My Grocery Haul for November

Hey everyone,

How are you all doing today?

I’m doing great.

Glad that the weekend is here.

I went ahead and did my grocery shopping last weekend for October.

I don’t have any pictures for my haul this time because I accidentally deleted them off my camera when I had to get space to take pictures of our most recent Youth Night event.

I apologize about this.

Here are some deals I scored on:

-Big box of Mott’s fruit snacks for $7.00 again (It goes for $17 as the lowest price on Amazon).

-3 bags of vegetable chips for $5

-Pepperidge farm whole grain bread for $1.20 per loaf

-$1.50 for a jar of Peter Pan peanut butter (I bought 4 of them)

-99 cents for spaghetti sauce in a jar

-50 cents for frozen snack size Mexican food bowls

-98 cent per pound for chicken breasts

-$1.60 for a 3 pound bag of apples

There were a couple of extra deals I scored on but didn’t go towards my grocery budget:

-I bought five 2 liter bottles of Pepsi products at 88 cents each for my church’s youth group

–I bought 10 tubes of canned biscuits for $1 per tube. From that, I created 100 biscuits for Youth Night this past Sunday.

-I bought 10 boxes of Christmas cake mix for 59 cents each for Christmas gifts and get- togethers

How did I do this month?

-I gave myself $100 to spend for this month. I spent $97. So, I was $3 under my budget.

What meals do I plan on doing this month?

– I plan on doing Mandarin Orange Teriyaki chicken sometime this month.

–I would like to do Pineapple Porkchops with Soy Sauce over Rice (This time I put the pork chops in the freezer).

How have you done on groceries so far this month?

Please let me know in the comments below.

If you liked this post, please like, subscribe, and share this post with your friends.

Thank You and Have A Nice Weekend

Millennial Dude

 

 

 

 

My Spending Report Card for October

Hey everyone,

I hope you all had a great Halloween. I sure did.

As we all know, November has arrived.

Because of that, I worked on figuring out how much I had spent on expenses from the income I brought in.

I did not use a budget (like I normally would this month) because I switched jobs and am figuring out how much I can budget for each category.

Click on the link below to see how I did:

october-2016-expense-report-sheet1

Here are my wins for the month:

-I only spent $131 on Utilities. I normally spend around $200 a month in this category. I think it was low this month because I didn’t need to turn on the heater or air conditioner. The weather was just right.

-I only spent $52 in Gas. I normally spend around $80 a month in this category. I didn’t need to go many places last month. I can further this down by only running errands once a week.

Here is my fail for the month:

-I spent $79 on personal needs. I normally spend around $60 a month in that category. I have to quit making as many trips each week to the store to get what I need.

From this analysis, I have created a new budget for November and December:

rough-draft-of-budget-for-november-and-december-2016-sheet1

Please tell me how October went for you financially.

Let me know if you have any questions.

If you liked this post, please like, subscribe to this blog, and share with your friends.

Thank You and Have A Nice Day

Millennial Dude

 

5 Ways To Save Money This Halloween

Hey everyone,

As many of you know, Halloween is only a few days away.

However, Halloween can put a dent in your budget if you are not careful. It might prevent you from putting money towards Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Today, I wanted to share with you 5 ways you can save money on Halloween this year.

Here we go:

• Pay attention to sale flyers this week for Halloween candy. This week many stores are having their Halloween candy on sale because they know they will have a lot of people buying candy (so they can lower their prices a little bit and still make a profit).  When choosing bags of candy, find the one that has the most pieces of candy for the lowest price (usually lesser known brands). I got a bag of 200 pieces of candy for $2 at my local dollar store. They were selling brand name bags of candy with 30 pieces for around $3 to $5.

• Consider taking your kids trick-or-treating at a community event. Going to a community event will usually save you money because you’re not wasting gas money driving from neighborhood to neighborhood to get candy. It’s all in one area. Downtown areas and churches usually offer these types of events. Pay attention to media and social network outlets (e.g. Newspapers, TV and Radio stations, Facebook) for when these events are.

• Don’t spend money on an expensive costume. Try making a simple costume yourself (if you have a creative edge). One year, my mom made me a Lego costume out of a sweatsuit set (sweatshirt and sweatpants) and plastic cups. It was a lot cheaper than spending $10 to $20 on a licensed character costume set. For adults, I would recommend re-wearing the same costume you wore the previous year. I ended up wearing the same leprechaun costume set I bought for 2 straight Halloweens.

