Mommies and Beyond Too
Monday, August 24, 2015
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
I Have a Secret It Is Dirty
There are things that we just do not discuss. We don't share about our financial health. Money is said to be " the root of all evil"(1 Timothy 6:10, KJV,) The fact is that we all are affected by it. We encounter it on a daily basis. Yet, it is taboo to discuss it. We go to work for it, we spend it, save it, share it, wish for it, gamble for it and so much more. Yet, it is such a taboo subject. It is all good and fine to talk about business. We can talk about stocks. We can talk about many aspects of money. Many of us are slaves to it. We quest it. We want it. We are judged by it. We judge by it. We exchange our time for it.It can open and close doors but we can't talk about it.
Growing up, it was clear that we were a regular family. Regular meaning that we had one or two parents that worked.We went to the grocery store and paid the bills. There was an ebb and flow with money. We were middle class. We were the working class. We were just like most everyone else that we knew. There were the few that we knew that were well off. hey took fancy vacations and lived in big houses. This was not us. Our parents worked and they worked hard. They both worked hard. One became a wife and mother just before completing high school and the other college educated. We learned that you had to work for what you want in life. We had parents that focused on education. Education eventually leads to a good job.
While a student, we did not learn about credit, credit cards, credit ratings, bank accounts or saving money. Money was not really something that was discussed. We knew that everything cost money. Bills had to be paid. It just was what it was. During my senior year of high school, I opened my first checking account. Hello financial freedom. NO, it was closer to hello, a bank account does not work like that. Checks can and do bounce. I learned a hard lesson and fast. Fast forward and debit cards became all the rage. Guess what? You can really rack up some debt with your bank account for going over your balance.
I have been trying really hard to teach my children about finances. The importance of credit. (Fortunately, I do not have credit card debt.)The importance of building and protecting credit. I have armed my children with tools. We have had in depth discussions with our new high school graduate about finances. We have focused on avoiding entering adulthood with a ton of debt from student loans. We have made a college choice based upon the bottom line ( we did account for the important aspects as well that were not financial.) We have stretched the college dollar by matching the price of the school along with room, board and scholarships. Thank goodness she is a great student and earned several scholarships to help to pay for college. We have studied how to build credit and avoid being a target of lenders all too eager to give a teenager a credit card. We hope that these discussions and options will arm her to have a stable and productive future. During a school ceremony for seniors, the principal of the school encouraged parents to give a tip for the future to their child. My tip was the very simple comment: "learn how to save."
While we are discussing this taboo subject of money ( Gasp, I said the dirty word) I would like to share my savings with you. My accounts all added together have a whopping balance of 23 cents. Yes, that is how much I have saved. This is a real issue. That is another discussion entirely. I just wanted to overall say, we do not talk about money but yet it has such a presence in our lives. Why be ashamed of how little that you have or gloat about how much that you have?
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Alternative Income Generators and Hustles
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Walmart Price Catcher Review and Secret
Speaking of money, I have been earning a little extra income by simply reading and clicking on email. The best part is that it is free to join!
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Bank With The Disney Vacation Account
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Cutting the Grocery Budget
I would like to learn more ways to save on our food budget while maximizing each dollar. I do not want to sacrifice the quality of the food either. I would like to coupon with each grocery store visit. I would love to learn how to successfully coupon.
Not to long ago, I read about an interesting way to save on the grocery bill. Many people believe that shopping at ethnic stores may save money. I took a look in a local store to compare prices will my normal grocery store. I was visiting the store to purchase a small bag of pinto beans. I did find a one pound bag of dry beans for roughly 30 cents cheaper than the regular grocery store.
This evening, I decided to make chicken soup for dinner tomorrow. Half of our family has been sick. I thought between the illness and the first day back to regular work schedules and school, a pot of soup would be a perfect dinner idea. While running errands, we made a stop at a Dollar Tree. I stumbled upon egg noodles and frozen corn. A family favorite is a Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken, corn and noodle soup. My parents have made the soup since I was a child. It is literally the mentioned ingredients. We add onion, garlic, parsley and so forth. It is a hearty chicken based soup. We normally boil a whole chicken, cool and debone. I decided tonight, based upon feeling really sick and my work schedule, I will make the soup in the crock pot and with a chicken breast.
I planned to head over to Walmart with my grocery store flyer to pick up several buy one get one free sales at a lower price. However, on the way, I remembered the ethnic store. I made a stop hoping to find a reasonably priced chicken breast.
To my surprise, I found that chicken breast. I managed to pick up the breast for just over $3.00. I also found a large package of the boneless skinless chicken breast and hamburger. All for $13.00 and change. I found a five pound bag of rice for under $4.00. I ended up getting all of my shopping trip for $30.71. I was truly surprised and shocked. The grocery store would have charged over $15.00 for the larger package of chicken itself.
I would definitely agree that shopping at an ethnic grocery store can save money. We will get at least four meals out of the meat alone. In all, I purchased:
2 packages boneless skinless chicken breast
1 package of hamburger
5 ibs. Rice
1 package yellow rice
1 ib. Dry pinto beans
2 small packages of noodles
3 packages of spices
Fresh Garlic
1 package of cookies for snack
Dried Herbal tea
This was an excellent shopping trip!
We are a 2015 College Family
We are about to become a College family! I am the only member of my family to have ever attended college. My Mr. is an educated gentleman. This year we become a family of college students. I am a returning student, Yay me! I just love school! I am proud to announce that Miss.Z, will begin her college career next week! Yay Miss.Z! In the fall Miss.J. will become the first of our family to go away to college. She is exploring the possibilities of dorm life. We are proud and excited for our young ladies to start the journey of their college careers!
This spring, I hope to travel to a college of interest with Miss.J. and Miss.S, our 2016 graduate. I would be ecstatic for the girls to attend the same college. It would be incredible for all three of our older girls to go to college together!
Today, we received the news of Julia's Third college acceptance! We are three and three! Oh yeah!
I am so happy that Miss.Z, will be starting school next week. She will have the privilege of attending her first semester classes with her mom. I think it will be an interesting experience for the mother and daughter team! Yay ladies!
I hope that our ladies will be influence and encourage our younger girls to work hard in their new and upcoming high school years. Not to mention our little man! I hope that when he reaches the same time in his life that he five college graduates to be role models for him. For now, let's get through the first grade!
Let's do this ladies!
Congratulations to all of the college families out there!