I thought I would be much better about my spending during week 2. I was both planning and impulsive in my spending for the week. Let’ Susan dive in and see how it shook out!
At Christmas, I received $500 from my mom. For the last few years, she has given us cash as gifts to do whatever we want with. Being responsible adults, my sister and I typically have put this money toward a full tank of oil for the winter to help ease the pain of that purchase. This year, since money isn’t as tight as it has been in past years, I decided I would get myself something with it. I placed it in the bank until I figured out what I wanted, and one Facebook reel later, I knew what it was! An Accuquilt Go! fabric cutter.
I started to do research on the cost of one of the cutters, and I had quite the sticker shock when I saw their smallest machine was several hundred dollars. I was taken aback at the cost and asked myself if this was going to be a purchase that would be worth it or if it would just gather dust. So, off to YouTube, I went and watched several demos of the machine. I researched the different dies that were available and then saw I would be able to have custom dies made as well. The more I considered it, the more I thought it would be something I could use long-term and get through my crazy fabric stash.
I have started to think more about using the Facebook marketplace and other online tag sale sites to find the things I wanted secondhand. So, I started to search for one every day, and a few days into my search, someone posted one with several dies for $450. Completely within my budget! I met up with the seller, and they informed me their dad was the quilter in their family and were glad to see someone get used to it. Before I agreed to the purchase, I checked the prices of all the dies and machines. The retail cost of the dies, mats, and machine would have cost me $1198 for everything I received, a huge savings of $748 that will help me crank out some projects to sell at the Farmer’s Market this summer.
Next up were groceries. I went to the store and spent $112.19 on minimal groceries. I was able to snag a bunch of Progresso soup, pasta, and sauce. Froggy loves soup, and it was a cheap pick-up for their after-school snack or a light dinner when they didn’t like what I made. I snagged 16 cans of soup, 12 boxes of pasta, and 12 jars of sauce. The soup will last through the rest of winter, and the pasta and sauce are stockpiled for 1 pasta-based meal each month. Getting food at the lowest possible price is the best way to create a stockpile.
Something unique about my grocery spending is that I am a mystery shopper and will receive $80 back between the shopper fee and reimbursement fee. Without using any coupons, I was able to drop this cost down to $32.19. I try to pick up these shops at least once a month to help reduce my overall costs.
Lastly, there was the unplanned breakfast with my coworker. Typically, they will pay for our meal together, but I am the type of person who wants to make sure my friends don’t feel taken advantage of and paid for breakfast. It was $40 for the two of us. Well worth the time together.
A nice win I had this week was I remembered to bring lunch for each of my shifts and didn’t buy lunch out. I was able to use up the leftovers hanging around the house before they became science projects.
Looking forward to sharing more ups and downs with you next week!
-Chick