First I would like to say thank you to everyone for making me feel welcome and the all encouraging comments! This week was a beginning for me....we spent the same amount on our trip to the grocery store/Walmart. We spent $122. I have kept the receipts and am going to go over them very closely and see what impulse items we have on them. This week I am going to start saving up coupons and planning our meals around the sales and with the items we have in the pantry. We have always made a menu and a list but we don't always plan around what we have or what is on sale. I have been reading some websites on couponing so hoping that I can learn that skill! It amazes me how much money people can save with the use of coupons. Wishing everyone a happy Monday and a good week!

This is my first attempt at blogging. I have kept journals in the past but that was way back in my college days. I am going to use this to try to keep myself accountable for trying to save money. We are currently a one income household, except for the DH's unemployment that should last hopefully through the end of the year. He saw the writing on the wall so we were prepared for loss of his job. He started school part time the last year of his job and now he is a full time student and should finish up next spring. The only debt we have is our mortgage and we have that at a payment that I can send extra each month. Our problem is mainly spending, well over spending at the grocery store. I just don't know why we can't get that one together. We have been living by a save, save, save mentality for a couple of years now and we have just over 60K in savings, CDs, and money markets but we just can't seem to get the grocery store down. We should be able to save money each month but that darn grocery bill just kills us. For the 2 of us we spend on average over $150 a week! That is combining the 2 differents stores (walmart & local grocery store) and all cleaning, toiletries, and food. I just think that could and should be lower! I also would like to set up an account that is just for property taxes and insurance for our cars and our home and vacation home rather than use money in savings. The money saved at the grocery store could pay for at least one of these. Even $25 a week would take care of our car insurance for the year! I have read for many years now different blogs and have seen that people have done great debt repayment and savings and I am hopeful that this will work for me too!