Day 27 - Ho Hum

Day 27....twenty seven days in...nothing going on but the rent...

It's hard to decided whether it's the cold, Iowa weather or the inability to go shopping that has me in the ho hums. We had an ice storm here overnight, so that helps to keep a person at home and not spending money. Since we have gotten rid of cable television I have found myself cleaning the house a lot. Not that one could tell. It's not my favorite activity.

I am trying to show some restraint. My nine year old daughter has this uncanny ability to have a growth spurt every year around the first of the year. 2013 is no exception. Even my husband commented that one of her shirts looked a little too small. Things must be bad if he's noticing. I think we can limp her pants along through the season but I must go and buy her some new t-shirts. I am going to try and wait to do so until February. We've had some unusual expenses this month.

What are those you ask? Well, for one my husbands trusty old 1990 Honda Accord won't start on very cold mornings. It's January in Iowa, there are lots of those. So, he needed to buy a new battery. The tire on his chipper had to be replaced. Our furnace quit working on one of the coldest nights of the year. The fan motor blew out. I haven't gotten the bill for that yet, but the technician said the motor itself runs about $200. That's before labor.

I've been clipping and using coupons whenever possible. Last week I went and bought some things I had coupons for which were expiring soon and wanted to use to get the savings. I managed to save nearly 20% on the total cost of the trip to the store. That was pretty cool. I have been continuing to purchase almost all of our groceries on sale or with coupons. I have been using whole chickens that I got on sale to make chicken salad or eggs on sale to make egg salad for the husbands lunch. Which reminds me, I have eggs in the fridge waiting to be made into salad...

Thanks for checking in with us. :) Another week or two and I'll have some percentages to give out, what we were able to pay towards our mortgage after having done this whole shebang for a month. Honestly, I don't think it'll be all that great, but at least we're trying!