From Dani: Reducing Your Grocery Bill

This week's goals are:
1-To reduce your grocery bill


Tips to save at the grocery store
Make a list: Making a list and avoiding impulse purchases adds up to hundreds of dollars in savings annually

Try couponing: Stick to the items you purchase regularly.

Check your receipt: Make sure you weren’t overcharged.

Write prices down: Keep track of the best prices for your weekly staples so you know which stores have the best deals. Look at the weekly supermarket advertisements to see if the items you purchase frequently are on sale. Shoppers who watch prices and stock up during sales report saving 20% or more.

Avoid snack food: Make your own bulk snack mix when items such as raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and dried fruit are on sale.

Stretch protein: Protein often is the most expensive part of a main portion. You can stretch your protein in casseroles, stews and sauces. Or try bulking up casseroles with extra protein by adding beans or lentils. (can order from the cannery this week still! deadline moved to March 15th)

Order in Bulk: hamburger (91% lean) can be purchased at Sam's in 80-lb boxes (8- 10lb rolls) for much less than normal (ex: $2.00 lb prices change sometimes less) - you can split with others and freeze.

Pack your lunch: Avoid pre-prepared meals- you can make your own for those rushed days. I like to freeze left overs rather than eating them later that week. Freeze and reheat for a quick, convenient meal without the cost of prepackaged food or eating out.

2- Put 1/6th of your 72 hour kit $ goal into your kits- you should now have half your goal- Way to go!!

"Plan and work in a way that will permit you to be happy even as you do without certain things that in times of affluence may have been available to you. Live within your means and not beyond them. … Purchase your essentials wisely and carefully. Strive to save a portion of that which you earn. Do not mistake many wants for basic needs.

Let us as individuals, as families, and as wards and stakes learn to live within our means. There is strength and salvation in this principle. Someone has said that we are rich in proportion to that with which we can do without. As families and as a Church, we can and should provide that which is truly essential for our people, but we must be careful not to extend beyond that which is essential or for purposes which are not directly related to our families’ welfare and the basic mission of the Church."

Chapter 11: Provident Living: Applying Principles of Self-Reliance and Preparedness,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, (2006),114–23

From Dani On Budgeting

Here's some words of wisdom from my friend Dani on budgeting:

Sitting down to review where you spent your money is not something we think of as fun....but it can be a very useful tool. When you regularly sit down and see where all your income is going, you:

1. are able to see where adjustments need to be made
2. are more likely to think before spending
3. have more money (true)- it is amazing how much can slip through our fingers in small unplanned purchases
4. have a sense of control over your money rather than it controlling you
   

So sit and either make or modify a budget for your family. Try having a little "mad money" in the budget that we can spend on anything we want. It will make the budgeted life not feel too restraining.

Put 1/6 of your cash for your 72 hour kit goal in your kits this month. (We should now be 1/3 of the way to our goal! Way to go!)

From One for the Money By Elder Marvin J. Ashton:

"Teach children to make money decisions in keeping with their capacities to comprehend. 'Save your money' is a hollow pronouncement from a parent to a child. 'Save your money for a mission, a bicycle, a doll house, a trousseau, or a car' makes understandable sense.

"Family unity comes from saving together for a common, jointly approved purpose. In our home we found it unifying to have a child save for a major project and then, when the amount was achieved, we matched it with a predetermined percentage, similar to what the Church does with the wards and stakes in building and real estate matters.

"God help us to realize that money management is an important ingredient in proper personal welfare. Learning to live within our means should be a continuing process. We need to work constantly toward keeping ourselves free of financial difficulties. It is a happy day financially when time and interest are working for you and not against you."

Stake Goals

Last week in sacrament meeting a member of our stake presidency, Pres. Brown, issued some challenges for our stake, all with a deadline of June 30, 2009:

Read the Book of Mormon. We need to read four pages a day every day until June 30th to accomplish our goal. I am excited about this goal! At first I felt a little overwhelmed, but as I have spent the last week trying to have faith and do as I was asked, I have found the following quote by Ezra Taft Benson to be absolutely true in my own life:

“There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation...to avoid deception...to stay on the strait and narrow path...[Y]ou will find life in greater and greater abundance...love and harmony in the home, greater respect between parent and child, increased spirituality and righteousness.”

In my reading this week, I found a promise that certainly applies to us today and gives us hope as we face difficult times now and in the future:

“if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks—And harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God . . . They shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever . . .” (1 Nephi 14:1-2)

I want to allow the Lord to take away my stumbling blocks by letting His word and work into my life . Here’s a site to help you calculate your own Book of Mormon reading goal:
http://lds.about.com/library/weekly/2004/blscripture_calculators.htm

This goal includes children! Pres. Brown encouraged us to be creative as we figure out how to do this with our children. Brother Beck suggested yesterday that we get the Book of Mormon playing in our car with tapes, CDs or an portable music player and we will be surprised how much we and our children get out of it. Check out this link on the Church website to figure out how to download the Book of Mormon to your portable music player:
http://www.lds.org/mp3/newarchive/0,18615,5249-1,00.html

Pray daily as families, couples & individuals. Brother Beck suggested that we schedule a time for each of these prayers to happen so we don’t forget and so we have most or all of the family at home. There is great power in family prayer on both ends of our day.

Have 1 month of food storage on hand. I've started by keeping track of what my family eats for a week. After that, I drew up a menu plan for a one-week supply of food storage. Though it's not always easy, I'm trying to include mostly foods that will last at least three months on my or in the fridge/freezer.

Get cash in your 72-hour kits. As we've calculated how much ywe need, we've imagined we're taking a 3-day road trip and you can’t use your credit card. We plan to put that amount in smaller bills in our 72-hour kits.

Last week I witnessed a 72-hour kit in action during an everyday emergency. I was with Cheri Evans and our kids were playing on a playground. Her preschooler had a little accident and needed a change of clothes. Without a hint of panic, Cheri calmly walked to her car, pulled out a small rolling suitcase she keeps there with her 72-hour kit inside. She had a change of clothes for her son, and an extra one for another little boy who needed a change of clothes too. Cheri told me she is surprised how much she uses her car kit for extra clothes, snacks, water, and first aid. She just has to remember to replace the items she uses, and then she’s set for the next everyday emergency. I felt very inspired by her preparedness and plan to put a similar kit in my car this week.

There’s a lot to do, but if we take it one small step at a time, having faith that the Lord will cover our weaknesses and shortcomings if we do our best, we will be ready for whatever may lie ahead for us. I know this is true because I’ve seen it happen over and over in my life, and in the lives of others around me.

A New Year, a New Plan

I've got a plan for 2009, with a focus for each of five areas each month. Here's the ones for January:

JANUARY: Whaddya Got? Whaddya Need

Spiritual Preparedness:
Focus on personal prayer

Emergency Preparedness:
Check & Replenish 72-Hour Kits

3-Month Food Storage:
Keep track of what your family eats and how much you spend on food for at least one week. Clean out those cabinets and closets to make room for more food storage. Keep track of spending for the month.

Home Storage:
Inventory current food storage--how many months do you have of the basics?

Financial Reserve:
Make a jar for saving change. Decide how much cash your family needs to put in your 72-hour kit and set aside 1/6 of that amount.