MommyKerrie Is Taking a Break This Weekend

I gotta take a bloggy break. I'm getting burned out again. This always happens this time of year, about the time summer comes around and I realize I still have homeschooling to do and I have tons of fun stuff planned for the kids over the summer and tons of other writing projects I want to get to while kids are laying around in a post-pool coma.

And let's face it ... I'm getting my butt kicked trying to keep the house looking decent these days. AND I have all those millions of photos staring at me when I go to the basement to do laundry and they are BEGGING to be put into simple scrapbooks. And you all know how DEMANDING my husband is ... give me a backrub this and rub my feet that and make me some duck a l'orange this and fetch me a martini that. HAHA! Yeah, right!

So leave me a comment and let me know some of your summer plans. I'll still be blogging ... June is the month of ME since I'll be turning 40. Then July is homeschooling month. If you guest post for me that will give you some new fans and me a freaking break!

Frugal Tip: Set Up a Budget

I started using an on-paper budget when I started losing bills and having to pay late fees for bills I had forgotten to pay on time. Some of the more spontaneous people I knew made fun of me ... until they found themselves in credit card debt with a wicked Target credit card bill coming every month.

Setting up a budget (either on a piece of paper or in Excel, which is how I do it because I like the calculations) has helped me to prioritize what I spend money on and we are never late with bill payments now.

It's easy to do.  If you use a piece of paper, make column headings like "Name of Bill", "Total Amount Owed", "Amount Due Now", "Due Date", "Date Paid", "Amount Paid". You decide how you want to set it up.

Down the left side list your bills: rent or mortgage, utility bills, car payments, dance lessons, groceries, gas for your car, everything. Don't forget about those things that come every two or three months, like maybe your trash bill or if you pay your car insurance every 3 or 6 months.

Whip out your calculator because you may have to adjust some of your amounts that you spend on unnecessary stuff like fast food. If you are low on money for a certain paycheck, watch what you spend at the grocery store because that is the easiest place to cut costs. Shop at discount stores and consider some meatless meals like Frito Pie, grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly.

Check back with your budget often to make sure you're on track. It will take some tweaking and a few months to perfect it, but soon you'll be on your way to financial success. Setting up a budget is especially important for couples who maybe aren't on the same page financially ... like one spends a lot and one prefers to save.

I also highly recommend any book by Dave Ramsey, as well as his radio talk show!

Frugality Tip: Take Care of Your Health

Recently a guy was telling me how he spent $14,000 on medical care in 2010 for a family of 3, and that did not include the premiums he was paying through his work. I was shocked and wondered how we had paid way less than that, even the year that Sam was in the NICU for a week, and we have a family more than double the size of his. Here are some factors that will have you paying out the wazoo ...

1. Do you smoke? Not only are you probably looking old and wrinkly and blackening your lungs (how fun for your kids to have to take care of you when you get emphysema!), but you probably feel like crap, too. How far can you run before you are out of breath? Are you sick often?
2. Do you drink alcohol often? Wine now and then is said to be good for you, but are you throwing back a 12-pack of beer nightly? That's a different story for Mr. Liver, and I hope your kids are available and still in contact with you when it's time for a ride to your AA meeting (since you got that DUI and all that).
3. Do you take too many prescription drugs? Do you need them to help you sleep, wake up, be happy, get over an illness, for pain? Do you need them to live?
4. Do you run your kid to the doctor for a paper cut?
5. Do you head to the ER for a headache?
6. Do you hit the therapist up every time you experience rejection or are having a hard time with someone?
7. Are you on birth control pills? Have you read the warnings on those puppies lately? Breast cancer doesn't sound like a fun way to spend my fifties.
8. Do you over-sterilize everything you or your precious kids touch? Stop that! The less we wash our hands in my house, the healthier we are.

I hope my non-judgmental and amazing health tips will help you to cut your medical costs in the future. You can send some of that extra money my way for my LegoLand 2012 fund. Thank ya.

