A Collection of Online Budgeting Tools

As you know, I'm a big fan of budgeting. It's helped us agree on purchases since we've gotten married, helped us not overspend, and also given us a bit of freedom to spend in a few areas. After updating our budget today, I figured I'd share our favorite online tool with you, as well as a few others that we've looked into.

PearBudget is our favorite and what we're currently using. It costs $3/month, but saves us much more than that in time, energy, and probably what we spend, too. After using our one month free trial, we knew that it worked for us and signed on up for it. It's super simple interface lets you customize as much as you need, without being confusing, and it also works well with cash or debit/credit purchases.

Mint.com is great for a lot of people I know. It's free, which is great. We've given it a try, but it just didn't fit our budgeting system. It has the added benefit of automatically pulling in transactions from your bank account, which works great if most of your purchases are made using a credit or debit card. You can also split transactions into separate categories. About the only complaint I have with Mint is that we like to carry money forward from one month to the next if there's some leftover, and I can't seem to figure out how to make this work using Mint.

Moneywell is another program I'd like to try. It's available only for Macs, and like Mint, it automatically pulls in your banking information. It claims to be a type of electronic envelope system, which sounds like it would line up well with our budgeting system. It has a free trial, which I need to use, and then a one time cost of $50.

I know there are more, but these are ones I've been impressed with in some way. Any other ideas? What do you use for budgeting?

Tasty Tuesday: Barley Casserole

Please don't run away just from the title of this recipe! 

Whew... if you're still here, we ate Barley Casserole last night. This was a first for us, and both of us (especially Javier) loved it! It's an extremely inexpensive recipe, and barley seems to be a super healthy food.

Ingredients:

3 T. butter

1 small onion, diced

1/2 small green pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 c. pearled barley (find this near the dried beans in the grocery store)

3 c. chicken broth, heated

salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt butter in saucepan, saute onion, pepper, and garlic until soft.

3. Spray ovenproof casserole with non-stick spray.

4. Transfer veggie mixture into casserole.

5. Add the barley, then heated broth, making sure to coat grains well.

6. Season to taste with salt & pepper and bake covered for 1 hour.

Be sure to check out Jen's blog for more from Tasty Tuesday!

CVS Deals: August 23 - 29

Transaction #1:

$10.00 - (2) Glade Sense & Spray (earns $3 ECBs)
$1.98 - (2) CVS Composition books (earns $1.98 ECBs - free through Tuesday!)
$3.79 - Carefree Ultra Protection (earns $3.79 ECBs)
$.50 - Reese's candy bar (free after coupon)

$3.99 - CVS trail mix (just used as a filler since we're going camping soon)

Total before coupons: $20.26

Coupons used:
- $4/$20 coupon from ReadyFill booklet
- $4 Glade coupon from August All You magazine

- $4 Glade coupon from 8/23 SS
- $.55 Reese's coupon from 8/23 SS (rounded down to $.50)

- $6.99 ECBs

Subtotal: $.77

Total after tax: $1.52 (because of the new tax rules)

Earned: $8.77 ECBs ($3.79, $1.98 & $3)

No Grocery Store Week!

The pantry was full, the refrigerator in decent shape, and I was just tired of buying more food when we never seem to completely finish what we have. So... this Sunday I decided to skip the grocery store & see what we could do for the week. Not having planned for this ahead of time meant I had to be a bit creative with our meals, but all in all we've had great meals and it's nice to be eating cleaning out the pantry a bit. I didn't even post a meal plan b/c I wasn't quite sure how this would work!

So, what have we eaten?

Sunday: Bean burritos on homemade tortillas

Monday: Cheesy chicken subs, pretzels & hummus

Tuesday: creamy zucchini with linguine, homemade bread, orange jello salad (with company)

Wednesday: More cheesy chicken subs, pretzels & hummus

Thursday: the one not so good day - I had cereal & Javier ate ? - we both had things we were rushing out the door for and weren't able to eat together

Friday: out with friends

Saturday: Homemade pizza

We definitely can't do this too often because it's harder to eat healthy and avoid the temptation of eating out, but this week it definitely worked for us!

On the Fence

If you've seen my last couple of posts, you've seen that I'm trying to start running a bit more. 