• If you do a Halloween party, keep the food simple. I would recommend doing finger foods and snacks (especially for kids). To me, they are a lot cheaper than having to make a ton of entrees and sides. You could also have other people coming to party bring food and you won’t have to buy as much food (e.g. You make the punch and have someone bring a finger food).

• Watch horror movies. You can rent a few classic horror movies for less than you would going to a haunted house (With the price of gas money and admission to get in). You might not have to spend money if you find some streaming on your Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime account. Here is a list of websites where you can watch horror movies for free (and are legal to watch): https://www.thebalance.com/where-to-watch-free-horror-movies-online-legally-1357650

Please let me know if you have any other ways people can save money this Halloween or have any questions.

If you liked this post, please like, share this post with your friends, and subscribe to my blog.

Thank You and Have A Happy Halloween

Mr. Budget

 

My Review of the Thrifty app

Hey everyone,

I found a way to keep what I’m spending a little bit more organized and efficient (where I don’t have to spend a lot of time digging through receipts, credit card and bank statements). The only thing I don’t like about reconciling my budget is that it can be time consuming and I’m wanting to cut some that time in half.

This app is called Thrifty.

I have tried several other apps and I wasn’t as satisfied so far as I am with this app.

Here’s what this app can do:

• It will record your income, taxes, and expenses (based off of what you type in).
• It will add up your total income and expenses for each month.
• It lets you categorize your income and expenses (so you can have totals for each specific income and expense you have).
• This app will analyze what money is coming in and out each month. It will give you a savings percentage and charts at the end of each month.

Below are pictures of the app on my account.

What are the benefits to using this app?

• It helps determine where your money is going each month and gives you totals on each category.
• Categories created on this app are simple.
• The app tells you how much you are saving each month.
• It has a big button with a plus sign on it (that is visible) where you can add income and expenses easily.
• You can use the totals created at the end of each month to compare to your budget when reconciling your budget.
• It’s free. You don’t have to pay anything at all to use it.
• You can use it on your computer, tablet, or phone.

What are the pitfalls to using this app?

• It won’t link to your bank accounts (like Mint does).
• You have to remember to record each income and expense as it comes in (especially the expenses that get automatically drafted out of your bank account each month).
• This app doesn’t add room for specific categories (if you need a specific category). You will have to record the specifics on a memo. For example, I had to record my cell phone bill under utilities and put on memo that it was for a cell phone.
• This isn’t available to download through an app store. You will have to use your internet browser on your computer, phone, or tablet to access this app.

What is my overall view on this app?

To me, the pros outweigh the cons.

I like being in control of how my money is recorded. The issue I have with apps such as Mint is that I have no control over where my money is recorded to and it doesn’t consider if some purchases I make are for the long term or not. Let’s say I had to bought a $500 washing machine because the one I have currently is torn up. On Mint, it would automatically record it as an expense (and would show that I am losing a chunk full of money that month if only $300 had come in so far). On Thrifty, I wouldn’t have to put that in that app because it is not something I would be paying for every month. I consider expenses as items I pay for every month (e.g. Car Insurance, Water, Electricity). I don’t consider expenses as items I pay for one time and use for a long period of time. I put whatever I save each month towards those long term purchases (if I need them). For yearly taxes, I create an account I put money into each month to cover those taxes.

I also like that all of the expenses and income are added up and totaled for you. I don’t have to dig through several receipts and bank and credit card statements at the end of the month to find out what I spent on each expense each month. I can just record the total on my budget spreadsheet.

I like the savings percentages they calculate on there because it helps me determine if I am staying on track financially each month or not.

I don’t recommend using this app if you don’t want to record each transaction each month; if you need very specific expense categories; or if you need an app from app store to use this app.

To me, those issues don’t bother me at all. This app has helped me save a lot of time and money.

What if you are interested in trying this app out?

• Go to https://www.keepthrifty.com/
• Click on Tools at the top part of the website. (Click Tour if you are more interested in learning about this app before signing up).
• Click on Join Thrifty Free
• Give them your time zone, name, email, and a password (Don’t lose your email and password information. You will need that to login next time).
• Record your income and expenses.

If you have any questions about this app, please let me or Chris Durheim- creator of this app-(chris@keepthrifty.com) know. He also has a personal finance blog that has interesting posts on it (www.keepthrifty.com).

If you liked this post, please like, subscribe to my blog, and share this post with your friends.

Thank You and Have A Great Weekend

Millennial Dude

 

 

Root Beer Chocolate Cake recipe (Less than $4 to make)

Hey everyone,

How did your weekend go?

