Surviving At Home

For the last several months I have been stressing a little about budgeting our money better. I’m not sure I like being in charge of the household finances when the quarterly bonus checks aren’t as big as they used to be!

So we’ve been trying to cut down on miscellaneous expenses, which means that mom (aka me) hasn’t spent much money on fall clothes or things that she needs. I’m much more prone to put gas in the car or pay for school trips than to buy myself a pair of shoes. Instead, I cut the loose threads and continue on with my day.

(Just so you know, this sounds like a much worse picture than it actually is! We’re simply cutting household costs…not dumpster diving for food…)

Enter the email from Bass shoes offering us 30% off our purchase during their sale this weekend. Add in the $10 off coupon we received last month when my hubby bought some shoes for work. PLUS, as if those two things weren’t good enough, the clogs I wanted were marked down 50% in-store. Yes, clogs sound boring and are probably a typical staple in “the mom uniform” but those things are the most comfy shoes I own!!

So let’s do the math…

$70 shoes marked down to $35 - 30% off coupon = $24.50 – $10 coupon = $14.50 – $3.00 because I used my points card = $11.50!! OK…add in another $10 for 3 new pairs of socks and we’re back up to $21.50 but still…an AWESOME deal!!

So right now Bass is my new best friend as is Van Heusen where I’ve also gotten great coupon deals (the two companies must somehow be related because I usually get a VH coupon from Bass).

Mama’s got a new pair of shoes and not feeling guilty about it!!

This past May I became a work at home mom (WAHM). I was thrilled to join the ranks after following so many other well-known WAHMs on various forums during the last two years and I am dreaming of the day when I can acutally make a profit doing something that I love.

Working from home can be a dream for many women, especially those with small children, but did you ever give any thought as to how to make the most of your profits? Do you struggle through the tax forms yourself each year or do you hire a professional? Do you have any idea what kind of exemptions you can take as a WAHM?

On Friday, October 26th at 12 noon CST, certified financial planner Kristine McKinley is hosting a free teleseminar to discuss exactly those topics…how to maximize your profits and how to minimize your taxes as a work at home mom.

I enjoy reading Kristine’s blog and emails because she provides very simple answers for topics that could get very complicated. I am no math genius and the idea of working with numbers all day sounds like torture, but even I can understand the basic principles of what she’s teaching. And she must be good if she was part of a feature in a local newspaper, right?

To get the call information, simply register here. I’ll see you on Friday!

My checkbook has been open every week since school began and I have all of $2 in quarters in my wallet. Even though I’m in charge of the school’s fall fundraiser, I always forget to allow for all the “extra” costs that are associated with back to school.

I’m not talking school supplies because I hit paydirt with some of the penny sales during the summer. These September expenses are the things that we seem to forget about: PTA dues, subscriptions to classroom magazines, school pictures , field trip money or deposits, and the multitude of fundraisers.

Being a fundraising mom in a public school, I fully understand that the money stays in the school and pays for specialized programs that benefit ALL the students. For that, I am proud to be involved. And I know that the PTA is not allowed to carry over vast amounts of funds from the previous year so in September we have to start raising money all over again. But it can be hard to manage the influx of paper and requests before getting the “your account is overdrawn” message from the bank.

Here are some quick and easy tips for supporting your school while not breaking your budget:

1. Pick and choose which fundraiser you want to support. Many schools have multiple fundraisers so don’t feel like you must contribute to each one.

2. Send in a cash donation. This way 100% of your contribution goes to the school and you don’t have miscellaneous items that you won’t use cluttering your home.

3. Determine the amount you want to give BEFORE browsing through any catalogs. Write out that check first or have the money in hand before you get sucked into spending more than you have in the bank.

4. Volunteer your time. This won’t cost you a dime out of pocket but will make you feel good that you’re helping your school community.

Here’s to a happy school year!

Everybody knows what coupons are and if your mailbox looks like mine, then most days it’s overflowing with sales ads and coupons for various stores. I deem most of these papers annoying junk mail but I still cut out the grocery coupons religiously.

Today was my shopping day and I headed out after the torrential rainstorm ended. Normally I’m pretty organized with a weekly menu plan, shopping list, and necessary coupons. These are the weeks I’m able to save $50+ on my grocery bill. But I’m only human, so today I went armed with half a list and the sales flyer.

My best buy in the store today was on Paul Newman’s lemonade. Now, many coupon experts would probably argue that this wasn’t a “best buy” because this is not usually a product that I purchase, but my kids and I enjoy lemonade so whether it comes from a powder mix or a cold container, it will still get used in my house.

So the regular price was $2.69 – $1.00 store sale = $1.69. OK, not a bad price. THEN…I found my coupon! It was only .50 off but doubled that gave me $1 off, so I got a half gallon of lemonade for .69 !! Plus I had two coupons so I bought 2 containers. Not bad!

I’ve become much more aware of sale prices by scanning the grocery flyers. Yes, this may be an obvious move, but before we decided to really watch our pennies, I always just threw this “junk mail” in the recycle bin. Now I carefully check the $1 items and I try my best to find the coupons for items that are on sale that week.

I think a lot of manufacturers fake out consumers by requiring multiple items purchased in order to get a measley .50 off. If these are items that will be consumed in your house, then try to store them and not buy as many on your next trip. And be sure to check out the “amount saved” on  your grocery receipt…to see $25-$35 savings can really brighten your day!