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 $25 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:  We had a decent day yesterday.  We were really excited to pick up 2 end tables and a coffee table from someone on Craigslist.  The people were relocating to New York and I couldn’t help but notice that one of their cars was a Mercedes and the other was a Jaguar.  Lets just say that their hand me downs are now our treasures-ha ha.  The tables we bought are solid rosewood and extremely well made.   We paid $100, but I can’t even imagine how much the whole set is worth. I looked online and just one table was around $600 on the sites I looked at.   Ro surprised me and got the whole room pulled together while I was out.  The only thing we need is a set of lamps and then it’s done.  I’ll take a picture when it’s finished.

We went to my sister’s house for dinner.  I brought some veggies and dip.  The girls stayed overnight at her house for a sleepover.  I left at around 9pm.  Ro and I ran over to the store to get a few things for their baskets.  I also picked up the cutest little bunny cakes that were on sale at Acme for only $5.99.  I bought 2.  One is for my brother’s family and the other is for my sister’s house where we will be eating Easter dinner.  The mail didn’t include much.  I earned 136 Swagbucks and did a few surveys.  I also posted the drugstore deals for all of us and watched  Suze Orman.  It was a good day.

Happy Easter my friends !

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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:  We had a productive/fun day yesterday.  Ro had to work at night instead of his usual day shift.  The kids were off to, so it felt more like a weekend day.  We ate all meals at home.  I made a yummy wholesome apple cinnamon pancake recipe for dinner that I just sort of made up as I went along.  The pancakes were SO good.  I wrote the recipe down quickly because it was a keeper.  I’ll post it if you guys want it.  After  Ro went to work I got into cleaning mode.  The girls and I cleaned a good bit of the downstairs. 

After dinner we picked up my nephew and headed to the bowling alley.  It took the kids quite awhile to bowl one game, so that’s all we did there.  It only cost $2 per game including shoes, so $6 total.  I did take them to Turkey Hill afterwards for an Icee.  We got one free, so I think my total was like $1.63 for 3 of them.  I ran into the grocery store quickly afterwards just to snag the FREEbie Friday deals from SavingStar.  After cash back I’ll get free tomato paste and Oikos yogurt.  I earned 167 Swagbucks yesterday.  I met both goals, but then decided that I wanted to get to 12000 SB’s, which I did.  I’m deciding which gift cards I want to cash out for :).

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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: We had a busy, family fun day yesterday !  We started out by going picking up my nephew and heading to a  FREE Easter egg hunt including a beautiful brunch.  They also had sand art, pin the tail on the bunny etc… The kids each left with about 20 eggs filled with all kinds of cool little toys and a little candy.  It was great.  From there we went to the park for a few hours so they could run around a little.  I also stopped to pick up 2 bags of Spring/Summer clothes for the girls from my Freecycle friend.  We were so busy yesterday we didn’t even have time to check them out yet. 

We splurged on Domino’s for dinner because they had medium pizzas on sale for only $3.99 + I won free chicken via the sweepstakes I posted about the other day.  That made the dinner grand total $4.23 with tax.  I was pretty happy with that. After dinner the girls were invited over to their friend’s house to dye and decorate Easter eggs.  They also did lots of other fun activities.  After all of yesterday’s fun they literally fell into bed when they got home.   I met my first goal on Swagbucks, which was good enough for me :).  Ro and I have been contemplating what to do with our living/sitting room when you first walk into our house.  There was a treadmill in there, so it didn’t exactly look homey and inviting.  Well finally, the treadmill got moved downstairs and the loveseat was moved upstairs.  We found an end table/coffee table set on Craigslist that we’re going to look at on Saturday.  It looks to be a well made set and is extremely reasonable.  I think after a few pictures we be all set for the room.  It already looks much better and when all is said and done it should be a fraction of the cost we had budgeted for it.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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 better day yesterday.  I woke up with a headache and my neck still hurt, but the symptoms were diminished and I think I’m on the road to recovery (hopefully).  I seriously think the symptoms are related to giving up diet soda.  I’m hoping to feel totally better today.  Anyway that being said, I did save some money yesterday.  I got a few things at the grocery store, but stuck to sales and used coupons.  I picked up a coffee at Wawa for FREE because they were celebrating their 50th anniversary.  I was notified that I won free chicken from Domino’s.  I hope some of you won too because I posted about the opportunity.  I made all meals at home.  I made meatloaf, cole slaw mac n cheese and peas for dinner.  I also made healthy chocolate peanut butter eggs for dessert.  They were good and healthy.  