Mine’s was great.

After church on Sunday, my church did a meal to appreciate what our pastor does for our church.

This meant that I had to make and bring something to this luncheon.

I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on making a meal.

Luckily it was a potluck meal (where I could bring what I was able to bring).

I decided to make a cake. I decided to put a twist on it.

I made a cake where you mix cake mix with soda. It was cheaper than having to buy eggs and oil for the recipe.

I pulled the idea from this website (I saw their post picture from a friend on Facebook): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/27/easy-cake-recipe-use-soda-be-bubbly_n_5717767.html

This cake is called Root Beer Chocolate cake.

Below are the ingredients needed to make this recipe:

• Box of chocolate cake mix (not any specific kind)
• Can of root beer or 1 1/2 cups of root beer
• Cake pan
• Container of cake frosting
• Mixing bowl & spoon or mixer
• Cooking spray

 

Here’s how to make the cake:

• Preheat your oven to what it says on the directions on the back of the cake mix box.
• Spray your cake pan with cooking spray
• Open the bag of cake mix and put it in the mixing bowl.
• Pour the root beer in the mixing bowl (on top of the cake mix)

• Mix the ingredients together until all of the powder is gone

• Pour the combined ingredients into the cake pan and spread out until it is even
• If your oven is preheated, go ahead and put the pan in the oven and cook it for as long as it says on the back of the box of cake mix.

• Once the cake has been baked, let it cool for an hour.
• After it has cooled, open the container of frosting and pour the frosting on top of the cake. Spread it out evenly.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. The people at church that tried it sure did.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

If you liked this post, please like, subscribe to my blog, and share this post with your friends.

Thank You and Have A Great Day

Millennial Dude

How To Create A Schedule for Paying Bills

Hey everyone,

As many of you all know, paying bills can be chaotic at times.

Different companies send their bills at different times of the month.

As mentioned in a previous post, if the bills do not get paid on time, you will probably have to fork over extra money to for late fees and to get some of your services turned back on (in some cases).

I am creating a schedule that will keep my bill paying organized (to avoid late fees and not forgetting to pay a bill).

Here’s how I’m doing that:

• I have to determine how times a month I get paid and organize it into that many parts. I get paid every week. Thus, I have to organize my monthly bills into 4 week slots.
• Next, I have to figure out when the bills come in and when they are due. For example, I get my mortgage bill at the beginning of the month but won’t pay it until the last week of the month because it’s not due until the end of the month.
• I will grab a sheet of paper and write down the 4 week slots in a list format.
• Then, I will put the bills I have to pay that month in the appropriate week slot. For my mortgage payment, I will go in the fourth weekly slot.
• Anything that automatically gets deducted out of my bank account, I will put on the first week’s slot. This is done, so it won’t be forgotten.
• I will place it in the area I pay my bills.

If I was getting paid biweekly or bimonthly, I would be organizing my bills into 2 week slots for the month instead of 4. The first slot would cover the bills due on the first 2 weeks of the month. The last slot would cover the bills due on the last 2 weeks of the month.

Click the link below to see a list I made for my bill paying:

billpayingscheduleformillennialdude

If you have any questions, please let me know.

If you liked this post, please like, subscribe to my blog, and share this post with your friends.

Thank You and Have A Great Day

Millennial Dude

 

A big money mistake I made recently

Hey everyone,

Today, I wanted to share with you a costly mistake I made recently (so you can avoid making the same mistake).

I bought pork chops last weekend to make a recipe I was going to share with you guys.

They ended up getting a foul odor because I left them in the refrigerator for too long.

I ended up throwing away $10 worth of pork chops. Which is not good for me.

What can I do to prevent this from happening again?

• If I don’t plan on using a certain type of meat within 2 to 3 days, I will put the meat in the freezer until I’m ready to use it.
• I will be more cautious on “sell by” dates for meat. Some stores sell meat at a discount because the “sell by” date is about to expire on that package of meat. 
• If I plan on using the meat within 3 days, I will try to cook the meat as soon as possible.
• The meat I buy will be put in the coldest part of my refrigerator.

Here is an article with more information about meat storage:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/441979-can-you-eat-meat-after-sell-by-date/

If you have any questions, comments, tips, or ideas on this, please let me know.

If you liked this post, please like, subscribe to my blog, and share this post with your friends.

Thank You and Have A Great Day

Millennial Dude

Organize October

Hey everyone,

How did your weekend go? Mine’s went well.

