April 2013
1 post
Well, it turns out there is just no cheap way (that I have found) to have a broken arm. I can’t cut fruits and vegetables, I can’t open jars or cans, I can’t lift a pot of pasta in order to drain it… Well, maybe if I had fractured something other than my scaphoid, and I had use of my thumb to grip things, I would be able to do more of those things, but I can’t. The...
February 2013
1 post
January 2013
1 post
When Low-Stress Trumps Low-Cost
It happens, even to the lowest of the lowlifes. Sometimes, life throws you that curveball, and you say, “Screw saving money, screw being eco-friendly. We’re ordering in and eating off paper plates.” Moving five people into a new house ~ buying a house, making the downpayment, paying closing costs, renting a moving truck, hiring a couple of guys to help lift the heavy...
December 2012
2 posts
Keeping Moving Expenses Low - Pt. 1
The papers are all signed and notarized, closing costs are paid, so now we are just waiting for those keys.
In the meantime, we are packing. When we first decided to get on a roll and start packing, Shane ran out and bought a few boxes, just to get us started. They cost him $25, and we blasted through them in a day, leaving most of our household startlingly unpacked. We need a LOT more...
I WANT MY KEYS!!
Sorry for the lack of updates lately. We are just waiting to close on our new house. I hear it is always a hassle for everyone, so I guess things are going as they usually do. It feels like all kinds of crazy drama. Between racing all over town trying to get papers signed and ”t”s crossed and “i”s dotted, and my health being what it is, our budget has fallen somewhat...
November 2012
1 post
A Surprise for the Girls →
We haven’t been updating here, and some of you might have wondered why. The truth is, Shane and I have been busy, and a bit preoccupied, trying to pull off the surprise of a lifetime for our daughters. On Sunday, November 11, 2012, we let the cat out of the bag. If you haven’t seen it yet, please follow the link to a fun video of the big reveal.
Stay tuned for more “Low...
August 2012
11 posts
Buying More to Pay Less
Today, I had to take Hallie to Payless for new ballet slippers. I say I had to take her to Payless because, the other day, I tried taking her to a dance store and walked out with a $36 leotard. I decided the shoes needed to be cheaper than that. So, Payless it is! Well, adult size ballet slippers at Payless now run $19.99. That doesn’t seem so cheap, but dancers gotta dance, so we...
Budget Check -- Sam
In case you were wondering, we totally blew the whole grocery budget thing over Summer Vacation. Oops. Now that school is once again in session, we will try to get on track.
In grocery-related news: I made out like a bandit at Target today. Last time I shopped there, I received a coupon for $1.50 off 4 Morningstar Farms products. We try not to use too much of that stuff, but we do use it...
Warm & Cozy Rewards →
Click above to see the sweater I ordered today from GAP for all of $5.39. I’m not usually one to go around with logos emblazoned across my chest, but I think it’s awfully cute. The retail price is $59.95, which I think is a bit outlandish for a sweater. However, I can thank GAP card for this great deal. I hardly ever use my GAP card. However, over the Summer, they had a deal in...
Shopping Spree! -- by Sam
Just realized that, in the past week or so, I have bought quite a few new clothing items. I don’t usually buy a lot of clothes for myself. so this is shocking. When I realized how much I had bought, I got a little bit panicky, until I figured out that I have spent a whopping $36.
This is why I LOVE shopping second hand stores and yard sales. Most of my purchases were made at Rewind,...
July 2012
4 posts
Reward Me -- by Sam
I LOVE fresh & easy! Just printed my “$8 off a $40 purchase” coupon and transferred my reward points over to my card so they can be applied to that same purchase (another $6), so I am about to go to the grocery store and get $40 worth of groceries for $26. I think I’m a little giddy.
I also think it is important to learn to “work” whatever reward systems your...
