Refinancing my house and it’s estimated that I should be saving about $200 a month, I’m hoping for $300 but either way I’ll be saving.

I opted not to go with the 15 year, because I’ve created a habit of paying extra anyway even as I pay down debt. I’ve always paid extra on the principal, and given the uncertain times, it’s easier to come up with $400 than $800, if anything happens,that’s why I went with the 30. The new rate is 3 percentage points less than my current rate. Right now it’s all about cash flow for me.

The goal is to continue to pay my current mortgage payment after refinancing, that would be $200 extra towards the principal a month and to pay an extra $500 - $1,000 a month on the student loans. If I continue on this path, I should be debt free including the house, within 5-7 years. Fingers crossed.

Closed out my budget for May.
Once again the numbers are very high for food and household items. I’ve got to get this back under control. Though both are a low percentage of my take home pay, less than 1%, it’s still too much compared to what I use to pay.

I was able to save 21% of my take home pay, that I’m happy with. Not to mention I paid off the credit card debt also in May, so May was a good month.

Other news, my blood pressure has been high, the doctor put me on meds 💊, something I did not want to do but hey. I’ve made some minor adjustments to my diet, purchasing low sodium 🧂 food items. I exercise any way, so I’ll continue with this regiment. I’m keeping a health/food journal in hopes of getting this thing under control.

Lastly, SO called someone tested positive for COVID -19 at his daughter’s job. I’m so glad he does not live with me, I would have been going nuts. I told him, they both should be tested and practice social distancing while in the home. I pray all is well, there’s a young kid and a senior in the home.

That’s in a nut shell.

I have no idea why I never divvied up my meat after purchasing.

I have cooked dinner pretty much all week, and nothing has gone to waste. I portioned everything and I’m loving it.

This week I’ve had pulled pork, chops and spaghetti. In the past, because it’s just me, at least 1/4 to half would have been wasted.

I even froze bell peppers and onions 🧅 now if I can figure out how to preserve lettuce 🥬

Tomorrow is pay day from the side gig. I’m excited because I’ll be adding funds to the CC as well as the EF. The goal is to save aggressively vs the paying down the CC debt until this pandemic situation is under control.

I hadn’t noticed until today, that I’ve got the card 💳 down to $4146, by tomorrow it will be below $4000, wow. I’m so excited about this. I’m sure as I see the balance decrease I’ll want to throw more at it, lol because I’m feeling that way now. Darn coronavirus

Went to the grocery store today, I really wanted to stick to the list, but I ended up picking up a few extra things. The good thing is, I won’t have to go out for a few weeks.

Since this whole thing is going on regarding the food supply, I picked up some ground beef 🥩, pork loin and chops. I did something I never do, and that’s rationing the meat. I decided to divvy up the meat, so that I could what I eat and nothing goes to waste. For example; I can cook one chop at a time vs the whole pack.

I live alone and I find that when I cook an entire pack of meat most of it is thrown out. Coupled with meal planning, I’m hoping this helps.

I’m in a ton of Facebook groups regarding saving money and paying down debt. This month it’s drink water only, for every day I have water only, I’ll add $1 to my challenge envelope ✉️. For the days I don’t, it’s $2. I’m also participating in keep change challenge, where you round up the change and save it. I like this since I’m not using cash due to COVID.

Lastly, I paid an extra $250 on the CC. Again it’s not the extra amount that I would normally pay, I’m in storm mode saving because I have no clue what will happen with COVID

It’s been a lazy day. It’s been raining all day, and I just don’t feel like doing a thing, but I had to truck through it.

First, I hit Walmart and picked up groceries, $26. I used Ibotta pay to get the 1% cash back. It’s not much but he my it is free money, no matter small, it is worth it.

I then purchased a few personal items totaling $6.98. I like keeping my items separate when shopping, because I use the cash envelopes system.

After purchasing my items, I sat in the car and scanned my receipts, lol. I don’t know why but I enjoy scanning for points immediately.

I then headed over to Murphy USA for gas, $30. I have enough points for 80 cents off but I’m waiting until a week in that I do a ton of driving to use the fuel points.

Once home, I prepared dinner, chili. I made a large crockpot full for $7.98 for all the ingredients. Good thing about paying $7.98 for an entire pot is, it will last until about Tuesday or Wednesday.

Washed a load a clothes, hung them up to dry. My dryer is still on the blitz, I think it’s the element, I’ll be picking up the other from my uncle Saturday. To be honest, I don’t mind the line drying.

Now I’m just watching Magnificent Seven
I’ll probably take a look at last month’s spending and budget, this evening.

SO filled my car up today, ⛽️ so what I had budgeted, $30, I'm throwing to my savings on CC4.

