Groceries are expensive

I've dealt with this issue before and have been trying to reduce our grocery bills as everyone whose commented has stated that our grocery costs are very high. But they are just plain expensive. I agree that we don't shop around for the best prices but with a toddler and both working full-time, we really don't have the time. So, we bought groceries on Saturday and even though we didn't but much meat, the order came to a whopping $199.95 (for 1 week). Here are some of the highlights:

+ Diapers - $38.99
+ Wipes - $8.99
+ Toilet paper - $7.39
+ Toilet cleaner - $4.99
+ Dryer sheets - $7.99
+ Coffee - $8.99
+ Steaks - $16.33
+ Ground beef - $11.57

It's just crazy to have to spend this sort of money on these things.

Stressful times

I know it's been a long time since I last posted. Things are pretty crazy right now. My company has been in the midst of restructuring and performing layoffs. I thought I was going to be laid off this week but there is now a bit of a stay. I was already in the mindspace that I was leaving and have been job hunting. I was preparing to get a severance package and thinking of all of the things I could do with that if I got a job pretty quickly. But now everything is up in the air and I don't know whether I'm coming or going.

We're still trying to chip away at our debt but I have to say that we haven't been as disciplined about that or tracking our expenses. We'll have to start again in November. I'm hoping to have our cc debt below $10K by Christmas but that could be a bit ambitious. Especially with Christmas coming up.

August's Expenses

Sorry for the delay in my posts. But I now have completed expenses for August. Looking at the past three months of expenses, it is showing our total expenses going down... that's good. But I can't figure out why that would be. We aren't adding any $$ into our savings. We have been paying on bills but that is included in our expenses. So, it should all balance out. I need to think about this.

Coupons Websites

I went searching for Canadian coupon websites. In particular, coupons sites for products such as food, cleaning goods, and baby products. I've found a few that seem to have coupons that are usable in the real world with real products. Here are my selections:

Frugalshopper.ca

I ordered coupons from the next site and they came very quickly, no strings attached.

Save.ca

Redflagdeals.com

I've not used the following website for coupons as you have to create an account and I read comments from some users and it appears that some never received what they requested - but that seems to be users from other countries.

Mysavings.com

Allgoodcoupons.ca

We blew the budget

It's our anniversary today - 3 years. We went out to dinner last night and we had whatever we wanted. All total, it came to almost $190 for two of us. (Tom Selleck was dining there as well). Then we headed to the casino where I lost my $20 in about 20 minutes; my husband broke even. We agreed we weren't buying any gifts for each other but the price of the dinner more than makes up for our non-gift spending. We rarely get out to dinner together so it's a rare treat but obviously affects the amount we can pay on our cc debt.

Extra $$ - Less Debt

So, starting this Friday, my pay will be approximately $200 more per 2 weeks. In Canada you pay the Federal Government towards Employment Insurance and a pension plan. It's deducted automatically from your paycheque. It's a % of your salary up to a maximum amount, per year. I've reached those maximums for both items. So, now I'll have this extra $$ per month until January. Of course, my intention is to put most of it towards our cc debt. Of course, with Christmas presents to be bought, etc. I know that some of it will go there.

It's always such a great feeling to get more money for not doing any more :) But then when January comes around and you see your bi-weekly paycheque go down again, it's a bit defeating. Until the next time it increases :)

Are you stuck in a job you don't like?

I have a good job... good money, good benefits, good people to work with (except my boss) and generally an interesting job. But I really don't want to be doing it. I'm sick of doing what I do. I see myself doing so many other things. Other things that would mean a cut in income. And at this point, I need my income. It's very frustrating that I have to keep working in a job that I don't want to do. If I had extra $$ I could think of many things I'd like to do - real estate investmenting, organizing people's homes, and staging for sale. But you need money to be able to make a big career move like that and we just don't have it. Are you in this situation? What are you going to do about it?