Freezer Cooking Days Update

As I mentioned in my meal plan for the week, I did some freezer cooking for the month.

I must be honest, I really hate batch cooking like this. I much prefer to just double a recipe each night and freeze one half for later. However, knowing that this month will be a busy one, I set aside yesterday and part of today to cooking several meals.

Today I made this:


2 batches of One Pot Stuffed Pepper Dinner
1 loaf of meatloaf
1 batch Grandma's Fruit Salad (to eat this week)
(We ate the rest of the soup for dinner tonight and have another meatloaf made for Wednesday's dinner.)

Yesterday I made this:


1 pan Turkey Enchiladas
2 pans Turkey Dinner Casserole
1 pan Cheddar Turkey Casserole
20 Breakfast Burritos

This should make roughly 10 meals for us and several breakfasts. I was also hoping to make pumpkin muffins, but I can't find pumpkin in our stores.

We're Having . . .

We are having a girl!! We had the ultrasound today and found out it is a girl.

My husband is happy because our other daughter will be 18 months when the new baby is born. He is hoping they will be great friends. I hope so too.

My best friend when I was little had two sisters about 18 months apart, and they terrorized one another. Hopefully ours will get along great.

Plus, I get to recycle all of my daughter's Gymboree clothes she just outgrew. Now the long wait until April when we actually get to see the baby!

Menu Planning, 11/29/09

My husband and I made our first turkey this year. We followed Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Thanksgiving Recipe, and it turned out great. The only glitch (and it was a big one!) was that we were driving 3 hours to my mom’s house for Thanksgiving, and we didn’t remember to bring the turkey that was unthawing in the refrigerator until we were only one hour away from our destination. So, the turkey was cooked on Saturday night instead when we came back home.

Crystal at Money Saving Mom and Jessica at Life as Mom are hosting a once-a-month-freezer cooking day this week, and I plan to join in. From previous experience, I know if I just stick cubes of leftover turkey in the freezer, it will never get eaten, so I am planning on freezing the following meals:

Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Cheddar Turkey Casserole OAMC
Turkey Dinner Casserole
Wild Rice & Turkey Soup
Breakfast Burritos OAMC
Grandma’s Fruit Salad
pumpkin muffins (assuming I can find any pumpkin; right now the stores around here are out)

I’ll report back on Tuesday and let you know the progress I made!

This week we will also be making:

Monday--Turkey Quesadillas
Tuesday--Meatloaf, rice & veggie
Wednesday--Chicken & Rice Bake

Thursday--One Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup
Friday--leftovers
Saturday & Sunday--frozen meals or something easy.

Lunches will be leftovers.
Breakfasts will be omelets, fruit, Grandma’s fruit salad, breakfast muesli, and pumpkin muffins.

Black Friday Deals

Did you brave the crowds and malls this morning? I am not much of a Black Friday shopper. I don't like waiting in line in the cold and then dealing with all of the zealous shoppers pushing and shoving to get their good deal.

However, I did visit gymboree.com and managed to snag a winter coat for my daughter for $11.20. Right now they are offering 30% off much of their merchandise and winter coats for $14. I used a 20% off coupon I bought online on eBay. I also got my son and daughter a few nice, cozy warm pajamas. Best of all, I did all my shopping in my pajamas and didn't have to deal with any pushing or shoving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!

Plans for a Frugal Christmas

With our third baby on the way, it is more important to us than ever that I soon be able to quit my job and be a stay-at-home mom, so we are trying to save as much money as we can.

We plan to implement a number of strategies this year to have a frugal Christmas.

--I won a $25 Kohl’s gift card from the Huggies Enjoy the Rides program, so we plan to use that.

--I also have points built up from a number of different websites—Swagbucks and Pampers rewards, to name a few. If we have to, we can also redeem those.

--My mom loves restaurant gift cards, and I found out that I can redeem points from my credit card to get these for free.

--I already have all my son's presents. I bought him a combination of in good shape toys at garage sales and a few new toys after last year's Christmas season. In addition, I bought him some Gymboree clothes on clearance last winter for this winter.

--I have taken advantage of several good or free photo book deals by following Money Saving Mom's blog.

It is possible to have a nice (and frugal) Christmas. These are just a few strategies we are implementing to have a relaxing, enjoyable season without the high price tag.