We headed over to Target after church ⛪️, I got cubed steak for dinner on clearance, too bad they didn't have any chicken. Meals are based on what's on sale. I headed to Aldi and picked up apples 🍎, grapes 🍇 and paper towels. Aldi has such great deals.

Now that dinner is in the crockpot, I'm just going to relax for a little while. Love Sundays

I about fell out of my chair when the SO handed me a $100 for groceries. I could not believe it. I've been budgeting about $60 each pay date for groceries, for things I eat vs the house.

I slowed down with cooking because he was basically was not contributing and a ton of food was going to waste. What's good about this is, the $60 I just budgeted, I'm adding to my EF. I'll meal plan for the next two weeks and use the funds he gave me. I guess when you stop complaining and just show folks they get the picture.

Tomorrow I have an interview for a HR manager role, I'm praying that things pan out. One it would be closer to my home, two it puts me in a manager's role and three it's more money. Oops I forgot, the benefits are much better than the crap we currently have at my current employer. Please pray for me.

How I won with money, yesterday? Well I went into the grocery store and only bought what was on my list and that came out to $7.88

Proud of myself, the office was having their Secret Santa 🎅🏾 drawing today and I told the committee that I was not participating. They continued to try and get me to sign up but I held my guns and said no.

The boss came in with her 2% raise, I felt like crying but I remembered before your blessing you'll go through something. I said a quick prayer, and felt at peace. This manager is the worst, she had another employee in tears and going to therapy but the company continue to allow her bully others. I'll take my 2% with my head up and continue to look for something else.

Today was not a NSD, headed over to Walmart for a few items. I found these neat little gadgets for $10 for my nephews, for Christmas, but was on the fence. Long story short I had the money for it, already budgeted but purchasing would have left me with nothing left over in the gift envelope. I was telling my sister what I bought, she mentioned she bought them one last year so I can take the ones I bought back. Feeling better. So long as I come under, I can throw the amount that's left at CC3. The goal is to never spend every single dollar in my envelopes.

Oops I failed to mention that the linen napkins have been working fabulously. Not saying that I didn't use a few napkins but far less than my normal consumption. I notice the SO took out a roll, I'm waiting to see what he does when we're out and I haven't bought any. Usually I'm the purchasing, he buys the soap, but those $5 can be thrown on my debt.

Thanks to DW's tough love I decided not to hit Target up this Sunday. We have enough meat to last this week coming for dinner so no need to go and buy anything. Tomorrow is Saturday so I have nothing planned, I'll create my meal plan based on what I have. Someone mentioned a meatless dinner so I'll be looking for a recipes for at least two nights this week.

I reached out to my insurance company to get basic insurance for my car. It's fairly old but runs really good thank God. I received a quote that will reduce my insurance about $40 a month. I figured I can do this and add this extra savings to my EF (baby step 1) then tackle my debt.

The fiancé wanted to go out to P.F. Chang's after the game tonight. I convinced him not to go. Honestly; I just didn't want to go, I'm tired. When I called to place the take-out order, we were told 30 minutes. He wanted to wait, I said no. First of all for two of us it would have cost at least $60. Secondly, the wait is always long. And lastly the coupon I had for 15% off was for Tuesday, so that's no good. We ended up getting take out for $18 and I made it home to unwind.

As I'm typing this blog I realize there's some household items I'm in need of (e.g. paper towels). I'll have to check prices and coupons.

That's it for me.

Revamped my budget for only one box of contacts vs the 90-day supply. I'm really struggling with this but I'm running low on a few household and personal items that I need to purchase, I had to add these items to the budget. So it is what it is. For me it's all about sticking to the budget.

Following Dave's plan I have a choice of things to do with what's left over in my cash envelopes. One, fund baby step 1. Two, keep the funds in the envelopes as is. And three (this is my own idea), take what's left and divide amongst all envelopes and EF. There'll be about $60 left, that puts about $8.50 in each envelope and towards baby step 1. I somewhat like this idea since the next two week's budget is super tight and it gives me a little extra in each envelope.

Or maybe I can put the funds towards my sinking fund (Christmas). Ugh the pressure.

I have a change jar, full of change and decided to roll them. Well I was only able to roll about $22.50, I didn't have any holders for the dimes so I'll roll those later. I'm adding the $22.50 to baby step 1. I can't wait to hit step one, so I can start tackling the debt.

