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 $205,500 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 frugal day yesterday. I got several FREE samples in the mail including Woolite, Garnier shampoo and conditioner, Momento and Starbucks. I sold one item on Craigslist. I made all meals at home. Tonight was my last night of cooking for the next week since Ro lost our bet for this week. Ahhh, it will be nice to have a break LOL!
I paid the mini van payment. I paid an extra $2,000 on it in the hopes of getting it paid off by Christmas. We’ll see if I make it, but I find that if I make big goals I end up being more successful. Even if I don’t hit them I still end up doing better than I would have.
I didn’t spend any other money, but I’m low on gas so I will have to fill up today. It was one of my niece’s birthday a few days ago. I made her a personalized card on Cardstore.com. Her birthday gift was a combination of different make up items and jewelry. All were bought with coupons/deals or from daily deal sites. In other words everything was pulled out from the gift closet. The items were bought on sale or gotten for free, but were gathered throughout the year and saved for her.
I pulled a bunch of veggies from the garden. It’s bursting with lots of fresh veggies right now. I’m having a hard time figuring out what to do with all of these tomatoes. I’m not a huge tomato fan, but the kids like them. I put them in salad, but can you put fresh tomatoes in salsa/pasta sauce or do you have to take the skin off and seeds out ??
What did you do ? I hope you had a blessed day. Leave a comment You could be the August winner. You could make 2012 your year !
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 my FREE Daily Newsletter so that you can get my free updates and NEVER miss a deal. Thanks for visiting!
Amy L says
No spend day for us yesterday. We made all meals from home yesterday. Today I am planning on paying our mortgage and doing the weekly grocery store visit.
Beth says
I had lunch out yesterday but spent just under $10. I was with a birthday group. Made breakfast and lunch at home. I got a check-finally!- for some work I did in may, so that was nice.
Marsha says
I’ll spend a quiet day at home today organizing, cleaning, etc. and getting ready for a yard sale which will bring in extra money! I’m mailing one of my free cardstore.com cards today!
Jackie says
All I can say to you is…WOW! An extra $2000 on your van payment…I think I need to send you a personal e-maii regarding my predicament in why I can’t seem to pay things off. That is awesome.
Erika M says
wow, $2000 Karen! Congrats! we are so far off from doing something like that but we just need to keep plugging on! Just wash the tomatoes well and throw them in anything the way they are-easy! Or you could make tomato & mozzarella salad…yum!
The only reason we can send the extra $2k is that we’ve paid off the other debt, so that money has been freed up (from student loans, other car payment, credit cards etc…). Keep plugging away at it and you will see that you free up more money to ditch debt. It takes time, but it happens.
Today I plan on running to walmart and pick up the things that are under a dollar that we need for our stock pile. I did make three baskets for our friends kids that are going away to college in a few weeks of personal items. I dropped one off last night and she really loved it. I remember how it was when I went away having to buy things that I needed but not having the money to do it so I hope this helps them. I gave each child enough to last for two to three months and each basket cost me less then ten dollars to make.
That is SO nice Kimm. I know they will appreciate that for a long time 🙂 Awesome !
Fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and shredded cheese on top of pasta…our dinner last night.
$2k extra on the van..keep up the momentum that is awesome. Got my 24c sponges and free tape from Target
Thanks Christy. I actually have all of those ingredients, so that may work even though Ro is supposed to cook this week. Maybe I’ll give him a day off 🙂
Mary says
Wow, 2K extra, that is awesome and very inspiring. I cna’t do that now, but am looking forward to doing some big payments on my student loan next year. My daughter is still in daycare, 11 more months, so it isn’t possible now.
I went to a local store that is closing yesterday and got some great Christmas presents for 50-75% off. I may possibly be finished with Christmas shoppping by the end of August. 🙂
Angela W says
nice snowball karen! 🙂
I stopped at CVS for the Dove deal and the Simple facewash deal so I am stocked up! I also stopped at Target, returned a bunch of online purchases and then used my $3/1 mossimo/merona coupons i had to grab 4 clearance pieces for $22 - that made me super happy! So while it was a spending day, I spent with a purpose and with coupons - thats the keyfor me!
Jennifer W. says
A little spent yesterday. To tired to go out. Baby Teagan is doing well. He is weighing in at 5lbs13oz…… He’s not sleeping all that well but oh well……
Jennifer I was getting worried about you. Hope you are doing well. He is just a little thing 🙂 I hope he gets into a routine so you can rest. Enjoy that new little bundle. Blessings!
It was a no spend day here for us. We made all meals at home. I have been using what I can find in the pantry or freezer so I dont have so much to move in two weeks. I have some surveys to cash out in and I earned 16 Swagbucks. We got a refund check from the gas company for $161.69 for the gas left in our propane tank so that went into the ER fund. Still have a few things to list on Craigslist too.
Wow Karen, you’ll have the van paid off in no time! It was a very low spend day for me. I was also asked to work an extra shift this week, and since it fit in my schedule, I agreed. Extra money will be going toward our debt.
Jennifer G says
Congrats on paying all the extra money on the minivan. We just never seem to have any extra money laying around to pay extra on our minivan. Would love to though because we had to buy a new one last year due to a tractor trailer totaling my car. My car was fully paid off too!