Grocery Shopping Monday, 11/23/09

I went to three stores this week and stocked up quite a bit:

Meijer:

2 Bags Purina One cat food = 12.56 - 2-$5.00 Qs = 2.56
4 bags Meijer veggies = 4.00
2 bags Steamer Veggies = 2.58 - 2-.40 Qs = 1.78
1 box macaroni = 1.34
1 pkg. floss = 2.97
2 pkgs. chunk cheese = 7.96 - 1-1.50 Q & 1-1.00 Q = 5.46
1 bottle apple juice = 1.67
2 pkgs butter spread = 3.38 - 1.00 Q = 2.38

TOTAL = 24.07

Aldi:

1 gallon milk = 1.79
3 lbs. oranges = 3.29
3 stuffed chicken breasts = 2.97
1 pkg. broccoli = 1.99
1 bag baby carrots = .99
1 bag spinach = 1.99
1 pkg. mushrooms = 1.39
1 pineapple = 1.49
1 bunch bananas = .62
1 bottle grape juice = 2.29
1 box Uncle Ben's rice = 1.69
1 bottle egg nog = 1.69
1 pkg. eggs = .89
1 pkg bread = 1.69
1 can peaches = 1.49
1 can pears = 1.49
1 can pumpkin = .79
1 can pineapple = .89
1 bag caramels = 1.99

TOTAL = 33.42

Dominick's (no picture):
4 cans chicken broth = 2.00
1 box granola bars = .99
1 butter spread = 1.99
1 loaf bread = 1.79
1 12.5 lb. turkey = 5.47
1 sweet potato = 1.21
3 pears = 1.52

TOTAL = 15.52

Walgreens = 9.50 groceries

Total for the week = 82.51
Total for my new grocery challenge =161.12
Remaining for next two weeks = 79.88

Menu Planning, 11/22/09

Here are our plans for Thanksgiving week:



Monday--Homemade Macaroni & Cheese with veggie
Tuesday--leftovers
Wednesday--chili
Thursday--Oven Roasted Turkey w/ Sage Butter, Whipped Sweet Potatoes with/ Bananas, Stuffing, Veggies
Friday--Turkey Hashed Browns & veggie
Saturday--Turkey Tetrazzini & veggie
Sunday--leftovers

For breakfasts this week, I made Pumpkin Muffins & Strawberry Oatmeal Bars. We will also have eggs, cereal, and fruit.

Lunches will be sandwiches or leftovers.

Walgreens, 10/22/09

I almost never shop at Walgreens, but I decided to today to take advantage of some good bargains.

(I almost wish I hadn't though, because some father brought his very sick little girl--she had a nasty cough, a flushed face and glassy eyes. I am hoping my son did not catch any of her bugs as she was coughing without covering her mouth.)

Play phone toy (for DD for Christmas) 6.99
2 Campbell's tomato soup $1.39/each (was supposed to be .59 each, but apparently the cashier didn't scan the coupon)
4 Starbucks icecream = 10.00 - 2 $1.00 Qs = 8.00 (a pregnancy craving)
1 infant Motrin drops = 10.99 - 1.00 Q = 9.99
I also used a $5/25 order coupon

Total = 21.95

I shared this post at Money Saving Mom.

A Simple, Worthwhile CVS Trip

I had nearly $16 ECBs expiring in 2 days, and I didn't find much in the ad until I came across the contact deal. I got there bright and early this morning to buy two bottles at $8.99 each, and I got back $17.98 in ECBs and used up my expiring ones.

Total OOP = 2.41

I shared this post at Money Saving Mom.

A Perfect Thanksgiving Side--Grandma's Fruit Salad

Are you looking for a lighter, healthier side this Thanksgiving? Try Grandma's Fruit Salad. It is so delicious! We make this all the time and gobble (excuse the pun) it up. Best of all, most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry.

I shared this post at The Grocery Cart Challenge, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday and Money Saving Mom.

On Overspending

I have a poll on my blog now (at the sidebar, please take it if you haven't!) asking what people typically overspend money on.

I have been struggling a bit with overspending lately. My overspending is not putting us in debt, but it is not helping us save the 5 to 6 months' worth of income I would like to. Sure, I could make excuses like going back to work full-time, being pregnant, taking care of a 12 month old and a 5 year old, but the bottom line is that I have been trying to "treat myself" with extras.

