Way back when....

in 1988 when we first said I Do a new life was ahead of us.  A life of promise, a life of hope, a new adventure.  Like every newlywed couple, we were going to do things right.  A  budget was set up, envelopes were labled, life would be paid for on a cash basis where ever possible, when the envelope was empty it was empty! We purchased a freezer with our wedding gift money, some of the wisest $$ ever spent.  Debt was going to be eliminated and we would have a nice next egg one day. 

This is how things looked...

Combinded Take home pay  1600.00

 

Rent:                                       395.00
Giving                                      180.00

Car loan:                                 225.05  

Home expeses:                          41.00

    (hydro, phone etc.)

Debt reduction:                           60.00   

    (credit card, wedding etc)                      

Groceries:                               150.00     
    (including paper & cleaing products etc.)

Gas:                                          45.00    
    (Oh how the 2011 version of me wishes!)

Running car                              295.00   
    (insurance, repair nest egg) 
Entertainment                           175.00   
                                                             (Sports, crafts, eating out, gifts, and long term holidays & vacation savings.  Only $50.00 was put into the envelope)


Which left 33.95 at the end that was tagged for savings, sometimes it made it others it did not.

We went shopping together,(date nights were exciting here) calculator & list in hand, coupons ready - we knew with in a few dollars exactly what our total would be when we reached the check out.  It worked!

Then life got away from us, hubby went school, we were a single income family, kids arrived thankfully after college graduation - shopping together stopped, calulator gave way to speed shoping, list was made but rarely followed. Our cash envelopes went by the way side as we tried groceries on credit card to gain air miles, then debit card. And the budget... well for lack of a better term, went to hell in a hand basket, Sigh.. not totally but it was certainly not as well laid out, bills were paid, there was food on the table, and a roof over our head. 

Fast froward to 2010 and I realized that I needed to get our 700.00 plus dollars a month grocery spending under control. I thought it was skyrocketing food prices and feeding 3 growing girls - in truth it was lack of planning on several levels. I started looking into saving money on groceries, I knew something would be changing and SOON.  Google was my friend, I found sites like save.ca, and websaver.ca I ordered coupons, and waited.  Then a friend invited me to a Mrs. Smith class on couponing.  It was just the kick start I needed to motivate me. 

So here we are in 2011, a family of 5,  driving one car, looking towards college/university educations,  living on one full time, and a smattering of other random incomes, in a suburb of the second largest city in Canada trying to make ends meet as best we can.  This blog is a journey of what we are learning, the changes we are making and a way of sharing some of it.  Thank you for joining in the fun... Let the blogging begin.