The deal of the evening? That would definitely be the two boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (normally $3.99 for each box) that I spent a total of 14 cents on! That's 7 cents each! I love specials, and most of all I love coupons!
Tonight I'd like to talk about the reason that I go to such trouble to save money. It's very important to have goals and to know the reason that you are changing your lifestyle. If you don't have a purpose for it, then you may not see the benefits of the work you're doing.
My primary financial goals are:
- Most importantly, to reshape my financial mindset. I don't want to always max out my income with cost-of-living expenses. I want to live below my means so that I can have a "cushion". Living paycheck to paycheck is not for me!
- Pay off our second mortgage in 2 years. James and I are really committed to this. My whole paycheck goes to its own separate account, and we use every paycheck of mine to pay off that loan. Why? It's money we can count on getting back if we sell the house and we're not throwing away money on interest. As soon as we finish this goal, we will be working on the other loan. Because the money goes into an account separate from our normal banking, the adage "out of sight, out of mind" really does prove true.
- If we ever have kids I'd like to be a stay-at-home mom. I just can't imagine adding kids to the mix of working and maintaining a sane home. Even though both of us are working now, we are able to live on just one income- so we know that we can do that. However, if we continue to pay down the mortgages and reduce our monthly bills, this dream of staying home with possible kids can be realized even more easily.
You see, having defined goals makes saving money easier because you are aware of why you are doing it. So, why are you changing your habits? What are your goals?
Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog! I love yours! We are attempting to simplify our lives again, too. We once owned 10 acres and were renovating a 130 yr old house in the hopes that we'd live almost off-grid. Long story short, the house fell apart around us and we ran out of money. Then I got pregnant with our son and back to the city we went. So sad, but we learned alot and won't make the same mistakes again. We live as frugally as possible with 3 little kids and are looking for acreage to start all over again. Anyway, this is probably really boring!! Our goals are:
ReplyDelete1. find acreage with or without a house on it so we can live simply (and hopefully off-grid) and grow our own food.
2. Save for retirement.
3. Keep me at home with the kids until they are all school aged.