Financial Friday

This has to be one of the worst times to be in debt. Interest rates keep climbing, making it more difficult to pay off old debts. Minimum payments keep climbing, making it more difficult to pay off old debts. The price of groceries, household goods, gasoline, and more keep climbing, making it more difficult to pay off old debts.

We have been trying to get out of debt for years now, but it seems we take a step backward for every two steps forward. We have made progress. We outright own our vehicles, and we have paid off some credit cards and other debts. Last year, we tried not to use our credit cards. We did all right until a few emergencies came up.

One exception we make to our no credit card usage rule is using our Old Navy card. We always pay off the balance after we use it so we don't have to pay interest. If we will not be able to pay it off, then we don't use it. We don't use it often. Following is an explanation of why we go ahead and use the Old Navy card.

My cousin's baby shower is tomorrow and I went to get her a gift today. We did not have the money in our budget for a gift, but we did have a ten dollar Old Navy Bucks Back coupon earned by our previous purchases.

This is what I found. I got the notepad so that I would not lose two dollars, but it is a nice pad that my cousin could keep handy in her diaper bag.

This is a copy of my receipt.

I am always looking for new money saving ideas, so now let me ask you. What do you do to stretch a dollar?

Tidbits

Things have been rather crazy, lately.

The challenge of eating out of our pantry was not well timed for us. Then again, we really didn't have much grocery money this month, so maybe it was well timed. We were blessed by both of our moms. My mom sent some carrots (from my sister's garden) and some other food items home with us last month. Kitty Kat helped out Jon's mom and she sent Kitty Kat home with some items she wouldn't use: corn flakes, rice, dry pinto beans, tomato juice, and condensed milk. Between the items we were given and shopping just for what we absolutely needed, we made it through the month.

We had two birthday girls in January. Monkey turned ten on the twenty-sixth and Froggie turned fifteen on the twenty-seventh. My parents had a birthday dinner for the girls on Monkey's birthday. The boys had started coughing the Thursday before. That evening at my parents, six out of the eight of us had fevers. Tomorrow will be two weeks since the boys began getting sick. Most of us are still congested and worn out. The birthdays weren't as much fun as they could have been.

Little Bear, who turned five last month, was just miserable Friday, so I took him to the doctor. He was diagnosed with an acute cold, an acute ear infection, conjunctivitis, and a bead was in the other ear. Yes, a bead. The doctor said there was no telling how long it had been in there. Little Bear could not remember putting it in his ear. It was a type of bead that we have not had out in quite some time.

A few days ago, I reached up to put a clip in my hair and pulled a muscle in my neck and shoulder. I can barely move without taking ibuprofen and using Biofreeze. I've been stretching constantly, but the muscle(s) is/are still very tight.

We aren't buying pop anymore. Jon is even in on it. Actually, it was his idea! We have been drinking a lot more water.

I saved thirty-three percent off my grocery bill Monday using coupons on sale items. We have more food in the house. The trip to the store took a while, but it was worth it.

I hope and pray you all have a good night/day.

Yikes!

I will definitely have to go back to the store soon. The only meat I have left is a package of five brats. They are fairly large, so I hope to make them feed the whole family. I really hope they thaw before tomorrow's lunch prep.

I might be able to wait until Thursday morning. The kids and I are eating at my parents' house tonight. We're having banana bread with cream cheese for breakfast tomorrow. I think I'll fix brats with homemade buns, salad, and a cooked veggie for tomorrow's lunch. The kids and I can eat peanut butter and jelly and vegetable soup for supper tomorrow. I was wondering what I would send for Jon's work lunch tomorrow, but just called and he may take a personal day today (his workplace doesn't need everyone tonight). That would leave tonight's lunch for tomorrow.

Alright, I think I have it all worked out. I will stop rambling now.

Update: I still need to figure out what to send for Jon's work lunch tomorrow. The guy just ahead of Jon in seniority took the cut, so Jon is working tonight. I may need to go to the store tomorrow morning.

