** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.
Cents of Style is bringing us deals all week long to get a jump on Black Friday shopping (and to keep us social distant- online shopping FTW!).
The new Cecilia Swing Dress is here and IT IS GLORIOUS! Pure perfection! It’s finally here and ready for the holidays! From family pics to holiday parties, this dress is a must-have on our list! This dress checks ALL the boxes- it’s comfy AND cute which is the perfect combo in our humble opinion and comes in sizes Small – 3X and 10 amazing colors.
And it gets better because it’s ONLY $12.99?!!! Remember to use the coupon code FUSSFREE.
This deal won’t be around forever! It’s only good through 11/30/20 at midnight. I snagged a couple this morning: One for me and two as gifts!
I did not go grocery shopping for this week over the weekend. The craziness of Thanksgiving shoppers and increased traffic to stores has made me back off a bit. I made a quick trip for bread on Friday night, but that’s it. The store was packed and everyone was too close for my comfort. I grabbed my bread and booked it.
This week focuses a lot on what we already have. I may run to the store to fill in some blanks. We are running low on eggs, coffee creamer, and salad fixings. If we could make it a whole week without a trip to the store, I’d be amazed!
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and the fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for a kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.
This week is Thanksgiving break- the kids are home all week. Since we are in the Purple Tier as far as the county’s Covid Cases, a lot of the fun things we usually do are off the table. We will probably skip the zoo this week, even though it is open. It’s a holiday week for most of the county’s school districts, and there will be a lot more people out and about. We’ll be doing outdoor stuff where we can socially distance ourselves from others. We’ll be having a lot of leftovers from Thursday onward. Lunches will probably be protein shakes, pasta and veggies, Peanut butter sandwiches, and beans and rice.
Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.
One of the things I am digging right now is that Fetch Rewards is giving 10,000 points ($10 in points basically) when you buy $30 in Unilever products from Grocery stores. What’s making that deal even better now is that you can use coupons when you buy these products. Here are some Unilever brand coupons:
I posted here last month with some legit survey companies, and a few more have come to my attention. I’m here to help you live your best frugal life, so I gotta share!
Survey Roundtable is a community where you can share your honest opinion about the products and services you use every day and get rewarded for taking surveys.
Sharing your opinions can earn you real rewards you can use anywhere! Their rewards program grows every day, all depending on what our members most want to earn.
To make the most of your opinions, you’ll first take a Personality Survey. It’s how we target our surveys to your needs and interests.
Here’s what our virtual debit cards ($10 and up) currently have up for grabs: Amazon.com, Banana Republic, Barnes and Noble, GAP Brands, Regal Theaters, and more.
With Opinions4Good, you earn points by providing feedback on a variety of different research topics.
Once you reach $10, you’ll be automatically paid out the following month directly to your verified PayPal account.
Earn your first $2 filling out your member profile, which Opinions4Good will use to send you surveys that match your interests.
And if you are looking for more legit ways to make money (and no Pyramind schemes!), check out my side hustles post here.
The first two parts (Part One, Part Two) of this series talked about the essentials of how to budget. This third part is for those of you who are having a difficult time making the ends meet to get your needs met.
I’m talking about when cutting cable and going cash only for groceries isn’t enough. When you need help. When there isn’t much (or anything) to eat. When the power might be shut off. When there isn’t money to put gas in your car to get to work or job interviews.
This is the most important thing to remember: It is ok to ask for help. It is ok to seek out services and take advantage of programs. Do not worry about what others will think- This pandemic and all of the fallout that has happened has affected so many of us. So many hardworking families and individuals need a hand up right now.
A lot of the services and programs listed below are specifically for San Diego County. If you live outside San Diego County, I recommend that you call 211 anywhere in the US. They can help you find resources- all judgment free!
So when I talk about needs being met, I mean:
Shelter (Rent/mortgage assistance/utilities)
Food (Healthy food for you/your family and pets)
Comfort (Clothing, healthcare, medication)
Shelter:
If you have a mortgage, contact your lender for a forbearance. You may have to provide them with proof that you are unable to pay.
San Diego County Neighborhood Produce Distributions (This is free and all locations are drive thru/contactless. You pop your trunk, queue up, and you are given fresh produce and other essentials and you are on your way!)
Faith Chapel in Spring Valley is doing Free Food Distributions every Friday through the end of the year.
If you have kids 2-18, check with your local school district to learn more about free lunch distributions through the end of this year. This is subsidized by the USDA, and many school districts are providing breakfast and lunch for all kids 2-18.
Many food banks give out pet food as well- don’t forget to mention your furry friends when you complete your intake paperwork (which is oftentimes to find out demographic information to obtain additional funding from the government or private grants). Some do not require any paperwork at all.
Comfort: Being housed and fed is important, in addition to this I’ve added the comfort category. This includes clean, well fitting clothes, access to health care, and prescription medicines.
