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 NO spend day yesterday. We’ve had a bunch of those this week, which is nice. We had some friends come over during the day to visit and have a play date with the girlies. I made everyone grilled cheese and fruit salad for lunch. Ro actually had pity on me and made dinner because believe it or not, I’m still not feeling that great. I just can’t believe it’s been over a week. I NEVER get sick for this long. I actually went to bed early last night in the hopes of getting better quicker.
After the girlies were tucked and before I toddled off to bed I did manage to enter a bunch of sweepstakes and fill out a few surveys. I also took a look at the bank account. Ro gets paid on Tuesday and I wanted a solid plan to keep us on a tight budget. I’m trying to get the Emergency Fund up to par and it’s going to take drastic spending cuts. I’ve been really good about not using my Discover (I usually use it for all purchases to get free gift cards and then I pay it in full, but I am trying to just stick to cash). I think I should be able to add a good bit to savings at the end of the month if we keep on the current trend. I am also thinking about looking into a Roth IRA for us. I need to see if I can contribute to one since I’m staying home at the moment. Anybody know ?
What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it You could make 2013 your year. I haven’t forgotten about naming the January winner. I will announce it on Monday! Who will the February winner be ? We’ll see…
Karen, YES, you can have a Roth IRA in your name! I am a stay-at-home mom and I opened one in January of 2012. I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask and was super happy when I heard the answer was yes. So, you go girl! Sorry you still aren’t 100% better yet. Praying you will be soon! Yesterday the only money we spent was at the pharmacy for some needed prescriptions.
My husband took me out for Valentines so we spent money on dinner and a movie. I’m also interested in the Roth IRA. Would like to know who you would go through to get it started?
anyone should be able to open a ROTH IRA. I have a traditional one that my parents opened years ago and then I transferred money from my employers plan when we moved to a ROTH IRA and we “try” to contribute the maximum each year. This year that did not happen, but we still have those accounts and they will not be touched until retirement. I have to get back on the saving bandwagon. We have slacked off a bit and our “spending” seems a little out of control, though I can not figure on what. UGH! Time to redo our budget especially since we have less take home pay now with the increase in payroll tax. Blech!!
Prayed for the finances of the families on ML2S.
Saved 32%on groceries @Kroger w/ sales and coupons. Saved 10c/gal gas w/ my Kroger card.
Made chx pot pie and salad for dinner. Taped Suzy to watch later.
Took care of my girlie recovering from surgery. We have had a few rough nights.
Yay for no spend days! I had another one yesterday, although will need a few items today. I’m still driving with little to no heat because I refuse to pay someone to replace a part that I know my hubby can easily do. Fortunately (especially after temps in the single digits!) he will be home in a few days. When we go to make our debt free scream and Dave Ramsey asks about sacrifices made, this will definitely be on the top of my list. lol Prayed for the finances of all ML2S readers.
Yvonne how do you follow Dave Ramsey? Did you read a book, watch a tv show?
Spent $51 on food yesterday, but since we spent only $20 since Jan 1, that was not bad. It all was dairy and fruit/vegetables, since we still have meats, fish and eggs. We have been eating a lot of soup this last six weeks, to keep costs low. We want to remodel a back bedroom, so this week are starting a fund for that. If we can go until the end of March purchasing only another $50 of food, with the overtime we are both putting in, I think we can set aside the $600 it will cost us to replace windows and paint and put on new trim—the husband does all the work, but triple pane windows are expensive. So, here goes, more soup and egg dishes, plus eating the fruits and veggies I canned or froze last summer.
Yesterday was a night out with my friends, I don’t get those often so it wasn’t cheap. We went to an Alo Brazil concert and had dinner before. I passed on getting a drink since I didn’t want to spend the $ and I was already so tired that I thought the drink would make me fall asleep. I also drove separate because I had to leave during intermission. Their concerts start at 1030pm and C has been getting up at 7 for the past few days (he actually tried to get up at 6 today but I was able to get him back to sleep till 830). I knew since DH was working I needed to leave earlier than the end because last time I didn’t get home until 3am and there was no way I could watch a toddler after that. The $ for the concert and dinner came from a survey I did back in nov and they sent me a check. It was really nice to have a night out. I don’t need to do much shopping this week other than getting the target cereal deal. DH and C go through cereal like crazy so I’m trying to get stocked up. I also need to get a few bags of string cheese for snacks. Theyre healthy and the whole family loves them so they are nice to have around.
No spend for me yesterday. Only because I didn’t have to go to work and I really didn’t want to leave my house with these chilly temps. I made my list to stop at the store later this week and trying to match the items up with store deals and coupons. We don’t have many stores to chose from and that makes it hard to save.
My weekend was NOT a no spend weekend. We travelled and I way overspent. Thank you for your prayers… One day I will really focus on it! Did fight to get my warranty money back from my computer!! Yea