Findings little ways to save can make big long-term changes

I've been out of sorts lately, and so I haven't posted recently. There's some medical stuff going on that's sort of taking priority in my life. It's difficult to deal with and time-consuming but the great thing is it isn't affecting us financially very much -- at least not yet.

I do know if I was still working full-time I would've had to use sick leave or quit my job, but thankfully with our income, this isn't a problem. Although that thought led me to think about all the people out there that do struggle with medical difficulties that require time away from their job and resting at home or going to doctor's appointments continuously. It made me feel so thankful and blessed by what The Lord has given me.

It reminds me how important to is to be good stewards of the money we are entrusted with. You know, whether you work for your money (like the majority of society) or have an annuity/pension (like myself) God has entrusted you to use your money wisely and not spend frivolously.

Looking back at March, we put $1,350 towards our debt. Every chance we can throw money at the debt means we're another step towards debt-freedom.

I cannot wait until that day comes.  Can...not....wait.

I think we've really begun to utilize the grocery bus service which I get every two weeks more effectively now. I pay a fee $11/trip to have a ride to and from the grocery store. We budget for this expense every month and that allows me to get out of the house regularly even in winter, icy weather which helps stave off things like depression and cabin-fever. This is the first year in over 20 years I feel more happy and productive. I think that is a small price to pay for such a significant emotional change in my daily life. It's a service primarily for the elderly. There's a big disabled services bus that come drives over from the retirement home nearby and picks me up, along with some other people in our area. We all get transported to the local grocery store (which has a chain of other stores in the same walking area to shop at) We have an hour or so window of time to do our shopping and then our driver takes us all home again. It's great!

We have a set budget for groceries at $300/mth and an "Other" category of $150/mth Chris and I then break that down into how many bus trips per month we'll be getting. From there, we know our amount of groceries and household/other things to spend and look at the Metro flyer to see what's on sale that week. We shop by sales and that's a huge savings.

Chris will occasionally go out on his own a buy a few things we also need, but we still stay in budget. If we do go over (which is rare anymore) we always make sure to take cash from somewhere else. We NEVER live on credit; ever.

Last month was a great month for shopping and I think April will be similar. We don't buy the best of everything and I can't wait to be debt-free in order to buy a few more luxury items at the grocery store, but for now, this way of budgeting and saving allows us to get debt-free as quickly as we can. I wouldn't have it any other way.

So, I encourage you to look at your flyers, shop by the sales, but most important set up your grocery/other budgets! For those who have no idea how to even come up with that number a good rule of thumb for groceries is $100 per person in the house, but with a minimum of $300 for the entire household. So, for example, if you're a family of two (like Chris and me) that's $300. If you're family of three, still that's $300. If you're family of 5, that'll be $500. You don't think you can do it. I know! I know, what you're thinking, "That's just not enough money, Rosie!" Yes, yes it is.....it really is because the more sacrifices you make in the grocery store on little things that really don't matter, the more money you can either save for future more important expenses or the more money you can throw at your debt, the more life you'll be able to live and enjoy. Seriously, it's the small insignificant changes like spending less on groceries, that actually begin to add up over time.

(As far as your household budget, look back and receipts or bill invoices, see what you bought for the house for last 3 months and it'll give you an average. We find $150/mth tight, but if we increase it too much, we just end up spending more. Being a little tight and frugal is actually a good challenge and allows us to really think about the price of laundry soap or whether we can wait another month to buy more Lysol wipes, etc.)

Before you dismiss me completely and go on to the next task in your day, think about how much debt Chris and I have paid off in the last 22 months -- and counting! It's about $50,000 now. What have you paid off in the last two years? Are you close to
getting that credit card, student loan debt, car lease debt paid off? It's life changing when you get just one major debt paid off. You can see the possibilities of your future radically change in a new way!

So try it, just try it for a week. Set your grocery budget by the week, instead of the month, and challenge yourself to only spend that amount of money for the next seven days. I believe in you! You can do it! :D Let me know how it goes! Email me! Whoo-hoo!