Another Informative Cracked Article-5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor

Man, I just love browsing Cracked and my most favorite thing of all on the site is the lists. I just posted one of their lists a while ago but I came across this one written by the same person titled "The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor" and I can honestly say that from my personal experience that every point he brought up is true, at least in my case.
I grew up very poor even though my parents made decent money. Where did it all go? Money just seemed to be piddled away due to lack of foresight, impulse purchases, restaurant food, lack of budgeting, etc. When I moved out on my own I started living the same way, it never even occurred to me to do it any other way because that was how I grew up, I was working 50-60 hours a week and only paying $300 a month for my apartment but still never seemed to have any money left at the end of the month. I didn't even have a savings account! If only I knew the things then that I know now. I cringe to even think of how much money just went to waste on disposable items, food and entertainment. Thankfully all of that changed or I wouldn't be writing this blog!

Here's a summary of the 5 points as well as my comments but really just go check out the actual article, the guy is hilarious, he approaches bleak topics with a very dark humor that I just love!

An Update

I thought an update post would be in order since I've only been posting a recipe or DIY post once a week. I also didn't have anything ready to post last night/early this morning.

So here's what we've been up to:

• Our debt repayment schedule is still on track and we're looking to be debt free this spring hopefully
• We're done getting Christmas presents and I have renamed my savings account "The House Fund". It only has $150 at the moment but it's a start. If I go back to work we should be able to have a decent downpayment in a year or so.
• We've decided that we cannot deal with the renting situation for much longer and would like to buy a house. There is too much noise from neighboring apartments, people are smoking in our building, there was dog poo just outside the elevator for an entire day which is strange considering our lease said we weren't allowed to have a cat or dog, repairs are still not done after nearly a year and a half and our rent will be going up again in June. Why not use that money towards a mortgage payment and have something to show for it? We're just in the beginning plans of this but hope to be out of here in a year, we would have to upgrade by then to a larger space anyway
• I'm working on updating my resume and will be out looking for a part-time job probably later this week. We need the extra income to save up for a house and I would like some adult interaction. Jon works from home and makes his own hours so he can hang out with Alice while I'm gone for a few hours a couple times a week. Alice is just now starting to eat a lot more solids and use her sippy cups, so she is finally able to go for more than 2 hours without nursing.
• With the exception of maybe once a week Alice is asleep by 8pm and stays asleep for 3 hours. She still wakes me up a lot at night but it's slowly getting better.
• I'm nearly consistently getting up around 8am now. Alice gets out of bed and plays until she needs her diaper changed and then she comes to wake me up, usually by putting a diaper on my face and yelling and patting at me. It's super cute. We let Jon sleep in a bit since he stays up late working most nights.
• I haven't managed to go out jogging since the initial failed attempt from a while ago but I'm still hopeful that I can start again at some point. I would like to try to get up a bit earlier to accomplish this.
• The basil and tomato plants have finally died off. I now have a renewable source of fresh green onions in my windowsill nearly ready to use. I have a couple of avocado pits that I'm soaking in water just to see if they will sprout. It's a fun project that doesn't cost anything and takes almost no effort.
• We've done takeout just a couple of times and done a fair bit of shopping but nothing we feel guilty about. We don't spend a lot, we don't buy impulse items anymore, most of what we get is stuff we actually need.
• Jon did a bunch of studio upgrading since a lot of software was on sale for very good prices, he can write everything off as work expenses on his taxes
• I picked up a small Ikea high chair from a seller on Craigslist, it takes up about a third of the space the old one did. Now I just have to give the old one a quick cleanup and we should be able to resell it.
• I'm doing even more decluttering. I've decided that I don't need the 3 pairs of high heels I have. There is very little chance I will wear them. They were all fairly pricey so I should be able to get a decent amount of money for them on Craigslist. I love them but I will sacrifice them for the house fund. Same goes for the couple of nice dresses I own, I only really wear dresses in the summer and then it's the same 2 or 3 sundresses.
• Alice has a lot of toys and shoes that have been outgrown so those are all being sold as well. All of the toys that will be left are all things that she should be able to play with for the next 2 or 3 years. She also has a few Christmas presents that will replace the things that we are getting rid of. 
• I have a lot of household projects on the go that I intend to post here on the blog, I'm going to try to post more often. I have to make laundry soap this week so that post will be coming up soon
• Jon made me a little shelf for over my baking/sewing table. It makes it easier to quickly grab ingredients needed for dinner and baking and makes my kitchen look more organized
• The meal plan is a bit different now. I no longer plan a month of meals in advance, I found I was constantly going out to the store to pick up more meat or special ingredients. We've been placing a meat order with the butcher, they have set orders for set prices and we've also been picking up anything canned, frozen and bulk that we need early in the month. Now we just pick up fruit, veg and dairy once a week. We still have a ton of meat left and it's nearly the end of the month so we shouldn't need another meat order until halfway through December. We're also not sticking strictly to the $250 food budget. Last week I only had $20 left which was enough for the fruit, veg and dairy for the rest of the month but we were low on cereal and it was on sale for a very good price so I took out an extra $20 and bought 3 boxes as well as tooth paste and some other items.

