One of the biggest reasons for creating MommyLuvs2save was to create a community of moms and dads who want to help their family save money when buying essentials in order to free up money for debt repayment. My own family has paid off over $111,500 in consumer debt including credit cards, student loan debt and 2 vehicles. I am a teacher at heart. I want to use the skills that I have learned to help YOU ditch debt. I want to encourage each of you in your efforts so that one day you can feel the freedom of being debt free. I’m not quite there yet either (we still have a mortgage) so I need encouragement as well 
It can be very difficult to pay down debt. There are many temptations to spend money. We live in a culture that encourages debt and spending. In addition, expenses come up and there never seems to be any extra money for paying down debt. I want to urge each of you to participate in a challenge. Just leave a comment about one positive step you’ve taken for your family each day. Did you eat in instead of going out? Did you save money at the grocery store? Did you pay extra on your credit card? Leave a comment below and we will cheer one another on every day and every step of the way.
The challenge is to leave a comment about what YOU have done to work on getting debt free each day. One winner will be chosen to win a $50 Amazon gift card at the end of each month. To participate in the challenge you must comment on at least 10 posts during the month.
* I will also be sharing my progress from the day prior.
My Progress: Yesterday was a NO spend day. Ro worked an extra day, so I was home with the kids. We did a lot of cleaning and organizing. The girls wanted to “help” me clean, so we kept ourselves quite busy waiting for Ro to come home from work. They took a nap at 2 and I actually got to watch a Hallmark movie. I can’t tell you the last time I got to watch a whole movie. It was so nice. I guess I actually watched 2 because after the girls went to bed Ro and I had an”at home” date night and watched a FREE movie he borrowed from a friend at work. It was great.
Breakfast and lunch were made at home, but Ro surprised us by coming home from work with a pizza. It was a nice FREEbie he snagged. I got 4 FREE gift cards in the mail from Discover Rewards. I use my Discover only for stuff I have to buy anyway. I pay the balance off each month and I cash out regularly for free gift cards. I’ve been saving up reward $ for awhile for the 4 I got today. We also got a few samples and the grocery store circulars, so I was able to plan out our menu and corresponding grocery shopping deals. I’m going to challenge myself to keep it to $50 or less this week. We have some stuff in the freezer and pantry so it shouldn’t be too hard. Ro has challenged me to increase our stockpile significantly in the next month or so. Now that the holidays are over I should be able to kick it into high gear !
I did the drugstore deals for everyone (including me) and organized my shopping strategy. There are a few deals that I want to do at each of the drugstores. There’s only one coupon insert in the paper today (a Smartsource insert), but there are some good coupons in it. I did a few surveys and earned 31 Swagbucks yesterday. I also called JCPenney and scheduled free haircuts for twins. Their hair gets so thick and needs to be thinned out periodically. JCP offers free kids cuts EVERY Sunday. We have to wait 3 weeks for our favorite stylist, but that’s okay at least it’s scheduled. It will be right before their 6th birhday, so that should be fine. I’d rather wait 3 weeks for free ones than have to pay for cuts tomorrow.
What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it You could make 2013 your year. Who will the January winner be ? We’ll see…
I have not left the house for 2 days which equals a no spend day for me yesterday which is good because on Thursday I spent money at the Target toy clearance. I payed bills yesterday and planned out the rest of the month’s money. Have a great Sunday everyone!
Sadly, my marriage is in trouble. I feel like I need to prepare myself financially and otherwise as best I can in the event of a separation. Have any of you been through this? Any words of advice?
Been there done that. Sorry first off for what you are going through. It’s hard, nut when I went through it I found myself and figured out who I truly was. I knew it was coming too. I had to think of it as being reborn. My oldest was 4 at the time so I had to keep him in mind just not myself. I saved ever dime I could, I had to hide it because the EX was so controlling over money. I just tried to stay around until I got money saved but finally it was not worth it. He moved out and left me the BIG house and all the bills and payed me 100.00 in child support. I finally had to sell the house and go to court for child support. I had to make sure my son was not effected. I can tell you this is when I learned to save and coupon. It was hard, but I am happier now than ever. THere were a lot of bad days but I had my family. I promise you, I don’t know when, but I promise you IT WILL GET BETTER. I will be praying for you because that is the number one thing that helped.
