Money's tight and you're desperate: Part III of V

Part 3 of 5: utilities and transportation

Welcome to Part III of V in my series on what to do when you're desperately broke. Just today, as I was feeling great about my recent raise and increased hours in my day job, I was dealt a blow I wasn't expecting and it goes along perfectly with the first topic in today's post.

You see, I went to pay my electric bill in person so I could pick up an application for my utility provider's income based billing plan. I had been on it before but my plan period (one year) had come to an end and I needed to reapply. I thought the income limit was a bit higher than it actually is. When I looked at the application, I thought, "Hm...that's not as high as I thought, but I think I might still qualify." When I got home, I checked my pay stubs for the last few pay periods and my heart sank when I realized that I don't qualify anymore. I'm about $200 over the maximum limit for a household of two. And, despite my raise and increased hours, unless I find a way to increase my income further, I won't be able to afford my next electric bill. I also live in one of the hottest climates in the United States so I am worried about how I will manage this summer when average temperatures are well over 110F.

So, let's get on with it--how can you save on your utilities and transportation?

Saving on utilities
First, before you do anything else, if you are reading this at home, look around you. Is there a light on that isn't being used? Turn it off! Is a radio or television on in an empty room? Turn it off? If it's daylight and your blinds or curtains are closed and lights are on instead, turn off the lights, open the blinds or curtains, and sit by the window to use natural and FREE sunlight to see by.

Now that you've sorted your immediate electricity usage, I want you to look up ALL of your utilities providers--electric, gas, water, trash and sewer. Call each one and ask if they have any income based programs and ask how you can apply. Even if you think you don't qualify, apply anyhow. I am over the limit for our electric company's saving program, but I plan to apply anyhow. I called after reviewing my paystubs and was told to apply regardless because my income was close enough that there might be deductions they can take or other programs they can enroll me in--I won't know without applying.

And, during the same calls, ask about equalized payment plans where they average out your usage over the course of the year so you pay about the same amount each month instead of variable amounts from month to month. My electric bill can by sky high during the summer, so it helps my budget to be on an equalized plan to spread that extra cost out over lower cost months.

If you aren't on a time-based electricity billing plan, get on one! The cost of electricity here is significantly lower from 7pm to noon and on Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays. I save 90% of our cooking, laundry washing, and dish washing for these "off peak hours". I also try to minimize usage of lights and other electric items during noon and 7pm as well.

Work on shorter showers and better dishwashing habits. By focusing on cutting our showering time as short as possible, we have shaved quite a bit off the cost of water and natural gas. I also make sure that we are careful when washing dishes. We stopped using our dishwasher a long time ago a it really ran the water and electric bills up. We now wash dishes by hand, but we make sure to turn OFF the water while we are scrubbing. Even more so, I try to fill a bowl with soapy water and dip my sponge into it to wash my dishes instead of running the water or squeezing soap onto my sponge over and over. I then use the minimum amount of water possible to rinse my dishes. We then let them air dry since we live in an extremely dry climate.

During the winter, if I bake during off-peak electricity hours, I leave the oven door open after I am doing baking and after turning off the oven. The heat from the turned off oven can help keep the kitchen warm.

Air dry your laundry if you live in a non-humid climate. We have one small drying rack and it doesn't fit all of our clothes for each wash cycle, so I drape clothes over the towel racks and shower rod in the bathroom to dry overnight.

Keep the top of you refrigerator clear, especially if it's an older model. Heat rises and your fridge and freezer generate heat as they run. If you have a ton of stuff heaped on top of the fridge and freezer, you make it harder for that heat to escape thus forcing your appliance to work harder to stay cool.

Unplug EVERYTHING that doesn't need to be plugged in OR plug everything into power strips or surge protectors that you can turn off between uses. This includes your television and computers--both continue to draw electricity when turned off. Every night before going to bed, go around your home and turn off the power strips and unplug things. It may be annoying to do this, but it can add up over time.

Follow the sun with your blinds or curtains. During the winter, be sure to keep blinds and curtains open when the sun is shining in on them. During the summer, keep the blinds and curtains closed when the sun is shining in. During the winter this will help you recover some heat while during summer it will help you reduce heat in your home. Also, if you have ceiling fans, be sure to use them to help circulate air, especially during the hot summer months.

Keep your thermostat as low as possible during winter--wear layers and socks and use blankets instead of cranking up the heat. During the summer, do the opposite--keep the thermostat as high as you can handle it and wear shorts and tank tops. My electricity provider today suggested keeping your summer thermostat at 79 to 80F. But, be careful that you don't adjust your thermostat so low in winter or so high in summer that it is a health hazard.

