Mommy's way of Saving

I found out about this new google playstore app called Credit Karma. It allows you to get free credit monitoring and credit score. It alerts you to everthing on your credit report and this app is free. I must say I love it! It gives you advice and tips on what you can improve. I came across it on another financial blog.

I just really love using the Goodbudget googleplay android app. I use the virtual envelopes as suggested in the total money makeover by Dave Ramsey. I have been using now for last four months. I'm making allot of progress. I'm also doing the 52 money challenge as well and tucking it into a christmas club account for now. I'm planning on opening an american express savings as well this year. I'm working now on building a 3-6 months of income for expenses extending my emergency fund. This has been much progress for me. Bills have always been on time, but I like to be ahead of the game.

Our local Kmart has a deal that everytime you spend $50 you get a voucher for .30 cents off gas at Sunoco. You can also add these slips up. This week only they are also offering a free $5 giftcard with the purchase of a $25 giftcard. So for Christmas I purchased Giftcards for my family. I save $1.80 off my gas at Sunoco and filling it up for 20 gallons and I received $40 in free kmart gift cards that I'm going to use for stocking stuffers. I also got more coupons that printed out of register that if I spend $100 I get $10 in shop your way rewards.

Well my kids funding came in for me and I saved $300 towards the cost of their summer camp this year. Four kids went. They had a blast and I enjoyed my free time organizing for back to school. My DH has decided to work there for her first job starting in September and she will be able to be there at camp the whole next summer as well as year round retreats. I'm so excited for her to be able to do a job she loves. The $300 saved will go towards back to school clothes. I'm pre-registering the other three kids for camp in September for 2014 and I will save $100 off the price. Camp is normally $294 a week, but planning ahead I can really save. I will pay a little each month and hopefully be paid in full by January. I'm already ahead for next year. I will save $294 for next year due to daughter working there.

I finished getting the basic school supplies mostly from dollar store and using my kmart shop your way rewards I saved up all year. I pre-purchased most of my giftcards for back to school shopping using swagbucks and the swagbuck gift cards I earned will be used towards clothing. I was most happy with my Old Navy deal. I got $76 worth of clothes for $46 with free shipping which was One pair of jeans and four shirts for daughter to start off her senior year. I had a 20% online coupon and earned a few swagbucks. I have a 20% coupon in the mail for Khols tomorrow. They are getting bought new jeans, but we will be going to thrift stores for shirts.

I found a few basic items on this website. Everything is under ten dollars or less. It's worth checking out!

www.the10dollarmall.com

My ebates check arrived. $133. So I'm adding it to my emergency fund! Now have $2,326 saved. Whoo Hoo!

Last weekend I kinda over did it in spending. I went to five and below got some cute weekender bags for the kids to use for pool and the ymca. I ended up getting nice speakers for my ipod and nice head phones for relaxing in bed. These items were so great for our needs I thought it was money well spent. Since I did this outside my budget, I decided have a no spend weekend for my family this weekend.I will be buying a few groceries for the meals this Friday. No more than $50-$70. I plan on fun family around the house this weekend and on demand movies and maybe swimming at local pool and doing a little family barbecue. I would greatly appreciate any ideas for fun around the house with my teenagers.

I plan my weekly meals on Friday, which is payday for me. I have a family of five to feed. I like to go on Fridays to the local farmers market for produce. My budget is $100. I bought $35 in produce and spent the rest at Aldi's and walmart for our grocery needs. We use water cooler and reusable water bottles for drinking. We have orange juice and fat free milk for breakfast. I did purchase this week at five and below a water jug with a spout to make homemade sun tea and homemade lemonade using fresh lemons. The kids make breakfast for themselves in summer. They eat eggs or wholegrain cereal. Monday through Thursday we have a free summer lunch program at our local school. On Fridays they eat at a local community lunch. This week we will have a potluck on Sunday at church which will be a great help. So that leaves me to have to cook evening dinner and plan snacks for our family time at the pool and ymca.

Dinners and snacks this week will include;

Cantalope
Watermelon
Banannas
Grapes
Greek yogurt with homemade dark chocolate drizzle or honey

Fresh Romaine tossed salad
Carrots
Eggs and whole wheat bread
Roasted chicken for whole wheat wraps and tacos
Hamburger with pasta
Sweet potatoe fries
Jimmy Dean Delights
Whole grain pizzas
Whole grain pancakes and maple syrup
Rice Crispy treats
Almonds
Popcorn
Cottage Cheese
Homemade cinnamon won tons
Turkey hot dogs with whole grain rolls
Tuna for tuna salad or tuna casserole

I'm really open for some quick healthy meal suggestions. I'm a busy working single Mom and need some new ideas. Thanks!

Morgtage $762 a month
Comcast phone,internet,cable $190 a month
Electric $220 a month
trash $65 every three months for 2 cans plus 3 bags
Sewer $130 every three months
Home Owners insurence $44 month
Auto insurence and life insurence coverage $160 a month
Cell phone $40 a month.




I really would like to cut some expenses but the only thing that would be able to save is on electric cost
if we work on saving energy and cutting cable bill. We love our entertainment so we will look at new options in July as to how we can save more on cable bill. The kids and I love our package at the present time so I will have to look into that in the future. Any suggestions?

The kids last day of school was June 1oth and they don't return until the end of August. My goal is to keep them content and happy this summer so I had to plan very carefully. My first expense was summer passes to the local pool. We are out of the borough so it cost my family $290. But I figured it would pay for itself if we went a total of 7 times. They have an awesome waterslide and good music playing. They also have mini golf,basketball and a bike and skateboard park. The food stand is kinda expensive but we will be sneaking in the snacks in our backpack to save cost of food we will be packing. It is open 12:30 to 8pm 7 days a week so we will be doing lots of swimming and getting in shape. My second expense for the summer is YMCA Memberships. It is costing us $14 a month for the whole family. I really want us to get in shape as a family and excersize is going to the big part of it. We will be using fitness centers and the pool. My last expense for summer is camp. And I know it is allot but the Christain camp is just what my kids need to be spiritually blessed and there is no price to compare with the joy that God gives them. TO send the kids to camp it is $294. for the week times 4 kids. I have asked for finacial help and it it comes through they may reduce $300 off the cost. I haven't heard anything yet but hopefully I will on July 3rd. My first child will be going next week. And she can't wait she is already packing. They have a week loaded with fun and the camp has pool and water splash park. And another thing I looked into for the kids is discounted movie theater days at the mall and local theater. If the $300 gets saved off the camp price I plan on using the $300 towards the kids getting some summer clothes. They all have grown and need bigger sizes but I plan on getting the most for the money but shopping at thrift stores and goodwills. But I will buy new for shoes. So here are my plans for my kids, what plans have you made for yours this summer break?