Our Target run was okay, we got 93/7 ground beef for $2.89 pound (purchased 3lbs) and 4.55 lbs center cut pork chops for $15.15. I didn't think this was a great deal on the pork chops but I needed to prepare for this week's meals. I did return the coupon organizer and got the $8.55 back. I forgot to scan my Cartwheel bar code, there was 5% savings on both the strawberries 🍓 and the grapes 🍇 . When I went to return the organizer, I got the $0.38 back on the items (strawberries and grapes 🍇 ) . Once I got home 🏡, I realized I didn't get the 5% on the pork chops either, nor did I use my $5.00 coupon. I hate shopping in a rush. The cashier was standing over me, I think she thought I was going to steal one of the items. I use the envelope system, so I pay for things separately. She reminded me, I didn't pay for the item, I told her nicely that I'd be paying for the item separately. Needless to say, l'll head back tomorrow, for both my 5% off on the pork chops and my $5 coupon.

I found out that Target gives $0.05 for every recycling bag used. I'll start brining my own bags. It's not much but hey, something is better than nothing.

We ended up in Publix, BF spent $82. Mostly on things he liked (e.g chips, cookies 🍪, ice cream 🍦). None of the items were eligible for ibotta rebates. I told him that we could get a $1 back on French's ketchup, but he insisted on Heinz. He was annoyed with me because I kept looking for things that may have a rebates, that he was purchasing, so I stopped. It's his money. I did manage to get $0.25 for uploading the receipt. I really wish my fiancé would get onboard with budgeting but he won't. I have told him, that at the rate we are going, we cannot get married. I've explained that finances are a huge issue, for couples and me.

Tomorrow is the day, we go to court about selling my dad's house. I'm just putting things in God's hands, what ever happens happens.

That's it for now.

So I get home today and CC4 that I have not used in quite sometime, over 6 months, but paying off has been increased my limit to $7,700 (odd number) just before the holidays. 🙄🤦🏾‍♀️

I don't need any more credit card debt so I'll keep the card where it is.

On a different note, I'm loving the envelope system. Dave Ramsey (DR) was right. If you feel money, and watch it leave your hands, you think twice about spending it.

I have about $50 to last me until next Friday, in the grocery envelope . So while I was in Publix, I needed spaghetti. I normally purchase Mueller, but Ronzoni was BOGO. I'm sure you guess what I bought. Not only did I get a BOGO, iBotta has $0.50 rebate, plus $0.25 on pasta; therefore the two cost me $0.84. Not bad. Just the thought of being smarter with my money is awesome.

My meal planning is contingent upon what deals I find at Target on Sundays.

Today, I picked up two packs of thin chicken breast for $2.99 and two packs of three chicken kabobs for $3.99. Not bad, I'm just disappointed there weren't any packages ground beefs on sale.
Target also had grapes on sale for $.99 a pound, bought two pounds.
Fiancé picked up a pack of the Kuerig Folgers coffee for $10. Smh I told him I wanted my $10 back, this is ridiculous when he can get it for far less elsewhere.

This week's meal are as follows:
* Sunday Kabobs with rice
* Monday left overs
* Tuesday spaghetti and meat sauce
* Wednesday lemon pepper chicken drinks with a salad
* Thursday left overs
* Friday - Outback steak house. We have a gift card
* Saturday - homemade pizza

Sundays after church is my trip to Target 🎯. I have decided to buy meat that's on sale and create my meal plan from what I have purchased.

There was 1lb (93/7 ) ground beef for $1.89, this was with the $4 off coupon. The fiancé was with me chitchatting, that caused me to miss the cashier, not taking the $4 off one of the packages, so now I have to go back 😡.

We picked up Tyson chicken, 3lbs for $4.99 and a 12 pack of pork chops for $5.99. I'd say we did pretty good.

Today we started week 5 of Financial Peace University and the topic was on impulse purchases. Of course while in Target the BF made an impulse purchase🤦🏾‍♀️🙄
I explained to him that the extra $5 he spent on candy, we could have applied to the debt snowball.

Hopefully he'll get it

Well I went to Target today to check if they had any meats marked down. Unfortunately they only had one pack of 2lb chicken breast with a coupon and refused to mark the others down. Normally when you ask, they will, since the sell by date is the date of the markdown.

Long story short I got the pack of chicken for $0.33. I couldn't believe it. The chicken was 6.99 then marked down, plus I had a $2.00 coupon and I used the Cartwheel app for an extra 25% off. I'll cut the chicken in half, that will give me a total of six pieces.

Love it!

Went to Target today and picked up 2lbs of ground beef for $2.20. I also picked up two packs of chicken that I cut into and packaged into 5 packs of four for dinner. Total cost $10.18, not bad.

I'll be meal planning for the week and hitting Target up next Sunday

Okay today I decided to create a dinner menu and do my grocery shopping based on that menu.

