New Grocery Haul + Life Update

Hey everyone! It's been so long since my last real blog. How has everyone been? Life just got super busy for a while there when I started working part time. It's almost a full year later since I started working at Starbucks and we pretty much have a good routine going for our family. Work/Life balance is so important. Starbucks has helped us a lot by being a very flexible in the hours and days I work and the benefits are pretty good. If your ever need a side income or more affordable benefit options, don't hesitate to consider Starbucks as an option.

When I first started this blog one of our goals was to cut back expenses. I think while we haven't been perfect by any means, we do spend reasonably less than we used to. We are still in the process of finding the right budget for us. But I think we are close. Our grocery budget has decreased for the most part though I am sure we can still do a whole lot better and we definitely have our slip ups and lazy days. We discovered Aldi's within the last year which makes grocery shopping much more affordable, not to mention quicker too. Check out our latest grocery haul by clicking the video link down below.

Another one of our goals was to pay down debt. In fact we want to be debt free before we start making plans towards purchasing a home but it takes time and patience. I would love to see it all gone in the blink of an eye but I continue to remind my self that getting into debt didn't happen overnight and neither will becoming debt free. I am happy to say that in another two payments we will be completely credit card debt free, so we ave definitely made progress. We still have our car loan and student loans to work on, but it feels good to know that those super high interest rate payments are a thing of the past and we are not giving away our money to these companies any more. We are doing our best to continue our debt snow ball until they are all gone.

One thing we did to make our finances work for us was to open multiple savings accounts. When I tell people the numbers they usually have a look of shock and confusion on their face. They just can't comprehend it until I explain a little more in depth and then they pause and think about it for a second and say "that's actually pretty smart". What we did was open up - 11 additional account for savings. We have a total of 13 accounts. All of our expenses come out of our checking and the rest gets divided up into categories through an automatic savings plan. I find this the best option for things that only happen once a year, for example your car insurance or that Amazon prime membership. I have my car and renters insurance through the same company, I know how much I paid last year so I take that amount and divide it up into 12 months. I set up an automatic savings plan to deduct that amount from the checking account every month. When the time comes to pay that insurance fee again, we won't be scrambling to figure out where we will find the funds for it. The money is already there because we planned for it. We do this for other things too, like car maintenance and inspection fees,  christmas and birthdays, home improvement purposes, and fun stuff like saving towards taking a vacation or going out to eat without breaking the food budget. We even have one for the kids where I budget for doing fun things with them like taking them to a jump and play, here I also set aside money for new uniforms, shoes and school supplies for the coming year, or if they need something in the middle of the school year, like when they suddenly outgrow all their shoes, then theres money already set aside for it.

Well friends I hope you found some new ideas in this little update. Let me know in the comments below how you've been and what are some things you are doing this year to improve your financial situation.