Erin Has Inspired Us!

30 December 2008
Do y'all know Erin? She is absolutely inspirational! She feeds her family of four, plus pets on a $800 annual budget! This includes all HBA, groceries, pet food, and even dining out! She seriously works those coupons and awesome deals! She really helped me when I started my frugal journey and my family will be forever thankful! If you don't know who she is, stop by her blog and say hi. She is a really treasure in the blog sphere.

Erin's Budget Includes:
1. all food
2. all HBA (health and beauty items)
3. all dog food
4. all eating out
5. all cleaning supplies
6. all coupons I pay for (the paper)

So, she has greatly inspired our family. After much discussion, Dan and I have decided to try a $1200 budget for the year. WE are still up in the air as to whether we will include pet food in this, but it will for sure cover food, HBA, eating out, cleaning supplies, and the times I pay for coupons. I know $1200 is significantly more than Erin's budget, but for us it's a huge step. I am really looking forward to this!

It must be noted that we live in a small town with no CVS, Walgreens, or Walmart. We have one grocery store that doubles/triples once in a blue moon. This means that Dan, yes my DH, will be doing the bulk of the coupon shopping and CVSing after work. He commutes to a town with Kroger, CVS, and a new Walgreens. We've never shopped Walgreens, but I'm hoping we'll figure it out. I am beyond thrilled that he is so committed to this idea that he's willing to do a lot of the work!

Anyway, this is our goal. It may be an interesting journey. Frankly, I'm not at all sure we can do this, but we are going to give it our all. I think it will be good for our family. Reducing needless spending is always a good thing. Our main goal for 2009 is to live a simpler life, and these seems like a big step in the right direction!



3 comments:

Rhonda said...

it sounds like a good idea, my best wishes to you and your hubby.

my hubby can use coupons but I have to really spell it all out.

let us know how it works!

Unknown said...

Oh Erin so Rocks! I did a $1500 challenge this year, and I did it! I scrapped by the skin of my teeth, spending $1408, but I made it. This year's budget is a lot bigger though, since I go to the doctor on Friday to see a weightloss specialist. No more all-processed foods for me...but my waistline will thank me for it. But you can bet, CVS is not going to miss me, we still gotta have HBAs!

Bekah said...

ummm WOW. I may have to rethink the amount my husband and I spend...I think we are on the more frugal side, but we are nothing compared to this...although I would like to be. Simple really is better. I lived in a third world country for a little while...and if it were feasible, id be there again in a heartbeat! now...off to erins page!