So, I enjoyed reading through the newest edition of All You magazine and reading what winners of their grocery challenge discovered when they cut their grocery expenses and tried to live more frugally. One 24 year old mother of a 9 month old baby, Megan Ross, stated regarding what she learned, "It's not a treat to spend money you don't have. Eating at restaurants used to feel like a reward that we deserved. But what we really deserve is to be careful and smart with our money, eat nutritious foods and spend quality time together."

Reading that quote really helped me gain perspective and get myself on track. Isn't it funny how one can find inspiration through quotes like that when they are most needed?

Food Waste Wednesday, 11/18/09

I made macaroni and cheese (a pregnancy craving), but when I got ready to make the sauce, I discovered we had no butter. I ate it without butter, but it wasn't very good, so here it is in food waste.

The couscous was leftover from a meal we had multiple times. It was just too much to finish.

The cucumber was what annoyed me the most. We don't waste produce that ofen, and with my $40 challenge last month, that cucumber represented 5% of a week's worth of groceries. We had so few vegetables in the crisper, that we went right to the frozen veggies. This poor cucumber was forgotten about for over a week.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past

Early in our marriage, soon after our one year anniversary, my husband and I traveled to my mom’s for Christmas.

At the time, we were on a very tight budget; I was making very little my first year working full-time, my husband was a graduate student, and I had student loan payments and credit card bills from just finishing grad school. We had carefully planned our Christmas and planned to give my mom and brother a combination of store bought items we had found on sale and items we had made by hand, such as a homemade flannel nightgown for my mom.

Ever since I was little, my mom liked to have all the presents even. If her budget was $125 for my brother and $125 for me, it didn’t matter to her that she spent the same amount, she also wanted the number of presents to be the same. So if I got one big, expensive gift, she gave me several smaller gifts so they would equal the same amount of gifts my brother got.

When we came home, the tree was laden with gifts, and she delighted in showing us just how many presents she had for my husband and me. While she was excited, we were dismayed. She had clearly bought MANY more presents for us than we had for her. December 23rd found us out in a cold, snowy night shopping for more presents for her, even though we did not have the money in the budget. We bought her multiple sets of brand new towels and bed linens.

On Christmas morning, my husband and I each got a large, expensive gift. As we opened the other packages, we discovered that SHE had stuck to her budget financially. But because she had wanted the number of presents for everyone to be even, she had bought up tee shirts from work that were left over from academic conferences past. We each got about 5 presents that were these tee shirts; they cost her $1 each.

When I realized what she had done, I was heart sick about the money we had spent unnecessarily when we bought additional presents, not to keep up with the Jones’, but to keep up with my mother!! She had a great Christmas and truly needed and enjoyed the towels, but a large portion of the day was ruined for me as I thought about the debt we had incurred.

In January when we got our credit card bill, my heart dropped. We did not have money to pay it off. We worked like crazy to raise extra money to pay off those unnecessary gifts; it took us until April to finally pay them off.

It was an important lesson to learn early in our marriage. Now we have a budget and stick to it, confident in our gift choices, even if the number of packages under the tree is not exactly the same for each person.

Grocery Shopping, 11/16/09

For the last 4 weeks, I challenged myself to only spend $40 a week. That was doable for a month, but not sustainable. I have upped my limit to $60 a week for the next 4 weeks to see if that could be a sustainable amount.

ALDI:

2 gallons milk = 3.58
1 loaf bread = 1.69
2 dozen eggs = 1.78
1 carton cottage cheese = 1.89
1 carton plain yogurt = 1.59
1 bunch bananas = 1.09
1 box raisins = 1.65
4 tomatoes = 1.69
2 bags shredded cheese = 4.58
3 broccoli cheese stuffed chicken breasts = 2.97
1 bag mini marshmallows = .85
TOTAL = 23.07

TARGET:

I will be honest, I made some stupid purchases here. I bought stuff we didn't need just because we had a coupon (and it's been so long since I have used coupons!) Silly. Silly.

