Welcome to Centsable Savings Stories and Struggles! This week we are featuring Shannan who can be found blogging at Chubbie Chica.
My Family: I have been married for 12 years and we have been blessed with 5 wonderful children. Three of them are adopted with special needs. I met my husband oversees while I was doing mission work. I am a SAHM, for the most part, although I do run my own pet sitting service. Having 5 children does tend to be a little hectic at times so I am very structured at home, or so people tell me! I actually think that I am quite frazzled most of the time, but I guess it’s a good thing that others don’t see it! I was 40 years old when I found out I was pregnant with our son. We had no plans of having anymore children nor did I ever plan on having a child at 40 (I was getting grey hair…women with grey hair aren’t suppose to have babies -LOL). It obviously was in God’s plans–he just forgot to check with me! Needless to say, my pregnancy turned my life upside down. Not only personally and emotionally but medically as well.
Where We Are Coming From: We have always been a typical middle class family from a small town. In February 2008, my husband was laid off from his job, a job that he was committed to retiring from. We did not have loads of money, but we were comfortable. When my husband lost his job, it totally devastated us! We didn’t know what to do or where to turn. I just knew we were in DEEP trouble and I had a broken husband that I didn’t know how to fix. Being a mother, I was real good about fixing things, but this one was over my head. My husband was out of work for 5 months before he finally was able to find employment. He is now employed with Pepsi Cola (we had to switch our soda-LOL).
Struggles: I quickly realized that we had no idea where our money had been going. I sat down late one night, installed Microsoft Money into our computer, took the last 3 months’ bank statements and categorized every dime. I was beside myself with our spending. We were throwing money away and had nothing to show for it but now we weren’t going to have the money to throw….WHOOO!! Everything we knew had came to a halt. I also had a shoe fetish (for my son) and loved spending money on those darn cute baby outfits. Gymboree had become one of my favorite stores, along with some others. My excuse was: “Well, he is our last.” There was also my husbands obsession with running into the local “Redi Mart” for some cappuccino & hot chocolate.
What Next: I started searching the internet and stumbled upon Dave Ramsey. I listened very closely and started to put a bare bones budget together. I realized that we were to only pay for the essentials–well, I also had to learn what those were! Along with my tears while searching the internet I stumbled upon BeCentsAble. The thought of coupons never entered my mind. I also started reading every post, every day and quickly realized that using coupons was essential.
My Plan: To clip all the coupons that I could get my hands on! To read the blogs daily and let them guide me! To figure out menus and shopping lists. Not to pay full price for anything. And to track every penny (even though there were few) that went in and out of our house. I needed to be a good steward of the money.
Where Are We Now: I feel now that my husband’s lay off was a blessing from above. It taught me so much about myself and my family. I know now that I don’t need to spend money to have a good time with the children–we have each other and that is all that we need. My son has been the best ooppsie that I have ever created! I am thankful every day for what God has given me! Now, how I have changed things is to plan, plan, plan! I never leave home without a plan. I never enter a store without a list. I never go into a week without a weekly menu………….and I always tote my coupon binder everywhere I go. I have taken our grocery budget from $800 a month to $400. I have two days a week when I go shopping. Other than those two days, I don’t go into a store. I now have a small stockpile and haven’t run out of the necessities in several months. We now have more money on hand then we ever had, even with the high paying job. It actually has became a game with me, and I can’t wait for Sunday’s paper to come in the mailbox. I get excited when my subscription of “All You” comes as well. Oh, as far as the kids clothes go–I can’t believe I ever spent as much as I did. I now know where to go and get those Gymbo clothes at a fraction of the cost.
A Big Thanks: To all the wonderful blogs that are out there and all the wonderful people that I have met along the way. A big thanks to BeCentsAble for making me wake up and smell the coffee. I am convinced that we would have been bankrupted without finding you! Now it’s time to pay it forward!
Each week we feature a different shopper’s story. If you are interested in sharing your family’s story (successes and struggles alike!) contact Chrissy (centsable.chrissy[at]gmail.com). Non-bloggers welcome!!
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