Recently, however, I've been considering the idea of joining Team in Training this fall to train for either a marathon or half-marathon and to raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I'm excited about the idea, but also a little nervous - the longest that I've ever run is 6.2 miles (nowhere close to 13.1 or 26.2) and I've never tried to raise that much money before, either. So, it would definitely be two big firsts for me. 

So, any ideas for me? What would you do? 

Top Five Things that Help Me Actually Get Out the Door to Run

I posted yesterday about how I’m trying to start running again, and how this always seems like such a vicious cycle. I explained a little bit about why I bother, even though it seems like a resolution that doesn’t ever last very long.

Today I’m going to share with you practical things that help me get out the door and run. Hopefully, some of these might work for you, too!

1. First, as I shared yesterday, I have several reasons for wanting to run. My husband supports me in this and has been trying to run with me, as well. I couldn’t make myself get out & run several times a week without plenty of reasons that can hopefully outweigh my excuses. J

2. I try to set realistic goals. I'm trying to begin by building up to being able to run 30 minutes without stopping. I researched different plans and thought that, for me, setting goals as to how long I'd run vs. walk in a given "run" was the most realistic. I know I'm much more likely to continue something if I push myself some, but also have the satisfaction of reaching a goal.

3. I work running into my weekly schedule – way ahead of time. It's literally on my calendar, which means that I'm committed.

4. I try to get plenty of rest, since I like to get up and run first thing in the morning. I've found that if I wait until later in the day to run, I'll come up with a million excuses - it's hot, I've already showered, I need to go to the grocery store, I just ate... the list goes on. First thing in the morning is by far my favorite time, which means I have to go to bed a little bit earlier.

5. I measure my progress. The website WalkJogRun.net lets me calculate the distance that I run. (Even though my goals are in minutes right now, it's still nice to see how far I run.) Then ActiveTrainer let me create an online plan. It even emails me reminders and has a pretty detailed running log. Both sites are free, and are big motivators.

Do you have a goal you're currently working on? What helps you accomplish that goal?

Feel free to check out my older Works for Me Wednesday posts, or mosey on over to Kristen's blog for more today.

My Top 5 Reasons I'm Trying to Start Running (Again)

Maybe this sounds familiar, maybe not... but I'm constantly "starting to run". I may stick with it a week, maybe a month, but then after an extended break I have to start all over again. It's a bit of a tiring cycle, but I am doing it once again. Why, you ask?

1. I really do enjoy being in shape. I have more energy, I'm generally more awake, and I sleep better at nights. Those are almost enough reasons right there to make me want to exercise.

2. I enjoy running because it has a relatively low time commitment. One 30-minute jog around the neighborhood and I can check that to-do off my list for the day. I don't have to get in the car & drive to the gym, etc.

3. It's good for my health. I don’t have to elaborate too much on this one – but I can tell when I’ve been working out by my energy levels, the way my clothes fit, and just my overall mood.

 4. Low impact on the budget. As I just run for fun, all I really need is a good pair of running shoes. I can run (almost) anywhere and it’s free. And, assuming I remain injury-free, running could actually save money by the long-term health benefits.

 5. It’s fun! (Most of the time!) You might have to get creative on this one, but come up with something that makes it fun. Set goals for yourself, run different routes, maybe listen to music, or find a running partner. I also run with my dog, and I can tell how much she loves it. She needs the exercise, too, so we’re just both able to get it at the same time.

I’d love to know – do you exercise regularly? Or are you like me and you’re constantly “trying to start again”? If so, what are some of your motivations for continuing? 

Be sure to come back tomorrow to see things that help me actually get out the door! 