5 packages Up Wipes = 2.85 (had a Q for $1.00 off each one)
3 packages Up Wipe Refills = 2.67 (same Q)

2 packages Toddler wipes = 1.94 (same Q)
1 pkg. tortillas = 1.89
4 boxes w. wheat pasta = 4.08
6 ct. cookies = 1.99
1 box pancake mix = 1.59
4.5 lbs. fuji apples = 4.66
2 bags frozen veggies = 2.08
2 bags Ore-Ida steam potatoes = 4.00 (had $1/1 Q)
1 container juice = .97

1 roll paper towel = .99
2 cans cat food = .83

Total = 29.32

MITSUWA (No picture):

4 packs tofu = 5.16
1 package soba noodles = 1.99
1 package udon noodles = 2.99
1 pkg. tofu wrappers = 3.99
10 lb. bag sticky rice = 10.99

Total = 25.12

Total for the week = 78.51

Remainder left for next 3 weeks = 161.49

Menu Planning, 11/15/09

I have been feeling a little dizzy lately and tired. I think it is the combination of being in the second trimester, still nursing my daughter and not getting enough sleep, so I am going to try to up my protein intake and see if that helps. You'll notice some meat heavy recipes this week.

Monday--Lighter Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes & Veggie
Tuesday--Grilled Cheese & Tuscan Bean Soup
Wednesday--Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Thursday--Chicken Quesadillas
Friday--dinner out
Saturday--Chicken Fried Steak Strips, Mashed Potatoes & Veggie
Sunday--leftovers

Breakfasts will include--Omelet for Two, Makeover Oatmeal Bake, Grandma's Fruit Salad, toast, and pancakes.

Lunches will be leftovers and sandwiches.

Iranian Kebob

When I was little (in the 70s), my mom's best friend had a roommate who dated an exchange student from Iran. He made this for a dinner party one night, and my mom loved it.

The recipe has been in our family for 30 years now, so I don't know how authentic it is anymore, I don't even know if Kebob is the real name for it, but we love it.

Iranian Kebob


4 eggs (separate the yolks & whites)
2 - 3 tbsps. turmeric
1 onion, diced in large pieces
salt & pepper to taste
1 lb. beef
4-5 whole tomatoes
3 c. cooked rice
1/2 stick butter

In a blender, mix the egg whites, onion, turmeric and salt and pepper. Blend until liquified.


Pour the blender mixture into the ground beef and mix together with hands. (The mix will be very wet at this point.) Form the meat into two patties on the bottom of a broiler pan sprayed with non-stick spray.


Core the tomatoes and place whole on the broiler, centered over the meat so any tomato juice drops will fall on the meat. Cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, cook the rice. You can use white or brown, but I think white just tastes better for this dish.

After 45 minutes, broil the meat and tomatoes for 5-10 minutes. (Make sure the tomatoes don't burn.) Remove from oven.

Place the butter in the bottom of a large bowl. Pour the hot, cooked rice over it. Let the butter melt and then stir. Add the egg yolks and stir until all blended.

Peel the tomatoes. Add them and the cooked meat to the bowl with the rice. Stir all together, salt to taste, and serve.

I shared this post at Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays , $5 Dinners and Life as Mom.

Lessons Learned from My Grocery Challenge

Over the last 4 weeks, I challenged myself to only spend $40 a week for groceries. It was a challenge, but I am happy to report that I was quite successful. (My weekly total averaged a little less than $43 a week.)

I learned several things:

Shopping at Aldi is a great way to save money. I never used to go to Aldi because the one near us was dirty and always very busy. I recently found one close to work that is clean and much less busy. Even though the challenge is over, I will still be going there.

Our budget didn't support the cat food we were buying. We adopted our cats from a foster home when they were little; they were fed Purina One there, so we just kept buying that. Now, however, we are slowly transitioning our cats to a less expensive brand.

We have a lot of food stocked up. When I started the challenge, our deep freezer and little freezer over the refrigerator were both completely full. Now, the deep freezer is about 2/3 full as is the little freezer. We still have a great deal of meat stocked up, which will make it easier to try to keep our grocery bill low.

I would have a very difficult, almost impossible, time regularly spending $40 a week without using coupons. Even with coupons, I don't see how I could sustain that amount if the freezer were not full of meat.

This challenge was a great activity for me. I was routinely spending $350 a month for groceries. Now I see that it can be done for less, much less. For the next four weeks, I will try not to spend more than an average of $60 a week. Maybe that will be a sustainable level we can manage month in and month out.

