For the past week I have REALLY been wanting to shop. I hate when this feeling strikes. I don’t want to go clothes shopping, although that would be fun to. I want to shop for my house. It has been forever since I went on a shopping adventure to buy things for my home. Oh…
What the heck is she talking about you ask. I’m talking about the outrageous amount of money my family spends on food. Anytime we break the budget it is due to eating out, buying Redbulls or other food and beverage splurges. Typically I budget $500 a month for groceries and we typically spend about $400…
Back in the day before I moved to the boonies I use to LOVE Starbucks. I worked for AT&T for many years and if you ever noticed they are almost always located right by a Starbucks so you can only imagine how many vanilla lattes and caramel macchiatos I have had over the last 10 years.…
I visited one of my local libraries the other day because I wanted to do a little more research on blogging but didn’t want to spend money on a book. I was surprised at how much this small town library had to offer. I have always been a fan of the library. But man they…
I have been in a major cooking rut the past month or so. I can’t even tell you what I have been cooking because I seriously have no idea. I am trying to put together next weeks meal plan and I really need to focus on eating healthy and fresh. Especially since it’s a holiday…
For the first time in MY WHOLE LIFE I have maintained an emergency fund. It’s sad to admit that I have never been a very good saver. Since the hubby and I have decided to take on Dave Ramsey’s baby step program we have been able to keep our “baby” emergency fund of $1000 in…
I have made some dumb financial decisions in my 20’s but one thing that I have done correctly is plan for retirement. I have no idea what inspired me at 21 to start saving 10% of my income but I did. A few times I have considered taking a distribution from my retirement accounts but thank…
Since I have started following a strict monthly budget I have had to really start paying attention to my spending habits. In the past you could have caught me cruising the aisles at Target to waste time. The problem was I wasn’t just wasting time I was wasting money to! In the past 2 months I…
I admit it… I am addicted! Its consuming my time and energy. Couponing. I can’t help it, its like a high getting a good deal. And it’s so challenging! What’s amazing is I am buying things I actually am in need of right now and I am getting some really great deals. Todays trip was my best…
As I am learning more about couponing I am figuring out that my expectations were to high. Here are a few things I have earned. Most “couponers” still pay for things, they get great deals but not everything is FREE– I thought with coupons you would be stocking up your closets with lots of FREE things.…
Life in the Orchard 