CVS Deals: August 9 - 15

My goal this week was just to roll some ECBs and use the $5/$25 coupon out, which actually helped me make $2 in ECBs and get a few things for free. :)

Transaction #1:

$9.99 - Revlon ColorStay Mineral Makeup (earns $9.99 ECBs - free through Tuesday!)
$8.99 - Coppertone NutraShield Sunscreen (earns $2 ECB)
$1.99 - CVS Brand Aspirin (this was my free item for August)
$1.50 - (3) Candy bars at $.50 each (qualify for $5 ECBs wyb $15 - I just used as fillers)

$1.69 - CVS brand hand soap (just used as a filler since it's always something we need)

$.99 - Sharpie highlighters (free after coupon)

Total before coupons: $25.15

Coupons used:
- $5/$25 coupon on the CVS website
- $1 Sharpie highlighters found here
- $5 Coppertone coupon found here

- $1/2 candy bars found in 7/26 RP

- $1 Revlon makeup found in 7/19 SS

- $.50 candy coupon from the free Friday chocolate

- $1.99 free CVS aspirin CRT

- $7.99 & $1.68 ECBs

Subtotal: $.00

Total after tax: $1.02 (because of the new tax rules)

Earned: $11.99 ECBs ($9.99 & $2)

All in all, a pretty good week for such slow deals. It was exciting to find everything in stock at CVS (which hasn't happened in a while with all the school supply deals). The new tax rules are still confusing me - but I haven't figured out any "tricks", like giving them ECBs before coupons or vice versa.

Homemade Pizza

I'm always posting about making homemade pizza in my menu-planning posts, but I've yet to share our recipe. We've experimented with several crust recipes, but this one from my friend has become our staple. 

Whole Wheat Homemade Pizza Crust

1 package (or 1 Tbsp.) of dry active yeast

2/3 c warm water

Mix & let sit 5 minutes. Then add:

1 tsp. honey

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3/4 c. whole wheat flour

1/4 c. cornmeal

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. all-purpose flour

Knead dough - if it's dry add a little bit of water.

Let it rise until it doubles (about 30-45 minutes).

Punch the dough & let it rest 10 minutes.

Flatten into crust.

*Our favorite way to flatten is to spray the pizza pan(s) with Pam, then flatten dough. I then usually lift up one side at a time & sprinkle a little cornmeal under the dough.

We then usually just use tomato puree for the sauce, and add whatever toppings we'd like! I keep pepperoni, onions, and peppers chopped up in the freezer for our pizzas.

One other delicious addition to the pizza is pesto. This is normally a bit pricey, but a friend shared her homemade pesto recipe with me that is unbelievably easy, good, and much cheaper!

Homemade Pesto

1 c. spinach

1 c. fresh basil (We're growing this this summer, but I believe you could also give it a try with dried basil.)

3 cloves garlic

1/4 c. parmesan cheese

1/8 c. olive oil

2 tsp. lemon juice

Put all ingredients in a food processor/blender & process until it's a smooth paste. Yumm!!

Please leave a comment if you try these recipes - especially if you like them! :) I'd love to get some feedback - what works well for you when you make homemade pizza? Since this is a staple for us I'm always open to tips/ideas/suggestions!

Menu Plan Monday: Aug. 3 - 9

For some reason, I can't quite manage to make our meal plans work out without having leftovers rolling over from week to week. Now, I'm certainly not complaining about the leftovers (I love them!) but I feel like I'm posting the same meals up here every week. Secret: we probably didn't make them the week before! For example, we haven't made homemade pizza for several weeks now, but that's been in our meal plan every week. :)  My (somewhat obvious) tip: if you're picking a meal or two not to make after you've already planned for it, figure out which one has the fewest perishable ingredients. Pizza for us works whenever - we always have the ingredients on hand but they're never about to go bad.

Whew, so on to this week's (super simple) plan:

Monday: Oops - this was yesterday, but we ate leftovers! The very yummy creamy zucchini with linguine we made last Saturday lasted for, oh, about 3 1/2 meals for the two of us!

Tuesday: Swiss chicken casserole over rice with fruit salad

Wednesday: Leftovers? Or possibly homemade pizza?

Thursday: Homemade pizza for real this night

Friday: Headed to my parents' house

Saturday: Still at my parents'

Sunday: After getting back late Saturday night, we won't have much time for any big cooking - looks like sandwiches for lunch & breakfast for supper!

Lunches will be sandwiches/leftovers/easy pasta with fruit as a side. 

Please let me know any suggestions you may have for our menu plan or for things you'd like to see in my future menu planning posts!

Works for Me Wednesday: Remember the Milk

Following along the lines of my last WFMW post, I'd like to tell you about another favorite online tool: Remember the Milk. This is an online to-do list that I've enjoyed using over the past month or so. I first heard about it from Simple Mom, who says she uses Remember the Milk strictly for her online tasks.