How Being Unorganized the Last Few Months Has Cost Us

For the last few months, ever since I returned to work, our lives have been chaotic and I have become very unorganized. Starting in August, I returned to work full-time; during that time, I have also been trying to give my husband ample time to work on his dissertation so he can graduate, taking care of two kids, trying to save money, running my eBay store, etc.

E-bay through me for a huge loop by pulling down all listings that do not have a return policy. I should have been able to bulk update, but because I needed to fix all my templates to reflect another policy change they made a few months ago, I could not bulk update. I had to update each listing manually. Because I have 2400 items in my store, that adds up to A LOT of time. (I am still not done!)

In addition, we found out we are going to have our third child in April. This is truly a blessing, and we are very happy. However, because I started feeling all of the effects of the first trimester right when I returned to work—nausea, sleepiness, etc—it through our schedule for a loop.

Here is how being unorganized and too busy these past few months has cost us:

--I recently discovered my $10 off your next order for Jewel expired 4 days ago.

--I found $4 ECBs that had expired

--While I am stacking up all of my coupon inserts, I have not clipped them since August and have not realized very many savings from them. Who knows how much I could have saved if I had diligently used coupons.

--We have a $17 subscription to Blockbuster for monthly deliveries, but we have not watched a movie since early summer. I need to cancel this!

--We have eaten out, albeit at cheaper restaurants, much more frequently than we used to.

--The library just called and said I have a magazine out that was due October 10th. I didn't remember that and have no idea now where the magazine is!

--Instead of making my own baby food as I did in the summer, I had to resort to store bought baby food frequently the last few weeks. Luckily, she is eating table food almost entirely now.

These are just a few ways being unorganized and too busy has cost us money. I am sure there are more, but I can't think of them all now!

Grocery Shopping, 11/9/09

I entered this 4th week of my grocery challenge with $17 and some change for groceries. Here is how I did:

Aldi (not pictured):
2 gallons milk
1 bag bananas
2 cartons eggs
1 jug apple juice

Total = 7.60

Rite Aid:

Double pack contact solution = 9.99
1 large package baby wipes = 6.99
1-20 ct. thank you notes = 5.99
1 bag Goldfish = .99

I had a $25 gift card from a diaper deal a few months ago. I was specifically planning on using it this week as I desperately needed contact solution and the money simply wasn't in the grocery budget. However, I lost the gift card!! My son found it, so his treat was the goldfish.

Total OOP = 1.38

Meijer:

12 boxes mac 'n cheese = 4.68 (I know this is not that healthy, but it is a pregancy craving. I have been paying $1.00 a box, so I was glad to snatch these up at .39/box)
2 packages bacon = 3.58
1-5 lb. bag grapefruit = 2.99
1-3 lb. bag oranges = 4.49
1-3 lb. bag apples = 2.50
1 loaf bread (not pictured) = 1.79

Total = 20.03

Total for the week = 29.01
Total for the 4 week challenge =171.90
Average for each week = 42.98

Menu Planning, 11/8/09

I had very little grocery money left from my 4 week grocery challenge, so many of the recipes this week are items we can make from the pantry or recipes I had earlier that we never actually made.

Monday--Beef Kababs & baby carrots
Tuesday--Salsa Chicken Dump, rice & asparagus spears
Wednesday--Beef Kabab Pita Pockets
Thursday--Kielbasa Bean Soup
Friday--Ultimate Mac 'n Cheese & broccoli & cauliflower blend
Saturday--Omelet for Two
Sunday--dinner out

Breakfasts will be oatmeal, omelettes, cereal, fruit, pancakes
Lunches will be leftovers or sandwiches

A Fun Meal for Kids or a Halloween Meal

My daughter's birthday is just a few days before Halloween, so this year we had her birthday party on Halloween. A few of the food items had a Halloween theme, but I imagine kids would love these recipes any time of the year as it is fun to have food that looks like something.

Remember all of the Crescent rolls I got at Jewel a few weeks ago? I used 5 packages and 40 hot dogs to create these "Crescent Mummy Dogs." Kids and adults a like liked them. In fact we had a little less than 20 people at the party, but only about 5 hot dogs were left at the end.