Guest Post: Behind the Piano

I love this guest post by Carol Alexander ... it shows that you have to think outside the box when it comes to saving money. I am in her position (well, not behind the piano!), and my writing desk is small and is up against a living room wall where I can be near my homeschoolers. I love her tips on saving on office supplies, especially!

By Carol J. Alexander

In twenty-three years as a stay-at-home-mom, I have learned that you make money by saving money. Because most people already own a computer, paper, and pencil, a writing business requires less start-up than the average network marketing scheme. But one step into your local office supply mega-store could undo that in an instant. With so many years’ experience making ends meet by bargain hunting, using what’s on hand, or doing without, it is only natural for me to apply these principles to my business. Let me show you a few ways you, too, can put more of your earnings into your pocket.

I save a tremendous amount of money by buying a year’s worth of office supplies during back-to-school sales. I purchase copy paper for $2.50 instead of $4.50 and spiral notebooks for a dime. Pens, pencils, notebooks, and folders all sell for next to nothing this time of year.

For larger items, I decide ahead of time how much I want to spend and do not buy until I find my price (or better). I also practice delayed gratification by saving cash for the purchase. Then, I track the sales. I use the Internet to compare brands and to search for rebates. I watch the advertisements in the newspaper. Most large-ticket items like computers and electronics go on sale in August and for the holidays. I recently purchased a laptop and printer. I shopped for something that would meet my needs, was a quality product and was within my price range. After the sale prices and rebates I paid less than $400 for the pair.

I have saved my business the most money in the design of my ‘office.’ An article in a recent writers’ newsletter discussed outfitting your office in these slow economic times. Most everything the author suggested I cannot afford to do. Also, in a popular book for writers, the author cautions the reader against starting out too big, too fast. She shares that she only recently graduated from her modest 10’x10’ office in the spare bedroom to something more spacious. Let me assure you, if I had another 10’x10’ room in my house, I would rapidly separate some boys. My money saving office measures precisely 5’3”x3’4”.

You wouldn’t believe what I fit in 17 ½ square feet. I have a comfortable, ergonomically designed office chair my husband picked up at a thrift store for $5 and an old kitchen table that I use as a desk. I also have a bookcase that holds the books I use constantly, an inbox (for putting works in progress), some catalogs and journals. A few flower pots sit on the shelves to hold paperclips, sticky note pads, pencils and a stapler.

On the other side of the piano (Oh, I forgot to mention that my neat little space is behind the piano!) sits a small filing cabinet and on top of that is the printer. And that is all I need…for now. Granted I’ve only been pursuing this writing career for a few years; but I earn money. I am published in national magazines. I am happy with my progress.

So, when can I turn the spare room into an office? I don’t anticipate having a spare room until my now 16-year-old son moves out. So, until then, you can find me behind the piano.

Carol J. Alexander writes from behind the piano in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Her articles have appeared in Urban Farm, BackHome Magazine, Grit, Home Education, The Old Schoolhouse, and several different parenting magazines. She is also the author of two e-books for homeschooling parents: Seed Catalog Curriculum: 50+ Lesson Plans Using Seed Catalogs, and Planning a Homeschool Graduation. You can find Carol, or her books, at her blog EverythingHomeWithCarol.blogspot.com.

Frugality Tip: Save Money on Groceries and Food

I used to have a problem with fast food. More like an addiction. I craved it and when I would get a writing paycheck in the mail I would cash it and spend it on fast food or ice cream or something else food-ish.

Something happened recently that I can't quite explain.

I stopped craving it. I also stopped taking second helpings of every meal at home. I can't tell you the last time I bought myself a fancy coffee. I make coffee at home when I am dying for it and keep a $2.50 bag of M&Ms in my diaper bag for my sweets cravings. That bag lasts me about a week, then I get another.

I lost weight and saved money for LegoLand. I have to give some credit to Geneen Roth and Bethenny Frankel Hoppy ... they say don't deprive yourself, but don't pig food in when you are faced with something you love. Have that chili cheese dog, but only eat half of it now. You will not starve. There will always be more food.

What are your tips for eating less and eating out less?