March week 1.

Well we spent 130$ of the food budget this week.  About half at Kroger there buy 5 save 5 and stacking with coupons. Got 5 mos of butter, cheese sliced and shredded, flour and some chicken wings for man. I make out bread and other items instead of buying boxed. Needless to say we use about 25-30 lb of flour a month. Also got Bountiful Baskets, 8 lb of organic strawberries for 17$, 5 loves of sourdough bread and a normal basket. We love Bountiful Baskets, saves us in fruits and vegetables cost during the  garden offseason and keeps us away from the store. 

The only was we saved was hanging 6 loads of laundry out to dry, 3 more dollars and less power used

March

Well I have some goals for this month. 1st use as little of my 250$ food budget. I have a deep freeze full of meat and fruit and veggies. All of my bulk storage buckets are full. Besides buying milk and bananas how much can I save. We shall see. I will be logging my weekly shopping trips and logging it here. We also have a goal to use less power. That means more drying clothes outside. At an average of 50 cents a load it should add up. We do 4-6 loads a week. 

Second we got the garden beds in for two of them it cost 124$. I hope to have them pay for themselves this season. My goal is to sell my extra produce. I live on a very busy corner and my municipality allows for farmers market sales as long as I dont go over my weeks. Seems easy enough but could be difficult. I plan on selling my produce for half of the going store price. 

Today we saved

Due to a recent procedure I had done earlier this week, I did not have the chance to make some extra funds. But we did save some. We did no grocery shopping and ate what we had at home. The weather has been in the high 60s to mid 70s this week we took advantage and used our clothes dryer. I live in a very upper middle class neighborhood, clothes lines are frowned upon. So with the gift cards I earn doing servays I bought this 

Its by no means huge but holds 1.5 loads of laundry. Every load dried out side saves .50-.75 cents. We dried three loads this week. Thats 1.50 still in my pocket this week. During the summer I expect the savingsto be more because the dryer and Air conditioning are not working agenst eachother. 

Making or saving money are they the same?

Making money, if there is one thing many people are short on today its money, the next would be time. I have been applying for jobs with little luck. So maybe its time to make my own business. I'm a full time student, homeschool my littles and might as well be a single parent. How could I find time to work. I could put my kids in school. But my state is cutting schools funding like its a gangrenous limb. Do I want to expose my kids to over crowded schools that lack appropriate funding. Most employers wont let you bring your kids to work. 

Next thought what could I do from home. I only need to make 300$ a month. So 10$ a day give or take. The amount seems so little yet so daunting. 

Saving some money

 If I could find a way to save 10$ a day, do we really need smartphone's? I go back and forth with this one. I have a screen just for rebates and coupons. In a year I probly save 300$ between them. 

Life insurance- Do I really need whole life or will term do and save the extra 40$ a month. Bringing the total I need to make down to 260$

Mending- I dont know about you or your family, but my littles are great at putting holes in socks and knees of pants. During Sunday service its rude to be on the phone, but my hands still need something to do. Here comes my wooden egg thread and needle to the rescue. Its seems silly, but maybe if I fix them they will make it till Birthday time and we wont have to pay for socks. 

Clothing Swap- this is by far my favorite way to save money. The ladys from church and my friends have a kids clothing swap. We just dont swap shoes or unders. Eww is all I have to say to swaping those two. 

Making some money 

Washing clothes- do you know anyone that hates doing there laundy. Why not offer to do it for them. Be sure to calculate in the cost of electricity and or gas. 

Glowing a garden- I dont know about you but we always end up with more zucchini and tomatoes than we can use. Even though I can it seems we have more than we can handle. If your local area allows farmers markets you may be able to sell there or from your own yard 

Yard work- Most citys have pesky laws that say you have to keep your lawn mowed. Offer to mow some lawns,its just not for kids anymore 

What Ideas do yall have?