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 spent $9.73 out of pocket yesterday, which was amazing for everything I got. I did use a $15 rebate Mastercard that I got in the mail, so that cut down on the OOP. I started at the grocery store. I got 4 of the Campbell’s Kettle soups (used a $2 Q for each and got back a $1.50 catalina). I also got food for one dinner this week. That trip used up $7.25 on the rebate card. I spent $.16 on $.01 stamps at the post office. I used a free lunch voucher for a local restaurant, so lunch was free. I went to Big Lots for our favorite bread (only $1.30/loaf – it’s $2.99/loaf at the grocery store and it’s fresh). I got 6 loaves for free (used the rebate card). I went to Aldi to get produce. I used the remainder of the card and spent just over $3 in cash. They also had eggs for $.69/dozen, so I snagged those too.
I had “Mommy Spa Day” with the girls when they got off of the bus yesterday. I gave them a bubble bath complete with a scrub, hydrating shampoo and detangler. That was followed by pedicures, a foot rub with lotion, lip gloss and a hairdo. It was so fun. Heck, they needed a bath so why not make it fun and fabulous. Kayla said she told all of her friends in school that she was having spa day after school. I used lots of FREE samples ~ ha ha.
We went out for dinner to Chili’s because they had free kid’s meals. I brought along a $25 gifft card that I earned from a survey company intending to use it for Ro’s meal and my meal. The only problem was that our meal took FOREVER. I think it was close to an hour of a wait before we asked to speak to a manager. It was crazy. The restaurant wasn’t even that busy. That hardly ever happens to us and the manager apologized and didn’t charge us for our entire meal. I did leave a nice tip for the server because it wasn’t her fault and she kept coming over to apologize every 15 minutes.
The mail stunk yesterday = no samples, rebates or free samples – BOO! On a positive note I did win a coupon for free deodorant from another blog giveaway = YAY ! How was your day ? Oh, and by the way, the puppy is driving us crazy with constantly trying to bite us (nip). How do you get them to STOP ? Please give me ideas. It’s rough!
What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it You could make 2013 your year. Who will the February winner be ? We’ll see…
I made a big pot of chicken soup last night using things on hand. It was yummy on a cold yucky night. Bad news: someone siphoned my FULL tank of gas! I got in the car and the gas warning went off. Grr
That is SO horrible. What a rotten way to start the day!!! I think they make locking gas caps. I guess it’s time to invest in one. I hope your day gets better
Seriously. I swear sometimes I feel like I take one step forward and two back. My car is 7 years old and the cap doesn’t lock. I’ll have to see if I can find a replacement that locks. Good idea:)
I know times are tight, but I don’t go STEAL from someone because of it! $80 I worked hard for- just gone.
Wow, sorry that happened, someone must have been very desperate.
Just found out they went all the way down our street looking for all the older cars that don’t have locking caps. No telling how many 5 gallon cans they had. I know of 4 others now. Grrr
That is so lousy. I would be so mad too
I hope you can find a locking gas cap for your car. Times are getting tough and the criminals are getting more and more persistent. It stinks.
That is down right rotten. I’d be upset too and hope that the thieves get caught. Did you file a police report?
We had the police come out tonight. Lots of folks here work at a nearby hospital and come and go odd hours. They’ll get caught, and someone will end up getting hurt.
I went to CVS and got 2 packs of the Sparkle paper towels. Then I went and got my sons inhaler filled and that was $121 out of pocket. His steroid inhaler he needs filled at least twice a winter so it is always a hard hit. My husband works for a small company so our health insurance is not the greatest. I thought for Lent I am going to challenge myself to buy the bare minimum each week in groceries. I am going to try and live off of our stockpile for a while. Wish me luck!
Yesterday I got a test product in the mail from My Survey. It was Loreal Foundation, and it was a HUGE bottle. I was stoked.
I did take the kids to Applebees for lunch, but used a 10-dollar GC from surveys and so I only had to pay 12 out of pocket, including an almost 7-dollar tip. Oh, and my sister paid me back the $500 she owed me, so that was a nice surprise!