Finally, when you are calling your utilities companies to ask about better rates, energy plans, and so on, also ask if they offer any type of energy audits or if they have programs for things like free energy saving light bulbs, weather proofing kits, and so on.

Saving on transportation
Let's face it, most of us need to use a car, bus, train, or other mode of transportation on a regular basis. It can be a huge budget killer. Let's talk about public transportation first.

If you take a bus or train, figure out if you can afford to buy a weekly or monthly pass. If you can, will it save you money? Call your local transportation organization and ask if they have any income based plans or if there are ways to get free passes. Ask if there is any discount if you buy your passes online or in person or over the phone--I used to live in an area where you could save quite a bit if you bought a monthly pass and bought it online.

Find out if your employer offers any commute assistance programs. My employer offers public transportation discounts and rebates and other programs to their employees in California. Some companies offer such benefits to all of their employees regardless of location. I have worked for several companies that offer free or discounted bus or train passes and that one company even offered regular prizes for their commuters that took the most bus or train trips to and from work.

This may seem obvious, but WALK as often as possible to do errands or get from point A to point B. I can walk to my local grocery store and a pharmacy. The library and post office are within bicycling distance. Walking or bicycling to these places not only will save you on the cost of transportation, but it can be great for your health which can save you money over time on the costs of medication and healthcare.

If you bicycle, learn to do your own maintenance on your bike. Consider bicycle commuting if you live in a safe enough area to do so. Read more about my bicycle commuting HERE.

But, what if you own a car?

I do own a car. It is 17 years old with 232,000 miles on it. I drive it as little as possible and work hard to keep it in good shape. Be sure you are maintaining your car so that it will keep on running! Use coupons or Groupon to save on thing like oil changes and brake maintenance. If you belong to Costco or Sam's Club or have a friend or family member that belongs to them, consider buying new car batteries and tires there. Call around to local independent mechanics and ask what they charge for maintenance. Often (but not always) they will meet or beat the prices of chain auto repair shops.

Make sure your tires are properly inflated and only use the air conditioning if you really need it. The A/C can actually suck up tons of energy and drop your gas mileage and overall efficiency, especially if you have an older car. If you live in a climate with dramatically fluctuating temperatures, keep on top of your tires and make sure you check their inflation regularly--although I suggest you use independent mechanics for maintenance, many large chains offer FREE tire inflation checks and will fill your tires for free (just beware they might try to up-sell services to you--be ok saying, "No thank you.").

Use Gas Buddy. You can download the Gas Buddy app or use it online to find the best price on gasoline in your area. Prices in my area vary by as much as 50-cents per gallon! My local grocery store typically has the best price in my area and if I shop there enough, I can rack up points for discounts on gas. Lately I'm only saving 10-cents per gallon once per month, but that's still money saved! There is another gas station by one of my two work sites that is an even better price though so I plan my gas fill-ups to take advantage of that gas station when I can.

Consider carpooling to work or events. If you work the same hours as a coworker or two, see if they will carpool with you. Either take turns driving or figure out a way to split the cost of gas. If you plan to go to an event that you know your friends or neighbors are attending, ask if you can ride together and split the cost of the gas.

Combine errands. I hate doing numerous errands all in one trip, but I love how much it saves me in terms of both gas and time. I usually map out my errands so that I can go in a loop and to minimize any backtracking. This does take some planning, especially if you are doing things like grocery shopping and buying perishables or frozen foods. In warm or hot weather, I make sure to have a cooler in my car and to place cold and frozen items together in grocery bags.

Consider combining errands with your neighbor as well. Go grocery shopping together and split the cost of gas. Go to Costco or Sam's Club together if one of you is a member and not only split the cost of gas, but split the cost of bulk items, checking first, of course, that the prices of these items is actually cheaper per piece or per unit than anywhere else.

Finally, if you are truly desperate, ask family or friends to give you gift cards for gas, groceries, or other necessities instead of gifts at birthdays and holidays. Ask a family member with a Costco or Sam's Club membership if they can add you to their membership and then be very careful about what you by at these stores. Most major gasoline chains do offer gift cards...

