budget - cafe mocha reflections

What’s Brewing at The Cafe

April 26, 2013 by Whitney 6 Comments

We survived the last 3 weeks and was able to watch Scandal last night. It was so sad but intense as usual. Huck, what can I say, a very complicated man that needs psychological help. Lawd!! I don’t think anyone was expecting the history of Huck but we do understand his character a little better now. Guillermo Diaz plays that role, I couldn’t see anyone else playing Huck. Did you see the previews for next week where it looks like Cyrus may try to get rid of Oliva??? Gonna be a long summer without it, but we’ll survive….I guess. The hashtag said it all last night #scandalobesessed, that says it all. It’s a great drama and I enjoy watching it.

I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle from Divas With A Purpose on Tuesday. She is a beautiful woman with a wonderful spirit and great connection. She was in town for business and I went to her hotel to spend a few minutes with her. We sat in the lobby and talked about our families, marriage and then took this cute picture. We didn’t have time to go to dinner, but it was nice connecting with someone that I met in the blog world. The nice bellman took our picture for us.

I’ve been going to the STL blogger meet ups and connecting with some nice people at the events. I think I’m gonna plan one, very easy just pick a place that’s easy for everyone to get to, we usually do happy hour and talk about blogging, exchange cards and connect. We went to a place right around the corner from me, very nice restaurant Granite City Food & Brewery. Next month we are going to McDonald’s for breakfast, interesting.

I have been working a lot lately, trying to make money for everything, bills, house, kids, etc. I have one wish this year and that’s to go to Blogalicious in Atlanta. I am trying to save so I can pay my fees by the due date which is the end of May. I’m working on it, which means I have to cut back on several other things. I even considered applying to volunteer, but I would have to spend 4 days away from home, something I haven’t done. I may still consider it, I’ll probably really need the vacation by then. Have any of you bloggers been to Blogalicious or any conferences? The BLM girls are having a conference in Las Vegas, I can’t do both and I had planned on Blogalicious before I found out about the BLM conference. I was born in Atlanta and have never been back since my daddy was transferred when he was in the Navy.

No plans for the weekend, work, grocery shopping and church on Sunday. Of course, the girls want to go shopping. I’m working on them. I told them they needed to start tithing their allowance. I wish I could have taken a picture of their faces when I said that, too funny. I guess they understood, it’s all about planning and what’s important. I want them to have good spending habits, I’ll probably still give them money for church, just want them to be conscious of tithing. What are your plans? Have a great weekend ladies, I love this song by Anthony Hamilton…enjoy.

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Filed Under: The Mocha Cafe Tagged With: blogger meet up, budget, conferences, family, random, scandal

Budget Sequestration Hits Home

April 22, 2013 by Whitney 12 Comments

Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono via FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Ok I’m gonna be a little self indulgent this morning because I’m in shock. I’m an avid news watcher, I keep up on what’s going on in our country and the world. When I’m behind, my husband keeps me informed. The budget sequestration that the US Government has set up is about to affect us all in one way or another. As you all know, my husband is retired military and we go the Scott Air Force Base probably twice a month to grocery shop. You can’t beat the prices especially on meat. It’s about a 30 minute drive, that’s why I only go twice a month. Every quarter they have a Case Lot Sale, where they offer huge savings on bulk items and other things, mostly bulk. I called to find out when the next Case Lot Sale and I was informed that because of sequestration, it’s cancelled until next May. The woman on the phone said they would have “sidewalk sales” but couldn’t give me any dates.

To say that I was disappointed was an understatement. We like to stock up on certain things and the Case Lot sale allows us to do that. I know there’s Sam’s Club and Costco, but when you shop at the commissary we don’t pay sales tax, and when you are spending $100-200, that’s a nice savings. Besides, when we go to Sam’s Club or Costco, we always spend a lot of money on things we don’t need. Don’t let us go out there hungry, we taste all the food they are cooking and end up buying the food. They do that on purpose, marketing is everything in those stores. We don’t have those distractions with the Case Lot sales, they are outside in the parking lot, and no one cooking and trying to sell you food you don’t need. Gotta sit down and figure out a new strategy.