I took the kids over to my sister’s house after dinner so the kids could play.  They had a blast.  I did a little side job that earned me about $90.  I entered 1100 free Kellogg’s reward points (scroll down for them).  I was awarded 480 Swagbucks for a hotel stay that Ro took last month.  That meant I didn’t have to bother much with Swagbucks yesterday.  I earned another 49 points, but I left it alone for much of the day.  I did earn my 15 daily Bing points.  It was a good, productive day but I didn’t make it to get Easter basket treats.  I have most of what I need, but I may pick up a little more.  Maybe I can get there one night after they go to bed.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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 felt terrible ALL day yesterday, so I didn’t leave the house.  I still have a crushing headache and a stiff neck.  It hurt so bad all day long again.  At least it was a no spend day.  I did meet my first goal on Swagbucks, but I didn’t care about doing any more than that.   Ugggh, I hope I start feeling better today.  It sounds like some of you have the same symptoms.  I was thinking that my issues were because I recently gave up diet soda.  I figured it was withdrawal or something.  I don’t know now.  I hope you all have a great savings day.  I NEED to feel better today because the twins are done school for the week after today and I need to get the rest of what I need for their little Easter baskets.  Here’s hoping

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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 felt kind of lousy all day yesterday.  I woke up with a stiff neck and had a bad headache all day.  I also felt kind of nauseous too.  I’ve switched up my diet lately, so I don’t know if it’s withdrawal (from caffeine or diet soda) or what ?! That darn free coffee offer at McDonalds is over, so I guess I’m having caffeine withdrawal - ha ha.   I went to bed a little earlier than usual in the hopes that today will be a better day.  I made all meals at home.  I also made a fancy dessert with help from my little helpers.  I earned 156 Swagbucks yesterday since I hung around the house for most of the day.  I took the girls over my sister’s house after dinner so they could hang out with their cousins.  They had a fun time playing while we chatted.  I didn’t do any surveys last night.  I took it easy and went to bed :( .  I’ll have to make up for it today…

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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:  It was a beautiful day around here yesterday.  We made the most of it by taking the kids to the park for a few hours.  I also met my parents to lunch because they asked me to and I wanted to see them anyway.  I made everyone else lunch at home and I made taco salad for dinner.  I ran to the grocery store just to get meat (there’s one store by me that has the best quality and prices on meat).  We have everything we need for the week now.  I planned out meals for the next few days.  I am trying to stay away from processed foods when possible, so it takes a bit more planning.  I met my first goal on Swagbucks, but that took some doing since we spent a lot of time outdoors.  I downloaded a few FREE books to my Kindle.  I also did a few surveys before going to bed.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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 good day yesterday.  I did a lot of de-cluttering around here yesterday.  We get so much paper from the girl’s school, so I have to thin it out every week.  I made delicious all natural  orange creamsicle smoothies for the girls and I yesterday.  I also took them to a birthday party for a good friend’s son who turned 8.  They had the party at Bounce U and everyone had a great time.  On the way home I took them to BJ’s with me to get some food to start our week.  They have the best prices on lunchmeat, so I try to get over there when I can. 

All meals were made at home.  Ro was tempted to go out to get chips to go with lunch, but I made air popped popcorn.  It was healthier and a whole lot cheaper.  The mail included a few free magazines and a few free samples.  The weather was really mild, so of course the heat was off and the windows were open.  I finished up a Lent project with the girls that is due tomorrow.  We got all of that cleaned up and they got to bed around 9.  We had company, but I still managed to get the drugstore deals done while I watched Suze Orman.  It was a productive day.  I hope yours was good too !

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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:  Yesterday was a pretty good day.  I spent a good bit of time trying to figure out how to get the website back together.  It’s mostly good now, but there are some glitches that still have to be worked out with the way it looks.  I did my frugal $5 deals.  I was able to get 4 packs of FREE markers at Walmart with the coupon from last week’s newspaper + a few other great items.  I had a little free time early on in the day because I couldn’t post to the website so I filled my time with cooking.  I’m trying to cook and eat more natural, home cooked foods.  I made 2 loaves of honey wheat bread.  I also made 2 large homemade pizzas.  I made homemade dough and sauce.  The pizza was SO good.  I’m doing the low carb thing, so I only had one piece, but it was delicious.