I am so sorry, Beth. My husband I hit a VERY rough spot last October. I truly thought my marriage was over. We have since decided to work things out, but I admittedly have proceeded with caution. If you want to exchange email addresses, let me know. Meanwhile, I’ll be praying for you. Hugs.
I am so very sorry to hear this. I hope you use your friends for support during this wretched time.
Beth,
I have been through it. When I was younger I married someone who wasn’t very nice to me (putting it mildly). When I finally got the courage to get a divorce he made me feel guilty for him paying for our honeymoon (Can you believe that?). He made me send him most of my paychecks until it was paid off. That’s why I really started off on the wrong foot with money. My rent and utilities got behind and it was very difficult to get back on the right track.
Thankfully we didn’t have a house or children yet, but it was still devastating. Please know that I’m here to talk (email me directly). Just be careful what you do financially and make sure that you get everything that you are entitled to. My sister is going through this now and it can be very, very difficult. Hopefully you guys will be able to work things out. I’ll say a prayer for you
Thanks to all of you who replied with such heartfelt answers. It is heartbreaking bc we have two children. But this is something I have considered for many years. I am lucky that he is not mean to me.
Oh Beth, I am so sorry to hear this! I pray that it wont end in a separation. Do you have a Pastor that you can talk too! My heart hurts for you. I will be praying.
We are seeing a counselor separately at this point. He’s been twice; my first appt is Thursday. I’m hoping that will help me get my thoughts together. My husband doesn’t want this at all. It’s me:(
Beth, I know it is hard. We were separated for a short time many years ago. I will be praying for your family.
Well, my husband and I went to Chillis for lunch….we paid for lunch and a babysitter. We hadn’t been out on date for a year, plus it was to celebrate my birthday, so I definitely feel it was justified. We also had to buy a new toaster oven at Walmart and some milk and yogurt. We did spend a lot of money, but other than lunch, it was stuff we needed. I also returned a couple items at a store and got a credit of over 50 dollars on my credit card, so that felt good.
Yesterday we had bball games to go to. I wish I could say yesterday was a no spend day but it seems like I never have those anymore. We had bball games starting at 8:30 am so we rushed out of the house and ended up eating out, plus they were ordering pics, plus the concession stand, plus we had a birthday gift to buy, plus my son had a sleepover for his birthday so I had pizzas. I don’t even want to think about how much I spent yesterday. It’s pretty frustrating but I know if I were organized I wouldn’t have this problem. Maybe I’ll find the time somewhere.
Went to a funeral yesterday, no fun then went out to eat with my mama, daddy and brother. It was fun but NOT CHEAP!!!! My parents bought my oldest sons so that helped out. My parents don’t have to worry about saving money so its hard when I am around them. They don’t understand why I make baby food, use cloth diapers, coupon, freezer cook, stockpile or and thing to save a dime. Oh well I guess some people have it and some don’t so we will just keep doing our thing. Ran into Target after dinner, I tell you that Target gets me every time. I go for one thing and come out with 6??!! I did get a few things on clearance well most everything but one. YAY ME!!! Hoping for a no spend day today. My oldest is out of school Monday and Tuesday so he wants me to take him and a friend skating, BUT my little fella got a coupon from school for one free skate, pizza and drink!!! YAY TANNER!!
We had a pretty easy day yesterday. Went into work for a staff meeting/deep cleaning time and got the time off for next month for hubs return! Yay! We then ran over to the outlets (okay, drove the 40 mins) to exchange a pair of shoes and jeans. I also found a shirt I forgot to pick up the other day when getting the kids clothes that matches my daughter’s pants–it was on clearance too, so I was happy to get it for her. I love paired outfits for the kids. I got $.85 back on the shoes and spent $14 exchanging the jeans (of course, the ones we had to buy weren’t on clearance) and the shirt, but oh well.
