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: I had a pretty good day yesterday. Ro was off all day and we did a mystery shopping lunch gig together. We had a great time and ended up bringing home enough food for dinner, so it was awesome. I had to complete a report, which takes about 1/2 hour, but for $65 worth of FREE food it’s worth it. I ended up doing it before the girls came home from school. I don’t like waiting until the girls go to bed to finish the reports because you end up forgetting stuff + there’s always other things that I need to do after they go to bed. I submitted the report and now just have to wait to make sure it doesn’t need to be edited.
After dinner we went to Walmart to get a few puppy items that we can’t get free from other places. The main thing we needed was the puppy food. I just want everything all ready. I think we’re set now. I’m borrowing a crate from my sister, so that’s a big expense we won’t have to fork over. The girls are beyond excited. Now it’s 4 days and counting as they’ll no doubt be reminding me all day.
The girls brought home FREE kid’s meal coupons for Chick fil a from school. We also got 2 postcards in the mail for free kid’s meals at Bob Evans. I had applied for a few birthday freebies for them a few months ago, so I guess they are starting to roll in. After the puppy lovers went to bed I did some surveys and filled out some sweepstakes entries. I still haven’t won anything – not even an instant win prize. I’ll keep trying in my spare time (if I can find any ).
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…
Worked late and ended up getting takeout, which I hated to do, but at least it ended up under $20. Otherwise a no spend. Sad to see my paychecks have shrunk with new taxes/health ins premiums.
No spend day for me due to being home with sick kids!
I did end up spending some money to get something for my sister that she cannot and afford and really needed. I still came out ahead though, because I decided to cash out my capital one rewards (pay my card IN FULL several times a month) and that was for $80.
Only money spent was on gas and to mail of two eBay packages. Got a check in the mail for$36 for posting to much for our jeep and we have not owned it in over a year. Crazy. Got to get milk today and that’s it. Coffee all meals at home and cooked a ham that we can eat on all week, well they can cause mama don’t like ham. Supposed to be in the 60′s today so I foresee some outside time in our future. Have a wonderful day gals.
Karen how do you do the mystery dinners? I signed up a long time ago with a mystery shopping company and I went to one and was paid. But they then wanted me to go on certain days at certain times and with a certain amount of people. With work and the fact that I live about 30 minutes away from most of these places I just couldn’t make it to all of them when they wanted me to go and they stop sending me offers. Do you have a company that you can just go whenever you can?
My main place is pretty flexible with me. You can’t really just go whenever you want, but they will usually work with you. I knew that Ro was going to be off yesterday, so I just texted one of my contacts a week or so ago and asked if there was any availablity yesterday and she worked it out.
No spend day yesterday here. Hubby worked, I was home with the little ones, got the older to school, hung out in the afternoon, cooked all meals at home!
Let’s keep going, girls! The accountability on this site, and recording everything in a monthly budget list on my computer kept us well within our max monthly budget for our credit cards last month, so thanks!
I spent some time cmoparison shopping for water heaters. Unfortunately ours has not been fixed and it looks like it will need to be replaced. For now I am lighting the pilot manually and so far that is working, but is not a longterm solution. I am bummed that this expense has come up. I was hoping to avoid it. I also spent time working on the taxes and the financial aid application for my daughter who will start kindergarten in September. Tuition is $5600 per year. I suspect we will get some aid. Otherwise I have been saving in a tuition fund for a few years now so that should take care of the rest of her tuition. I did get a check in the mail yesterday which will go into the savings account today. Our company has a child care subsidy program and I did qualify for some money form that program this year.
Karen I am so excited about your new puppy. We lost our wonderful ten year old retriever, Howard, last January to cancer. We haven’t gotten another dog yet but when we do I am hoping to get a golden retriever. They are fabulous dogs and so good with kids and very easy to train. Please send pictures when you can.
Thanks Mary, I lost my lab/shephard mix before the girls were born. His name was Colby and he was 12. Ro and I got another puppy 6 months later and he died from cancer when he was 5 months old. It was AWFUL. We decided to wait and the twins came along so we’ve been pretty busy, so I know how it feels. Take the time and wait until you’re ready. I’ll post pics of the little guy on Saturday
Spent $25 at the grocery store yesterday, but got quite a bit, including the meal deal for the week. I love when they have something I like–buy lasagna, get free garlic bread, cake, and Pepsi. Don’t care much for the cake and pepsi (or I shouldn’t), but the other two are great, especially since Stouffer’s Lasagna is Daddy’s favorite and he’ll be home soon!
Worked 4.25 hours yesterday, and the mail was pretty good. No bills, but a statement of combined interest that had the savings bonds my husband cashed out. Also got my $20 Staples card from a rebate on my Kindle I got for Christmas and my DD birthday drink (for some reason I got 2 cards) came too! Yay!! Should be a no spend day, or very low spend day since I keep forgetting to order a birthday present for a friend’s child. Watching my extra kiddo today and doing laundry–oh so fun! May take advantage of the 70 degree weather we’re going to have and take them outside to play. Daughter loved being on the swingset in her seahorse swing yesterday so much that I got the entire back yard raked while she just hung out.
Sold 3 books on Amazon and bought gas. Didn’t spend on anything else. Had a work potluck and I brought chili. The woman who brought cheese traded me the remainder of the cheese for the rest of the chili. Since very little of the cheese was eaten and we rarely buy cheese because of the cost, I was very happy!
Yesterday was a no spend. DH worked late so I didn’t get to go to the gym since I was so tired I decided to make it a complete rest day. I’m headed to the gym later today and will probably hit up CVS on my way back to get the soup. Not sure what we are doing about dinner tonight because I really don’t feel like cooking. I might see if DH wants to make something with the rest of the chicken.
I’m feeling old today! One of my babies turns 21 today. I have a 23, 21,5,2 year olds. Staying home today weather is yuck!
Are Golden Retrievers good house dogs?
Didn’t leave the house yesterday. Our weather was horrible, so it was just as well. Finally starting to feel better after a week of being sick. Sears sent me an email (shop your way rewards) that was worth $10, so I used that to order hubby some socks. Even came with free shipping. I applied a $25 Amazon gift card to my account thanks to Swagbucks. So far for January, I’ve earned $100 from them. Well worth it! Prayed for all the ML2S readers.
Yvonne, I am glad you are feeling better. I have been praying for you.
Thanks Shelly.
Hubby went and picked up 4 bags of Chex mix today. I had 4 coupons. Wish I had more lol. It is a great deal. Hubby picked up 4 combo screwdrivers that have little drill bits and different types tools in them that were marked down from $28 to $2.60 with his employee discount to go into the Christmas bin. Besides that we didnt spend anyother money. We had leftover chili for dinner, the rest I will freeze. I cleaned parts of the house and me and the the grandson went out and walked in the pretty weather while it lasts. I have been doing surveys and getting ready to do my swagbucks Karen I wish you were closer, I have 3 dog crates that arent being used. Cant wait to see the pics of the girls and the new puppy.
Darn, I wish I was too