Fall time is here and the weather is starting to get cooler outside.

It’s time for me to do get organized in many ways.

Because of this, I dedicate October as Organize October.

I will participate in this from today to November 10th.

Why is organizing important to my finances?

• Organizing will prevent me from buying extra items that I already have. A few months ago, I bought extra deodorant because I thought I was out of deodorant (but in reality, I had 3 extra things of deodorant below my bathroom sink).
• Doing this will help me determine what I need to get for the fall and winter season. Through organizing everything in my house, I can make a list of what I need to be able to get through fall and winter time without any hassles. It will prevent me from buying items I don’t need. For example, if I have enough sweaters for the season, I won’t need to by anymore sweaters.
• It will be easier for me to pay my bills on time. Paying bills when they are due is important. If you pay late, you will probably have to pay extra late fees on top of what you already owed. In some cases (e.g. Water Bill), they might turn your service off until you pay. Once you pay, you will probably have to pay an extra fee to get the service turned back on. To avoid paying unnecessary fees, I will put my bills on a schedule.
• I can determine how much I need to save up for emergencies and the upcoming holiday season. When I sort out what I have in my bank account, I can know how much I will need to make my emergency fund complete (which will help me out in emergencies). It will also tell me how much money I have to spend on everyone for the Holiday season (and what gifts I can give them).

What do I plan on doing during Organize October?

• Sort everything out in my closet, bathroom, and pantry to determine what I will need for the upcoming cold weather months.
• Figure out where the money in my bank accounts need to go towards.
• Put all of my bills I have to pay each month on a schedule.
• Create a Christmas shopping list (so Christmas shopping will be less of a hassle this year).
• Make a want list (so I can motivate myself to save money).
• Find an easier way to keep track of what I spend money on.

I will let you know throughout the month how I am doing with these steps.

If you have any questions about Organize October, please let me know.

If you liked this post, please like, subscribe to my blog, and share this post with your friends.

Thank You and Have A Great Day

Millennial Dude

 

My Grocery Haul for October

Hey everyone,

I hope you all are doing well today.

Today, I am going to share with you my grocery haul for October.

I gave myself $120 again for groceries this month. I did this because I had an extra paycheck in September that I normally wouldn’t have.

Below are pictures of what I got:

Did I stay on budget?

• I ended up having $3 left by the time the shopping trip was over. I did good on my grocery budget.

What are some deals I scored on this month?

• I bought 6 bags of apples for less than $1 per pound. Apples are on sale this time of year (because it’s apple season).

• I bought 2 packages of bone in chicken breasts for 98 cents per pound.

• I bought 2 packages of boneless pork chops for $1.79 per pound.

• I bought generic package bags of Koolaid for 79 cents each (10 pouches per bag).
• I bought four 4 packs of Annie’s organic berry yogurt for $1 each.

What meals do I plan on fixing this month?

• Easy smothered pork chops (A recipe I will share with you sometime this month)
• Baked chicken parmesan
• Chicken and broccoli alfredo

If you have any questions about my haul, please let me know.

If you liked this post, please like, subscribe to my blog, and share this post with your friends.

Thank You and Have A Great Day

Millennial Dude

My Budget Report Card for September

Hey everyone,

How did your weekend go? Mine’s went alright, I guess.

I reconciled my budget out for last month.

Today, I will share with you how that went.

Click the link to go to my PDF spreadsheet (september-2016-budget-spreadsheet-sheet1).

Here we go:

• I projected that I was going to make $940. I ended up making $505 more than I thought.
• I gave $14 less than I thought I would give. I will give an $14 this coming week.
• I was over $16 on Utilities. I need to find ways to save more money on my utilities.
• I spent $3 less than I thought I would on Gas.
• I spent $9 less than I thought I would on Personal Items.

On groceries, I gave myself double the money because I had an extra paycheck in August from the last company I worked at.

I ended up with a leftover balance of $535.

Where will that money go?

• $20 of that will go to a sinking fund for my cat.
• As mentioned above, $14 will be given.
• I plan on putting the leftover $381 to an emergency fund.

 

How did I do overall?

• I did okay overall. I was lucky because I had an extra paycheck last month that I normally wouldn’t have. I still can do better though.
• I need to work on ways to save money on utility bill. Heating and Air during Winter and Summer are costing me a fortune. If you guys have any tips or advice on that, please let me know.
• At least I have money to start an emergency fund (in case something bad should happen).

If you have any questions about my budget, please let me know.

Thank You and Have A Great Day

Millennial Dude