Free Bowling! (click here) -- by Hallie →
It’s been very hot in the Los Angeles area, but air conditioning is expensive and lots of fun summer outings cost too much. Luckily, we found a cheap way to escape the heat. We love to bowl, but hardly ever have the time or money to. But this link will take you to a website with coupons for kids to bowl free! They get two free games and the parents can even buy a pass for two games every...
June 2012
4 posts
Update, 6/23/12: iPhoneless. -- by...
I think I am experiencing iPhone withdrawal. I keep stopping what I am doing to post things…and then realizing I can’t. On the up side, I keep realizing I can’t post about everything I do, and getting back to doing what I was doing, instead of just talking about it.
…sorta. Then, I come home and post about it. Ha.
Well…at least I am saving fifty bucks a...
Going Low Tech
I never planned to have an iPhone. In fact, the idea seemed completely outlandish to me ~ why would I need an iPhone?? Well, then someone gave Shane a new iPhone, so he had this old one just lying around. For a long time, we let it just lie around. I just didn’t need one. Then, something happened to my phone. Honestly, I can’t even remember what it was. What I do remember is that...
May 2012
2 posts
Once More, with Feeling! -- 5/15/12
Just a quick check-in during the month of May.
I have no idea where we are on groceries. I am keeping an envelope on the bookshelf (my purse is just too disorganized, and I have to remember to record each transaction before I stuff it in an envelope and forget about it) for grocery receipts, and I will report back at the end of the month. April was an absolute free-for-all, and May started...
April? What's April?
Yeah. So…I totally blew it in April. Remember how I was going to keep track of what I spent on groceries and compare it to how we did when we were on our strict budget? I just didn’t do that. I have loads of excuses ~ the new session of my after school program started, so I was busy promoting that and preparing lesson plans. Shane worked in Vegas for a week (the same week my...
April 2012
2 posts
Here's a thought...
After putting ourselves on a very strict grocery budget plan for three months, we have decided that, for the month of April, we will buy whatever groceries we want/need, keep the receipts in an envelope and tally it at the end of the month to see how we’ve done. We thought it would be a good way to check how adhering to the plan for a few months has affected our shopping habits. It is our...
March 2012
5 posts
Budget? We don't need no stinking budget! -- by...
Did you wonder where I had gone? Yeah, it’s been a while. You’re probably wondering how the month has gone, what with the new budget plan and all. Well, I’ll tell you, I thought I had failed. Yes, about the middle of last week, as I was dipping into this week’s grocery budget and thinking to myself, “Okay…that leaves $40 for incidentals NEXT week, which will...
MacBook Pro LCD Repair...on the cheap.
I had a MacBook Pro with a broken LCD screen…as I told you all about in a previous post. I went to a local Mac authorized repair center and was given a quote of $550 for the repair. This is pretty darn high…my laptop is old, bought in 2008 so 5 years old, and I wasn’t quite ready to sink that much money into an older machine. I mean, all I needed was the LCD replaced, why is that so much...
What day/week is this, anyway? 3/9/12 - by Sam
This is hard.
This month, we decided to try a new approach: $100 for larger monthly purchases (I call it the Costco money, but, in truth, some went to Costco, some to Shoop’s Delicatessen and some to Leonor’s) and $50/week for incidental purchases. I thought it would be so easy! I mean, that’s a hundred dollars more per month than I spent in the first two months, right?...
February 2012
16 posts
Week 8, Day 1: 2/27/12 - by Sam
Wow! Is it week 8 already? Well, the month of February got away from me. Two weekends out of town, and lots of kids’ activities (Science Fair, Ballet Evaluations…I’m not really sure what else. Maybe that isn’t as much as I think it is.)
So, February has turned out to be easy-peasy. In fact, thanx to all of our “rewards” coupons and points, I would say we have...
Week 7, Day 2: 2/21/12 - by Sam
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!!!
Just got my Costco Wholesale Cash reward Coupon from American Express: $125.62!
Nevermind what I said about being overbudget for the month ~ this will totally save us!