I think that's about it for what's been going on around here, we plan on having Christmas at home by ourselves this year so I have to think of a menu for that.

Make Your Own Makeup Remover

So the day has come that I've finally run out of makeup remover. My Walmart brand bottle has lasted me over a year especially since I don't even wear makeup every day anymore. I've already used up the cash I set aside every month for fun/other spending so buying a bottle would have to come out of the grocery money and I didn't really want to do that. So I checked out the DIY section on Pinterest and found a link to  this "recipe" that uses things I already have at home.

Here's what you need:

• 1 cup water (I used the cold Brita water)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baby shampoo
• 1/8 teaspoon olive oil

That's it! Just mix everything together and you're done. This made enough to fill my entire bottle as well as a baby cube, I didn't have any tiny jars around to store the rest.

This worked really well, it got all of my mascara off pretty easily. And I wear A LOT of eye makeup!

I realize that not everyone has baby shampoo around but you can get a teeny sample bottle from most pharmacies for just $1 or from the dollar store and each bottle has enough to make probably 2 or 3 batches. Sure beat the $5+ that it costs to get a small bottle of store-brand makeup remover.

Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes

This is an excellent and quick pancake recipe. It tastes just like the expensive Aunt Jemima Complete buttermilk pancake mix but since I'm making it myself I know it has no weird additives and it doesn't have that slightly powdery taste.

This makes 6 medium pancakes which is perfect for 2 people, or 5 medium and 3 teeny baby sized pancakes.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups flour (I used 1 cup all purpose and 1/4 cup whole wheat)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
Start by making your buttermilk if you don't have any. The buttermilk has to sit for a little while so do this first, then start heating your skillet or frying pan.

Mix together the buttermilk, sugar and margarine. Beat in the egg. Add all of the rest of the dry stuff on top and mix until just combined.

Scoop onto your hot grill or frying pan. The batter is pretty thick so you might have to spread it out a bit with the spoon. I cook mine on 4/medium. You can tell when the pancake needs to be flipped when it gets all bubbly on top.
Add syrup and enjoy!
 

 

30DC2-Day 3

Today Alice woke me up just after 8 like she usually does. I had a decent sleep but Jon was tired so he slept in a bit. I made us coffee and tea, Alice sat on the floor and played with her toys and read a book while we enjoyed our morning beverages. Once those were done Jon went into his studio to work for a bit and we moved to the kitchen for breakfast. I put away yesterday's clean dishes while we had our cereal and fruit.

I managed to get the laundry washed and hung to dry while Alice had a lengthy early nap then it was lunch time while Jon did the dishes that didn't get washed last night.

We went out to get a few groceries while Jon had lunch and then went to get crickets. We stopped by a yard sale on the way home that I had seen on the way to the store that looked like it had a lot of baby girl clothes. Alice got a t-shirt, pair of pants, pink maryjane walking shoes and sequined silver hightops, all for just $5!

Groceries from the Asian market:

• 2 red onions
• 2 bananas 
• 2 pork chops
• 2 large oranges
• 1 large broccoli crown

All of that came to only $4.99

Groceries from Donald's Market:

• 2 bulk jumbo carrots
• 4 russet potatoes
• 1 package cut cauliflower from the reduced bin for $1 (no marks of any kind on it!)
• 2 packages salmon bones reduced to $1 each

All of that came to $6.15

The cauliflower and salmon wasn't on my list but the cauliflower is perfect for snacking and I plan on using some of it as a substitution in a meal in a couple of days. The salmon bones had a ton of meat on them so I put them into the oven with some olive oil and lemon-garlic seasoning and then easily picked the meat off once they were baked and cooled. I ended up with a full tupperware container full of salmon that I then put into the freezer. Much more meat on those 2 packages of bones for $2 than I would get from buying a $6 fillet.

I will definitely be buying the salmon again when I see it reduced, I put off buying it before because I wasn't sure how to go about preparing it, I didn't want to mess with it raw but then the idea to bake it and pick it apart came to me. We only ever eat fillets of salmon but I think I'll try to make patties or fishcakes or just heat and season it and heap it onto a pile of rice.

