Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2009! Personally, I am so thankful for a new year! I have a lot of goals, but I needed a fresh start. :)

For the first time in our three years of marriage, Caleb and I sat down and set out a budget for 2009. Don't get me wrong, we've always had an "idea" where our money has been going and I have the "don't spend anything" mentality, so we've done quite well. But this year, we really wanted to set a budget on certain items to see how well we could stick to it!

My big one this year is $200 a month for groceries/household items. Over the past several months, I've been pretty good at keeping groceries between $50-$75 a week, so I think this will be doable. Plus I have quite a stockpile of canned and boxed items. Mostly what I will need to buy for a while is meat and vegetables, of course the most expensive items. :)

I found another great feature that www.hotcouponworld.com offers. Easy access to printable coupons!

Printable Coupons

More Printable Coupons

This is an easy way to save a few bucks!

It really does pay off, once you get started. Like with anything, getting started is the hardest part. Yesterday, I went to the grocery store and paid $37 for $100 worth of groceries. That's approx a 60% savings. I think its worth my time.

These days at CVS my savings are an average 90% every trip.