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MamaM
1-30-13, 11:08pm
Well, I made it 30 days without buying ANYTHING online!!! WOOT WOOT!!! I have a decided this year not to buy online unless 1.I can find the product in the store and actually try it on, out, touch, feel, etc...and then have free shipping and drastic discount. So far, so good. I was tempted by that darn Ann Taylor sale but NOPE NOPE NOPE!!!

I also returned--hold onto your wallets- over $800 in online shopping for Christmas that ended up NOT being what I wanted...hence the freeze of online shopping. Yep--I am really bad about not returning things but I took 1 hour to box everything up, make the necessary labels and notations on the return slips. SO worth it. I have one more box to go out. I got sick with the flu but will get it out the door tomorrow. Online shopping was my vice and it was so easy, with free shipping and returns, 20% + off and if I used my USAA card, I can get a % back. Actually shopping in the store cuts way down on my bills. I HATE to shop, so I go only when I am on a mission and have a list of specific items.

Paid down $500 more in debt. All students loans for me are paid for now. WOOT WOOT!!! Our number is slowly reaching that $14,000 mark. Once the last hospital bill is paid off, in 4 months, I will filter that money to start making a bigger dent. We are also expecting a large check for healthcare reimbursement, so will take half, pay off a large chunk and put the rest in savings. Once we see where we stand with taxes, hopefully that will be another chunk chopped off. If we can knock $5000 in the next 5 months, that will put us in a sweet spot.

Keeping to our $75 a week food purchases. Cutting out the junk has really helped and in February, I am going to try meal planning for the week on Sunday nights. Will see how that goes. I technically only have to cook 4 nites a week. We are keeping our Friday night movie and cheap take out as part of family fun. We try to see what we can get for $15 for 3 of us. If the kiddo is still hungry, he gets fruit or yogurt on the side. It works for us!!! ; )

So how did everyone else do? Thanks. :)

cdttmm
1-30-13, 11:14pm
Wow -- MamaM!!! So impressive!!!

Hmmm...I didn't focus on any one thing for January, but I like your idea of weekly meal planning for February. Perhaps I will try that because I don't anticipate having any big travel stuff happening next month.

I hear you on the online shopping and the laziness surrounding packing up and sending back the returns. I just did two returns of stuff this week for items I bought back at the beginning of November. All told, more than $500. YIKES!!!

MamaM
1-30-13, 11:15pm
Thanks...it's fun to see my account go UP instead of down. : )

Rosemary
1-31-13, 6:51am
Excellent!
Meal planning really works for us. I plan 1-2 weeks at a time (I used to plan a month). I always feel free to make changes, but just having something planned makes a big difference - I never get to 4pm with no idea of what we're going to have for dinner, and I know in the morning if there's something I need to take out of the freezer or otherwise prep (e.g. beans to soak).