I managed to hit my goals for Swagbucks and earned 143 SBs.  I also got an email that included a $10 ECB from CVS for completing an online survey for them.  I’m working on a scenario to use it on in combination with a $5/$25 coupon that was emailed to me yesterday.  I got some items from Amazon that I ordered.  I used a free gift card that I earned on Swagbucks.  I am trying to “build my pantry” with some organic spices and other items.  It really helps to get these things for free.  I actually got them right before dinner and used them on the pizza that I made.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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:  Unfortunately I’m having major website issues and can’t access my admin page to post to the site. I can only add to this post via my cell phone. This is the reason for the lack of posts yesterday. I was trying to figure out a solution to the newsletter delivery problem and apparently I managed to create a bigger problem.   That’s my kind of luck these days ha ha.   Please share your progress today. I can still view your comments. I was with my mom all day yesterday so it was a no spend day and all meals were made at home.  I did manage to earn 124 Swagbucks. I also did a survey after giving the twins a bath and packing their lunches for today. 

I have somebody working to help me solve the problem so hopefully I’ll be up and running soon. Happy Friday !!

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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:  Yesterday was a pretty good day even though it wasn’t too exciting.  My first stop once again was to go to McDonalds for a free coffee.  I’ve been able to save lots of K-cups with this promotion. It ends on Sunday though (boo).  I ran to Walmart to do some deals and get some supplies.  I used a credit on Amazon to get some kitchen items for free.  All meals were made at home.  I made a yummy chicken and salad dish for dinner.  I also made popcorn over the stove for a snack for everyone.  It’s such an inexpensive, healthy snack.  I just used a little olive oil and sea salt for seasoning.

I earned 139 Swagbucks yesterday.  I was able to meet my first goal.  The mail included 2 free magazines and a free sample of Sundown multi-vitamins.  I did a few surveys after the girls went to bed.  I also packed their lunches for today.  I got our new electric bill last night (via email) and I was shocked at how much lower it was.  I’ve been doing some little money saving things in order to lower the bill (turning the heat off on a warmer day + other things), but I was really pleasantly surprised at the difference considering it’s still been pretty cold around here.  The bill was just about 1/2 as much as the previous month’s bill.  Hey, I’m not complaining ha ha.

I was informed by several readers that something has gone wrong with the newsletter delivery.  Apparently it hasn’t gone out since Friday.  I’m playing with it and trying to figure it out.  Keep in mind I’m not the most technologically advanced person, but I’m trying.  Hopefully it will go out today…we’ll see.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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:  After getting the girls on the bus I ran to McDonald’s to snag a free coffee (this is the last week for this promotion).  I ran into the grocery store to get 2 ingredients that I needed for a new recipe I was making for dinner.  I stuck to the 2 items and got out of there.  I ran into 2 Rite Aid stores to see if they had the Monopoly Jr. game that I posted.  I bought one at each store (I left some on the shelves for future shoppers:).  Each game cost $1.31 with tax.  I’m going to keep one for the girls and stash the other one in the gift closet.  My dad invited me to lunch and insisted on paying.  I went to a different CVS and finally found 6 All detergents.  I had some ECB’s to roll over, so I think I spent a few $’s OOP and I left with a new $5 ECB.

I got a trash bag sample in the mail and a $5 rebate check.  I earned 124 Swagbucks and my 15 Bing points.  I made all meals at home.  Dinner was a new recipe and delicious (and healthy-bonus).  I spent time outside with the kids after dinner.  I took them to Turkey Hill for an Icee.  They have them on sale for $.79 each right now.  They enjoyed it.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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 decent day yesterday.  I went and did a few grocery store deals to get things for the girl’s lunches.  I stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts for a free medium iced tea and McDonalds for a free small coffee.  I didn’t buy anything extra.  I just picked up my FREEbies.  I spent the rest of the day (until the girl’s got home) hanging out with Ro.  He had a follow up with his regular cardiologist.  It was a good appointment.  We originally planned on going out for lunch before or after the appointment, but in the end I made us both lunch at home.  I was happy to save the $20+ that lunch out would have cost.  I tried to go to CVS to get 5 of the All detergents, but the CVS store close to my house was already sold out (grrr).  I’ll have to go to a few others today before they are out everywhere.  All meals were made at home.  I have chicken defrosted for tonight’s dinner.