Read all of the posts in this series HERE, or for individual posts:

Read Part 1 HERE--Getting support, embracing free, food bank, and feminine hygiene.
Read Part II HERE -- Medications and healthcare, grocery shopping tips, and housing.
Read Part IV HERE -- Cooking, kitchen, and pantry habits

Part V will cover laundry, toiletries, cleaning, and pet care

Please keep in mind, that how much you save on any tip in this series will depend a lot on how much effort you put into your savings and how much you are willing to change your habits. I once had someone tell me how broke she felt and how she felt like nothing she did would make a difference. When I offered a list of suggestions similar to the items in this series, she replied, "None of that's going to save enough to be worth doing." Well, maybe some of these individually won't amount to much (like clearing the top of your fridge), but when taken all together, the results DO start to add up over time.

Money's tight and you're desperate -- Part II of V

Part 2 of 5: Medications and healthcare, grocery shopping tips, and housing

Did you read part 1 of my 5 part series on what to do when money is tight and you’re desperately broke? If not, you can read it HERE.

Today’s post is all about medications and healthcare, grocery shopping tips, and housing. Before jumping in, however, please note that I am NOT a healthcare provider and before implementing any of the medication or health related tips here, you need to consult with your doctor.

Save on medications and healthcare:
Medications can be expensive, especially if you have multiple prescriptions or chronic health conditions that require you to take medication regularly. There are many ways to reduce your medication costs. Ones I have used in the past are:

Ask your doctor for samples or coupons. I was able to get a full month’s supply of a medication for stomach problems for FREE just by asking my doctor. He also gave me several doses of a migraine medication to try for free.

Contact the manufacturers of your medications and ask if they have financial assistance programs, coupons, or samples. Ask your pharmacy the same thing. I was able to get epi-pens for my son and myself for free, as well as huge discounts on asthma medication this way.

Call around to see if the price of your medication varies from pharmacy to pharmacy—you may be able to save simply by transferring your prescriptions to a different pharmacy!

Ask about generic versions and for medications on the $4 medication list, but understand that many pharmacies will only fill $4 prescriptions if you do NOT have or use insurance to pay for the medication.

Costco doesn’t require you to be a member to use their pharmacy, and they often have lower prices—when calling around to ask about the price of your medications, include Costco!

THIS article from NPR has a lot of great resources regarding prescriptions with lots of links throughout.

If you have insurance, be sure to understand how it works! My current plan has a high deductible and prescription coverage doesn’t kick in until the deductible is met. But, my plan does include a health spending account to help offset costs.

And, take proactive steps to get healthy through dietary changes, exercise, and so on. By taking proactive steps to understand my asthma, including a FREE class at my doctor’s office, I was able to incorporate exercise in my healthcare routine and after six months was able to stop daily asthma medications. I still need a rescue inhaler a couple of times per month, but that’s a huge decrease from prior years! Take control of your health by:

• walking every day
• finding inexpensive fruits and vegetables to add to your diet--look for in season, local produce or look for sales or look for bruised fruits and veggies that are marked down
• doing FREE workouts without equipment by finding videos on YouTube--check out my girl, Alicia and her FREE workout videos HERE or lookup Freeletics HERE. The key is to keep it FREE. 
• borrow workout DVDs from your library if you dumped internet service
• replace one beverage per day with water for a week, then two the next week and so on until you are mostly drinking water
• stretch every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to bed

***Again, I am not a healthcare professional--ALWAYS seek advice from your doctor 

before embarking on any health or diet changes.***

Take a hard look at your grocery shopping habits:
I’ve blogged previously about grocery shopping, but here are a few more tight budget grocery tips. First of all, if you are truly down-and-out and can’t afford to eat, you MUST call or visit your local food banks, church, and community organizations for help.

Before even heading to the store, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS inventory your fridge, freezer, and cupboards. Figure out a meal plan based on what you currently have and only fill in the necessary gaps.

EAT before you go to the store and consider bringing a water bottle and small snack to eat right before you enter the store. Shopping hungry is an overspending trap as you'll start shopping with your stomach and not with your brain and your wallet. 

Can you get groceries for less elsewhere? Do you have a WinCo or Cub nearby or Aldi or Grocery Outlet? These stores frequently, but not always, have better prices than any other grocery stores. Cub and WinCo have great bulk bin sections too where you can buy only the amounts you need of many staple items, herbs, spices, coffee, dog food, and more at greatly reduced prices. Just stay away from the candy, chips, pretzels, and snack type foods that don’t really cost that much less in bulk (at least at my local WinCo...). I usually buy about two weeks worth of bulk goods at a time.

Use SavingStar and Ibotta for additional savings in the form of grocery rebates. You do have to pay for your groceries up front, but if you carefully combine sale prices, coupons, and these rebate sites, you can save significantly on the cost of name brand (and sometime generic) groceries.

