When I posted a couple weeks ago that I spend $50 a week on groceries, y’all started hitting me up hard and heavy.

“Um, do share your secrets!” 

“Dang, I wish!” 

“Teach me, Tara. TEACH ME!!” 

And really, I don’t have any magic secrets. I just don’t spend the money. LOL.

But if you want something a little more specific, here it is:

1. About every six weeks or so, my husband and I go to Sam’s Club to stock up on stuff. Mostly stuff that’s cheaper when bought in bulk, like cupcakes frozen vegetables, ground turkey, pork tenderloin, chicken breasts/wings, pasta, juice and frozen fruit. I also discovered that lettuce is one of the best buys there. I get six heads of romaine for about $4. I also bought two huge containers of cooking spray for about $3. The seasonings are usually a good buy if you know what kind you like. We usually get out of there for about $125-$150. (I should add that we have a deep freezer in the basement, which makes it possible for us to buy so much frozen food.)
2. Then I go grocery shopping every week for the stuff that makes no sense to buy in bulk, like milk (we go through two half gallons a month, if that).
3. Since we stocked up on food at Sam’s Club, I don’t have to buy many of the expensive items at the grocery store. I usually go to the store to buy “special ingredients” for different meals and desserts, like artichoke hearts or ahem, Oreos. My weekly grocery list looks a little something like this:

• Milk
• Eggs
• Lunch meat
• Salad dressing
• Bread/buns
• Tomatoes
• Spaghetti sauce
• Onions
• French fries
• Cream cheese
• Apples

So I’ve been plotting and thinking and planning and prepping for 2012.

I got laid off at the end of 2010, so 2011 was a year of “yes” to anything and everything to make sure I could pay my bills and provide for my kids.

I learned a lot of lessons, business and otherwise, and I’m looking forward to putting them into practice this year.

My biggest lesson is that no one has all the answers and everyone (yes, everyone) is making it up as they go along. Folks I’ve long admired for being self-employed openly admitted to me that it gets rough. The confidence I see is really stubbornness, they said.

I’m stubborn too and I’m putting it to good use in 2012.

This is the year that we all rise together.

My goal this year is to teach you how to use your voice to support your family.

Here’s a few of the things I’ve got planned:

• MORE group ebooks for you to participate in. Here’s the deal: We pick a topic, a bunch of moms write an essay, it goes on sale and we split the profits. Pretty simple.
• Blogging workshops and associated ebook. I can’t tell you the number of emails I’ve gotten since I started this blog that begin something like this: “I’ve always wanted to write, but I don’t know how to start. Can you give me some advice?” Actually, yes, I can give you some advice, but I’d like for this to reach the masses. I’ll be hosting blogging workshops (beginning online and then eventually in-person) to help you figure out the best way to get a piece of the blogging pie.
• Young mother meet-ups. Obviously, I don’t have the resources to be attending meet-ups in every city but I want to have at least ONE hosted by the time 2013 rolls around.
• Money-making ventures. I want each of us to have more money this year. No tip-toeing around it. The recession is no joke and it’s not letting up. But instead of being scared by it, I want to take what I started with Make It Happen and expand upon it. We’ve got to be proactive in our careers, because no one is going to put money in our bank account while we’re sleeping. (I wish, though!) Let’s get it together and make sure that we’re got enough money for the bills, our savings, our tithes, our “splurge on me” account and our emergency fund.

So that’s where I am. I’m really excited for this year and I hope you are too!

I figure if I put them here, it will help keep me accountable, right?

• Save $200 per month.
• Commit to one Sunday a month making freezer meals to help cut down on eating take-out.
• Go to the rec center 3x per week for a 45-minute workout (minimum).
• Write every day. Every. Day.
• Launch series of BlogMama workshops.
• Get two speaking engagements by the end of 2012.
• Raise $500 for the YML Scholarship Fund.
• Make connections with three nonprofits.
• Work with my son to improve his fine motor skills.
• FINALLY pack up these baby/kid clothes and sell/donate them.

In the next couple weeks, I’ll be breaking these goals down into microgoals. Feel free to join me as I tackle these!

Do share: What are your goals? I’m all ears!

The most popular misconception about work-at-home moms is that we don’t work. Or rather, we work, but only for a little bit each day. They figure the rest of the day is spent watching TV or cleaning or cooking or hanging out with friends.

This could not be further from the truth. I’ve never worked as much in my life as I have in the past year. I told my husband recently that I am by far the toughest boss I’ve ever had.

My goal for this year was to 1) work on my business and 2) spend more time with the kids. I spent the first half of the year unsuccessfully balancing quality time with the kids and getting enough time to do quality work. As soon as I found that sweet spot, my daughter started school and so it’s just me and the little guy all day.

