I wish my situation was unique. But its not. The truth is too many of us live paycheck to paycheck. Bills get behind. Groceries deplete. We run our gas tanks on empty. I have more than once washed my clothes in the bathtub because I had no money to wash them elsewhere. I have taken out payday loans and sold too many things at the Pawn Shop. I have called off work because I had no gas to get there. I have written bad checks to get groceries in the house. Closed bank accounts because I was so far in the negative. I have had nights where I ate bread and butter for dinner. Cellphones turned off for weeks at a time. I was drowning.
I will be the first to admit I have not always been great with money. I budget poorly. But I am learning. I hated the fact that I would work hard all week, but could not afford to get an ice coffee every day. It was a small thing. A luxury. But I just wanted to be able to pay all my bills, fill the fridge and the tank and still be able to treat myself or my children from time to time. So maybe I could not completely change my desire to have more. But what I found was that I got more...if I did it wisely, I wouldn't be broke every week! I could make it until the next payday. I could even find that extra cash to put into savings. Because we all struggle at times, but it shouldn't be extra day. Life should be enjoyable. We work hard. Shouldn't we get some reward for it?!
So we all know there are ways to save. But too often we don't utilize them. Couponing is a big one. Now I do not claim to be an extremist. You can google extreme couponing and find a thousand sites. Some are totally easy...some more confusing than their worth. Couponing takes a lot of time, patience and effort. You will not become an expert overnight no matter what some sites may claim. You will not have a stockpile within a month. So as a real mom and a real couponer I can teach you what I know. Its on a smaller scale than the extremists. When I tried to go extreme I started lacking in other areas of my life (work and family time.) Some people can do it all. But I had to scale down my couponing and still save hundreds. Which I did. And I can teach you how to do it as well.
There is also a ton of information out there about saving money. Many sites like Groupon and Living Social. Cheap eats like Restaurants.com. I got pretty overwhelmed by all the sites out there, and the hundred emails I started getting every day if I created accounts on some sites. So... I will give you the breakdown on different savings sites. What works and which ones just waste your time.
There are ways to save every day in every way. Sound cheesy? Maybe. But so true. Once I opened my eyes, I was amazed at the ways to save. I realized I had spent so much time complaining and feeling down on life and money that I missed opportunity. You can get free meals at the nicest restaurants in town. Stock up on toothpaste for a year on budget of $5 bucks. You can save on electric, cable and phone. I want to help you open your eyes. To become a wise spender. To break it all down, so saving doesn't seem more overwhelming than spending!
And please share your thoughts and saving tips. I really want to reach out and help inform others; but also inform myself. I do not claim to know everything. I discover new deals and ways to save all the time. So I would love your feedback and personal saving stories.
Here are just a few saving strategies you will learn throughout this blog;
How I got a $45 dollar Outback dinner for 0 dollars
How I got my cable company to pay my bill for 2 months
How to create a coupon system and strategy
Planning a party for next to nothing
How I learned to get paid to eat out
Teach your kids to be wise spenders
The magic of craigslist
And so much more. I wish I could fill up this whole blog in one day. But I really want to build a following, and touch on real money saving issues. I want my readers to have time to dive into each blog, use the resources, master strategies and send me questions, comments or concerns.
Let me say this...life is not always easy. We all know that. I was fifteen the first time I truly fell in love. It seemed at the time all I needed was him. So after high school we moved in together. We both got jobs, and I put college plans on the back burner. I was 21 when I got pregnant with our daughter. He left me about 4 months later for some girl he had met in North Carolina. I had the baby without him. And he seemed to disappear off the face of the Earth. I couldn't find him, therefor I got no support financially from him. Back then I thought he loved me too much to ever leave. He treated me like I had hung the moon. Young love is naive. You think life belongs to you both. Can't imagine ever being apart. Now I realize the only thing he ever gave me was Makayla. And I also realized that is all I ever needed from him. All I wanted from him. 4 years later when he contacted me, I felt nothing. Such a deep nothing. Life goes on.
A few years after Makayla was born, I fell in love with a guy I had known my whole life. Our families were good friends, and we had just always crossed paths over the years. We fell pretty hard pretty fast. And oops...I got pregnant. Best oops ever let me tell you because a year later Leah came into the world. Now he and I are working on things, but unfortuntely he is not working. He just quit his job one day because he got mad. So it all falls on me again. I swear I live under London bridge and it jsut keeps falling down :)
You know, I wish I had gone back to school. I did a year of online college, but didn't finish. I will talk more about that in another entry. I know I still have the option to go back one day.
I also wish I had a better job and made a boatload of money. But in truth, I have a good job and make decent money. So let me get really personal here. I make around 35K a year. Now let me break down my bills and show you what my budget was.
Monthly:
RENT $926.00
DAYCARE $337.60
CELL PHONE $30.00 (and yours can be too, more on that later)
DANCE CLASS $45 (my daughter is in one activity now, hope to add more later)
ELECTRIC $100
CABLE/PHONE/INTERNET COMBO $150
PARKING $70 (At work garage)
AFLAC $72.36 (Strongly recommend this, more on that later too)
DENTAL/HEALTH $75.80
CAR NOTE $240
TAXES $602.58 (State and federal, they come out of my paycheck. I claim only 1, so I get a bigger refund check. Not for everyone. More on this later to see what works best for you)
GROCERIES $400.00 (Typically)
GAS $120 (Typically)
Total $3169.34
My gross pay a month is $3190.52
So minus my expenses and that would leave me a whopping $21.18 leftover for clothing, household supplies, diapers, a pizza delivered on a Friday night and of course my ice coffee. Doesn't work out, does it??
So I had made some changes. My old cellphone plan ran me $100 a month or more. And I gave up shopping for myself. I even gave up my ice coffee. But I still wasn't making it. So I learned how to save money in every way possible. And you can, too. Take out a pad out paper or visit
http://www.budgetsimple.com/ to create a budget free. Write down your bills. Break it all down. Be realistic. Then break down your income. This includes tips, child support, grants, bonus' and so on. You need the complete picture. Now total up your expenses and your income. If the figures alarm you, you are not alone. If the reality of your finances feels like a brick on your chest...you are definitely not alone!
But here's the point. You can be poor; and let me explain how I define poor in this instance. More expenses than resources. Living paycheck to paycheck. Zero savings. Overwhelming debt. Because living this way, we are truly only a paycheck or two away from poverty. So we are poor. But with that being said...you can live richly! I promise. Just read on.
This week I love the deal going on for Oxi Clean, so I had to go check it out. Oxi Clean Stain Gel Stick, Sprays, Gelpacks and Powder are all on sale for $2.99 each. You are saving at least $2 bucks right there, since usual retail price is $4.99+. Now, I have a stack of Oxi Clean coupons I have been saving...just waiting for an awesome deal. The coupons are $3.00 off any 2 Oxi Clean products. So I pay $5.98 before coupons. Take of $3 bucks and I am paying $2.98 total for 2 Oxi Clean products. That's $1.49 each. I love Oxi Clean. Its fresh, works great and helps remove the variety of stains my kids get on their clothes. So I stocked up!