There are many resources for no and low cost clothing (besides thrift stores, which have become increasingly higher in cost in the past year). Naomi’s Closet, Closet on 54th, Charity’s Closet at Sonrise Church, Sharia’s Closet are all San Diego resources. I’ve been told that some Salvation Army churches offer free clothing vouchers to be redeemed at their thrift shops. Don’t forget your local Buy Nothing Group too! So many of your local neighbors are cleaning out their clothes and purging while they are stuck at home, you’d be surprised what your neighbors are will to share with you.
If you are in need of healthcare, there are several options. Medicaid/Medi-cal may be available for some. If you have had a “life event” (job separation, birth of a child, death of a spouse, marriage, etc.) you can look for health insurance in your state’s Health Insurance Exchange. Here is a link to California’s Exchange. There are frequently lower rates or discounts for those with certain income limits.
If you or family members take prescription medicines, look into discount programs like Singlecare (which you can access via the Fetch Rewards App and earn cashback/points), or GoodRX. Some pharmacies have their own discount programs too. Make sure to ask the pharmacy staff. Another option is to ask your doctor for medication samples when you are visiting them. Many doctors have medication samples in their offices, and most doctors are willing to help you when you tell them you need assistance with medication costs.
If you are an online shopper (and at this point, who isn’t?), you know that searching online for coupon codes for each and every website can be daunting.
And did you know that Amazon isn’t always the best price? But do you really have the time (or energy) to comparison shop online? No.
That’s where Smarty comes in! It’s a Chrome Extension that combs the internet for coupon codes, discounts, and even comparison shops for you!
And it works on hundreds of websites including Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Macy’s!
As a bonus: When you install the browser and refer your friends, you can earn cash back! So it’s a win-win! Everyone saves, and you get a little cash back to pad your wallet.
In our last post, I talked about the basics of starting a budget (you can read it here).
We ended with… What happens if you spend more money than you bring home? Don’t feel bad, It happens more than you would think. Living in a credit-based world, it’s easy to swipe, swipe, swipe your card and have it seem like it’s not real money.
How do you stop spending willy nilly and start saving money?
First of all, I went through our family budget line by line looking for ways to cut down on costs. This will take a little work, but it’s worth the savings. Here are a few ways that you may be able to save.
Cell Phones- I called and negotiated a new contract, and they were able to give us a small discount ($15/month).
Auto/Home Insurance- Called our insurance carrier (it’s the same for both). We went through both policies, and were able to adjust our annual mileage to lower mileage, and adjust a few things with our homeowner’s insurance to save some money too. (About $50/year)
Gas & Electric (power company)-Because of the big kids’ diagnosis, we were able to qualify for a discount. SDG&E (Our utility provider) offers several discounts. You can learn more about our experience and how we saved money here. We also take part in OhmConnect, and that saves us money and gives us cashback. You can learn more about OhmConnect here. We save about a thousand dollars a year between the programs SDG&E offers and using Ohmconnect.
Internet- We ended up changing internet providers to save money. I know that not everyone has this ability, but it’s worth a call to see if you can get a better deal. We don’t have cable or a home phone, so there are no bundling deals that can save our family money. ($5/month)
Cable- We don’t have it, but if you are thinking of cutting the cable, it’s not all static and bunny ears like in the old days. Between Apple TV (ours is really old and it works great), Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and over the air TV, we aren’t suffering. (No savings for us, but maybe some for you?)
Secondly, I take cash out for Groceries ($100/week), gas ($60/week), and fun money (funds for the kids and I to do something fun during the week- usually a snack or treat at the zoo, admission to a museum, or renting a Redbox movie. $40/week). When the money’s gone, it’s gone. For our budget/spending- this has been the game-changer. Due to quarantine/lockdown the only fun we could have was ordering take out or expensive trips to the craft supply store/Amazon to keep us entertained. Now that we have parameters for spending money, I am taking a harder look at groceries and meal planning and low-cost to no-cost ways to have fun with the kiddos.
In addition to that, I didn’t set up Apple Pay on my phone. I don’t have a credit card attached to the app store on my phone. I don’t have any credit cards set up on my Amazon Account, or my Target App, or any of the purchasing apps on my phone. If I want to buy something I have to either go to a store or sit down at my computer and enter my credit card/debit card information. Taking that extra step to purchase stuff really helps me think about what I am buying and how much I am spending.
And I’m always looking for ways to make a little extra money. Side Hustles are a real way to make money. You can invest as little or as much time as you want.
You can still have fun and live on a budget. Don’t feel like having takeout? Spend some of your fun money on a couple steaks and have a BBQ at home one week. Rent a movie on Amazon Prime, and add some dollar movie candy to your grocery list (or hit up Dollar Tree). Close the curtains/ blinds and throw some pillows and blankets on the living room floor. We call that “Movie theatre night” and the kids love it.
Living during a global pandemic you have to think outside of the box.
My next (and last) post about setting a practical budget will be ready tomorrow and it’s going to be a little more serious. What to do/where to turn when you need help with the basics: Food, Shelter, and Comfort. And what you should cut out if you are struggling. For those who are struggling right now, this is written with you in my mind and heart.
Costco is one of my favorite places to stock up on essentials. If you haven’t been in a while, it’s time to mask up and head over!
