Labor Day Sales today

Happy Labor Day.

Ironically - the day to celebrate the labor force...but we think of it as shopping time -sale time.

Yes, the time to save on swimsuits, patio furniture and more! 

Gap is having a 40% off sale - I usually look over to see what items I'm missing for the school year.  To be honest it's been about four years since I bought myself a new swimsuit.  My current two full pieces are from Target and are starting to look deformed. 

Considering repurchasing something this year. 

But the real score is clothing for kids!  Look through their closets and see what they need...New jeans? (Haha) New sweatpants?  (Only fashion item needed)  New socks? (Why are these always lost in the laundry?)  

When my kids were babies I used to buy a season ahead; now I only buy what's needed for the year because otherwise I'd be running a clothes shop out of our home...and who has room for all those extra clothes and clutter?

Here are some of the top clothing deals today:

1. Gap - 40% off/50% off in stores

2. Osh Kosh has 40% off clearance (love this brand!) and 50% off entire store

3. H&M Kids has 60% off 

Christmas in July

July!


Independence day.
Amazon Prime day.
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.

For me, the end of July is a great time to stock up on summer essentials for next year.  These bargains can be found at almost all stores - Gap, Old Navy, department stores, etc.  I buy t-shirts and shorts, bathing suits and flipflops for the whole family at about 75% off.

I use deal news to figure out where to shop and where the sales are.

The hardest part if packing up the old clothes and figuring out what to reuse and how to store it.

Also have to be careful to not be succeptable to buy other things.

Well, it's time to get food ready for the week -  hope you all have a great week!

Eating out

Full confession here.

For the last few months we have had a lot going on.  Family situations, moving, work - it's been hectic. We sort of fell off the wagon in terms of tracking our spending and such.

And our wallets felt it!

So we decided to take a look at what we have been spending as a couple...and we noticed...we've been eating out...a lot.

Both of us had been buying lunch at work, then eating out thre or four times a week - let's just say, this added up. Waaaaay up.

Not to mention, we realized all this eating out not only drained our wallet, it increased our waistline!

But what are two over-tired people to do?

Well, we formed a team, a mighty team of two.

We banded together and declared Sunday - meal prep day.

We made food to last us (and the kids) for lunch and dinner through Sunday.  And made a cheese plate to feel fancy while we meal prepped (see below).

He grilled chicken and burgers and I chopped veggies and made eight salads (to get us from Monday - Thursday).  I also bagged snacks - like crackers.

And the week was so much less stressful that we didn't have to out to eat.

 The only problem was I felt like we saved so much money, I wanted to spend it all...

I decided to combat that feeling by setting a goal in my head - to save until...we reached 20% more than our weekly grocery budget.

And the race is on...

The hidden cost of cancelling

Examining my credit card bills this month, I noticed two charges:

1 - $6.99 from Consumer Reports

2 - $299 for a legal charge when I started a company

WTF

I tried to cancel the Consumer Reports charge, but I couldn't find my password, so I filed it under...remember to cancel this...and went on to make dinner for the night.  TWO WEEKS LATER and I still haven't dealt with the password. And while $7/month isn't a huge charge...it's pretty annoying because I don't use it...and anything you pay for and don't use is expensive.

Regarding the other charge...I emailed the company...and they of course emailed back saying I needed to call them to make changes to my account...

Of course, I saw the message at 7am, but then completely forgot about it until 8pm between work, the kids, and so, here I am...two weeks later with those two charges still on my card.

So my plan is to use my lunch break and call them and deal with both charges.  Adding to my calendar. 

~Geez that's a savings of about $300...