Haven’t bought a thing for myself since November.(except mascara) And very little for the kids.
I thought it would feel so restrictive, but it actually is freeing. It makes me appreciate and use what we have.Was planning to do this just til March, but Im going to extend it to summer, after our move.
Earned 59 swagbucks,
Stopped at Sprouts and got the 5lbs of oranges for $1, lucked out to find 3 large tubs of Fage yogurt on clearance for 50c ea. ( Expire tomorrow, but they will be gone by then.) Also, found a basket of free samples, that the clerk said I could, “grab a bunch”
Made crockpot soup with leftover chicken.
Made it through yesterday without spending a dime. Took my 7 mo old to the Neurologist for her Asymmetric cry and was told they don’t think she had a stroke in Utero! Yay! Good news for us but she will have to see a cardiologist in the coming weeks to make sure it is not related to other defects with her heart. We will have to go back in July for a follow up since the dr wants to recheck her muscle tone since it is a little uneven but she still doesn’t feel it is cause for concern of a stroke. They didn’t charge me my $25 copay although I expect the bill to come in the mail….lol. My mom treated us all to lunch at Pizza Hut…she’s been working a lot lately and the kids have missed her and been wanting to go there like we used to. It was a lot of fun to visit with her!
One thing we were told to do with our puppy (who’s now almost 2 yrs old) was to yelp at a high pitch when they did something that hurt. We were told that they new that sound from their brother/sisters when they are really young and wrestling each other and they would stop. It worked for our dog and still does. Good luck!
I did the same thing with my puppy and it worked like magic.
Thats what puppies do when they are playing to learn how to gage the play bites. That is why you often have mouthing issues with puppies that are taken from their litters too soon, they never learn this response. If a puppy is taken before 8 weeks they are 3x more likely to be mouthers.
Rudy was 8 weeks when we got him. I’m sure he will stop eventually. I’ve been researching solutions
The best thing is redirection. When he starts make sure he has something appropriate to chew on instead. And the high pitched yip is a great way too.
Last night was the shopping day for the consignors at the huge consignment sale that I participate in so it was not a no spend day for me but I did spend $81 and got a ton of clothes for my little man. He should about be just about set for the summer though. I was able to snag him some toys too. They will have 50% off on Saturday so I will probably go back and look again. It is so packed and they have so much items that on Saturday you can go through the items that were hidden and find some good deals.
Spent some jack yesterday but it was things we had to have. Sold a few more things on eBay, just waiting on a lady to pay me for a big she won last week. I really don’t like when it takes someone that long to pay. You should know if you should buy it or not our if you have the money. Oh well I will give it a few more days. Have a great day.
No spend day here. Another meal from the freezer. Its amazing what you can come up with when you start looking. I have a cervical MRI scheduled tonight. Karen get a whistle or some type of noise
Maker to use when he does something in appropriate. Make the noise, call his name and then give the command.
Cleaned the freezer and found FOUR containers of leftover chili, all from different meals. Added to that a half full jar of spaghetti sauce from the fridge, and another container from the freezer full of frozen naked rice…came out to a passable Spanish rice. In years past I mihgt have ditched all that stuff but it fed us last night and will tonight (this time with some cheese I found, you guessed it, in the freezer!). Not a gourmet meal but filling and free. And now I have some space for ice cubes!
I spent some $ yesterday stocking up on things we were nearly out of, unfortunately they were things I couldn’t get with coupons so I only was able to use coupons for a few things. I made an awesome cauliflower crust pizza and I think I will start stocking up on frozen cauliflower when it goes on sale. I always liked it but I had no idea it was such a versitile vegetable.
Would you share your crust recipe?
I googled it. The one I used was from Paula deans website.
We got 12-14″ of snow here so I stayed home & worked from here. Hubby shoveled the drive 3 times & he has another day of no school tomorrow. I’m hoping I can get to the office as I am supposed to have a client meeting but who knows if they will make it in either.
Otherwise, it was a good day b/c we couldn’t get out to spend any $$.
I added another $25 to my Amazon account from a swagbucks gc that came through. Prayed for the finances of all ML2S readers.