Day Two-Bread Outlets and Forbidden Fruit!

 I went to the Hostess Bakery Outlet store today and bought 6 bags of groceries for only $56!  I paid about 50% off retail price.  Next week, I am trying the Mrs. Baird's Outlet down the street.  It saved me time too because it is one less thing I need to buy on my supermarket trips.  Every Thursday, I have to drive to Broken Arrow for Willow's therapy and I drive right past it.  I can save money by shopping during the couple of hours she is in therapy.  I am freezing some of it so I can keep items on hand and resist the temptation to impulse buy or eat out.  I will tell you the store was full of sugary items like pastries and cookies that I purposely avoided.  

 Another thing I did today was eat at Schlotsky's free.  My former-self drove by Schlotsky's almost every Thursday.  Oh, the shame!  The positive side was they punched a card every time I wasted my money there.  So on the second day of my fast food moratorium I turned in my punch card and ate out...for free.  That forbidden fruit has never tasted so good!

My 30 day stewardship to do list:
Hit the farmers market
Join a food Co-op (more on this later)
Aldi
Sams Club for bulk items like toilet paper, paper towels, flour, sugar
Walgreen's and CVS for deals on toiletries
Check out the grocery stores for meat items on sale.
Organize the pantry so nothing goes to waste! (Michael's having sales on baskets!)
Create a menu plan
Create a workable family budget
Create a home maintenance routine
Create a chore chart and allowance system
Make the Clutter Jail Box with the kids

Day One-Routine Maintenance

The first day of my spending fast and new budget was an amazing success.  All I did was take the time to sit down and go over our insurance expenses for our Flexible Spending Account reimbursements.  It was something I have been putting off because I knew it was going to take some time to sort through everything.  We have several members of our family that have chronic medical problems.  Managing our medical is almost a full time job.  Bottom line was $1000 was owed to me and all I needed to do was turned in my form.  I found another $800 that the insurance had been filed wrong and I didn't even owe that money!  so I saved our family $1800 dollars.  I would say that is a productive day and well worth my time.  You should look at every explanation of benefit that comes to your house and compare them to your bill.  Don't assume that the insurance companies know what they are doing.  It could save you thousands of dollars!

90 Day Stewardship Makover

I read a book recently called 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess that was so inspiring it motivated me to "make-over" our finances and become better stewards.  The book was pretty extreme and I knew reading it that I could not mimic the authors own conversion.  That said, it was convicting and I spent a month praying about our family's own lack of self-discipline and stewardship.  The author took 7 months and "fasted" in seven different areas of excess in her life:clothes, shopping, waste, food, possessions, media, and stress.  There were several areas that spoke to me and I felt compelled to change.  I prayed about it and I wanted the focus to be on the three areas of stewardship: time, talent, and treasure. I wanted every area of our lives to be directed towards God and not wasting the many, many blessings he has given us.  The first month, time, will begin with a spending fast.  The focus is on self-discipline and creating a livable family budget. The second month, talent, is going to focus on creativity in our home and generating income.  Last, but definitely not least, is treasure.  That last month will be what we will do with our savings.  I hope our family motivates you and inspires you to be better stewards as well.  Please feel free to email me with your own tips on how your family saves money and manages your budget.
Blessings,
Tosha