Here it is:
- Sunday - salmon, rice pilaf, sweet potato
- Monday - spaghetti
- Tuesday - baked chicken and pasta
- Wednesday - left over
- Thursday - baked pork chops and corn
- Friday -homemade pizza and salad
- Saturday - salad and sweet potato

I made tonight's dinner, browned the ground beef for spaghetti that I'll place in the crockpot tomorrow. I went ahead and seasoned , froze both the pork chops and chicken, cutting down my cooking time. All in all, including snacks I spent $74 at the grocery store, not bad. I usually spend about $120 a week.

I'm thinking Sunday's will be my day to create my menus

I know I may be a little late but I've signed up for the Ibotta app, that apparently provides rebates for everyday purchases. I'm just curious, has anyone else signed up? If so what are your pros and cons?

I find the app to be very user friendly, I've already earned $2.25, can't wait to hit the $10 mark so that I can cash in.

Join my team by coying the link below

https://ibotta.com/r/uuvpoqb

It's been about two weeks, and I am loving the new place. It's funny because I hardly ever think about my mom, but I will say this, when it comes to cleanliness, we are just alike.

Other than my BF daughter, things seems to be going well. I'm definitely going to have to work with her and her cleaning habits

I've still kept track of my spending but haven't really been able to sock away anything. When I get my mileage check, I'll add the $114 to the EF

Oh, I almost forgot, I really need to set up a grocery budget, things are getting out of hand. I find myself at the store every week and I really want to go twice a month ( each pay period). So we'll see

Once again my BF does not have his portion of the money to take a trip that I have been planning since January this year. On my bucket list is to visit every state, so for the upcoming year we were to start with Alabama. Well now as he puts it "He is in the hole" and I refuse to foot the bill this time for my birthday. This year I paid for everything, food, gas, the hotel, the theater, and the theme park. He was to give me some of the money back and normally he does but he did not. We have been together for 3 years and when it's his birthday I usually foot the bill but since he stood me up year, I did not pay for the hotel room.

Now here is the kicker, he wants to rent a hotel for Christmas for 4 days, I'd rather use that money for my trip.

Long story short, I am not paying $500 for us to fly to Alabama. If he wants to go dutch, that is perfectly fine with me.

On a different note, Publix had BOGO AJ frozen pancakes so I saved $2. 86

I received portion of my mileage check from my employer and was short $2. I think they do this on purpose hoping that you do not notice because it happens all the time. The person of course, who cuts the check was not in today, not surprised. So I deposited the funds and added $200 to my Challenge/EF account. Now I am just waiting on $91 hopefully I will have it by Friday. I'll add the $91 to the challenge and I would have met my goal above and beyond.

That's it in a nutshell

Today was suppose to be a no spend day but $2 went towards CC debt/challenge because I had breakfast and lunch home. $18.50 at the grocery store and 50 cents towards savings challenge (rounded up the change)

Ok I pretty much stayed in today and only studied for about 10 minutes Then I hit the gym so $1 was paid towards my CC challenge next I went to Publix spent $17.13 on groceries(and only bought fruit no chip, dips etc) as well as personal items so I paid an additional .87 cents towards my cc (rounding up my change) I washed and curled my own hair saving $35 and I added this to my house fund
YTD challeng $1751.99

Ok I go into Publix today to pick up a few things. So I hand the cashier my coupon for $.35 which I thought she did not take off in which I am staring at the screen. When I cash out and get my receipt I am looking for the discount, of course there isn't one. So I say to her did you take the coupon off (while she is staring at me) she says no and hand it to me, I say to her were you planning on telling me or keeping staring wondering if I noctice? I was so upset then I go to the desk and the girl is starin at me as if to say it is only $.35. First of all if the first cashier had applied my discount, by doing her job I would not have been at the customer srvice desk. Boy was I mad

Did some grocery shopping today and Publix had a few BOGO so I saved $5.86 so I added this amount along with a few extra change to the challenge brining my new total to $946.23

Went to the grocery store and I did not have a list so I ended up spending more than anticipated ($36.97). But I am making a big dinner which should last me until about Wednesday. Today's menu: roasted chicken with yams, blackeyed peas and rice, corn bread and my favorite homestyle potatoe salad...oops I forgot about the stuffing. I was just in the mood for cooking. Needless to say thayt's today's big lunch as well as dinner for the next couple of days.

I tried Zatarran's Blacken Chick mix, which was terrible. It comes in a small bag that you place in the microwave for about a minute...it was definately not worth the $1.99

You remeber that cc that I paid off before the end of my billing cycle...well they hit me with $25.00 interest. Is this legal? I paid the card off before the next billing cyle...I am red hot right now are there any recourse, I did close this account because the interest was way too high. Now instead of my lovely blance of $758.68 it's now $781.68...crooks