Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Kindle Book Sale

I am excited to share with you 2 books on sale for Kindle today that have been on my "must read" list for a while.



Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey is on sale for 1.99

And




A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans

On sale for 2.99

I don't know how long these sales  will last!

Monday, March 24, 2014

Weekly Spending Report 3.15.14-3.21.14 and The Most Financially Freeing Thing You Can Do That's Free

I will share with you my weekly spending, which honestly you probably stopped caring about a while ago since is nothing earth shattering- at this point I am doing it for me to keep myself accountable for a budget and The compact. Seriously this blog has kept me from making impulse purchases that I would later regret.
And then, after that, I will share with you the most earth shattering thing you can do for your finances! I can feel your excitement now...

Weekly Spending Report:

Bills: 168.59
This includes electric and Internet.
Groceries: 63.81
Family Lunch Out: 18.74
This 4 of us went out for a lunch and library outing after church on Sunday.
Gas for Me: 49.62
Gas for Him: 31.65
Church: 3.00

Total: 335.41

And now the moment you have been waiting for, where I share with you my financial wisdom. What is the most financially freeing thing you can do that's free?

Stop caring what other people think.

Seriously.

Katie

Monday, March 17, 2014

Expense Report 3.8.14 - 3.14.14

Really rethinking my stance on Costco- as I have not set foot in a grocery store in 3 weeks  since my trip there. Mike did stop to pick up bananas and milk, bring our weekly grocery trip total to $11.51!

Groceries: 11.51
Husband Gas: 34.42
Water Bill: 90.47 (pay this quarterly)
Lunch Playdate with Kid 1: 12.58
Gift: 25.96

Total: 200.90

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The Living Room: Where we do our Living

Lots of blogs show these perfect (white!) living rooms, and I just have to say, they don't live with my husband, son, and baby. My husband treats every room like his closet, my son crushes goldfish everywhere, and baby just likes to spit up on everything. But you know what? I am done feeling bad about my living room not being perfect. Welcome.




Welcome to my living room.



This is where my son plays.




This is where I write to you. And do other computery things.



This is our media closet.




This is where I nurse the baby, take naps, and hang out with the family.



This is our living room, it is not white or uncluttered or perfect. But, it is where we do our living.


Monday, March 10, 2014

Weekly Spending Report 3.1.14-3.7.14 and Homemade Cleaners

Although I am a "J" type in my Meyers Briggs (INFJ) My "J" seems to be my weakest, and although I like to have things planned and a general outline, I am not rigid in my schedules. Which is why my Friday spending report is being posted on Monday.

Spending Report 3.1 - 3.7

House payment: $900.00
Shower Curtain: $10.00 - I let ours go for too long without cleaning it and now it is beyond hope. I ordered a cloth one from Amazon and plan on taking better care of it.
Book For Son used on amazon- $5.00 - a start to the "sex" talk. I want to make this as comfortable as it can be between a mother and son.
Gas for Me - $55.50
Gas for Mike- $31.05
That is the difference between a tank of regular and a tank of premium.
Groceries: $3.65 - rethinking my dislike of Costco as the only thing I needed to buy this week was bananas. I am definitely down with one shopping trip lasting 2 weeks.
Swim Diapers: $13.28
We have a trial family membership to a local gym and they have family swim night at their indoor pool.
The Honest Company Cleaning Bundle: $41.90

Total for this week:
$1060.38

The last thing on my list is the Honest Cleaning Bundle. Prior to the birth of Son 2, I made most of my cleaners at home. This started because I wanted all natural cleaners but didn't want to pay the price at the store. I decided to give myself a break when Son 2 was born and purchase cleaners from The Honest Company.  
I didn't realize at the time that is a monthly subscription that needs to be canceled via phone call. If I had, I  might not have ordered it, as I hate making phone calls (social interaction! Ah!)
Now that Baby is 4 months old and (sorta) sleeping through the night, I feel I might be ready to go back to my homemade cleaners, but the problem is, not all of them worked. And  my husband HATES vinegar. With a vengeance. And he can sniff it out like a crime sniffing dog. So. Vinegar is out.

What did work:
Laundry detergent
Mirror/Window Cleaner
Soft Scrub
Dish Soap

What did not work:
Toilet Cleaner (still had marks in bowl)
Mold/Mildew Shower tile cleaner (shower looks a lot better since I started using Honest Bath Cleaner)
Dishwasher Detergent (made my dishwasher grime-y)

So, I am trying to decide if the expense is worth it. $35.99/5 products seems like a lot, and I don't know if I can justify the expense anymore. Does anyone have cleaner recipes for those things that work that do not use vinegar?

Happy Monday!

Katie



Monday, March 3, 2014

Compact Monthly Spending Wrap Up

 So, it is the second month of my "compact", or "buy nothing new." I had one breech in which I bought a "character badges" behavior program for my son.

I spent more in February than January, although part of that was because I had to order heating oil.

The total spending for February was $3028.30.

I had a goal of spending $25.00 on take out, which I did not meet. I spent $68.77 on take out this month.

 I realized in doing this that I was approaching it the wrong way. In order to reduce take out costs, I need to be better organized about my grocery store/meal planning. So this month (March) I am going to focus my efforts on low cost meal planning.

My grocery expenditure for February was $501.42. I ultimately would like to get this closer to $400.00, but this month I am going to aim for $475.00. (A little at a time, slow and steady I say..)

I have lowered the thermostat down another degree to help with heating costs. We have had an unusually cold winter with lots of snow, so it cannot be altogether avoided.

The other big expense I am looking at is car gas. Between the two of us we spend $192.45 on car gas. Since I am currently not working, I think I can lower this by driving less. Most of my driving is done to spend time with extended family. I am shooting for $150.00 this month.

I look forward to Spring (hopefully) coming in March with some more mild weather. I actually do not mind the snow, I would be outside a lot more if the baby was not too little. But, I really enjoy having 4 seasons, and I am ready for winter to move on and welcome Spring.

Well, that's all for today. Talk to you soon!

Katie

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Weekly Spending Report 2.28.14 and Blog Absence

The last week of February, it sure went by fast.

Spending:

$248.49- Costco

We got a Costco membership before Obamacare to get a discount on our health insurance, hut now we have a cheaper plan through the Healthcare Exchange. I decided to grocery shop there this week because I hear good things about it. I have mixed feelings. The prices are pretty good but there a lot of things I really do not need in bulk, and I loathe going to more than one store in a week. It is also a half an hour away, and i do not like driving. Combine that with no self checkout and its not my favorite thing. I prefer a small store in bike distance where I can do self checkout and have no social interaction, because I am friendly like that. Don't think I will be going back anytime soon.

$182.50- Cabin Rental
This is for our family vacation in May.

$20.00-Church

$6.50- library fines place snack at the library.
The library is evil and tempts my kid with tasty snacks. Or I could just say no. But why do I always have to be the bad guy?

$15.20- Regular grocery store

$30.23- Husband Gas

Total for Week : $502.92

You may (or may not) have noticed I am not around much on the blog. It is because I spend my free time with this guy: