Shopping in Bulk

   If you don't have a member card to a wholesale warehouse store like Sam's Club, Costco or BJ's, I highly recommend investing. The membership is usually about $100 a year. If you have a parent or sibling in town, consider going halvsies on the membership fee and one person in each family gets a card. In Ocala, we have a Sam's Club. My mom and dad have a card, and we have the other one.
   Purchasing meat and dry goods in bulk can be a huge savings for your grocery bill. Produce is trickier because you have to be sure to eat it all before it goes bad or it's wasteful. Yesterday I spent about $100 at Sam's. The same amount of food would have cost me probably twice as much at Publix - my other primary choice for groceries. Here's the breakdown:

   I bought a 5 pound (80 oz.) bag of shredded cheddar cheese for $10.96. **Shredded cheese freezes well. The texture and taste is absolutely fine when it thaws. This week's Publix price for the same cheese is $2.99 for an 8 oz. bag. For the amount I purchased, that's an $18.94 savings....for cheese! I use 4 - 1 quart freezer bags and package it when I get home. One bag goes in the fridge, the other 3 in the freezer until needed.

   Speaking of freezer bags, Sam's sells Ziplock quart freezer bags in bulk (a box of 4 boxes 54 count ea.), 216 bags for $10.97. Publix has 50 count boxes for $4.89 each. That's 200 bags for $19.56, a savings of $8.59 when shopping at Sam's.

   The biggest bang for your buck is the meat section. I found pork chops for $3.28/lb vs. $3.99/lb at Publix. On the 4 pound package I bought, I saved $2.89. Not a huge savings, but still good. Now boneless, skinless chicken breast, I won't buy anywhere else but Sam's. They consistantly sell this product for $1.77/lb. Publix's sale price for chicken breast is usually $2.79 and regular price is $4.99/lb. I bought 2 packages of chicken breast for a total weight of 13.5 lbs. At Publix's regular price, I saved $43.47 by shopping at Sam's and even if Publix had a sale, I still saved $13.77. I package the chicken breast and pork chops in freezer bags in 2 person servings. When you take it out to thaw, throw in some marinade and dinner is ready to cook!

   If you eat a lot of produce, you can save a bunch there too. I usually only buy berries, lettuce and asparagus there. Paper products and toiletries are another place to save - shampoo/conditioner, vitamins, razors are a huge savings, toothpaste, you name it, they probably have it in bulk. 

   If you manage a family of more than two people and you're not buying in bulk, you're wasting your money. Period.  

Finally Making Progress

   We noticed our credit card bill was creeping back up into the "unaffordable" range since January when we had great success in drastically cutting our bill. Our goal for June was to get it back into our comfortable zone. Well, we did it! In comparison to February-May's bills, June was - at a minimum - $500 lower than any other bill since January. We followed a simple rule of thumb, "If you can't put it in your belly or in your gas tank...don't buy it." Anything that was not a necessity was put on the back burner.
   In addition to the low(er) credit card bill, Ian has been killing it at work. His hard work really paid off this month with a nice little commission pay check. All that extra is going right to the savings account and NOT toward a high credit card bill. #success
   Our goal for the next few months is to enjoy the summer, the boat and the hunt camp without spending a bundle. The urge to buy new fishing and camping equipment will have to be squashed! Make due with what you have is the key. Remember, there are people out there that are happy with less than what you have.

Custom Art Without The Price Tag

   Everyone's idea of "art" varies, depending on what that person finds pleasing to the eye. I prefer things that are sentimental, homemade or heirloomish. A giant painting, however beautiful it may be, done by someone I've never met in another country I've never been to holds little value on my walls. For example, one of our favorites is a mounted sailfish passed down from Ian's grandfather. Another is a set of rubbings a friend of his family did. They are very unique and accent our fish-camp/nature inspired home





     Our most recent masterpiece was done 'in-house' ;o)  We took up hunting last year and would like to add a new variety to our nature-inspired decor. For Christmas, 'Santa' gave us a puzzle of a buck and doe in the woods. It was 1,000 pieces - our first puzzle to do together. It was an ongoing project we could work on at our own leisure and spend some quality time together while making custom art for our home. Although it took us 6 months to complete, it is now done. We "Mod Podged" it and framed it with an old frame we had lying around ($0). Because the puzzle wasn't quite big enough to fill the frame, I went to Hobby Lobby and had a mat cut to fit the frame and compliment the colors in the puzzle ($12 mat). The puzzle itself was $14 online - or so Santa told me :). If you're going to frame a puzzle and don't have an extra frame lying around, you can of course go to a thrift store and find one of suitable size, spray paint it a voila! So for a total of about $30, we now have a 22"x30" piece of custom art in our home. It is sentimental to us because we did it together and spent quality time together talking and joking while we puzzled. Good times.