Here's why Remember the Milk works for me:

• It's one convenient place to keep track of multiple to-do lists.
• It lets you add notes, due dates, priorities, and personalized list categories.
• You can share lists or individual tasks with others.

Just a side note - it may take a little bit of exploring to learn a few of the "advanced" features, like sharing. The basic features like adding tasks to lists aren't too bad, but personally I feel like there are a few aspects of the site that could be more user-friendly.

Overall though - I LOVE being able to see all my tasks in one place. My husband & I share a "This weekend" task list so we can both add to-dos before we forget, then we're able to look at the list together & discuss which ones we want to/need to do.

I hope this works for you, too! Check out my older Works for Me Wednesday posts here for more ideas, or hop on over to Kristen's blog to see all of today's WFMW posts.

Gracie Girl

Meet Gracie! Our almost 2-year-old precious dog, who has quickly become very central to our family. We got her from a local shelter a few months back, but now constantly ask each other what we did before we had her. :)

A few things about Gracie:

* LOVES walks and loves to run - she starts jumping in circles when she sees me pick up shoes

* LOVES people - and will jump all over you to show you

* likes to dig - our backyard will prove it

* is about as happy-go-lucky as you can get

* recently decided that she would get up at 6 AM everyday - great alarm clock!

Glad you could meet Gracie today - she'll definitely be back on here another day to visit, maybe bringing a few of her own tips. :)

Menu Plan Monday: July 27 - Aug. 2

Still stickin' to simple meals... but I also want to enjoy some yummy summer vegetables this week. 

Monday: Grilled veggie sandwiches (one of our favorites - thanks for the reminder last week, Carla!)

Tuesday: Jambalaya with chicken

Wednesday: Leftovers - Wednesday nights are busy for us so extra-quick suppers are in order

Thursday: Breakfast for dinner: grits, eggs, muffins

Friday: Homemade pizza

Saturday: More pizza for one meal, creamy zucchini with linguine for the other

Sunday: Celebrating our niece's 1st birthday for lunch! Then - probably leftovers for supper, or if we need something new we'll grill some chicken.

Lunches will be sandwiches/leftovers/easy pasta with fruit as a side. 

Please let me know any suggestions you may have for our menu plan or for things you'd like to see in my future menu planning posts!

Menu Plan Monday: July 20-26

I spoke a little a few days ago about how we're trying to eat more simple meals. This worked pretty well for us last week, and we're keeping at it this week. The only problem is that I don't want to eat the same thing every week - so it's tough to find lots of simple meals. Or rather, I may think that a meal is simple, but end up cooking & washing dishes much longer than I anticipate! (As happened tonight...)

Without further ado... this week's plan!

Monday: Hamburger stroganoff & tomato/basil/mozzarella salad (tomatoes & basil from our garden!) 

Tuesday: More hamburger stroganoff, this time with congealed salad

Wednesday: Tacos, made with our dinner kit from Publix (see Southern Savers' Publix deals)

Thursday: Again, tacos

Friday: Baked yellow rice & veggies (we won't use the chicken, this feels like a pretty complete meal even without meat)

Saturday: Leftovers for lunch, out to dinner with friends.

Sunday: Homemade pizza for lunch, breakfast for dinner!

Overall, a pretty simple week. Today I probably cooked more than I will the rest of the week, which works just fine. One other note - we do eat sides with our meals, just often I don't know what we'll eat when, so they don't always make it into the meal plan. I guess when there's only two of us, we have a little more flexibility. We'll try to eat a good bit of fruit this week on the side, though.

Please let me know any suggestions you may have for our menu plan or for things you'd like to see in my future menu planning posts!

Newlywed Tip #6: Goal-Setting Together

About a week ago, SimpleMom posted about creating a family mission statement. It's a pretty inspiring post and makes a ton of sense. The basic premise is that as a family, how do we decide what our priorities are? If we create some type of mission statement, we can always ask ourselves whether or not something falls under our main priorities, especially when life feels too cluttered and we're trying to decide what activities to back away from.

While Javier & I have yet to create a mission statement, SimpleMom's questions have helped us have some very meaningful conversations about our goals and priorities.