Be sure to always look in your cart before you head to check out at the store. If you put anything your cart that you don’t need, consider putting it back on the shelf.

Consider generic versions of your favorite foods, and always always always compare prices! Just because it's a generic version doesn't mean it is always the cheapest version. Sometimes a sale will result in the name brand item being cheaper.

Buy herbs and spices either in bulk at WinCo or Cub or buy them in the ethnic sections of your grocery store—they are almost always cheaper when bought this way! And, skip buying herb and spice blends. Instead, if you need taco seasoning, Cajun seasoning, French fry seasoning, look up recipes and make your own!

If you have special dietary considerations such as a food allergy, don't buy your alternative foods at your regular chain grocery store! I am severely allergic to all dairy products from ALL animal--cows, goats, sheep...I'm allergic to all of them. My son was allergic to soy for many years and still reacts to almonds. For this reason, we use rice milk in place of regular milk. The grocery store is just about the WORST place to buy dairy alternatives. The prices are usually significantly higher than at a health food store or specialty store. I save anywhere from a dollar to two full dollars per carton buy purchasing rice milk and non-dairy yogurt at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Sprouts, or even Costco when compared to all of my local chain grocery stores. Even WinCo has rotten prices on alternative foods.  

The key here, however, is to ONLY buy these specialty items when shopping at a specialty store because there are tons of other things that cost significantly more at these stores and will look and smell incredibly tempting as you walk past to find your items. If you get to the check out and have other items in your basket or cart, put them back or tell the checker you don't want those things. Also, if you can afford to, consider buying your alternatives by the case at Whole Foods--they give a discount for buying in bulk. 

Save on housing:
Take a hard look around your home and your neighborhood. Even though moving can be expensive, would it save you money in the long run to move?

If you are truly financially desperate, I want you to consider moving to a cheaper, smaller home or moving in with a family member or friend or renting space in your home to a roommate. For several years, my son and I lived with my mom. I did almost all of the chores in exchange for free rent.

While attending graduate school just outside New York City, we lived in a nice neighborhood in a not so nice zipcode and saved more than $500 in monthly rent compared to my graduate school classmates. Most of our zipcode had a high crime rate, but there was a small pocket than edged up against a very wealthy town and this little pocket has an extremely low crime rate, very little noise, and was walking distance to the train, the grocery store, the bank, and my college. Living two blocks north or west would have literally added $500 to our rent. Four blocks north or west would have added $750. Living in Manhattan would have tripled our rent for our large one-bedroom with a full eat-in kitchen and huge living room.

And, more recently, my son and I moved to a very low cost region of the country, initially renting a house for a year. The rent for a three bedroom house with a huge yard, in home laundry, and giant kitchen was about $300 less than our one-bedroom apartment in New York. However, that $300 was easily made up in heating and cooling costs associated with a large house, yard maintenance costs, and other house-related expenses. We have since moved into an apartment that is closer to my job and is on the ground floor with lots of sun exposure. We save a ton on utilities, in addition to much lower rent.

And, if you are renting, ask if the landlord will consider discounts if you live street-side. Ask if they have any units with older carpeting or appliances—will they give you a discount if you forgo newer amenities? Our current apartment is priced below market value because I was perfectly fine with older carpet and appliances. The landlord was happy to have one less unit to upgrade. If we’d been able to move into a street-side apartment, we could have saved more but none were available when we needed to move.

Before renting a room in your home, be sure zoning laws or landlord-tenant contracts allow you to do so. If you own your own home, also consider renting storage space in your garage, attic, or basement. If you own your own home, also consider ways to earn money from home such as child care or dog sitting (again, checking zoning laws or home owners association rules first).


Future posts in this series:

• Part 1 covers: Getting support, embracing free, food bank, and feminine hygiene.
• Part 3 covers: utilities and transportation.
• Part 4 covers: cooking, kitchen, and pantry habits.
• Part 5 covers: laundry, toiletries, cleaning, and pet care.

Read the entire series HERE.

Money's tight and you're desperate -- Part I of V

I recently came across THIS blog post at I Heart Budgets about a woman who commented on a post about living on a $14/hr wage. The woman, Marie, commented that she "can't even afford to . . . buy food to eat."

Wow did that take me back!

When my son was very young and I was still with his father, there were times when we literally couldn't afford to eat. We did have money coming in, but my ex (my son's dad) spent it just as fast faster than we could earn it.  Even if he didn't have poor financial habits (we both did, but I had the sense to budget while he preferred to "live life now because someday we'll be dead"), we still would have struggled, but not nearly as much. At one point, I went to the Department of Health and Human Services to apply for food stamps, Medicaid, and any other services that might be available--it was heartbreaking to take that step, but even more so to find out that we didn't qualify for any type of assistance because we were literally $100 over the maximum income limits, even after every possible deduction available.