I earned 126 Swagbucks yesterday.  I spent a good part of the day at home, so it was easier to earn them.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year.  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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 good little savings day yesterday.  A new A.C. Moore opened up in the town near mine, so they gave out $10 gift cards to the first 50 customers. They also gave me a large tote bag and a LEGO set that I stashed in the gift closet.   I got up early and headed on over.  The girls have a Lent poster board project to do for school and I needed some supplies for it.  I was able to get everything we need for free using the gift card.  They also had Webkinz on sale for only $1, so I was also able to pick up one for each of them to stash in their Easter Baskets.  I am on my way to once again being able to put their Easter baskets together for free.  I like making silly little challenges like that for myself.  On the way home I picked up a free cup of coffee from McDonalds.  I also ran into the Dollar Tree to grab 4 newspapers for coupon purposes.  There are a bunch of great coupons in this weeks paper (like the Crayola coupon I posted about last night).

We had 2 birthday parties to go to yesterday.  The first one was for one of the girl’s classmates.  They got to choose and paint a piece of pottery.  They both chose puppies.  We came home for about an hour and then headed over to my brother’s house to celebrate his birthday with him.  It was nice to have all of the cousins get together.  They had a great time.  We ate dinner over there.  It was a very frugal weekend.  We didn’t spend much at all and we had tons of fun.  

I have LOTS of deals planned for this week.  I printed and cut out some coupons last night.  I wasn’t home much yesterday, so I had a really hard time meeting even my first Swagbucks goal.  I did it, but it was rough.  I think the goal was 98 and I only had 12 after tucking in the girls.  It was kind of a chore last night actually.  I did manage to pack the girls lunches for today and make up a new bottle of detangler for the week.  It was a fun day.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year. The winner of the March WHYD contest was Amanda ! Congrats !  Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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:    We had a decent day yesterday.   We found out recently that Ro’s work gets a 15% discount on our cell phone plan.  We went over and signed up for that.  It should save us about $10 per month, but $10 is $10.  I printed off a coupon to save $5 off of a $5 purchase at Sears or Kmart.  We went and used it last night because the girls have a birthday party today, so we had to get a gift.  They start the spring uniforms at their school tomorrow, so we went to the uniform store to get a few things.  I can get everything else I need at the uniform exchange at the school in a few weeks.  At least they have some new things to mix with the hand me downs.  We went out to lunch yesterday.  It cost $27 including a tip for the 4 of us, which isn’t too bad.  Ro went on a bike ride with the girls because it was a beautiful day outside.

I earned 136 Swagbucks and completed a few surveys.  I went through the pantry and freezer and planned out some meals for this week.  I also posted the drugstore deals for all of us for this week.  I watched Suze Orman and earned my 15 Bing points for the day.  We are looking to spruce up our sitting room.  We really only have a couch in there.  Ro wants to get some end tables and possibly another table.  We went to look at a discount furniture store, but the prices still seemed too high for what we wanted to do.  We came home and I hunted around on Craigslist.  I’m going to make it my mission to get what we need for about 1/3 of the price they would have been.  We’ll see how I do.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year. Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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 did my little frugal $5 Friday errands.  I went to Target among other places and managed to get quite a few things for $5.  I did have a few free product coupons, so that helped.  I think I ended up with 3 or 4 bags of groceries for just under $5.  I was happy with that.  I won a Bic 4 color pen in the sweepstakes that I posted about yesterday.  I got my FREE coffee from McDonalds and FREE Skittles from Hess.  The mail was boring.  I paid the mortgage.  I added an extra $50 to the payment. It’s not much, but I had to pay the last tuition payment  for the year for Olivia and Kayla.

The girls had a playdate with their little best friends at one of the girl’s houses.  They did crafts and went out to dinner.  They also went to an arcade.  I think they tried to go bowling, but there were no available lanes.  They were so exhausted when they came home that they almost went straight to bed.  Ro and I did run over to a restaurant near the house to have a little something while they were gone.  It was pretty reasonable.  Ro’s trying to do the low carb thing with me, but he wasn’t happy about it at dinner ha ha. 