Benefits of this process so far:

• Increased communication between us. We're naturally both talkative, but our conversations have taken a turn that's a little deeper than normal - getting at the heart of who we are and the direction we'd like to go as a family.
  
• Seeing what's most important to each other. I think it can be pretty easy to lose sight of this on a day-to-day basis - this is helping us appreciate each other for who we are, not who we want the other person to be.
• We get to think about our priorities as a couple. 
• We already have somewhat of a sense of "Is this really important to me right now? Or is there a better way I could use my time?" While everyone will have different priorities and different Most Important Resources, we're realizing that ours is definitely time - and we want to make the most of it.

So, whether or not you want to actually make a family mission statement, I strongly encourage you to talk with your spouse or family or just think through for yourself what some of your main priorities are. Hopefully it will be as much of a learning process for you as it has been for us!

Works for Me Wednesday: Keep Track of Your Reading

I used to read A LOT. Like, I would get in trouble for reading when I was supposed to help set the supper table, and my punishment would usually be that I wasn't allowed to read for a certain amount of time. My sisters & I were about the only kids I knew who had this problem. :)

Now I don't have quite the time I once did to read, and often I go to the library with no idea of a book to check out. I come home with some duds - I read a few pages then try to figure out why on earth I checked that book out. 

A few months ago, I found Goodreads. While I won't exactly say it's changed my life :), it certainly has helped me find my love for reading again. With Goodreads, you can keep track of books you've read, are currently reading, and ones you'd like to read in the future. You can also find your friends on it, (similar to Facebook...) where you can see what they're reading or have read in the past. You can post reviews and rate books. 

So, why is this so great? If I hear of a book that interests me, I add it to my Goodreads list. I also see what my friends (who happen to have pretty similar book tastes to me) are reading and if any of those are interesting. Just having a list of books that I want to read and somewhere fun to keep track of them (that I won't lose - I've tried regular old lists before) is super motivating!

To see other things that work, check out my other Works for Me Wednesday posts, or mosey on over to Kristen's blog to see all of today's WFMW posts.

*By the way, I am in no way affiliated with Goodreads - I just happened to find their site one day and enjoy using it!

Simple Meals (or meal-planning redefined)

One thing I've struggled with constantly since getting married is planning meals. We both work right now (more or less...) and have little time in the evenings to prepare a nice dinner. We also both usually take our lunches (unless we can make it home for lunch) which creates a little rush in the morning. Meal planning, while time consuming, has overall saved us much time, headache, and money, but especially since J returned, why couldn't we "keep up" with our meal plan?

Solution: Simplify our meals from Monday - Thursday! It sounds so obvious, but agreeing on this was rather freeing. J is perfectly content to eat simple weekday meals (really, he'd eat about anything!) and I don't have to cut my work short every day to try to have dinner ready.

We need to think of some healthier options, because it seems like most of our "simple" meals aren't the best for us, but this is a start.  A few ideas are grilled foods, salads, bulk cooking on the weekends then pulling portions out during the week. I know a lot of people try weekend cooking, but our weekends tend to be pretty busy around here, so we can't completely rely on that.

We're also attempting to plan our meals on Sunday afternoons/evenings, allowing me to grocery shop first thing Monday morning. (Which, while I "work", I'm in grad school and have some flexibility at least.)

Look for menu plans to be here again soon, and any simple weeknight meal ideas are welcome as we try planning meals with this mindset!

Why, Hello Again

I realize that I haven't posted for an inexcusable length of time, especially in the blogging world. I don't expect you to keep reading, unless of course, you'd like to know where I've been. :)

Well - I've been right here (for the most part)! My husband, however, had a six month work assignment away from home from January through the end of June. We are so thankful to have that behind us and to be back together now. 

And while I know that doesn't exactly explain my disappearance on this blog... well let's just say I was suddenly handling a different set of responsibilities and the ways that I needed to be supporting J and our home changed, leaving me little time for this blog. I love blogging, but my family comes first. :)

So here we go again! Join me as J & I get re-adjusted to life in the same place, as we tackle new projects, introduce you to our new dog, find more exciting grocery deals, and who knows what else along the way...

Frugal Friday: Where to Grocery Shop?