Those were lean years and I often found myself at the grocery store attempting to buy groceries only to find that there was no cash in my wallet and no money in the bank. No matter how much I tried to get my ex to reign in his spending habits, my efforts fell on deaf ears. We didn't earn a lot, so the tiny bit that my ex didn't spend really didn't go very far. There were many times when I feared we wouldn't have food to eat, that the utilities would get shut off, that we would end up homeless. These were very real possibilities.

In my desperation to keep us above water while with my ex, and again after I left him and had only my own meager income to live off of, I learned a lot about pinching a penny! Years ago I used those skills to simply survive. Today, I'm using many of them to try to rebuild financially and pay down my debt.

It sucks, it is hard, it is demoralizing to not be able to make ends meet no matter how hard you work.
 
This is part one of five in a revised version of my comment on the original blog post that prompted me to write this today--in essence, this is my list of a few of the ways I managed to cut our expenses and help us to survive:

First of all, I totally get it--I'm a single mom of a teenage son who is on the brink of starting college. I have NO college funds saved for him. I receive NO child support either. His dad is NOT in the picture for a variety of important reasons. It's really just my son and myself. Were it not for the lessons I learned in my son's first four years, before I left his father, I would not be able to face the next few years knowing we will be ok, even if money is tight.

Be sure to read every book available from your library on topics like:

• Voluntary simplicity
• Frugal living
• Personal finance
• Home economics
• Debt relief
• Finance in general

If your library has the book The Tightwad Gazette, I highly encourage you to read it cover to cover. This one book is like the Bible of frugal living and tightening the financial belt. I checked it out repeatedly when my son was young and I was truly financially desperate. Some of the ideas in it are quite extreme, but honestly, when you are desperate, sometimes extreme is necessary. In fact, this book is so essential, that I want you to put this at the top of your list of things to do in tightening your financial belt and getting a handle on your finances. Please borrow it from the library though--don't buy it unless you can truly afford to do so because the goal here is to IMPROVE your financial situation, and spending money shouldn't be part of that plan. In fact, for that very reason, I am NOT linking this to an Amazon or other affiliate link for you to buy it. If your library doesn't have The Tightwad Gazette on the shelves, ask if they can order it for you.

Get single parent peer support: As a single mom, I suggest finding a single moms support group if you are also a single parent, preferably one with kids similar in age to your own kids, not so that your child has playmates, but rather so YOU have more in common as a parent with others in the group. Barter services or goods with others to save money (babysitting, children's clothing, cleaning and chores, and more). Spending time with people you have something in common with often make the struggle easier to bear.

Find help at a religious house of worship: Visit your local church, mosque, or temple and ask if they have resources available for people in your situation. Many have food pantries, clothing closets, free counseling services, and more. Many also do NOT require you to be a member or to follow their religious beliefs. You may find a variety of services available in religious houses of worship, ranging from counseling, a food pantry, a clothes closet, and more. You may also be able to find low cost child care.

Embrace FREE: Look around your life and figure out a way to cut every expense you possibly can. This may need to include things like internet access at home. Dump home internet and cable and use the library instead. Get DVDs, books, and magazines from the library too, but be sure to return them on time (I put the due dates on my calendar and set a reminder on my phone). Hang dry your laundry instead of paying for electricity to use a machine. Accept free samples of anything and everything that comes your way -- pass on those you won't use and keep and use those things you WILL use. Sign up for Pinch Me (use referral code 7C42J, pretty please!), a samples-in-exchange-for-reviews service. The samples are incredibly high quality and the reviews are super simple, fast online surveys. Find FREE entertainment in your community and take advantage of it--parks, free concerts, free museum days, free lectures, and more.

Seriously, your library is a wealth of information, as well as entertainment and activities for adults, parents, teens, children, and even toddlers and babies. It is a refuge, has free internet for members, and most offer services for FREE such as:

• career counseling
• financial planning
• tax preparation
• skills courses (computer skills, writing classes, ESL courses, and much more)

Visit your local food bank, food closet, or food pantry: You have to eat. PERIOD. There is no shame in visiting a food bank.