For one of the appetizers, I created these Ghoul Fingers. I believe I originally saw the idea while watching a Robin Miller episode on Food Network. All you have to do is put a small amount of ranch dressing on the end of the carrot and attach a sliced almond to that to create a fingernail on the finger. This tray was completely gone by the end of the party.

I shared this post at $5 Dinners, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays and The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Grocery Shopping (Very Late Edition)

This is the third week of my grocery challenge.

Dominick's:

2 boxes macaroni & cheese = 2.00 (outrageous price, I know)
6.3 lb. bag of cat food = 7.49
8 pk Yoplait yogurt = 3.99
2 boxes Healthy Choice lunch meat = 2.69

4 pears = 1.06
1 bag organic baby carrots = 1.50
3 lb. bag apples = 3.99
1 pineapple = 1.99
Total = 26.01

Aldi (no picture):

2 gallons milk = 3.78
1 bag bananas = .83
1 loaf bread = 2.00
Total = 6.78

Meijer (no picture):

10 jars baby food = 3.30

Total = 3.42

Total for the week = 36.21

Total for the challenge thus far = 142.89

Remaining for next week =17.11 (Yikes!)

It will be tight making it through this challenge on target. I do still have a $5 Target card and a $10 off your next order for Jewel, plus a $20 rebate from Kraft from their rebate back in August. If I have to, I can use those.

Food Waste Wednesday (Late Edition!)

Notice the big bowl of oats? I was trying to make Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal when I realized, after I had already combined the oats and milk, that I did not have any eggs. I stuck the whole mixture in the refrigerator with plans to finish it today after I bought eggs. But today, it was like concrete, so I had to start all over.

The other waste is some powdered milk that went bad before we drank it and a little bit of banana-strawberry smoothie.

It's a Great Time to Buy a Halloween Costume

Now is a great time to buy your kids' Halloween costumes for next year. Stores are deeply discounting their Halloween merchandise to make way for the holiday merchandise.

I bought my son a pioneer boy costume from Gymboree (photo above) complete with a hat and canteen for approximately $10 (retail is $62.25). It was easy to bring the discounted cost down further because I bought a 20% coupon off eBay. Now he has a complete costume for next year; if he changes his mind and decides that isn't what he wants to be, I can always sell the costume on eBay for a profit.

The Disney Store is also marking down their costumes, though my hunch is if I wait it out they will discount them further in the next few days. Don't forget about other stores such as Sears, JCPenney, and the Pottery Barn. Why pay for an expensive costume next year when you can buy it for 80% off now? Happy shopping.

Our Good News!

My husband and I always wanted three kids. My son and daughter are 4.5 years apart, so we knew the last two would have to be close together if I wanted to have all three before turning 40.

So we were very excited to find out I am now pregnant for number three!! We will know the sex of this little one, due in late April, in just five weeks.

It will be quite a shift for us in that my daughter and the new baby will only be 18 months apart. (If any readers have advice about babies born close together, I am all ears.)

Monthly Goals Update--October Wrap Up

I am now back to work full-time and expect to keep my job until at least April. These are the new goals I am working on to help my dream of being a stay-at-home mom a reality.

Save 5 months’ of living expenses. I get nervous when there isn’t any money in the bank. If I am able to quit and my husband takes over as the breadwinner, our income will drop by about 1/3. I would like a cushion to help us deal with that. Thus far we have saved 18%, which is approximately 3.5 weeks of living expenses.

Have 2 no spending months. Just based on my salary and our expenses, I do not have enough extra income to save 5 months’ of living expenses. One of the ways we plan to get around this problem is by having several no spending months and putting the difference away. This not happened yet. However, we are having a grocery challenge this month, which is helping to curb our spending (and use up some of our grocery stockpile!)

Pay off 50% of my business debt. Yes, I opened my business 4 years ago before I had every heard of Dave Ramsey. In the first two years, I accumulated quite a bit of debt. I want to pay off 50% (or more, if I can) of that debt. Then when I quit my job, we can use some of my eBay income to live off of instead of to repaying debt. Thus far I have paid off 9.3%.

Sell at least $500 worth of extra household items on eBay. In October I sold another $88,(in addition to the $78 I sold in September) so I have sold a total of $166, making this goal 33% complete.

I’ll report back every month and let you know how we are doing!