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. I put together some deals that I’m going to do today while the girlies are in school. Yesterday was pretty much all about the puppy. I think Olivia has a major puppy addiction. She started to cry because we were going out for awhile and she didn’t want to miss the puppy. She majorly cried at bedtime last night (real tears and everything). Hopefully she’ll get better about it because I’m not going to be a prisoner in the house because she doesn’t want to leave the puppy ~ sheesh.
One of my wonderful, local readers emailed me to offer me 2 puppy gates, so I ran over to get those and to chat with her. She’s always so nice to talk to (Thanks, Joene !). We had a huge extending gate that was becoming a real pain. Now we have a nicer walk through gate that has made life much easier. My neighbor, whom I used to work with and my parents all came over to meet the puppy. They all brought over dog treats and toys that we put up for when he gets tired of his current toys.
I was able to snag a free Coke from the Subway game I posted. I also got the free 2 liter of Pepsi Next that I posted about. Breakfast and dinner were eaten at home, but we did grab a cheap lunch out. I also voted on MyCokeRewards to hopefully win a Coke product. I watched the game because Ro mentored one of the Raven’s players at his work. The player even called his work last week to speak to him. That was pretty cool. He’s a rookie, but I did see that he handled the ball quite a bit. He is #30 (B. Pierce). The girls and I had fun looking for him.
I am looking forward to a VERY productive week this week ! How about you guys ?!
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…
Bought some snacks for the game, but at least that is better then eating out! Other then that no money spent. I was proud of us because I think every other superbowl we ordered food!
Yesterday was hubby’s birthday. I had given him a series of clues as to what I was giving him, but the item ($300+) will have to wait until I can completely pay for it with my various Amazon gift card earnings. We don’t usually give each other such expensive gifts, so especially once he figured it out, he was more than happy to wait. Years ago I would have just gone ahead and whipped out the credit card and worried about paying for it later. Prayed for the finances of all ML2S readers.
GOOD FOR YOU!!
And thank you for continuing to pray for us.
Very good for you! Thank you for the continual prayers. I know when I continue to pray for us all it helps keep me motivated!
Yesterday we went to church and spent the day with my family. Got to hold my 2-week old nephew…that was so much fun. And somehow, I even managed to make it a no spend day.
Prayed for finances of readers on this site.
Watched Suzy Orman shows I had taped. Earned 50 swag bucks(birthday bonus)
Printed out all the birthday deals that came thru the email.
Darted into Safeway for a couple fabulous deals, Superbowl food was our dinner.
Called a gal, I met that lives in the new complex we are moving to. It was an invaluable conversation about the builder, neighborhood, etc. We sold enough on ebay, and some other small investments to put a deposit on the lot we want.(didnt use our emergency fund)Also, the only upgrade we are getting is interior paint, want it painted before we move in, my new neighbor said the cost is the same as hiring an outside contractor. Everything else will be as it comes. I will order blinds from blinds.com and make the curtains.
The house is half the size as we have now, we just want to be simpler,we will do a 15 yr note.
We have eight months to get ready..which means pay off the rest of the debt( grr, I want it gone!!!), sell furniture, some last minute fix ups, sell the house, and move ….its 5 states away.
Happy belated birthday. Wow, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate with this move. Awesome not having to touch your emergency fund for the lot. I am sooooo with you on wanting our debt gone once and for all. We can do it!
A no spend day here. Worked on the house and laundry, spent some time trying to navigate healthcare rules for my mil. System is insane. So much waste and beaurocracy and getting worse. Prayed.
Husband and I cut each other’s hair. We are both getting better at it, thank heavens. The first few times it looked like we were mugged by some scissor wielding maniac.
Revived my sage plant and put stubbs of scallions in water to have them grow some more stems. I can do this twice with each bunch, so when the bunch costs me 99 cents, I manage to get 3 dollars worth of scallions out of it. Every little bit helps—I really believe that saying about watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.
I didn’t know that trick about scallions-thanks. You are quite right! Think small and big things will happen
It was a no spend day here. Very low keyed. Chris’s mom (my daughter) and his dad came to visit today. So he enjoy visiting with them. We make all meals at home. He has an appt Wednesday about getting into a Special Need class to help prepare hime for school. Chicken is defrost in the fridge for crock pot dinner tomorry. Sold a bath rack on craigslist and put that up in the “Shelly may need to run off for a while fund”. Karen I had a thought and you may have already thought of this. But have you thought about doing a Chain Link for you weight loss similar to how you do for your bills. Maybe in 5lb increments. Hang it in the kitchen! Just a thought.
Ended up having a “girls day” with my daughter yesterday. Her body decided to have another growth spurt this last week so we really needed to get shoe and pants. This was a perfect time were able to get her name brand jeans for $5-7 and shoes for $15. I really didn’t think it was bad and I had gift cards to cover the entire cost…even better!!! Hope everyone has a wonderful week!!
No money spent & made $100 target giftcard for helping 2 friends out. I’m going to replace that in our grocery envelope & take the $100 cash to put in account & snowball towards debt. I have a haircut scheduled for Wednesday but I’ll use my “blow” money as its more than hubby spends on his haircuts. His are $12 while mine are almost $50 so I consider it my guilty pleasure & that shouldn’t come out of the normal budget.
Lunches are planned from the freezer & we’ll have dinners from the pantry/fridge. This weekend we have plans both Saturday & Sunday for events out with my hubby’s coworkers. Sunday is a board of education event that shouldn’t cost us anything & both events will be a great chance to hang out with them. He really loves his job & I am excited to spend more time with them.
We almost have $1,000 towards the adoption fund so far!
Yay, $1,000 – What a great start. I like it that you took the $100 and put it towards debt. You’ll get to your goal in no time !