Get free or discounted feminine hygiene products: Sign up for coupons and samples from all of the companies that make feminine hygiene products--you might want to set up a separate email address for this as it can generate a lot of email. Some will send you free samples, others will send coupons. Try emailing them to ask for samples too. OR...consider switching to cloth pads, and if money is really tight enough, consider learning to make your own--there are tons of tutorials online. Do the same for free baby products, samples, and coupons for your little one!

Part 2 covers: medications and healthcare, grocery shopping tips, and housing.
Part 3 covers: utilities and transportation.
Part 4 covers: cooking, kitchen, and pantry habits. 
Part 5 will cover: laundry, toiletries, cleaning, and pet care.

Or, read the entire series HERE.

What are your tips for surviving when money is beyond tight?

100 abundance affirmations - 51 to 75

Well, looking back over my first 50 abundance affirmations, I realized they aren't just affirmations, but also gratitudes! But, ya know what? Whatever works! Read the first 25 affirmations HERE and read 26 to 50 HERE.

Here are affirmations (and gratitudes) 51 to 75:

51. Money is flowing to me this very second. 
52. I am filled with financial and spiritual wealth.
53. Pennies jump into my palm multiple times per day.
54. Every penny I earn, is matched by another penny on its way to my wallet.
55. My bank account expands daily.

56. My wallet is so stuffed with hundred dollar bills that I can't snap it shut anymore!
57. Every time I spend money, I earn even more.
58. Opportunities abound and are constantly creating new earning paths for me.
59. I am a vessel for wealth and prosperity.
60.  My dream home is ready for me and wants to be my reality home.

61. I am so fulfilled financially that I can travel without worries.
62. I have the financial freedom to take risks without worry.
63. Because of my wealth, I give abundantly to others without anxiety or worry.
64. My wealth supports my dreams and my son's dreams.
65. Money is constantly coming my way, even in unexpected ways.

66. I earn money with ease.
67. My money multiplies on its own out of love for me.
68. I am financially free.
69. My wealth is multiplied by my love for others.
70. My Etsy shop is so successful it drives itself towards even greater success.

71. I earn so much money with such great ease that I have no choice but to employ an accountant.
72. My financial wealth supports multiple families through my donations to our local food bank.
73. My financial wealth supports reading habits of many children near and far.
74. My financial wealth supports clean water and health care for children and families in third world nations all year, every year.
75. My financial wealth supports all of my desires free and clear of anxiety, stress, or excessive exertion. 

Read the entire abundance series HERE.
Read my series on what to do when you are desperately broke HERE.
Visit the Etsy shop mentioned above to get fun and fabulous download-and-print coloring pages HERE.

100 abundance affirmations - 26 to 50

In THIS post, I listed my first 25 abundance affirmations and discussed the impetus for writing them out. Today, I am sharing my next 25 abundance affirmations. Some may seem similar to a few in the original list of 25, but because these are deeply personal each one is unique and different.

I urge you to write out your own list of 100 abundance affirmations. Each will have special meaning that only you fully understand. If you do make a list, I'd love to know how you felt afterwards.

After the first 25, I felt lighter, but I also felt exhausted! I actually took a two hour nap afterwards! When I woke up from my nap, however, I felt great. I was well rested, felt more hopeful and upbeat than I have in a long while, and ready to tackle the rest of my day. It's been a while since I've woken up feeling this way.

Here are my abundance affirmations 26 through 50:

26. My boss giving the opportunity to take on a leadership role is abundant.
27. Transforming my work relationship with my boss towards one of partnership is abundant.
28. The ability to homeschool my son is incredibly abundant.
29. Every PayPal payment received is abundant.
30. My dogs are a blessing of abundance.

31. Discovering Marie Forleo, Leonie Dawson, Denise Duffield-Thomas (aka Lucky Bitch), and Gina Horkey has blessed me with abundance in multiple ways.
32. Being adopted was a truly abundant, loving gift.
33. Peppermint tea is a blessing of abundance both when ill and when healthy.
34. The ability to shop at a grocery store of any kind is abundance.
35. Time spent learning is abundant.

36. My past trip to Mexico and looking forward to future world travel is abundant.
37. Baking cookies from scratch is a gift of abundance.
38. Having been to 27 of 50 states so far is abundant.
39. My house key, car keys, and bank card are symbols of my abundance.
40. Our time in New York City is abundant.

41. Receiving a FREE sofa bed, ottoman, and rug is abundant.
42. The five dollars I earned from selling two books today was hugely abundant.
43. Reading in bed for three hours this morning was luxurious and abundant.
44. Creating a vision wall is abundant and grows my money magnetism.
45. The ability to borrow a bicycle opens opportunities filled with abundance.

