Money Forecast Calendar

While most people know how much they need to make to cover their monthly bills, for me, it is not that easy.  Maybe my brain just does not work that way or maybe our debt and income fluctuates too much.  Either way, my mother came up with a brilliant, yet so simple way to "forecast" how much money you will have (or in my case, NOT have...haha) on any given day.  All you need is a spreadsheet program, like Excel, and you can make up your own little "Money Forecast Calendar."

	CHECKING
	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
	23	24	25	26	27	28	29
			Car 150.00	Fuel 30.00
			($150.00)	($30.00)
	$1,000.00	$1,000.00	$850.00	$820.00	$820.00	$820.00	$820.00
	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
	30	31	1	2	3	4	5
		Phone 25.00    Ins 100.00	Rent 550.00	CC 100.00		Tran 400.00
		($125.00)	($550.00)	($100.00)		$400.00
	$820.00	$695.00	$145.00	$45.00	$45.00	$445.00	$445.00

So this is a little example of what my mom created, and I love using it!!  If you look at the numbers I plugged in, you can see that after paying $100 for my credit card, I will have $45 until I get paid on Friday and make a transfer of $400.  It is such a simple formula, but it can give you a look into the future to see where more money can be saved or spent.  It has really helped me know much money I have to save for my upcoming bills and if I can afford that $10 trip to Dairy Queen.  As for the yellow highlighting, that just helps me see what my current balance should be.

THANKS MOM!!

My son's piggy bank

My money saving habits are slowly rubbing off on my son.  When he does his chores, I usually give him at least a nickel, sometimes a quarter, and he puts it in his piggy bank.  Some days he will look for ways to earn money.  The funny part is if you ask him what he is saving his money for, he will tell you, "A truck."  And he's not talking about a toy truck.  He's only four, but he's so smart.  Maybe it is about time to teach him about the concept of money, because he has no idea how many quarters he will need to buy a truck.

Coupon Binder

Finally!!  I got my coupon binder all put together.  Started with a mess of coupons...

Sorted them by categories and got them all divided up



And finally all put together, nice and neat



So excited to try it out!! Can't wait!!

Ink Stain Removal

On Tuesday, my husband washed his uniforms for work, 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants.  While they were tumbling in the dryer, he heard a strange noise.  Upon opening the dryer, he found that he had left a pen in his pocket, which had EXPLODED all over his uniforms and the inside of the dryer.  Luckily his clothes were not 100% dry, but there were ink spots all over.  When he asks me if I know how to get ink stains out, of course my first response is, "Google it!" 

I typed in "ink stain removal" and started to look at all the results.  Most of them said to try rubbing alcohol.  So I started with that (in a hidden area, of course) and not only did it make the color fade, it was useless!!  Then I tried nail polish remover, which worked, but it took forever!  Maybe if I was dealing with just one ink spot, I would have stuck with it.  But these clothes were SPLATTERED with ink!!

I told my husband to call a dry cleaner to see if they could get the stain out and how much it would cost.  One store, just laughed at him.  Another told him they could not guarantee the stains would come out, but it would cost $10-$18 for three shirts.  Now if I wasn't trying to save every penny, I would have suggested we try the dry cleaner and if it does not work, then buy new uniforms, which cost $70 for one shirt.  We were looking at $240's worth of damage.  The pants were dark enough that you could not really see the stains.

Now let me go back for just a moment...When we pulled the uniforms from the dryer, I knew they needed to stay wet, so I stuck the one I was working on in a sink full of "OxiClean" and a little color-safe bleach.  Well in the middle of working on the ink stains, I took a break for lunch and left some stain remover on a couple spots to see what would happen.  After lunch, the stain remover had done nothing, but after rising the shirt off I realized there were much fewer stains on half of the shirt that had been soaking in the "OxiClean" and color-safe bleach.  After showing my husband, we decided to let all the shirts soak in a tub full of "OxiClean" and color-safe bleach.  Later that night, we checked the shirts and they were looking much better.  So we made a new batch and let them soak overnight.

The next morning, there were NO ink stains left.  I washed the uniforms again and they looked as good as NEW!!!  Thank God for "OxiClean" and color-safe bleach.  I wish I had taken pictures to show you the results.

Insurance

When is the last time you looked at your insurance coverage?  I know for me it was whenever I signed up for it.  How sad is that??  I pay every month and I have no idea what kind of coverage I have.  I think it is about time to do some comparison shopping.  I wish it was easier to know what I was paying for and what I actually needed.  I guess I have my work for the next week or so.  I let you know how much I save...

Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!  Summer time fun and grilling, what a great combination.  Holidays like this one, don't have to be expensive.  Most people like to grill on the 4th and if you spend some time looking at grocery ads, you can find some good deals.  This week I found hot dogs for $.77 a pack and the hot dog buns where just $1.  Since they where in a pack of eight, that means each hot dog costs only $.22!!  Then 12 packs of soda where 4 for $8, that is $.17 a can!!  They even had 24 packs of water included in that deal.  I found a medium size watermelon for $1.77 and that was not per pound!!  So for under $20 I could feed up to 15 people.  Alcohol is where you will spend the most money.  So just tell everyone else to bring their own :-) 

For decorations, I like to scavenge around my house to see what I find.  I'll use a red, white, and blue beach towel for a table cloth. Tie some bandannas around some mason jars to hold utensils.  Hang some ribbon streamers from just about anywhere and you have some bursts of color.  As a little bonus for the kids, go to the $1 store and pick up some water balloons and glow sticks, for after dark fun.  I'm sure you will find a couple cheap decorations to add the finishing touches while you are there too.  Just get creative and try not to go crazy.  If creativity is not your thing, check out Pinterest, you are bound to find a million ideas there. Most of the people at your party want to be fed and to stay cool, they are not going to worry about the decor.

So have fun and stay safe!!