It’s so much harder having just one child at home versus two. When my daughter was home, she’d occupy her little brother and even teach him a few things while I busted out some work. But now, my son is just kind of there, with nothing to occupy him but Nick Jr. And I know I want more for my son.

So I’ve been researching some preschools in the area, trying to find some affordable center for him to go part-time, a few hours a day. It’s difficult because I was trying to make it to January having him home with me. I love him and when I’m not under a completely stressful deadline, it’s fun to just hang with him and be in his face all day. But the reality is that I have too much work to handle during the two or so hours I can wrangle throughout the day. Having him in preschool will allow him to socialize with the other kids, learn a thing or two and then come back to a mama who’s not so frazzled. At least that’s what I’m hoping. *FINGERS CROSSED*

Why are some of the most necessary decisions about motherhood also some of the most difficult to make? 

If you want to read the previous entries: Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5.

I fell in love with this house, y’all.

The outside isn’t much to look at (gravel driveway and all), but the inside (based on the pics from the listing agent) was goregous.

Beautiful paint colors, elegant trim, built-in bookshelves, beyond fabulous kitchen with granite countertops and an island (my personal dream!).

But.

(Why is there always a but?)

When we told our realtor that we liked the house and wanted to see it in person, she mentioned that she had shown the house earlier last week and she was appalled at the condition it was in. Dirty clothes on the floor (during an open house), a horrible stench (smelled like dog), and parts of the carpet were matted with mud. Ugh.

Never.mind. If they can’t even bother to clean up the place for an OPEN HOUSE, why would they bother making repairs or something more substantial? We decided not to even chance it, and took it off our list of potential homes. We’re down to eight homes, now and will be looking at them Saturday!  

Takeaway tip: Don’t fall in love with houses you see online. Period. It’s just not worth the heartbreak.

Damn.

Up next: Seeing some of our other potential houses – up close and personal.

Tomorrow is a brand new beginning, and is usually the time everyone makes New Year’s resolutions, pledging to be thinner, more spiritual, kinder, less controling, etc, by the time the ball drops in 2010.

But if there’s one thing you need to focused on, it’s your money. 2008 was a doozy. There didn’t seem to be a safe place other than under the mattress to put your money.

This article, by the good folks over at Million Dollar Journey, tells how they went from -$40,000 to $285,000 in five years. Mostly, the article is common sense.

Mainly:

We systematically controlled our spending so that our expenses were well below our income.  We then took the savings and aggressively paid down our debts while at the same time investing for our retirement.

That’s obvious, but so many people don’t do it. Here are my financial resolutions for 2009. Add yours in the comments!  

1. Buy a great house. (Already halfway there.)
2. Continue writing for additional income (and because I like it.) Click here for my posts on side hustles and how to get one for yourself!
3. Save at least $1,000 per month to put in a high-yield savings account.
4. Begin saving for retirement. (Already done!) Signed up for 403(b) contributions last week!

Happy New Year!

We met with the lender yesterday after work. I was a bit nervous, because while I’m cool with the whole “house hunting” aspect, sitting down to figure out how we were going to pay for it was a bit daunting.

We’re not talking about buying some rinky-dink house. We’re trying to buy a nice house, a house that we can grow in and make a home. A house that quite honestly, I didn’t know we could afford. But when the lender broke it down to us, our mortgage would only be $100 more than we pay right now for rent and garage space. That’s it. Holy smokes, Batman.

Plus, if we get an FHA loan, we’ll only need to put 3.5% down, which, for our price range, is anywhere from $5,000 to $9,000. Totally doable.

Takeaway tip: Do your research beforehand, both on the lender and the process. Make sure you find someone through word of mouth and see if they’re a good fit for you. Are they prompt in answering your calls and e-mails? Are they friendly? As for the process, check out this page from Fifth Third Bank that breaks it down for you.

Next installment: Going to our first open house.

If you’d like to catch up: read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

We meet with our lender on Tuesday to hand over our financial statements (W-2s, pay stubs, bank statements on ALL accounts in your name, etc.) so we can offically be pre-approved for a loan, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Because the lender we’re working with has an underwriter in-house (meaning they don’t have to wait for someone in Columbus or Pittsburgh to fill out the paperwork), they assured us that we could be pre-approved within a week. Whoo-hoo!

So….that means we can begin looking at houses and figuring out which one works best for our budget and lifestyle.

In the meantime, I’m keeping myself busy by purging all this old crap that we haven’t used or taken out of the boxes since we moved back in April.

