January 11, 2011 -
In addition to raising three toddlers and choosing to go on a "declutter" rampage, I have been searching for some other ways to make our lives better. We need a budget. We need to get out of/stay out of debt. We need to find a way to plan meals and spend less on groceries (including using coupons to save even more). Much of this relates to our "Declutter 2011" process, but it also just means that as a mom and a wife, I want the best for my family. This means that I want to do better at keeping track of how we spend our money and how we save it.
Here are some links that have helped me:
I found a great meal planning resource as a result of listening to the Dave Ramsey radio show. It's called e-mealz . You can choose what type of menu would be most beneficial to your family and then make your selection. The cost is just $5 per month! They give you a menu (dinners) for the specified number of says per week AND a grocery list (should you choose a plan that offers a store-specific list). They even calculate an estimated grocery cost based on the list if you have elected to get store-specific. I was able to go to Kroger last Saturday while the kids napped and bought food for specific meals for seven evenings and I was done (checked-out too) in just about 30 minutes. Amazing!
And if you are looking for a simple budget plan, check out PearBudget because it also offers a super-cheap and very easy budget/receipts plan. You just enter your estimated information to start out and then post actual expenses as they occur. PearBudget will track your expenses and allocations. It's easy and pretty fast.
I would also suggest that you consider checking out Dave Ramsey's website because he also offers quite a few tools to help you with budgeting and paying off debt. Some of his ideas are pretty extreme, but then again, being out of debt in this day and age is pretty extreme.
Again, that's all for now, but I will try to get back here to post updates.