46. ProAir that supports my health and JP's is a gift of abundance.
47. Shedding fear is abundant and magnetic.
48. My past experiences brought me to today and have blessed me with the ability to become more and more open to abundance.
49. I am abundant even by thinking about returning to places I have visited and loved.
50. I deserve and am open to abundance, magnetism, and money.

How do you celebrate and invite abundance into your life?

***Please note, posts on this blog may contain affiliate links.

Tips to save on groceries

Hi all! Thanks for tuning in to learn more about how I save money on groceries.

First of all, in full disclosure, I have to say that I totally fell of of my own grocery savings plan and lost track of some of my own best habits over past two weeks. I picked up a respiratory virus that has caused my asthma to flare up and I've been a bit of a wreck as a result, not to mention allergies on top of all that! So, my end of January grocery recap is going to be pretty dismal for me. Sigh...but, I think that's an important reminder that everyone makes mistakes, has slip ups, or runs into detours. We ALL have our ups and downs, so when you are feeling down, just remember the rest of us have been there, done that and we're there rooting for you!

Anyhow, today I wanted to recap some of my favorite grocery tips. In THIS post, I mentioned taking part in the #moneylovechallenge hosted by Kate Northrup, author of Money: A Love Story. Well, today someone posted in the private Facebook group associated with the challenge about how she is struggling to get her grocery costs down. I brainstormed some of my favorite tips and thought I would share them here as well. Some are obvious, but others might not be. Some are also similar to the tips in THIS post, but there are a few that I didn't list previously.

Cook from scratch 80% of the time
As long as you are careful with your ingredients, your utilities, and so on, cooking from scratch can save you a lot of money. It is also almost always healthier. To make cooking from scratch economical, I do the following:

• Only buy ingredients in quantities that I need.
• Only cook in quantities we can and will eat.
• Do most of my cooking on non-peak hours for our utilities (before noon or after 7pm on weekdays or anytime on weekends) to save on the cost of electricity.
• Make double batches of our favorite recipes and portion out and freeze the second half before serving dinner.
• Realize that cooking from scratch reduces sodium, additives, and other unhealthy junk so I am also protecting our health and potentially saving on the cost of future healthcare.
• Keep a list of easy, go-to recipes that are inexpensive but filling and make them regularly.

Compare sales fliers for the four or five stores nearby
We are lucky enough to live in very close proximity to a wide variety of grocery stores. I know that one store always has the best produce, another the best meats, and another the most variety overall. One has the best bulk foods sections. However, I still compare the sales fliers each week to determine who has the best overall sales prices and if it would be worth it or not to go to only one store versus multiple stores. Some weeks the savings are worth going to multiple stores and other weeks the savings are not. One weeks when it is worth going to multiple stores, I space the grocery trips out and combine them with other errands or stop at a different store each day on my way home from work.

Inventory my fridge and pantry BEFORE going to the store
This includes organizing my fridge, freezer, and cupboards regularly. If you can see what you have, you are less likely to over or under buy. When my son and I lived with my mom, I discovered that my mom had five full sized, unopened bottles of ketchup. Did she find a great deal? Nope. Did she have a habit of buying in bulk? Nope. What she did was put them in the cupboard and just shove more and more into the cupboard so that she couldn't see everything clearly. She would end up forgetting she already had ketchup and buy more. It was a waste of money for something that was rarely used in our house. Inventorying also allows you to meal plan before you even think of going to the store. Can you get another few days of filling meals out of what is on hand?

Make my list and meal plan AFTER comparing sales fliers and doing my inventory
If you are trying to save on groceries, there is no point in meal planning without first seeing what you have on hand and then seeing what's on sale. How many meals can you get out of what you already have and how many more can you make with what's on sale?

Use SavingStar and Ibotta or other grocery rebate apps
I talked about SavingStar HERE, but also just found out that you can actually use multiple grocery saving apps at the same time and on the same products! I haven't using multiple apps on the same purchases yet, but so far this month, I've got more $8.90 in rebates from SavingStar and just qualified for a 25-cent rebate through Ibotta. SavingStar only has $5 threshold to cash out via PayPal, but Ibotta has a $20 threshold. These apps do require some time as you have to select offers, input product codes (scan the bar codes or manually input the UPC or product code numbers), scan your receipts, and then wait for the rebates to be processed. SavingStar also periodically has free-after-rebate items, and if you take advantage of enough offers, you qualify for additional freebies and offers.

• Sign up for SavingStar HERE.
• Sign up for Ibotta HERE.

SavingStar is pretty straightforward, but Ibotta takes a little figuring out...I'm not totally there yet!

