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 an okay day yesterday. Kayla went back to school because she felt better. My hubby, Ro on the other hand hasn’t been feeling well. His heart has been intermittently racing and seems to be getting worse. We scheduled an appointment for the cardiologist for yesterday and found out that he has a syndrome that requires a heart surgery to fix. They will need to insert a catheter and go through a vein to fix his problem. My sister, who is a nurse assures me that it’s not a big deal, but it’s still kind of scary for us. We have a consultation in the city on Tuesday. The surgery will be at the same hospital where my mom was operated on (she had a stroke 4 days after coming home and still can’t speak). That makes me nervous, but is surgery is nothing like what she had to have. We’ll see what happens on Tuesday, but it sounds like it will easily fix the problem with very minimal risk.
Yesterday was a no spend day. Ro wasn’t up to doing much of anything so we ate all meals at home. Dinner was leftovers and was still pretty good. I basically cuddled with the girls. I earned 138 Swagbucks and hit my 14 day goal, so I’ll earn a 100 SB bonus for that by Feb 5th. I also did a survey for another company after the girls went to bed. I scheduled a pick up with my favorite freecycler for Monday. She has a few things to give me including a new 3 piece set of bathroom rugs, drinking glasses + a few other things. I read a few FREE Kindle books with the girls before they went to bed. I got my Bath & Body order yesterday. That was a decent deal. I got 18 foaming hand soaps and a 3 wick candle (really nice) for only $25 shipped. I used a $25 gift card that I got from Discover Rewards awhile back to pay for it so it was $0 out of pocket.
Looking forward to a good weekend. Ro did get some relief from some newly prescribed medication, so hopefully he’ll start feeling better until he can get the permanent fix. The poor guy :(. I hope you guys have something fun planned this weekend.
What did you do? Leave a comment We’d love to hear about it You could make 2014 your year. Who will the February winner be ? We’ll see…
I am a mom who has paid off $111,500 in debt in less than 4 years by saving money at the stores and putting all of our extra $ on debt. Subscribe to 
Sorry to hear about Ro. It is always stressful when anyone you love needs surgery. I made my swagbucks goal for the whole month of January. I’m cashing out for paypal and putting it all on debt. I feel like we’ve been underwater in debt for the past year. We had legal issues, unexpected surgery not covered by insurance, and we needed a new furnace. As soon as our tax refund gets here (I’ve already filed) we should be back on top again and ready to pay off our car in 3 months. I haven’t commented in a long time, but I read every single day!
So sorry to hear about Ro. Paid bills yesterday but it felt great to not rob from Peter to pay Paul like we would have done two years ago. No spend day and all meals at home.
Sorry to hear about Ro. I have tachycardia myself and take meds everyday. They can do surgery to fix it but I don’t know. I’ll just keep taking my meds. Only money spent was for our weekly groceries and gas for our cars. Paid some bills and paid off another debt! Went to a party last night for a friend so dinner was free. No swag and no mail.
Yay, Jennifer you paid off another debt!!
Karen,
Prayers for Ro’s heart and surgery plus prayers for peace for you through whole process.
Paid all bills. Ordered a t-shirt from ll bean, free ship had a $10 gc.
Ate left over chili and cornbread for dinner.
Lunch was Panda Express, 2 free orders of firecracker chicken. Plus got a 3 entree with veggie
1 free entree for taking survey, added rice at home. ($9.47 to feed 4)
Grabbed a couple $5 Friday deals at Safeway.
Borrowed some books from a friend
Talked to a potential renter about the house.
Adding your rental to my prayer list.
Prayers for your family, Karen. Bought lunch at work for $3.25 but no other spending. Entered coke points. Took a few bags of free snacks home from work. Got a $425 check reimbursing us for er expense
After doctor misdiagnosed my son’s broken neck last spring. She had a drinking problem and wAs fired. Put it in my son’s account. That should pay for his gas for awhile which will be a nice break.
Got out of my house for several hours. Other than going to work, I’ve mostly been staying home and had a touch of cabin fever. Took care of some errands and even stopped at the Goodwill. Got a great deal on a new grill cover, which was on our list of things we needed to replace.
Prayers for Ro and your entire family.
Sorry to hear about Ro, anything big or small goign on with ur hubbys health is so unsettling. Hugs.
Paired coupons with grocery ad saved 56% . Got a few items for stockpile, and a few things that should credit to my saving star account. Also noticed a dollar had been added to my saving star from earlier in month shopping.
Paid a little on a doctor bill. used a gift card at fabric store. I got vday fabric. I like to dress my littles for holidays.
Focusing on electric use, Im turning of everylight I see unused and trying to stay on top of thermostst….it creeps up . I have no idea how to actually program it.
I hope everything goes well for Ro and he has a fast recovery. Today was a no spend day we will be doing our regular grocery shopping tomorrow since its supposed to snow on monday. We put an offer in on a house today but the owner will probably not get it till Monday so keep your fingers crossed for us. We would have liked to get it in before too many people got a chance to see the house since its priced extremely well and its huge. Nothing moving on our house currently but we will be getting a recommendation from our realtor for someone to do the short sale.
Adding Ro to my prayer list. My dad recently had heart surgery so I totally understand the stress and worry. Finally made it to the grocery store. Starting to restock the pantry and get things for
our super bowl party. Will be baking and cooking most of the day. Paid bills since it was payday.
At lunch stocked up with food so was expensive . Did use a few coupons. Dinner out expensive also. Boo! Need to get back in the game.