My Debt Free Life

By Lynn Forgy

We are now more than midway through February, and this is the point of the month where I like to start planning next month's budget. In calculating the numbers, I realize that I am over $200 short. The reason? I finally broke down and bought health insurance last month (which of course I hadn't planned on doing so February's budget was off too). With many friends and acquaintances, co-workers and family members getting sick with the flu or colds, etc., I felt like now was the time to get insurance. I'm not happy about it, but then again, I would be more unhappy if something happened and I had to pay a $10,000 hospital bill. A necessary evil, I suppose.

So back to the budget. I am brainstorming ways to cut expenses even more, and also increase my income if at all possible. The problem I seem to have is that the extra money I have been earning from my part time job and the mystery shopping I don't want to spend on my budget. I've put all of it into an interest bearing savings account, and I can't make myself pull any of it out. I wanted to leave it there until May, earning interest, at which point I was hopeful that I would be able to pay off my 2 remaining debts in my Debt Snowball.

So I'm back to cutting expenses. I've cut the cable, water, and electric bills. I don't think it's possible to cut the grocery budget even more (it's down to $100 for the month). Although I have been reading in my groups that many people are paying only a couple of dollars, sometimes nothing, for their groceries. All through coupons. I'm too cheap to buy a paper, though. But I am definitely not too proud to pull one out of the trash if I see one. Right now, that is my plan for March - to get my grocery budget down even further, through coupons and freebies, which will leave me only $100 short on my zero based budget.

March is also my daughter's birthday, so this is something I have had to figure in. Luckily, I am training her on frugality, and she seems to be on board most of the time (although I still hear complaints from time to time).

If anyone has any coupon site suggestions, feel free to email them to me for posting! Or if you have some frugal ways to save, send them to me to share with other readers!