Allowances -- So Far So Good

I started giving our boys allowances this year for the first time. Towards the end of last year, I started adding up all the little trips thru McDonald's for an after school drink and cookie, or to the gas station for a Slurpee, or to Blockbuster for video game rentals...it all added up to quite a bit. Since the things that the boys asked for were never big purchases or amounts of money, I almost always said yes. I mean -- what's $2 a few days a week for an after school snack? But the thing was...whenever I'd get them a treat, I'd always get something for me and my husband. Video for the boys? I'd get a movie for me and my husband -- which was usually never watched!

Then I realized that it was all adding up to a nice sum of my allowance and that the boys should start paying for these things themselves and learning that money really doesn't just grow on trees. So each week I give my 8 year old $8 and my 5 year old $5. Last week they pooled their money and rented a video game. This week's allowance is going pretty quickly. It's been working well though and I wish that I would have started it sooner.

$28.94 Spent Today

It's been a few days since I posted how much I've been spending. I'm HAPPY to say that I've been below my $40/day goal! I'm averaging $32.28/day for the month so far! One of my kiddos came down with chickenpox last week so we've been forced to stay home which means no shopping! Here are my most recent transactions!

Today, Jan. 9 - $28.94 Spent
$15.94 pizza for dinner
$13 kids allowances

Monday, Jan. 8 - $28.90 Spent
$26.90 Groceries
$2.00 iTunes download

Sunday, Jan. 7 - $0 Spent

Saturday, Jan. 6 - $0 Spent

Friday, Jan. 5 - $63.69 Spent
$12.35 postage
$29.88 groceries
$21.46 household items

I have a couple of big transactions for next week -- haircuts and soccer registration. So, I'm trying to stay UNDER my $40/day to have the money to pay for those. Also, the Hillbilly Housewife that I mentioned yesterday has inspired me to come up with some exceptionally low cost meal plans. I need to go thru my freezer and take inventory of all the meat that is in there. I am certain that we've got enough to feed us for a couple of weeks so that I only need to buy fresh produce and lunch and breakfast items.

Cleaning out the Pantry & Refrigerator

Since one of the places I can cut back on is groceries, I've been trying to feed my family directly from what we already have in the pantry/freezer/refrigerator. I usually don't keep the pantry stocked on food that I can make a meal from, but over the weekend we pulled some things together!

First, we have a freezer full of steaks, chicken, ground beef, etc, so the meat part of our meals has been easy. It's the sides where I've had to get creative. But I was able to pull enough things out of the vegetable bin to make a salad, we had some bean and rice and some frozen veggies that worked out well. Tonight we had breakfast for dinner (which my son calls "Brunner") so that was easy too.

I found the Hillbilly Housewife on another blog and it has some good information for low cost meals. There is the $45 Emergency Menu for 4 to 6 on the website that I need to take a closer look at to see if it is food that my family would enjoy. I'll let you know what we do and see how we can tweak it and recreate our own low cost menu!

Goodbye AMEX Card...Hello Cash!

I made the switch today and gave up my American Express card to go on a cash-only spending system. It's very liberating in a way! I didn't spend any money today which is good since I've overspent the first 3 days of the month! By not spending money today, my average spending is about $42/day now. I don't have too many expenses coming up that I know of...just groceries. If anyone has any ideas for healthy, low-cost meals and snacks (especially ones that children like), please post them!

$42 Spent Today -- Getting Closer to Goal!

We used a gift certificate we'd received as a Christmas gift and went to the movies today. It was a good distraction for us following the loss of our dog yesterday. We went to the grocery store this afternoon and got things for 2 dinners and a few other things and spent $42. Good thing was that I had CASH. yeah! I didn't use my AMEX and that was a good thing. I feel like that was a step in the right direction.

Does anyone have tips you'd like to share on how to save money at the grocery store AND on low-cost meals?

$47 Spent Today -- Can 2007 Start Tomorrow??

It's been a rough day. Our 13 year old lab had to be put to sleep this morning. She had kidney failure over the weekend while we were out of town (she was with us). This morning my husband took her into the vet and putting her down was really the only and best option. With the exception of my 5 year old, who really hasn't grasped the situation, we're all taking it really hard. She had started slowing down this year but we hoped she had another year in her. Thankfully she wasn't sick long. On Saturday is when we realized that things were not right and she handled everything with grace. With our trip to the vet, I obviously didn't stay within my $40 budget, so the expenses related to that came directly out of savings and aren't being counted towards my allowance.

We did pretty good for the rest of the day all things considered. While my husband was at the vet, I took the boys out for donuts ($12.50), we had to buy crickets for our frog ($2.50), groceries (19.86) and I gave the boys their allowance ($8 for my 8 year old and $5 for the 5 year old). So...that's just under $47.

We've never done allowances before and I decided to start this year since I'm working to stay within my own allowance. I have always had a hard time saying NO to them because the things they want are after school snacks and video game rentals. Things that are $1 here and $8 there but all add up at the end of the month. So they'll use their allowance for these things.

I still have the AMEX but used cash all day today. Tomorrow things should be a little more "normal" and I can make my swap...cash allowance for the AMEX.

$80 Spent Today - Happy New Year

Happy New Year! We have been out of town and were on the road today so I didn't get to make the big "swap" today...trading in my AMEX for cash. AND...I didn't stick to my $40 goal. I made 3 purchases...$27 for gas, a $3 snack and $50 lunch. My folks watched our boys for 2 nights/3 days so we treated them to lunch, otherwise we wouldn't have gone out to eat. But, I'm still optimistic and certain of my challenge even though I spent double of what I planned.