-jogging-entry-2.html . The video is my 5K training coach - Stacie Battjes. I have nothing but great things to say about her and Fleet Feet.

2 - I'm going green with my clothing. Stay with me. I really enjoy digging and come across an unexpected find. Well, I've ran across two blogs since January that have inspired me to only buy clothing from consignment shops, thrift shops or Goodwill. There will be some exceptions to the rule as noted in one of the blogs.

• Undergarments and shoes will be bought brand new from a store.
• Same with bathing suits.
• If I get a gift card to a store I can buy clothes with the gift card.

Check out these two blogs for great finds:
http://paulsbride.blogspot.com/2009/12/thrift-store-shopping-spree-and-new.html
http://beautyandbedlam.com/category/frugal-fashionista/

3 - Cook more. I love to cook (but hate the clean-up!)... I hope to try new recipes and expand my horizons. For money reasons, we don't eat out that much - so I do find myself in the kitchen quite a bit.

4 - Get my learn on! Last year was an incredible journey starting school again - I'm excited to start spring semester in February. May I toot my own horn? I had a 4.0 GPA for fall semester -- not bad for a working mom eh? Here's hoping for a for a few more 4.0's!!

5 - ENJOY LIFE --- take advantages of all the precious memories and times made with my family and friends!

92 Days until Christmas...

Seriously? Only 92 days - wow... I saw the sign posted on a doorway here in the office. So, I started thinking - what can we do differently this year? I'm voting for a cash-only Christmas. Ok - let me explain - that sounds like I'm asking for cash only gifts! No, no, no! Actually, I don't need a thing my family's health and happiness are good enough for me.

BUT, we have decided to buy with cash only this year - no plastic! I realize for most people that's not a big deal, but we are trying very hard to adhere to a budget and move toward being debt-free. So - this is a BIG baby-step for us. (I'm waiting on the library to call and tell me the Dave Ramsey book is ready for me to pick-up!).

This next question - where will the money come from? Well, super-husband started a new job in July. We are having money from each paycheck put into a Medical Care Expenses account (they take the money out pre-tax; we submit receipts and are reimbursed for what we've spent). If we hold all our receipts until the end of November, we will be able to submit a little over $300 which will be back just in time for holiday shopping. "Santa" has a Best Buy gift card that he will be using to pay for most of super-son's BIG item.

Do you have money-saving tips for Christmas? I'd love to hear about them!