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 most of the day hanging out with my mom.  She got out the hospital on Wednesday and my dad had to go into work for awhile.  We had a nice time chatting about gardening and watching daytime TV.  I didn’t have time to spend any money, so that was a bonus.  I came home just in time to get the girls off of the bus and make dinner.  I made a big salad and chicken parmesan for dinner.  Everyone cleaned their plates.  I also planted a little tree in the backyard that my parents got from their neighbor.  The trick is going to be keeping the puppy away from it until I can get a little fence later today. He’s cute, but boy is he a pain when it comes to our outdoor space.  He graduates from puppy class tonight and he is better than he was, so that’s something.

After dinner we went to my sister’s house for dessert.  Mainly we just like to get together once a week or more to hang out and catch up, so that’s what we did while the kids played.  The girls don’t have school today, so we stayed a little later than normal.  After coming home and tucking them in I did some surveys, finished up a Smiley360 mission and a Bzzz Agent Mission, answered a bunch of emails and paid some bills online. 

I’m planning some errands to do with my little “helpers” today.  We have a birthday party on Saturday for Kayla’s BFF, so we’ll have to get her something special.  We also have their Kindergarten graduation next Thursday and we need new shoes for that.  I also have to mail 3 items out for Ebay auctions that ended last night.  We made $56 – not too bad for stuff that was just sitting around collecting dust.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it You could make 2013 your year. Who will the May winner be ? We’ll see…