Saving Money and Being Frugal - Week in Review - March 18, 2017

Here's what the week from March 12th-18th looked like:

Progress on Financial Goals I Set for this Week

Last week, I set four goals to work on. This is how I did:

- Take Sophia and Olivia to the bank so they can invest in their first CDs. Did this on Thursday, March 16th. It took a while to set up the CDs, but both girls left with their first investments and more incentive to diversify and invest the money they earn. They are on a good path at ages 14 and 16 years old.

- Bring taxes to the accountant. This is the second week in a row that I've had this goal.  Still haven't done them. Homeschooling has taken a considerable amount of time during the past week - especially teaching Pre-Algebra and Algebra. We also had a full-day trip to the zoo combined with getting the girls' CDs (see above).

- Finish reading "Smart Money Smart Kids - Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money" by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze. Finished reading the book on Sunday, March 12th. It had a lot of helpful ideas and a good road path to follow for using with Sophia and Olivia.

- Start reading "Paying for College Without Going Broke." Read the book this week. Will blog about what I want to remember next week.

Progress on Blog Goals I Set for this Week

Last week,  I set the following blogging goals to work on  as they relate to saving money and home organization:

- Write things I want to remember from Smart Money Smart Kids. Wrote a post about this book and the valuable ideas in it on March 12th.

Although this wasn't an original goal of mine, I also listened to the audio book The Art of Exceptional Living which had financial advice in it. The author went from having pennies in his pockets at age 25 to being a millionaire six years later by changing his philosophy thanks to a positive and insightful mentor. On March 14th, I wrote a post about the ideas that I wanted to remember.

Source

- Continue to work streamlining and organizing our home by doing Weeks 11 and 12 of the 52 Weeks to an Organized Home. Started working on the tasks associated with these weeks. The focus isn't on decluttering, but rather setting up schedules for different aspects of running a house and one's personal life. It's a lot of reading, reflecting, and printing of forms to use to help simplify one's routines. Hope to have these posts done by the beginning of next week.

- Write an update about 40 Bags in 40 Days about Days  8-15. Wrote a post on March 15th about my progress. Have gotten rid of 31 bags so far in only 15 days - trash, recycling, and items to the thrift shop.

- Finish doing and writing Artist Studies that the girls need to do for homeschooling using the free schedules suggested by Ambleside Online and Simply Charlotte Mason. I was able to complete the time with Olivia on the study of three of Edgar Degas's paintings. Still need to sit down with Sophia and go over these same three paintings. Hope to have that done this weekend.

-  Create essential oil blends that are similar to higher-priced pre-blended ones. Wrote about the blends I made on March 14th.

Smart Purchases

- Purchased essential oils to make blends for use in our diffusers. One brand of the oils were 20% off which saved a lot of money.

- Purchased generic products at the grocery store when available.

- Received a coupon for two free family meals (that serve four people) from Blue Apron. Savings: $69.92! I'm super excited about this deal!!

Source

- Arranged for a homeschool tour of the zoo to receive discounted admissions for Sophia and Olivia; and a free admission for me (the chaperone/teacher). Also received a complimentary admission for a behind-the-scenes tour because I was the chaperone/teacher. See some photos from the visit to the zoo HERE.

Frugal Meals

- Ate leftovers was a good way to stretch the food budget and use up what was on hand.

- Brought our lunches to the zoo - saving a considerable amount of money.

What was on the table for dinner last week:

Saturday - Leftover pizza from Friday night's dinner at Green Mill and chicken nuggets for those who were hungry.

Sunday  - Hamburgers with grilled onions and mushrooms.

Monday - Sesame Chicken Stir Fry over rice.          

Tuesday - Hamburger and green bean hot dish.

Wednesday - Baked herbed chicken served with baked, sliced potatoes topped with Parmesan cheese.

Thursday - Chicken Chow Mein that Sophia made.
    
Friday - Tacos or burritos (depending on whether tortillas or chips were preferred).

My financial goals for this week:

- Bring taxes to the accountant.

- Take Sophia and Olivia to the local bank so they can deposit money into an emergency fund account that they will each establish.

- Help Sophia set up an appointment with a financial advisor to help her set up her first mutual fund/Roth IRA.

- Make a deposit into two Roth IRAs.

- Help Sophia and Olivia set up binders to hold their statements for different accounts (e.g., savings, checking, CD, emergency fund, retirement, college, life insurance).

- Finish setting up my binder to hold statements for different financial accounts and policies.

Blog as it relates to saving money and home organization:

- Write a blog post about "Paying for College Without Going Broke."


- Continue to work streamlining and organizing our home by doing Weeks 11-13 of the 52 Weeks to an Organized Home.

- Write an update about 40 Bags in 40 Days about Days  16-22.

- Make homemade Peppermint Bath Melts.

*Part of Financially Savvy Saturdays on brokeGIRLrich.*