My husband is the ultimate packrat. We have boxes of old cell phone chargers, answering machines, all his binders from college, pens that don’t work, clothes will holes in them (everywhere!), etc. I’m trying to get him to get rid of this stuff by saying that we will need a bigger house to keep all this crap. And crap it is. I’m calling it like I see it.

So between working all day, taking care of my kids and writing all night, I’ll be  slowly but surely getting rid of the stuff I can’t bear to move one more time, only to be taking up precious space.

Does this sound like you? Do you have boxes of stuff that you never use, but keep it just in case one day you’ll need to produce a box of multi-colored floppy disks and you’ll be justified in keeping it?

I don’t know about you, but reading all this talk about Wall Street fiascos and government bailouts and bank failures has got me nervous. I’ve been keeping a close eye on my finances and trying to make myself feel as secure as possible. Here are a few habits I’ve picked up over the last couple weeks. See if any help you out:

1) I brought my calculator to the grocery store. Instead of keeping a running “estimate” in my head, and inevitably going over budget, I decided to keep a tight reign on my spending. I made a list before I went, noting specific quanities that I needed. (As in, three oranges, two bell peppers, etc.) Then, as I picked up those items, I marked down the price on the list and kept a running tally on the calculator. When I got too close to my budget (I budgeted $50 for the week), I could look at my list and see what I didn’t really need and what would put me over. Yes, it seems a bit much, but if you regularly go over what you intended to spend by about $10-15, you can save a ton over the year.

2) Take longer than 10 minutes to make your list! This is soo crucial. If you hurriedly write down the things you think you need, you will inevitably miss some items, go over your budget, and it will be that much harder to put down the ice cream you hadn’t intended to buy because, “Hey, I’m already over. What’s an extra $4 gonna hurt?” Spend the extra time going through the refrigerator to see what you’re actually out of and almost out of.

3) Clean out our refrigerator and cabinets often. I have a lot of food up there is either a) ready to be tossed, b) no one eats it, or c) both. As a result, I think we have more food than we actually do. So when I go shopping, I don’t buy the right things and have to go back to the store later in the week. The more trips to the store means the more money you spend. Period. Try heading into the store for just one item. I double-dog dare you. Bet you come out with at least two bags, looking dazed like, “What just happened?”

Saving money is really just about being conscious of the money you spend. Pay attention to your grocery bill and you’ll learn how to save by cutting out things that waste money.  

Stay tuned for more tips….

Money may not be able to buy you happiness, but having a clear direction of where you’re headed financially is pure bliss.

My kids are my reason I get up every morning to go to work, why I budget, why I save, why I’m trying to invest. I realize I’m starting out with less by having my children earlier in my career, and I guess in some way I’m trying to make up for that.

I’ve been pretty successful so far. Since starting my current position in January, I’ve been able to save almost $10,000. That’s not bad for a 22-year-old, right? A lot of the lessons I’ve learned have been through trial and error. Let me share what I’ve discovered so far.

1.) Get a piece of paper and write down everything you spend. Or pay for everything using your debit or credit card and track your purchases online. You can’t save money if you don’t know how much you’re spending and how much is available for you to save. Do this for about three months and you’ll get a pretty good idea of your expenses.

2.) Once you know what you’re spending money on, calculate your income. Maybe you have one or two jobs, or maybe you have a side hustle (see my latest post on side hustles from last week) that brings in additional income. Tally up how much you bring in and subtract your expenses from that. Get a good idea on how much you have left over each month.

3.) Once you know your income, your expenses, and your surplus (here’s hoping you have a surplus!), put things on autopilot. If your cell phone bill is the same every month, have it automatically deducted. Have your check direct deposited and a certain amount (perhaps all of your surplus) deposited into savings.

4.) Most importantly: PAY YOURSELF FIRST. If you wait until all your other bills are paid off, and then you decide to save some money, you’ll probably end up saving less than if you made paying yourself a priority. Decide on a certain amount that HAS TO go into savngs each paycheck and then pay it first.

5.) Evaluate ways to save more. Once you’ve determined how much you can save, try to save 10% more, just to challenge yourself. Say you save $100 each month – after a few months of successfully meeting that goal, bump it up to $110 a month. Look at your expenses – do you need to go out to dinner every Friday? How about if you get your hair done every three weeks instead of every two? Start slow and see how much you can save.

6.) Research different savings accounts. You don’t have to settle for a dismal 0.5% interest rate anymore. Open an account with an online bank, such as ING Direct or HSBC, and get rates up to 3.5%. It isn’t much, but it’s enough to motivate you to keep saving.

So what do you all think? How are you trying to save money?