The High Life

We went to a party at my husband's cousin's house. They have a beautiful big house in Wayne nonetheless. Must be nice! That is a distant pipe dream for me. I may (okay probably won't) ever get that rich but I just want to get in a much better situation. The problem is things I need credit cards for. Here are some things I always seem to need credit cards for:
1.) Gas ($50 in cash a week would eat a lot of my paycheck)
2.) Groceries (see above)
3.) Supplies/things for the house/medicine
4.) Anything online.

There is no way around gas. I need to it get to my jobs. As for groceries there are at least ways to cut down. Sticking to a list helps.

The Walmart Money Card

My friend Bonnie was telling me about something called the Walmart Money Card. Apparently it's like a prepaid credit card that you can use anywhere, even at an ATM. It costs $3 to load it up each time. That is definitely something I can consider because, like Bonnie said, when you use a debit or prepaid card, either the money is there or it's not.
I've thought about it and created a list of pros and cons:
Pros:
1.) No interest
2.) No bills
3.) No debt

Cons:
1.) $3 each time you load it
2.) and this is the biggest thing for me: You have to have money to put into it first.

I am definitely thinking of doing something like that for the holidays to buy gifts though. Food for thought.

Sundays

Today I did have to do some Target shopping, again, stuff I needed. Those diaper genie refills are so expensive but really it's the only pail that actually hides the odors. I also had to get wipes (also needed). Also some pacifiers since Corey needs them for naps and nighttime (at least not constantly like Aaron did). No way to save on these things. I did use cloth wipes when Corey was a newborn but now that he's older it's not worth cleaning them.
Cloth diapers however are a wonderful thing. It saves a ton of money over disposables. The only drawback is they are bulky under clothes and don't hold enough for nighttime but still totally worth it. I am going to list some cloth diapering sites on the blog links.

Shana Tova

Today was Rosh Hashanah so I didn't spend much today but my parents had a nice lunch at their house. There was rye bread and lunch meats and we made sandwiches. That is a great way to not spend a lot and also much less work. We got to take home leftovers which will be a great way to save as well.
If you are at a party and someone asks if you want to take food home, the answer is yes, you do.

Less Spending

In order to pay down debt, you have to stop adding to it. In the book I'm reading, Life or Debt, the author says to write down everything you spend money on. I have done this for about a week and it turns out most of what I spend my money on is food. I'm trying to make it so I do a once a week grocery shopping and stop picking up food on along the way. It's healthier that way anyway. I do need to find a way to save on juice though. My kids go through it like crazy and I don't want to buy anything with high sugar.

Things I did to save this week:
1.) Brought my dinner to work instead of picking it up on the way
2.) Bought enough food at the grocery store to minimize trips to take out or restaurants.

Helpful websites:
www.lifeordebt.org
www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com
www.daveramsey.com