I earned 156 Swagbucks yesterday.  The goals were set extra high yesterday, but I did barely hit both goals. Swagbucks awarded the March monthly bonuses.  I earned a bonus of just under 700 Swagbucks.  I was happy with that.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year. Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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 good day yesterday.  I hung out with my mom so my dad could work.  We watched all of  her favorite shows.  That was a treat for me since our cable is still out in our family room.  Hopefully it will get fixed today.  We’ve had a rough(ish) week around here.  Ro went to a meeting at work yesterday and was informed that his company is downsizing some of their benefits. The job is already plenty difficult, so he may start looking for another job.  That’s pretty stressful for us.  Plus the dryer still isn’t all the way fixed and the cable issues.  Also, the girls are apparently having a little bit of trouble focusing at school.  Olivia is showing some signs of having test anxiety.  Part of the problem is that with all of the snow that we’ve had the school cut out snack time and recess every day, so the kids have longer stretches of time that they have to pay attention.  I feel bad for them.  We are working on strategies to hopefully help them.  Well, I know those problems are really small compared to what some people go through so I know we’re lucky.

All meals were made at home yesterday and it was a NO spend day.  I earned 138 Swagbucks yesterday and I did a few surveys.  I got another free cup of coffee from McDonalds.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year. Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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 decent day yesterday I guess.  I ran to McDonalds to get a free coffee (a small is free for 2 weeks).  I did a few good deals at my local grocery store.  My dad came over to help out with our dryer, which wasn’t drying clothes.  For some reason there was a ton of water in the vent.  He got it all cleaned out and the clothes are drying much better, but the check vent light came on again last night so I don’t know what’s up.  We still don’t have a picture on our living room TV.  We know it needs a new HDMI cord and my neighbor has an extra one, but he didn’t get home from work until late last night so he didn’t have time to come over.  I’ve watched much less TV than usual these last few days and actually it’s been ok.  I think I can go another day or two if need be.  A friend from my old job came to visit.  I made us both sandwiches and gave him chips.  We had a nice time chatting and catching up.  He brought his 6 month old little girl.  It was a nice time.

The girls and I met my parents over my sister’s house for a nice dinner.  She made meatballs, spaghetti and salad.  I didn’t have the pasta, but the salad and meatballs were delicious.  I’m starting to feel a little better from losing a little weight.  You can see it a little in my face, which is encouraging.  My friend noticed at lunch.  It will be nice to be at least a little lighter before the hot weather is upon us in a few months.  I earned 124 Swagbucks.  I also earned my full allotted points on Bing.  I completed a survey and applied for a Smiley360 mission.  I also did some cleaning in the kitchen.  My mom actually showed me that an orange degreasing cleaner I bought at the Dollar Tree works wonders on stainless steel.  Our fridge is terrible with the finger prints, but it really helped.  You can’t beat that cleaner for $1.  Grab some and try it if you get the chance.  It’s called Totally Awesome Orange Degreaser.  Let me know what you think.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year. Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…

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 $25 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:    We had a pretty good day yesterday.  We spent the morning in the city for a follow up for Ro’s heart procedure in early February.  They did an echocardiogram and determined that his heart has gone back to near normal strength already.  The doctor said that he must have been in a rapid heart rate nearly constantly for a long time for it to have done that much damage and then to have recovered so quickly.  Anyway, it was a good appointment, but it took a majority of the day.  We paid for parking and stopped for lunch on the way home. 

We have a few issues around here with things not working properly.  The cable in our living room isn’t working so we can’t watch TV (in that room anyway, but it’s our favorite room).  The dryer is also taking all day to dry one load of clothing.  I think we have it figured out that we need a new HDMI cord for the TV and that possibly the dryer vent is clogged ?!  We’ll see, but hopefully we can get both of these things fixed today.  Ro has a few things that he wants to get for the house.  It always makes me anxious when there is an open ended amount of money needed for something.  Yesterday on our trip to the city we agreed upon a budget and I’m just going to have him get what he needs within that budgeted money.  That way we’re both happy.  I know how much we’re spending and he gets to get what he wants and to plan out how much he wants to spend on each item.  He’s back to work today, so it’s back to business for me

I earned 116 Swagbucks yesterday, which barely earned me my first goal.  I was happy just to get it done though.  With the amount of time we were out of the house it took awhile to reach my goal.

What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it  You could make 2014 your year. Who will the April winner be ? We’ll see…