Resolutions...a month & a half in.

Alrighty.  I purposely haven't posted about this until now.  Mainly because I get tired of the hype and also because I prefer to make goals for the year rather than resolutions.  Ah, semantics.  But for whatever reason I equate 'resolution' with the bad and 'goals' with the good.  Maybe because resolutions are often broken...or maybe it's my resolutions that are often broken.

At any rate, I have a note hanging on my bulletin board titled "2012 Goals".

1. Get grasp on finances - budget, saving, reconciling
2. Simplify & declutter - declutter calendar

You've already heard about the decluttering calendar.  I went through everything on my desk last week.  It feels wonderful!

As for our finances, even with a financial advisor/tax preparer for a mother, I have never been able to keep track of what comes in and what goes out.  Which is amazing for someone who manages 24 different funds at work.  And honestly, I think it's because I've never had a system.  I am very much a systematic, follow the rules kind of girl.

I don't remember how I stumbled across it, but I came across a blog post by Echoes of Laughter detailing a bill binder.

Source: applevalleygirl.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Considering I didn't have any system at all, I decided to give it a shot.  So far so good.  That said, we're only a month in.  :)

For me, it works.  It's all in one place and the papers don't pile up underneath my desk waiting for me to file them--which never happens by the way.  And it's great that I can see the entire month of bills in one glance.  I started writing down what we pay in groceries every week just so I can see what we spend on average.  Soon I'd like to create an actual budget to stick to.  But again, I need a system.

Have you had any real success with creating a budget & sticking to it?  What's your advice?

No PBR for me!

10 Best Beers on a Budget

It takes new eyes

C & I decided to forego the house selling & buying and refinance instead.  Interest rate from 6.75% down to 4.75%, 30 year down to 20 year, and some extra cash to do with as we please.  We've already decided on a new refrigerator.  White, french door bottom freezer with water & ice dispenser.  *sigh*  Now, if we could only keep the price down.

Turns out we had to get the house appraised first so the lady came over this evening to do that.  I'm glad she did because I realized I tend to focus on the negatives about the property & not the positives.  She'd make comments and I'd think, "Oh yeah, that is kinda pretty."  Or, "Hm.  Hadn't thought of that.  I suppose you're right."

I'm really interested to see what it appraises for.  I hope it's not less than what I paid and I hope it's not WAY more than I paid (then I'd want to sell again & I just got over that).  We shall see.

Woman to woman (or man, I don't discriminate)

I love blogs. They keep me up to date on everything from friends, books, deals and savings, politics, and even provide a good laugh once in a while (to name a few).

I have to pass on some info about a site I just learned about from Fantabulously Frugal (which I learned about from My Cup Runneth Over).

It's Alice.com and I just ordered some items a few minutes ago. The idea behind it is that instead of making a trip out to the store just to get a few household items, you can sit in the privacy of your home (without changing from your pj's) and order them online at Alice.com. The website automatically adds coupons to your items (if there's any associated with them at the time) and notifies you when it's time to reorder the product.

Pros:

1. Shipping is always free!

2. The products I ordered should arrive in 2-3 business days (that's pretty good imo).

3. They have major brands as well as the under dogs (at least that's what the website says).

4. Coupons automatically added...no clipping!

5. Really cool "Budgeting" tab that keeps track of spending history with nice pretty graphs.

6. Free to join!

Cons:

1. Must have at least 6 items in your cart to check out. Seems counter to their point that if you only need a few items, rather than drive to a store, buy from them. A few items to me would be 2 or 3. It makes sense though if they're going to keep shipping free.

2. When you order a product, you can specify when you think you might need to reorder...2 weeks, 6 weeks, etc.

a. This doesn't work for me because I have no idea when I might run out of something &

b. I don't like buying the same thing over and over. I buy whatever's the best deal at that particular moment. I guess it'll be alright though, if I get a notification (& I really am running low) I'll just do another search for 'toothpaste' or whatever and buy the cheapest.

I went to the grocery store as well today. This website is obviously not one-stop shopping. But that's part of it's appeal to me. I'm trying to wean myself off of the big W and with this website, I just might be able to do that. Except for my medication...$9 at W or $33 at another major pharmacy? I think I'll go with $9. But I digress. As I was saying, I went to the grocery store and while I was there I compared the products I intended on purchasing on Alice.com to the products in the store. The ones I was able to find were a tad more expensive if the item was on sale. Translation: I'll be buying my household items from Alice.com from now on. (assuming shipment & everything goes okay) It will definitely make shopping at the grocery store quicker and less of a hassle.

My Alice.com order summary:

Band-aids $2.15

Charmin toilet paper $4.13

One-a-day multivitamin $4.47

Suave body wash $1.97

Crest toothpaste $1.76

Alpo dog treats $1.88

Resolve carpet cleaner $8.91

The only thing I'm a little upset about, *a little--nothing to go to war over* is that I found additional coupons for two of the items I purchased after I paid. So take my advice if you decide to join up: check "My coupons" under the "My products" tab before you checkout. :o)