I also prepped dinner early since I've been having issues with getting it ready to eat by 6:30 and actually had it ready on time today. I also halved and pitted a large bag of cherries that I bought for $1.29 per pound a couple days ago, those filled a large container and went into the freezer as well for smoothies for what's supposed to be a pretty hot week coming up.

No need to buy anything tomorrow at all, don't really have anything planned either. The apartment is clean, Jon has a session so I may take Alice to the park for a bit. The only things that need to be done are putting away the laundry and dishes and making dinner.

Maybe I'll actually get time to do another project!

The Ten Worst Budget Destroyers

A lot of families struggle with low income and inflexible budgets. An emergency can quickly drain your savings and set you back several years paying off your credit cards. I've listed a few things that will absolutely destroy your carefully balanced budget but unfortunately are unavoidable and inevitable expenses.

1. Sickness and injury - If you or your young child are sick you can't go to work. Lost wages.
2. The death of a friend or family member - These situations usual mean you drop everything to be with family for a week or more. Travel, lost wages, funeral costs, you have to cover this somehow.
3. Broken eyeglasses - Eye glasses are expensive! If you lose them or drop them the wrong way, well you're out $200 or more.
4. Public service strikes - The recent Canada Post strike has resulted in delayed assistance cheques and late bill payment, Public transit strikes could mean you have to take a cab to work if you can't find a carpool.
5. Weddings - Your friend invites you to their wedding. Do you have extra money for a gift?
6. Birthdays/showers/parties - These come up several times a year, can you afford to go?
7. Car repairs and traffic tickets - Cars need regular maintenance and you can plan for that. A major repair can be a huge setback. Watch where you park and remember to feed the meter, it's way cheaper than a ticket.
8. A Massive Cell Phone Charge - We've all got horror stories of brutal phone charges. Get off a contract and onto a fixed monthly all inclusive plan as soon as possible to avoid these ridiculous fees.
9. Moving - This can be tough. If your apartment costs too much you can move to something cheaper but you'll need to pay for the moving costs and usually 2 months of rent up front. Calculate the costs, is it worth it?
10. Major Appliance replacement - Oven, fridge, washing machine, air conditioner etc. Who knows when they'll break down, when they do it'll hurt your budget.

There you have it. The Ten worst things to happen to your budget.
Got a good story about budget devastation? Let us know in the comments.

The challenge ended. Now what?

In June we challenged ourselves to use only $200 for groceries. We did it no problem and saved at least $220. I really wish we did it months ago. Going forward we're going to continue the $200 grocery budget and reduce it further if possible.
The next step, what we're focusing on this month is efficiency and managing our time more wisely. We always have a to-do list but we rarely ever complete all the tasks. A lot of our time is wasted thinking about what to do next, procrastinating and doing things. I've been reading things from Ramit Sethi and Tim Ferris and I intend to implement them right away.
I'll get into those things later in the month as they are tested, let's get back to the groceries for a minute. Below is a short list of steps we used to achieve our goal. We will have a blog post for each topic coming up.

How we saved $200+ on groceries last month

1. Meal plan
2. Shopping list
3. Smaller portions
4. Track spending

30 Day Challenge - Day 24

First thing this morning we sold the outgrown baby bathtub for $15. A couple days ago we sold the outgrown bouncer, along with the luggage sold earlier in the week we now have $85 extra income this week. Getting rid of these large occasional use items is great in itself. This money will be saved for our grocery budget next month.

Speaking of grocery budget, it's all gone. We spent the last of it today. We have just enough to get another carton of cream. $196.04 spent total. Last week I thought we'd have more than enough, and now we may have to cheat.

Groceries:

1 can White Beans $0.99
1 small zucchini $0.25
3 lemons $1.00
1 pack Chinese noodles
Ground beef $2.17
Chicken legs $2.37
Wild Salmon $3.42
Eye Of Round Steak $2.05
Oyster Sauce $2.29
Cooking wine $1.49
Sesame Oil $2.79
1 can Tomato paste $0.79
1 can Diced tomatoes $1.49
1 can tomato sauce $1.49
fresh Green beans $2.97
Broccoli crowns $2.91
Russet  Potatoes $1.19
1 package Linguine (500g) $0.99
454g block Mozzarella Cheese $5.49
Cooking Onion $0.24

Total = $38.07


Dinner was Minestrone and buttermilk biscuits.
The Minestrone recipe was adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
The biscuits were from Momtastic. These turned out awesome, you should try it.

I did some late-night googling and figured out why Holly was having so much trouble with the sewing machine. 1 simple thing, the way the bobbin was loaded, made all the difference. She's been fighting with it for over a month. Tonight she made a pair of sleep shorts for Alice and a lady bug fridge magnet, without any cursing or screaming. Big improvement. Hopefully more projects will be done tomorrow.

Meal plan for the rest of the month: