Hmmm... Food Baskets

I was perusing the web looking for ways to sponsor hampers for less fortunate families throughout the year (not just at Christmas) when I came across a website for a Food Basket Society that is open to everyone and anyone who wishes to partake.

The way it works is there is a $5 annual membership fee and once per month you can pre-order a fresh meat order for $12, an example of which would be 1 kg beef or pork roast, 1/2 kg chicken thighs, and 1/2 kg lean ground beef; a fresh produce order for $8, which consists of 3 kg of seasonal fruits (3 different kinds), two seasonal veggies and potatoes; or both. You can also purchase more than one meat or produce order.

For $20 this sounds pretty good to me. Now, I normally would buy boneless, skinless chicken thighs and I'm sure these would not be and I normally would buy extra lean ground beef for tacos, chili, spaghetti, etc., but for this price I think I am going to give this a try this month and see how it is.

I need to start pinching pennies and cooking at home.

This organization is not a food bank and one does not have to qualify to use it - it is open to anyone who wants to save approx. 25% off grocery store prices. The food is purchased in mass quantity from wholesalers.

Some of the money this will help me save (if I find this is a good system for me) can go toward what I was originally searching for, which was The Food Bank. Now, of course since I need to pinch pennies I need to use the majority of my scrimped and saved dollars to pay off my car loan but I still need to be able to give to those who need a hand up.

Do any of you use a program like this? What are your thoughts?

Pantry Inventory

In order to meet my objective of eating homemade meals the vast majority of the time, I took inventory of my pantry this morning to determine what I need to pick up at the store for meals for the week. Luckily, I am not adverse to leftovers and do not mind eating the same thing for a few meals in a row (e.g. chili or spaghetti).

I am going to pick up the ingredients I am missing for:

• egg and salsa tortilla wraps
  
• Mama Cheddar Salad
  
• chili
  

I am going to take advantage of the PG Brand Saver mail-in rebate and stock up on some items I am either out of or am very low on like toilet tissue, facial tissue, Tide, etc. The timing of this rebate is perfect though my shopping bill will be quite a bit higher this week because of it.

2011 Financial Goals

I will borrow GVO's phrase for my first goal for 2011:

1. Get to the end of the month before the end of the money (I am still not making as much at my current company as at my previous 2 positions by a significant margin)

2. Buy an investment property

3. Pay off $7,500 of my new car

4. Continue with retirement, short-term and emergency savings. Amount for retirement savings in addition to TFSA yet to be determined.

Happy 2011!

I am quite happy to ring in 2011 and I am really looking forward to getting back into the blogging world (I know, I have said this before).

Life truly was chaotic the past 2 years and my finances really went out the window given a number of unexpected expenses, some of which went on for over a year (supporting a second house on my single income), and coming up with the funds to cover my dad's funeral, to name just two.

Things have settled down now and I am dedicated to getting back on track financially for 2011 as well as with eating better - which means eating at home as often as possible and, therefore, ties into cost savings. I work about 60 hours per week so do find it hard to always fit in time to make meals but I am certainly going to try.

I have updated my sidebars, which are all looking quite pitiful except for the car loan (LOC). I bought a car in July and have paid a fair amount of it back so that at least feels good.

I took a vacation to Mexico just a couple weeks ago so my vacation fund has been drained and needs to be rebuilt for 2011. It was my best hot weather trip to-date and I definitely plan to go back.

Aside from my TFSA, I do not yet know what my retirement savings goal is yet for 2011. I just plugged in a figure for now to make sure my sidebar is working.

Beacon Score

I checked my Beacon Score and it's up to 811. I'm happy with that!

Financial Goals for August

After just buying a new 2010 Honda CR-V in July and having car payments for the first time in at least 6 or 7 years, my finances now need even a bit more tightening up.

I have taken on additional shifts at my part-time job - shifts I used to work but stopped a little over a year ago - and the intention is for that money to go straight to paying for the vehicle.

I've increased my grocery budget a bit from what I nornally allow each month, being $300 up from $250 and have cut back a lot on what I normally let myself spend on eating out. I need to prepare food at home and stick to it!! It's not always easy to do that when working more than 60 hours each week but I really need to try.

I would like to earn at least $150 in August from ebay or kijiji sales from things I have around the house, to put toward a car starter as I must get one put in before winter.

I STILL need to update my sidebars but with working 60+ hours each week, taking care of my own house, taking care of my dad's house out of town (since it still has not sold), finding time to fiddle with HTML code never seems to happen. *sigh* one day I will get to it.

I'd also like to lose at least 6 pounds in August as, ideally, I'd like to lose 20 and I think 6 lbs in one month should be obtainable.

August Goals:

- stick to $300 grocery budget and make 95% of meals at home
- earn minimum $150 from ebay/kijiji sales from things around the house
- lose 6 lbs

Time to get finances back in check!

Okay, I keep saying I am going to get back to blogging and then life throws a wrench into things and it doesn't happen. Well, I am now going to make it happen.

This is just going to be a short post as it's late and tomorrow is a work day but my intention is to get back to focusing more on my finances for a number of reasons, including:

- full time position pays less than previous position
- I work a tremendous amount of OT but don't get paid for it
- 11 year old car needs replacing
- dad's house has not yet sold so am supporting 2 households with taxes, insurance and utilities (while making considerably less money)

For these reasons I really need to focus on having dedicated no-spend days, reducing unnecessary spending (biggest problem there is dining out/take out), and earning more income. To that end, I am increasing my hours at my p-time job starting this week. This will be difficult given the amount of OT my full time job requires but since they don't pay me for it I have to do something. If it becomes a problem, then I will have to have a frank discussion with my boss.

Happy Easter!

I bake maybe once every year or so and only when I have to bring something to a gathering or am hosting something at my home but today I was bit by the baking bug and decided to make some cupcakes.

Easter "Robin's Egg Nest" Cupcakes:



I will be taking these (there are more of them) to the office.

Spendy, spendy, spendy!

I've had a spendy couple of weeks. I came home from a vacation in Jamaica to yet more family crisis that has really been weighing heavily on my mind these past two and a half weeks and I think that is a big contributing factor to how much I've been spending these past couple weeks.

I've been buying clothes (needed for work), make-up, earrings, a Keurig, perfume and shoes (all not needed (well, the Keurig is debatable)), and skin care (needed but did not need to buy Lancome). I think that is everything.

I bought the earrings as I was invited to a Stella & Dot show and wanted to support both the hostess and her daughter, the consultant. They are nice earrings, sterling silver and turquoise, and I know I will get a lot of wear out of them.

The clothes were definitely needed as I lost over 65lbs last year and nothing in my closet from last spring/summer fits and I can't go around in this world naked.

I have no excuse for the perfume, shoes or make-up.

The shoes have not arrived yet and if they don't fit perfectly or I don't care for them as much in person as online, I will return them and they can be returned to a store so I won't have to pay to send them back.

I am taking one item back to MAC as I don't care for the colour so may as well get my money back rather than keeping it.

I know I'm shopping out of stress due to the family situation and since I recognize it, I hope I can curb it.

A new year, a new look!

Okay, not exactly "new" since we're three months into the year, I know.

I've changed the look of my blog and have somewhat changed the way I am thinking about my finances going forward. I recently took a fairly significant pay cut to get away from a very toxic environment, which meant I needed to re-think my spending and saving plans for this year (and beyond). I haven't fully thought it through and will be meeting with my financial advisor in early April to figure it all out but at this point my intention is to put enough away to be comfortable in retirement but not at the expense of enjoying life now.

I want to do considerably more travel than I have been in the past couple years. Deaths in the family and other family and work commitments have not allowed me to travel as much as I would have liked to lately and that is something I really want to focus on again.

Once I sit down and have some concrete figures in mind, I will change my sidebars.