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: Happy Groundhog Day ! The girls came home from school with little Groundhog hats on and have pretty much left them on around the clock. I’ll have to bribe them with those pictures someday ~ he he. Yesterday was a good day. I was expecting to have to buy 3 gates for the puppy’s arrival (later today). I ended up finding a huge one in the garage that we used with the twins. We lived in a 7 story split level townhouse from most of their lives, so blocking stairs used more than a few gates. Anyway, the gate I found took the place of 2 of the ones I would have had to buy. I ended up getting just one small one for $20, so I was happy to have gotten off cheap. I think we have everything we need now. We will be picking up the little guy around 2pm. The girls are super excited.
I cooked all meals from the pantry/freezer. I cooked a dinner that we had catered for our wedding almost 9 years ago. It’s SO good. I talked the caterer into giving me the recipe at the time. I’ll post it on Monday. It’s as close to a gourmet meal as I make I earned a quick $5 Amazon gift card from a survey company. I have another one for $7.50 in my account. I got a $15 rebate check in the mail, which I took to the bank. Ro got paid this week and I paid the majority of the bills. I’m hoping to focus on the emergency fund this month. I want to bulk it up before attacking the mortgage. Ro filled out the paperwork to get reimbursed for tuition from a class he took late last year. I’m not sure if he’s going to take another class or not. I’m just going to put it in the emergency fund until when and if he needs it.
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 bet the girls will be watching the clock all day! Post pictures when you can.
It was almost a no spend day. Needed to pick up our chainsaw that my hubby had dropped off for repair. We harvest our own wood, so a properly working chainsaw is an absolute must. So, $92 later, it’s back up and running. Still way cheaper than buying wood or filling up the propane tank. With my fridge/freezer/pantry full, I don’t plan on doing much shopping this month.
I’m going to do some freezer cooking today and try to get the house cleaned up a bit. Working full time is helping the budget but killing the appearance of the house. No spend yesterday.
Yay, puppy day!
Yesterday the only money I spent was 29.99 to TurboTax in order to file my taxes.
Yesterday was a mild spending day. I only spent money on gas to get to work and for lunch. Had to take our puppy to vet for a check up from his surgery last week and it was nice, they didn’t charge me anything. We have to return next week to have stitches removed.
My kids were disappointed this morning. They were wanting to go see Punxsy Phil, but I am sick and it is way too cold to go, especially to just stand in the woods! Oh well maybe next year.
Karen- Good luck with the puppy!! The girls will be so excited when he arrives.
Spent a little on fast food but my son went to his real dad’s for the weekend and I wanted to make sure he ate before going. Paying bills today and big grocery store run…..blah. Hope everyone has a fab day!!!!
Yay for puppy day!
Hit up Target and Michaels yesterday. Spent $5.55 at Michael’s and got quite a bit–loving their super clearance sale.
Target was a lot more spendy, but I got all the things I kept forgetting avoiding getting for whatever reason. Found another bathmat for my bathroom for $6, so now both hubs and I have a small one for in front of our sink and there’s one in front of the tub too. I was the nice wife and put the two in front of the tub and his sink, but I got tired of cold feet.
Also ran into Walgreen’s to get toilet paper, paper towels, and use some coupons for the bogo 50% Dove stuff for hubs. Found a battery charger and 4 AA batteries for the LeapPad for $10 total, so that made me happy. I spent a lot there, but we should be stocked for a while for the husband and myself.
No spend day yesterday- I was proud of my hubby for saying “let’s just go home” instead of heading out for dinner/drinks after the basketball game he coached. We went home & made a frozen pizza.
We have both agreed that we are going to pay for his grad school in cash, even if it slows down our debt snowball. I’m going to look into putting the cash into a 529 plan & then removing it a few days later so that we can get the state tax deduction. Based on my quick calculation, that could save us $300 in state taxes for about an hour of setting it up online.
Let me know how the 529 thing goes. I may try that
Puppy Day! Have fun.
Earned 40 swag, traded some swagbucks for $5 Amazon gc. Went to $1 for few items, noticed they have Sargento cheese and there are some coupons..so I will run over again today. My kids think Im so cheap..they say, “Who uses coupons at the Dollar store?”
Got some groceries in the clearance section at Kroger and the free gum they offered.
Selling a bunch of stuff on ebay rightn now..we found a new house(being built) and we want to put the deposit. The loan officer coudnt believe we are raising 4 kids and only have $13,000 in debt(after selling our house of course)
I commend all of you who are doing a great job at saving money, and your comments, and tips, I need to save money myself, as I have so much to learn and do in my own family’s life, however Karen, and others on here, with the recent backlash on the Applebee’s story going on, I hope in your efforts in saving money, that you all don’t rob people by eating out at these diners and restaurants, you don’t cut on the server’s tip!, if you eat out and you choose not to cook and eat out with your coupons and free gift cards, that you are not cutting someones tip! I hope you give your server, whomever they may be, 18%-20%., because they only get $2-$3 an hour, and really rely on their tips for their livihood!, and no, I am not a server, I am a homemaker, and my husband makes good money, that I don’t have to work outside of my home, and I am very blessed, and grateful, that I do not have to work, but I know there are many single moms, dads, and college students who struggle and they don’t get tipped like they should in their industry.
Thanks. I always give generously when tipping. Even when we use coupons or restaurant.com certificates, I always give based on what the bill would have been. I believe the majority of my readers feel and do the same. It’s not the servers fault we have coupons and I think we all know that and still tip generously
Agreed. We don’t go out very often but when we do, we always tip even better, especially if we have a discount. The pastor who wrote that note used very poor judgement, and has since apologized.
I am ignornant of the Applebees thing, and we rarely go out to eat. However, when we do and if we use a coupon, we tip on what the meal would have been. I worked as a waitress in college, so I tend to overtip, especially if the waitress is quite elderly. If you are still a waitress in your 60s, as tough as that job is, I figure you cannot afford to retire and your life is pretty hard.
No spend day. Made a bunch of rags from some holey old clothes, so we have something handy to use instead of paper towels. Made spag. sauce from the baggies of tomatoes in the freezer—if a tomato gets too soft to eat, I put it in a baggie and freeze it. I add them to soups or, if I have enough at some point, I make tomato soup. Also had a few rinds from parm chesse, so threw those in, too, for extra flavor as they melt away.
Thanks for the idea about the parmesan cheese- what a great way to get a little extra.