Selectively use coupons
I don't use a lot of coupons, but when I do, I try to match them with SavingStar offers or grocery sales, ideally with BOTH. It's really cool when you can match a sale price + a SavingStar rebate + a coupon! I get most of my coupons through the mail by being signed up for my local favorite grocery store's savings card program, but I also use printable coupons from Swagbucks (found under the Shop link). I get coupons via Swagbucks because you can sometimes earn points through Swagbucks if you redeem enough coupons and then you can use those points to get giftcards once you've accumulated enough (I paid for my son's entire Christmas last year and the year before with Amazon credit accumulated through Swagbucks!). Keep in mind though that it's not a deal if you are using a coupon to buy something you wouldn't normally purchase or eat, hence the use of "selectively."

Eat BEFORE grocery shopping
I eat a filling snack before going to the grocery store and I take a drink from home--usually coffee--to help me avoid temptations and impulse purchases. Over time, I've realized that grocery shopping hungry usually means buying things that I think I want instead of what I really want or need. Pretty basic trick, but it works!

Review my cart before checkout
Before I get in line, I review the items in my care and compare them to my grocery list. If I see anything not on my list or that I really didn't need, I remove it before I get in line. I usually just set it in a different part of the cart and then give it to the cashier and tell them I changed my mind about that item. It's not a big deal--they have it happen all the time and most stores are set up to have a runner or a store clerk whose job is to make a sweep of the checkout area for unwanted items and to to return them to the shelves. 

Track food I THROW OUT
Almost all of us are guilty of wasting money on groceries simply by letting food rot. We then throw it out. I keep a list of the food I throw out, always striving for less and less food waste. Throwing out food is like throwing away money. If I notice that I am consistently throwing away the same foods over and over, I try to either buy that food in smaller quantities or I simply stop buying it. 

Review produce on hand
Every few days I review the produce in our fridge and pantry. I look for things that are going to go bad if not eaten in the next few days and make sure I incorporate those into our meal plan. Soups and stews are a great way to use up a lot of vegetables and pies, crumbles, crisps, and smoothies are great for using up fruit. 

Selectively shop for specialty items
My son and I have food allergies so we use specialty items like sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter and rice milk instead of cow's milk. Both are quite expensive at the regular grocery store and also at the discount grocery store. Instead, I buy them at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, or Costco. They cost significantly less at these stores since Trader Joe's and Whole Foods cater to specialty markets and Costco deals in bulk. I save enough on specialty items like these that it is worth the extra drive or trip.

What are your favorite grocery savings tips?

100 abundance affirmations - 1 to 25

Today, I am sharing the first 25 affirmations in a list of 100 abundance affirmations that I am creating. At the moment I am taking part in Kate Northrup's #moneylovechallenge and she talks a lot about realizing that you are already abundant in many ways, you just have to recognize that abundance. Doing so is supposed to open the door for you to attract more abundance and money in your life.

In the #moneylovechallenge, Kate doesn't specifically ask for a written list of any specific set number of affirmations or recognition of abundance, but I thought it would be good for my own needs to write down a list of 100 abundance affirmations and recognitions.

Your affirmations may look very different from mine, but here are my first 25:

1. I am abundant every time I cook from scratch.
2. I am abundant every time I enter my own home.
3. I am abundant every time I get a paycheck.
4. I am abundant every time I make an Etsy sale. 
5. I am abundant every time I edit for a client.

6. I am abundant every time I do a transcription for a client.
7. I am abundant every time I get into and use my car.
8. I am abundant every time I use my own glass water bottle.
9. I am abundant every time I get to spend time with son.
10. I am abundant every time I make my own coffee at home.

11. I have an abundance of love.
12. I am abundant in friends.
13. I am abundant every time I use the library. 
14. I am abundant every time I go to work.
15. I am abundant with every penny to pass into my hands.

16. Every time I pay a bill, I am celebrating abundance.
17. Time to read is abundant and luxurious.
18. The ability to say NO is a celebration of abundance.
19. Building connections on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is abundance.
20. The world of information available on the internet is a huge source of abundance.

21. Support from my dad is filled with abundance and love.
22. Support from my step-mom is filled with abundance and love.
23. Vegetables and fruit in my kitchen are filled with nutritional abundance.
24. My creativity is an abundant and joyful gift.
25. Living in this free country is abundant.

Kate Northrup is the author of Money: A Love Story which is on my January reading list. You can find her book HERE and the #moneylovechallenge HERE.

What makes YOU feel abundant and full? 

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