Right now there is a great deal for new memberships! Purchase a Costco Membership Activation Certificate to join as a new member and receive a Costco Shop Card.
I wrote up the meal plan for this week last night and posted it on Instagram, but I was too pooped to sit down last night and write this post.
This weekend was busy (like all weekends):
Playmobil adventures
Lego Building
Barbie shenanigans
Drawing
Writing Practice
Shopping for new clothes because a little girl grew overnight
The past few weeks I’ve been cooking larger batches of recipes, and we’ve been relying a lot on them. This week will be a “refill” week for that. A big batch of meaty red sauce, a few batches of soup made directly to go in the freezer, and I’ll be making some mire poix bags up as well. I’ll be posting on Instagram for sure.
If you have kids between 2-18, check with your local school to see if they are offering free lunches and/or breakfasts. You can also check the USDA Website– but it might be a little out of date.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.
Lunches will be whatever the kids want for the time being. The big kid has lunch at school, so it’s whatever he chooses from the lunch box in the cupboard, plus some fruit and juice or milk. Since the little girl is in the morning cohort at school, she has lunch at home. Buttered noodles, yogurt, apple slices, and a popsicle are her go-to lunch.
Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.
I’ve written about budgeting before, but now more than ever so many of us need to set up a budget that works. One that is easy to stick to. There are so many ways of doing a budget, so many styles- cash envelopes, bucket/different accounts, multiple debit cards for various budget items… It can be tricky. I’m going to be breaking down the household budget, and how it can be done, how to shave money off your household expenses, and save money without suffering or feeling like you are doomed to a life of instant ramen and tap water.
Recently I re-did the household budget after noticing that spending was…Outta Control. Here are a few things that helped me:
Track all of your outgoing expenses for three months. I made a list of all the bills, expenditures, etc., and went through the banking transactions online. Then I averaged them. Using the average for each, I plugged each one into a Google Sheets page.
Some of the categories I had are:
Mortgage (This includes impounds for our Homeowners insurance and property taxes)
Gas/Electric*
Gift Fund
Transfer to Savings
Life Insurance
Auto Insurance
Hulu
Car payment
Kids 529
Netflix
YMCA
Internet
Credit Card Balances
Student Loan Payments
Water Bill*
Groceries*
Fun Money (stuff to do with kiddos/girls nights in/date nights)*
Gasoline*
Of all of these categories, the only ones that have any difference per month are the ones I indicated with an asterisk (*). For Gas/Electric and the water bill, I averaged the cost over three months and used that amount for the budget.
The categories I included above are what is in my budget, you may have other items that my family does not. Some of the expenses such as Health Insurance and retirement savings come out of paychecks, so for our family, they are not included in our budget. You may wish to add them to your budget if you pay them directly.
Cash for some Budget Line Items: For items such as groceries, fun money, and gasoline I visit the ATM each week and take out cash. I paperclip the money for each budget line item together, and keep them separate in my wallet. When the money is gone, no more spending.
Doing cash for those line items really helps me take a hard look at shopping for groceries (this is when cash back apps, couponing, and price per unit knowledge all come in handy), and making sure that I am getting the best deal on gas (I have the gasbuddy app, it’s very useful). Any unspent money gets rolled over to the next week.
Making the ends meet: It’s important when you are adding up all expenses that once you add them up, subtract that amount from the money you bring in (wages, side hustles, selling plasma, whatever). If you are spending more than you and you should be left with some money leftover. If you come to a negative number… Bruh, we gotta talk.
Total amount leftover: $500 This leftover amount can be kept in your main account for unforeseen expenses, or move it to savings, or pay down extra on reoccurring debts (like car payment, student loans, or credit cards).
Uh, so if your number comes back negative, like this example:
Total income (including side hustles): $4500
Total household budget per month: $4600
Total amount leftover: -$100
Yeah. Bad times, my friends. That means you need to cut $100 from your budget. My next post about budgeting will go over what and how you can cut from your budget without feeling like you are suffering or living hand to mouth. I promise nothing crazy or nothing that I would not do myself if needed. And you can expect that post tomorrow.
Not all all related to setting a budget, but when I was searching for Budget stock photos, this photo of fruit salad was tagged “budget”. And I love fruit salad, so I had to include it.
** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.
I posted
The first two parts (
Food: Food insecurity is a cause near and dear to my heart, so I have all kinds of resources to share!
Comfort: Being housed and fed is important, in addition to this I’ve added the comfort category. This includes clean, well fitting clothes, access to health care, and prescription medicines.
In our last post, I talked about the basics of starting a budget (you can read it h
I’ve written about budgeting before, but now more than ever so many of us need to set up a budget that works. One that is easy to stick to. There are so many ways of doing a budget, so many styles- cash envelopes, bucket/different accounts, multiple debit cards for various budget items… It can be tricky. I’m going to be breaking down the household budget, and how it can be done, how to shave money off your household expenses, and save money without suffering or feeling like you are doomed to a life of instant ramen and tap water.
Hewes Family Fun 