Week 1

Here is what I've purchased so far for our first "official" week of living on a budget:
I went to Shaw's this morning and spent $43.11 of our allowance.  Here's my list of purchases
6 Suddenly Salad pasta salads-used coupons
1 loaf of bread-store brand
1 bag of croutons-store brand-used store coupon
2 cans of black olives-lindsey-used coupon
3 boxes of fudgicles-popsicle -used coupons
3 frozen dinners-lean cuisine-all marked down
1 box fish sticks-Gorton's-marked down
1 frozen cheeseburger-value time
1 frozen saugage/cheese biscuit-value time
2 packages breaded chicken cutlets-perdue-marked down
2 packages hamburger (about 1.25 lbs. each)-both marked down
2 packages thin sliced steaks (about 3/4 pound each)-both marked down
1 package split chicken breast (about 4 pounds)-marked down and on sale
5 ears corn
1 package hot dogs-bar s
2 packages sliced turkey breast-store brand lunch meat-both marked down
My total before coupons and sales was $81.02 so I saved $37.91 on this trip.  This leaves us with $46.89 left in the budget for whatever else I'm going to need which will be mainly produce as far as I can see for now. 

Why The 4-Ninety Blog?

Simple. We've fallen on hard times. We live week to week. Everything is going up. Electricty. Clothing. Housing. Gas. We figured out that we can't spend more than we take in. And if we're taking in less, that means we have to actually live on less. As a family we can no longer just walk into a supermarket and pull items off the shelf and run to the checkout. You can easily spend $100 without even really shopping. In the last year or two we've become more and more reliant on stores like ALDI and Dollar Tree for most, if not all of our food and HBA needs. At first, we used these stores during periods of lower income, car repairs of just unforseen expenses. But as time goes on, it makes sense to make these stores our primary places to shop. We feel led to share our experiences with others for two reasons. First, we'd like to help other people who are also struggling financially. Making ends meet in this economy takes drastic measures. Our family has decided to be disciplined and stay on this path. Honestly, we don't have a choice. The second reason for this blog is the satisfaction we get from paying less for something than we have to. In the days to come we will be sharing our success stories, where we shop, what we buy and how we save. This will also include recipes, dinner ideas and ways to make it to Friday (or the next paycheck). We are hoping this page is a launching pad for something bigger than us. Something that might turn into a national movement where we all help one another. Please feel free to post your own success stories and cost saving tips.

Sincerely,
The 4-Ninety Family