Here’s how it works:
STEP 1: Get the Costco Amex Card. Yeah, you have to get the Costco membership, too, but it is totally worth it, IMO, because the cash reward you will earn covers the annual...
Week 7, Day 1: 2/20/12 - by Sam.
Dude.
I completely lost Week 6. No, I don’t mean I wrote about it and lost the document. I actually lost the week. Have no idea where it went. I do know, however, that it took our money with it.
So.
The new monthly grocery budget plan is not a bad plan, from a money management standpoint. I was able to stock up on staples like flour, for instance, that will get us through more than...
Simple Ways to Save, Every Day - by Sam
Not a lot more to report on my end this week. I have had acute laryngitis for 5 days, had to teach four classes with absolutely no voice. That’s about as exciting as it has been. Spent $59 on an appointment with my doctor, and another thirty or so on meds.
So, I thought I would devote this post to sharing some of our money-saving household hints. Years ago, Shane and I decided that a)...
Week 5, Day 2: February 7, 2012 - by Sam
Eh, week 4 was weird. We stayed within our grocery budget, but then Hallie and I went off for the weekend with her Girl Scout troop, and Shane stayed home with the other girls. I don’t think I left much for them (meant to plan ahead and leave a couple of meals in the fridge, but time got away from me ~ still learning to balance work and…you know…life), so I heard he ordered pizza one...
Week 4, Day 1: January 30, 2012 - by Sam
Today was especially hectic. All kids were home sick, and Justice had to go see the doctor about a sprained ankle that will not heal. Diagnosis? Chronically sprained ankle. You don’t say. Got everyone settled at home, then made a quick run to the 99¢ store. I spent $23.10. Picked up a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, so I am feeling good about my purchases so far this week. This...
Week 3, Day 6: January 28th - by Sam
Week three sucks. We have totally blown the budget ~ roughly $11 over, and will probably go beyond that in the next couple of days.
More than half of the family is sick this week, so nothing I had planned to cook is working out for them, and school lunches have been a real challenge, too. People have sore throats, so, instead of a couple of the dinners I had planned, they can pretty much only...
Week 3, Day 4: January 26th -- by Sam
Lots of challenges this week. I started teaching two afterschool drama programs, so I am now working Mondays, 2-5:30pm and Wednesdays 2-3:30. I am also volunteering in two 5th grade classrooms on Thursdays, and might be picking up some more work during the school days as the year progresses. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, but there is prep work for all of the classes, and a little...
Week 2 - Day 6: January 21st -- by Sam
Forgot to mention in my last entry: decided to dye my hair. Last time I had it done at a salon, it cost me $60+tip, so I had put it off as long as I could, but it had faded to a very unflattering shade of orange, and the colored streaks in the front (which had been a lovely bright red) were brassy yellow. Not a good look, and I will be teaching an after school drama program at two schools...
Week 2 - Day 4: January 19th -- by Sam
Day 4, and I am already completely out of cash. That means no more grocery shopping for the week. I am also completely out of milk ~ both dairy and almond. Not good. Justice likes to have cereal and almond milk for breakfast, and we have no milk. So, now, I have a choice to make: bite the bullet and buy milk, going over budget for the week, or bite the bullet and live without milk for the...
One of My Favorite Things This Week-by KAIA
One of my favorite things this week were caramel, chocolate swirl, and cookie dough granola bars. My favorite was caramel. I like the cookie dough flavor alot, too. Heres a picture of it.
The only thing I wasn’t TOO crazy about was the message from Nick Jonas! ;)
The caramel is kinda dark brown and has caramel chips. Chocolate swirl is the same color only it has chips of white and milk...
3 tags
Cheap Wine - by Shane
I’ve become a little more health conscious lately. Sure, I have been eating healthy-ish for a while now. Mainly good vegetarian food, but with the occasional greasy vegetable (french fries and the like). And I have gotten back into the habit of riding my bike to work a couple days a week. I have known for a while now that it is good for your health to have a glass of red wine a day. ...
