Yesterday we took the kids out someplace fun. I wanted to go bowling, but DH did not. The kids wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese, and DH and I did not. After discussing it, we went, and we all had fun! Then we stopped at Panera bread and got sandwiches for the adults, and McDonalds for happy meals for the kids. We spent about $45.00 yesterday, money which we didn't have to spend, money which at first I didn't want to spend, thinking I could have added it to my challenge instead. But then, I decided that I would not sacrifice my family's need for fun just to save a few bucks. I also was thinking that DH will be getting his bonus soon and we could afford to do a little something with the kids.

I saved $20.00 at the food store this week, and I'm adding another $3.00 for washing my dishes by hand. Also, we didn't eat out at all this week, which I consider a good thing, especially since there was at least one night when I really, really wanted my DH to bring home a chicken parmesan sandwich! Yum! I had some meatballs in the freezer, so we had spaghetti and meatballs instead. Today I would like to do a little freezer filling so I have something to pull out on those all-too-frequent nights when I don't feel like cooking. My biggest weakness when it comes to ordering food is pizza! It's so easy to order, and the kids love it. I have yet to master the art of homemade pizzas, and I have a new recipe to try that will hopefully make good pizzas that I can freeze.


Saved: $60.00
Goal: $1,200.00
Left: $1,140.00

I am adding $37.00 to my challenge jar this week. $2.00 from washing dishes by hand yesterday and today, $13.00 from grocery store savings, and another $22.00 that was already in the jar. This is just the paper money in the jar. The change will be deposited at the end of the month. My DH always laughs at me when I swipe his change to put into my jar!

Saved: $37.00
Goal: $1,200.00
Left: $1,163.00

I am really going to push myself for the challenge this year, so my goal by June 2007 will be to have saved $1,200.00 Here it is, counting only my savings....

Current: 837.00
Goal: $2,037.00
Remaining: $1,200.00

Happy new year to all you savvy savers! At the beginning of 2007, I have $737.00 in my savings account, and $400.00 in my checking account. I have some summer goals I am saving for: $600.00 for a week at the beach, $500.00 for a pool membership, and $300.00 for a week of summer camp for the kids. So, between now and June 2007 I'd like to have $1,400.00 in my savings account. My job only gets me about $100.00 a month. I will pay myself $1.00 for doing things like exercising, washing the dishes by hand, ironing my husband's shirts, and making my own bread. We also now pay $6.00/month for our daughter to play on club penquin. She does extra chores around the house, and at the end of the week she gets $2.00. At the end of the month, she pays me $6.00, and that will go directly into the "savings" jar. I also save all my change and go to the bank once every couple of months to deposit this. I may try Walgreen's rebates, and I plan on selling more of my crafts this spring. I'd really like to be able to enroll my kids in an activity this spring, too. My daughter wants to do T-ball. Well, those are my goals and those are the ways which I will try to meet them. I am still working on reducing my eating out bill. I love to eat out, actually, more like ordering in, and I will try to reduce the # of times we do this. Mostly it goes like this, "hon, I don't feel like cooking tonight - let's order something!" This happens a lot. I think every time I overcome this desire to "order in" and make something at home instead, I will pay myself $20.00, even though ordering something often costs a lot more than that.