Like many of you (as I suspect), I'm relatively new to being frugal. I've only been married a little over 8 months, and have been clipping coupons & CVSing about that long. So, I'm still trying to figure a lot of things out - like where to grocery shop on a regular basis.

We live in a mid-sized city, so there are several grocery store options. I realize I wouldn't have this problem if I lived somewhere smaller - but I can choose between Aldi, Walmart, Bi-lo, Ingles, Publix, and a few others I don't usually consider.

Typically, Aldi is my fallback. I try to buy all my staples there, and have a price list so if I'm somewhere else, I know whether or not the other price beats Aldi. If a week is especially busy, Aldi is the only place I go.

After Aldi is where it seems to get confusing. Bi-lo, Publix and Ingles all double coupons, and all seem to have at least one really great deal every week. For now, I'm trying to skim the three ads, see which one looks most appealing for the week, then hit that one store after I go to Aldi. (I always go to the other store after Aldi because I never know when Aldi might be out of something they normally carry - last week it was spinach!) Currently, I'm finding I can get the best deals if I can go to Aldi and one other grocery store every week.

What about you? How do you handle multiple enticing grocery stores where you live? As I'm still learning, I'd love to hear how you do this!

CVS Deals: January 11-17

My goal this week is just to roll some ECBs. There have been so few deals since right around Christmas, but I don't want to let my ECBs expire!

Transaction #1:

$7.99 - NasoGel Drip Free gel spray (earns $7.99 ECBs - so free!)
$6.99 - Nature Valley granola bars twin pack (earns $3 ECB)
$7.99 - Cheerios cereal twin pack (earns $4 ECBs - so free!)

Coupons used:
- $22.48 ECBs from previous trip
*$.50/1 Granola bars didn't work

Total after coupons & ECBs: $.49

Earned: $14.99 ECBs ($7.99, $4 & $3)

Definitely lost a lot of ECBs, but I can't seem to find the SoyJoy bars to help me roll them better! I still have some more ECBs to roll before the 20th, so check back for some more deals!

Newlywed Tip #5: Cultivate Your Interests

Today's post is just a quick reminder not to fall into the trap that just because you're married, you have to do everything together! Some of you who have been married longer may not struggle with this, but from many newlyweds that I've seen (ourselves included), it's pretty common to want to do everything together. That's wonderful to have that kind of relationship where you enjoy spending time together doing little things... but today I'd like to remind you: cultivate the interests that make you you and that make you a more interesting person for your spouse to be around.

If you love reading & your spouse doesn't, still try to set aside at least a little time for this activity. Or, think of a book that could at least make your spouse appreciate why you like reading so much and introduce it to him/her. For example, I've recently picked up knitting again (it's been a while!) and J is reading a bit more. We love showing or telling each other about what we're doing - and it's so much fun to share in the other person's excitement!

I'd love to hear from you - how do you make this work in your marriage? Or do you have some long-lost hobby that you'd like to pick back up? Please share in the comments!

E-mealz

I've never tried this, but the idea intrigues me! I found this post a while back on Works for Me Wednesday, and it had pretty well convinced me.

Apparently the E-mealz program menu plans for you and provides a grocery list for a store of your choice, basing the menu around sale prices!

Again, I've never tried it but thought some of you may find it useful - especially if you've hit the meal-planning blues. This would be especially useful for a particularly busy season of your life. Let me know if you try it & like it!

Works for Me Wednesday: Garage Sale!

Not to sound obvious... but what works for me this week is our garage sale! No, we have not made any money on it yet because we're not even having it until this Saturday. So, why does it work for me?

Because the house feels the cleanest it's felt ever.

When we got married and moved our things into our house, there were certain items that never really made their way into use in our new household. Two people combining lives and things just meant too much clutter! We also received a lot of nice wedding gifts that replaced some of old kitchen items.

So, we've teamed up with two other newlywed couples to have a joint garage sale. We set the date a few months ago so we all had a deadline to work toward, and it will be much more fun this Saturday with our friends as well! We couldn't back out, either, because we had already committed - so yes, last weekend we spent going through every room & closet looking at anything that wasn't in use.

If you haven't scrutinized your house like this anytime recently, have had some big move, or gotten married in the past few years, I'd highly recommend a garage sale! I love knowing that most everything in our home right now is here for a reason!

For more great tips, check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.