"Eat from the pantry challenge"

At the end of December, Money Saving Mom issued an "eat from the pantry challenge". I had decided to play along. I was looking at my cupboards and realized that I had already been doing this for the last couple months. I do have some areas that have surplus, but I'm definitely going to have to go to the store for quite a few things. Maybe my goal should be to restock my pantry!

Tuesday night, I started to take inventory of what I have. I sort of finished the inventory yesterday. By the time I got done going through my cabinets, I was tired of taking inventory. I opened the refrigerator door, saw how many little items were in there, and decided not to itemize the items in the fridge. I know what I have in there. There is very little left in our freezer. Following is a breakdown of what we have in our cabinets and on our counter top.

Baking Supplies

11 lbs. all purpose flour
5 lbs. whole wheat flour
~1 c. corn meal
4 lbs. granulated sugar
~1 c. powdered sugar
2 lbs. brown sugar
shortening
canola oil
flax seeds
1/3 lb. cinnamon



Beverages

hot chocolate mix
tea bags (various)
instant decaf. tea
drink-ade pouches
bottled water
various soft drinks
coffee


Cereals and Grains

partial box of Rice Krispies
~2 lbs. oats
3 lbs. white rice
1 lb. pearled barley
1 1/2 lbs. saltine crackers


Condiments

8 bottles BBQ sauce
3 bottles ketchup
64 oz. apple cider vinegar
1 gal. + white vinegar (I use this mostly for cleaning)
2+ bottles of syrup (regular and boysenberry)
4 small jars jelly
5 envelopes ranch dressing mix
2 boxes of Sure Jell
1 envelope onion soup mix
Worcestershire sauce


Proteins

1 lb. lentils
1 lb. green split peas
2 lbs. navy beans
6 1/2 lbs. peanut butter
2 cans tuna
2 lbs. ground beef (fridge, still frozen)
3 + dozen eggs


Fruits and Veggies

~5 lbs. russet potatoes
10 bananas
4 clementine oranges
1 can Rotel
2 cans mandarin oranges
1 can tropical mixed fruit
2 cans pineapple tidbits
2 cans pineapple chunks
1 can pineapple slices
1 can mushroom pieces and stems
1 can French style green beans
1 1/2 lbs. raisins


Jon's lunches

gelatin and fruit cups
pudding cups
(2) 1.5 oz. boxes of raisins


Snacks and Desserts

1 lb. graham crackers
~4 c. popcorn kernels
5+ lbs. star bright mints
1 bag spiced jelly beans
1 jar hot fudge
1 bag peanut M&Ms
2 1/2 bags mini marshmallows
1 bag regular marshmallows
1 bag fruit flavored mini marshmallows (These are actually for school projects not consumption.)
12.4 oz rainbow twist Twizzlers
3 Hershey's bars
1 bag candy corn
1 bag Autumn mix candy corn
Tootsie Roll Pops
Blow Pops
2 cake mixes
5 tubs frosting
2 brownie mixes (boxed)
1 brownie mix in a jar
sugar cookie mix
1 can apple pie filling
2 pound cake mixes
1 can evaporated milk
1 lb. block white chocolate
1 lb. block milk chocolate
1/2 c. blanched and slivered almonds
Baker's chocolate
14 oz. sweetened flaked coconut
8 oz. chopped dates
homemade oatmeal raisin cookie mix
1 lb. walnuts
1+ bags milk chocolate chips
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 part bag Hershey's Kisses
1 box graham cracker crumbs
1 chocolate chip cookie mix
12 boxes of gelatin
1 box of pudding mix

Spices

Oops! I didn't inventory the spice cabinet. I'm getting low or am out of a lot of spices.


Can you tell that we don't eat much candy or desserts? Some of that candy is from Valentine's Day and Easter from last year. Some may be older than that. We also bought a lot of treat type items for holiday baking and then didn't have time to make everything we were going to. Hmm...is January the month of desserts?