Life has been a bit crazy for the last three weeks; but, I finally decided that I needed to make time to write an update blog on our savings adventure. Otherwise, I was afraid that my next post would be more like a novel! :-P
First, to update you on our freezer meal plans, our meals did last three weeks instead of just two. Again, as I mentioned in the last post, if we had leftovers we just backed the scheduled meal back another day. We loved only six of the seven meals that we had found online; so, we really only used 13 meals. The one that we did not like sounded good; but, it turned out to be a flavor that we didn't like at all. Each recipe was doubled so we will not be eating that second one that we prepared.
As I also mentioned in the last post, we struggled with the timing of some of the crockpot meals on the days that I work. Many of the meals that we were making had marked eight hours on low in the directions were actually done within six. So, we decided that the next time we shopped for groceries, we would also purchase meal components for my work days. If you are not familiar with the term, you probably are familiar with the theory. Basically, buying food in bulk, separating and freezing meal sized portions. For example, buy 5 lbs. of hamburger meat then separate into five 1 lb. freezer bags. You can also go ahead and season the meat.
At the end of January, we printed a calendar for February and March. We filled in a meal (either meal component or crockpot meal) for each night, with the exception of Valentines Day and our son's birthday. We are actually going to celebrate Valentines on the 12th and we have gift card so we're not planning on spending much that day.
Anyway, after filling in with a new crockpot meal to make it 14 meals again and meal components; we found our meal plans lasting through mid-March. Again, they could last longer based on how often we push a meal back because we have leftovers. It was a little scary purchasing that many groceries. It was approximately $550, though we got close to $30 in rebates among the apps that I have on my phone. Refer back to my last post to find out about those apps.
This did include any breakfast, lunches, toiletries, and household products that we thought we would need in the next two months. As I said, we used to budget $600\mth for groceries; so, we could have spent up to $1200 in two months. So, although we probably have to go back for milk and such, we feel we will see a substantial savings by the end of March.
Second, we did have some savings setbacks again. First, our dryer died. Now I have heard some savings gurus say that your dryer is not an emergency purchase; however, because Joel has to wear uniforms we wash almost daily. We just felt that it would cause us to have to go to a laundromat everyday or our house would be constantly cluttered with a clothesline. Long story short, we decided that it was an emergency for us. Thankfully, we had made the effort to restore our emergency fund; as frustrating as it was that it was like starting all over again.
We also had a radiator go out in one of our cars. We are family of four adults with a used car each; so, the chances of a car breaking down are pretty high. Anyway, Joel decided that he could replace the radiator himself. He went online to order a radiator. We found out about Invisible Hand a few months ago and Joel had added it to his web browser. If you are not familiar, basically while you're shopping it will search other websites for the same product. It will alert you if it finds a cheaper price. In this case, it saved us $30.
Third, I would mention due to the crazy OCD nature, I have continued to listen to YouTube videos and reading blogs about saving. Over and over, I heard and read that you should check your homeowners insurance policy to make sure that you are not paying unnecessarily high rates. As it turns out, since we were setup with a national insurance company, instead of a local company, the amount they were insuring us for rebuilding was extremely highly for this area of the country. Joel called them to discuss it with them and they said that they only re-evaluate policies unless it is at the end of the term. Joel shopped around some local insurance companies and Farm Bureau was more than happy to help us. Due to that, we are expecting to see our mortgage decrease by approximately $200\mth.
Fourth, Joel reviewed our satellie TV package and decided to go with a smaller package. He felt that we could live without (and barely watch) most of the channels that we would lose. We are not quite there yet; but, we are seriously considering dropping it all together. These days with so many options, such as digital antennas, Netflix, appleTV, Hulu, and many more you hardly need cable or satellite services.
We are expecting to see that emergency fund back within the next few months, barring anymore setbacks. We are going through our stuff decluttering and finding things to sell. Joel is going through his old textbooks to sell them using bookscouter.com. We still plan to attempt a no spend challenge; but, we're not quite ready for that challenge yet. We're still taking baby steps; but, we're going in the right direction, at least!
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