I packed lunch everyday for work this week. Made dinner for my daughter and I when I got home, sometimes resulting in what I took for lunch the next day. I'm thinking of including a "Weekly lunch/dinner menu on a budget" or "Healthy snacks for kids on a budget" blog entries, recipes and pics included, but that involves more work; probably will be posted in a different setting than the Sunday venue. Anyhow, I have been cooking lunch to take to work for a while now; yet some days, before this minimum wage project, procrastination won and I ended up buying lunch... this time there was no I'll buy food tomorrow. I hope to continue with this success rate for the upcoming weeks.
Okay, so I know there are a lot of coupons out there that are centered on helping you save some bucks and buying what you need at the same time. I'm no coupon lady; I use the ones I might get at the movies theaters or maybe the ones I get from Walgreen's at my email. So, no, I still am no coupon master and I am not expecting to become one anytime sooner. But, I am taking advantage of offers I receive through text and email to places I can easily access.
So, this time around the attention comes to Kmart. Being a Shop Your Way member has its benefits: you receive surprise points, receive special offers and get extra points when you spend x and y amounts. I received a special offer from Kmart this week: I would get $5 off on any $5 online purchase. Sounds amazing! It is. I bought antibacterial soap and it only cost me 54 cents. Bad news? My offer was canceled due to product being out of stock and I lost my coupon ...So why is she sharing this with us again? you may ask. Because I have had really good experiences with Kmart's online shopping in the past. I got my three iron cast skillets at $0 at Kmart using my rewards points; this time around I just had poorer luck. Next time I'll call to see if they sell the item.
However, I do have a success story with Kmart this week, I was able to save $5 on a $35 purchase. I downloaded the app on my phone and immediately received this offer. I knew they had Capri-sun on sale so I bought a few boxes for my daughter's snacks; I, also, bought water bottles, toilet paper, and milk. Things I was getting from the market anyway, but spent $5 less purchasing them at Kmart. So if you are going to Kmart or you need groceries aiming around $35 you should download their app and login with your Shop Your Way profile to receive this offer. Please be aware that many other $5 off surprise points you receive from Kmart do not include purchasing groceries (usually spend $15, get $5 off offers).
Another success story this week that involved $0, but a lot of fun for my kiddo: Home Depot's Kids Workshop. Every first Saturday of the month, Home Depot has a DIY workshop for kids where they hand out a DIY kit, a Home Depot apron, a certificate and a pin to the children that participate. The Home Depot I went to, even had snacks for the kiddos that successfully finished their projects. I wanted to have a fun morning with my daughter this weekend, so I registered her online and drove to my nearest Home Depot. She was pretty excited. We got there and it was packed, but it was worth it. She got her apron with her name on it and made a small mailbox where she will be putting all of her valentine's day cards this upcoming Friday in school. I have to say she was pretty good with nailing that box together, I was shocked. Someone's getting a hammer on her next birthday! Anyhow, next month's workshop is building a toy car, so be sure to take your kids if you have any; best of all it's free. Who says you need money to have fun? (Okay, I drove there with gas which cost me some $$$, but you get the idea).
Another great site is Kinja, you can save some serious cash buying things you already had planned for. Kinja agglomerates all deals together in one place and offers links for you to have easy access to the deals. Sweet! One of my best friends birthday is this month, so I visited Kinja and started browsing. I found a really neat present at an affordable price without hitting my budget too hard.
It was a pretty successful week in my opinion. So, below you can see the status of my expenses and the road to achieving a successful month.
| Expense on February | Cost | |
| Internet Bill | ||
| Daughter's school | ||
| Cellphone Bill | $27.88 | |
| Electricity Bill | ||
| Water Bill | ||
| Rent | $300.00 | |
| Gas | $35.00 | |
| Groceries | $30.80 | |
| School miscellaneous | ||
| Entertainment | ||
| Church | $2.00 | |
| Emergency | ||
| Other | $7.99 | |
| Actual Spent Total Week 1 |
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| Bi weekly income | $535.63 |
| Income after child support | $675.63 |
I received child support this week, so I had a total of $675.63 to split among my bills and basic necessities. I will get paid this upcoming Friday, but need to pay my daughter's school tomorrow Monday. So I will only have $71.96 to spend if I need to during this week. I do have various things that need to get paid and $71.96 will not cut it, so I will need to use my credit card to pay this bill. I will pay my balance with my next paycheck before the month ends. That is my compromise. Please note, that I will not use my credit card regularly, only on emergencies, and this is an emergency where I will get the money to pay it off on Friday.
To check out how I survive next week with $71.96 please come back on Sunday. Hint: There's a planned trip coming up this week where I need to really be careful how I manage this little money I have.
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