Low key day yesterday. Worked an 8 hour shift and then made a quick stop at Walgreens for a few deals. Also stopped at Hallmark for some Christmas items that were 75% off. Between both store, spent less than $25, but scored $200+ worth of items. Continue praying for all the ML2S readers.
Worked yesterday, bought groceries & helped a friend move a huge bulletin board for her work (4 ft x 7 ft) that wouldn’t fit in her car. She works at a restaurant so since we helped- the manager took 50% off our bill so we ate dinner there and used $ from the enevelope. The grocery bill was $120 but I bought A TON! 20 frozen dinners matched with a coupon & gift card deal that got me $10 in gc for next time, 4 boxes of cereal & 4 boxes for sausage that I eat for lunch. Still have $ left in grocery envelope & $10 in gc for the next 10 days.
Probably going to work from home a little tonight while my hubby watchs the football games. I can do that from the couch so that’s a double bonus.
Thank you for the continued prayers, Yvonne. I had to take the dog to the vet yesterday; our vet office is open 7 days a week, so it is very convenient. Anyway, as I was pulling into the driveway at home, I heard this contest on the radio. My husband and I don’t carry cell phones anymore, so I ran inside and called the station with the correct answer and won a $30 gas card! A month ago I won a $20 gas card from a sweepstakes. Not huge amounts, but I was pretty thrilled anyway. And the vet gave me sample dog meds so I didn’t have to pay for a prescription, just the appointment. And a few weeks ago a local grocery store was having a grand re-opening/Christmas bash after remodeling. Random customers were winning random gifts and as I was checking out, my register rang and I won a Kindle Fire. I sold it yesterday for $180. So, this has been a very good month for winning things—the best I have ever had. Up to now, my best month was $60 and with a lot more effort than checking out of the grocery store.
Congrats on your wins!!
Wow Lindsey that is great! Congrats!! Had a very unexpected spending day yesterday. My hubby and I finally had a “date”night (don’t remember when the last one was). We ended up going out to eat a place we have never been too….mistake #1…the bill was $60 ouch! Then I convinced hubby to go to Target (since this is the closest one to my house…1 hour away)….mistake #2 taking my hubby in the store with me…he kept throwing items in the cart…it was worse then my kids LOL! Oh well…getting back on track again today. Posted some items on EBAY and made all meals at home. Hope everyone has a great week!
No spend day here. Day two with migraine but did get out to take grandson for a long walk. Hubby cooked breakfast for dinner. Thanks Yvonne for the prayers. Thanks Karen for the deals.
No spend day here. DH came home from work because he forgot his work keys and wasn’t feeling good so he decided since today was just OT to stay home. He spent most of his day in bed and C spent a good portion of that with him. I went and cleaned out the gift/storage closet on the 3rd floor which was in desperate need. Now I might be able to find gifts when I need them instead of having to buy them full price. I also managed to get to the gym today which I’m very happy about. I’m hoping to move past this slump I’ve been in lately. I lost 15 lbs since june but I’ve been hovering around the same weight since sept or so. I had the same bug as DH yesterday so I’m glad I felt good enough to go.
We have a bunch of $ left over for the week so I put a good portion of it away and I’m only going to spend $10 oop for my drug store deals this week. I have $8 for rite aid and $4.50 for CVS to use on these trips so that should help keep it lower.
Fri. the hubby & I went to dinner with some friends. My daughter took the boys overnight so it was just the 2 of us. Then we went to a friends to play Spades. Sat. we slept in, watched a movie we taped from the free movie weekend a while back, & did some out side chores. The kids came back (& the daughters roommate) & we all had fajitas for dinner. A nice no spend day.