I Don't Have a Money Tree

When you find yourself spending money on silly things or things you don't need, it's time to re-evaluate what your money is worth to you. Like our parents always said, "Money doesn't grow on trees."

   The next time you go to Target and inevitably browse the "Dollar Spot", ask yourself if you really need colored mini buckets to put trinkets in. And while you're at it, do you really need the trinkets that go in said bucket? I know I don't.

   I tried on a dress today that I didn't love. I started talking myself into getting it anyway. I could wear it to work. It is the right length and neckline. I could wear a blazer or cardigan with it. It does fit. But I don't love it. Why do we do this? Why would I waste my hard-earned money on something I had to talk myself INTO buying? Shouldn't I save my money for something I love so much I can't even talk myself OUT OF buying it? I didn't buy the dress.

   The moral of today's story: If you don't need it or love it, don't buy it. Put it down. If you're still thinking about it in a week and you can afford it, go back and get it.

Tough Decisions About Vacation

   Who doesn't want a summer vacation? But right now, it's just not in our budget. We had the opportunity to join our friends, Piper and Tyler, in the Keys this July while they celebrate their first wedding anniversary. Because they are staying in Piper's mom's house down there, we wouldn't have to pay for lodging - which would be great. However, the gas to get there and back (an 8 hour drive), food and drink while we're there would be a significant expense. We had to make the tough decision to pass on the chance for a week in the Keys. Bummer.

   But don't be blue! There are ways to get the vacation feel without a full week's expense at another destination. Use the internet to find "daycation" opportunities in your own neck of the woods. For my Ocala friends, check out the historic towns of Dunnellon, Micanopy or McIntosh. Each one under an hour drive and plenty to do there for a whole day. Check out Juniper Springs or Rainbow River, tube/canoe/kayak rentals are about $10. Or, my favorite inexpensive getaway.....camping! Although it's hot and you need to be careful of heat exhaustion, misquitos and other bugs that swarm in the summertime, it can be a fun adventure. For the cost of filling your cooler with a few days food and your campsite fee, you could have a great time with your family and get off the map for a while.

   If you have inexpensive summer vacation ideas, please share!

Slowly But Surely

   It appears we have lost a little steam on this savings train. Mostly because it is really hard! In the last few months, we have taken some financial blows. We attended Ian's sister's wedding in Savannah which included gas to and from Savannah, renting a condo, food and drink while we were there, wedding gift, etc. The following week, we had family in town for 8 days = $300 grocery bill. Plus, going out of town and having people in town means taking days off work, which for Ian means less sales, less commission, smaller paycheck. Our car ($710) and boat ($280) insurance came due. Ouch.
   We have had minimal to no opportunity to save money over the last few months. BUT, keeping up with simple savings habits has helped a little. I am proud to say I have brought my lunch to work every day this month. Turning down lunch invites on numerous occasions was difficult but had to be done. We celebrated Mother's Day and Father's Day with delicious homecooked meals and homemade cards instead of gifts that neither parent really needed anyway. Instead of going out on the weekends, we have invited friends over for dinner and played games in the backyard like cornhole and used the pool table quite a bit.
   Unfortunately, we were not able to put much in savings recently, but we haven't had to take any out to pay bills either so I still consider it a win. Keep on truckin'.

Unnecessary Services

   With the advancing technology in cell phones, we can get internet and phone service almost anywhere. In addition to our iPhones, Ian and I both have access to the internet all day long at work. And now, I have a Motorola tablet for work that has 4G on it. I can check my email, download movies and music, check my bank account, Facebook, and even write Word documents. So what do we need a home computer with internet for? We don't.

   Beginning today, for the first time since living on my own at 18, I do not have home internet service. We also came to the decision back in February, that we don't need our home phone line. I understand the "importance" of a land line if you ever need to call 911 from your home....but I still think it's a silly, unnecessary cost. So with the combined cancellation of our phone and internet service - drum roll please - we are saving approximately $90 a month! This is over $1,000 a year. 

   However, since there are only 8 months left in our calendar year savings plan, we will save $720 towards our goal of $10K. From now on, each month when the Dish Network bill comes due, I will pay it and then take the $90 that used to pay the internet/phone portion of the bill and put it right into savings. Good-bye Century Link!

   How much money are you wasting on unnecessary services? Don't forget about cell phone minutes!! A lot of wireless service companies offer unlimited mobile to mobile minutes. If you're still paying for a package with more minutes than you need, you're wasting that money! If you text more than you talk, switch to a plan with unlimited text and fewer minutes to save on your bill. Ask about family plans that offer a second line for only $10. You could combine your family's phone lines into one account and save money that way too.