It’s really new, but the new budget is working so far. We’ll see, summer is coming and the girls need a few new pieces. I’ll just hit up some of my budget friendly stores like Ross, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Target, Burlington Coat Factory and a few more. They both need new swimming suits and cover ups this year, they are so expensive. I think even found one for myself, a big step for me….and a cover up. I haven’t owned a swimming suit since I was in my 20s, so this will be interesting.

My family has been in a budget sequestration for quite some time, it’s a way of life for most of us. I’m grateful for what we have and how I work our budget, it’s a skill and I’m proud of how I spend our money. There’s always room for improvement, and I’m working on those now. Do you have tips to share on how you manage your budget?

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Filed Under: Family, Lifestyle, Marriage Tagged With: budget, discount, finances, sales, shopping

Marriage and Finances

September 25, 2012 by Whitney 6 Comments

I know I’m preaching to the choir on this one. This has got to be one of the biggest challenges on a marriage, finances. You think one way and your husband the other. My husband and I talked about money, lifestyle, who would handle the money (me), etc. I thought our plan was foolproof, but that’s not the way life is. I am the CFO of the family, I pay the bills, buy groceries, keep lunch money in the girls account, keep gas in the vehicle. Some weeks I stay on point with the budget, and others…well you know that story. That’s where the challenge comes in, because our finances are a little out of control at the current time.

When we had to buy a refrigerator, washer & dryer and have several repairs done to our home before we could live in it, it set us back and caused us to have a few extra bills we weren’t prepared for. That’s the way life is, but it has put a strain on the budget and at times our relationship. You work through it, but at times it is so stressful. I do a pretty good job sticking to our budget, and those necessary bills we have now will be handled. We don’t argue, we disagree about the budget, go into our separate corners and work this out.

One of the things we are looking at in our budget are things like internet and cable. We recently changed from U-Verse to Time Warner Cable, it’s cheaper but I don’t like it. None of us do, but we are gonna stick to it and see if AT&T comes to us with a better offer. You get what you pay for I must say, that is so true. We’ve had to cut down on eating out, so I’m cooking more. We still waste food, but it’s cheaper than eating out. One of the reasons we ate out this summer it was just too hot to cook, it took all night to cool down the house after I cooked. Now it’s cooler, time for my famous Chicken & Noodles and other comfort food.

I grocery shop and try to find items on sale. There is a small commissary about 5 miles away that I shop at to save money, I really save money and since it’s so close, I go frequently. My husband doesn’t like as he calls it brand X items, so I try to find brand name items on sale when I can. I do go to the Wonder Bread Outlet store, search for the latest date I can find, because you save almost $1.00 on a loaf of bread. We also buy items like toiletries, paper items and trash bags in bulk. I do my best to keep the stress down and keep the budget on track. Challenges keep the relationship interesting to say the least, and I love my husband, so we work through it. Have a great day!

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Filed Under: Family, Marriage, Relationships Tagged With: budget, finances, marriage, relationship

My Budget Challenge

April 16, 2012 by Whitney Leave a Comment

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. It was the typical one for me, a little work, grocery shopping and trying to set the budget. This was a shopping budget that included restocking, we were almost out of everything. That can get costly, I try to keep things we need in stock, you know…toiletries, laundry needs, paper towels & toilet paper. I buy all those things in bulk, so that means we made a trip to Sam’s Club this weekend. I have a love/hate relationship with Sam’s Club. I love it because of buying in bulk and it is cheaper to me, but hate it because when we get to the register, we spend anywhere from $150 – $300 every time we go. I just shake my head, because the Mr. is like a kid in Toys R Us when we go to Sam’s Club. He literally throws everything he needs or wants in the basket. Then looks at me and says, what did we buy for $200? Really?? How about all those things you just had to have? His thinking is we need it, so we may as well get it. He doesn’t believe in doing without or buying discount, brand X as he calls it. He says he works hard and he will get what we need and most of what we all want. I support that and make adjustments on the budget in other ways.

Photo courtesy Google

Now we are good on everything for a while. I don’t like running out of anything and it will stop all those little trips to the grocery store around the corner that charges more for everything. Sometimes living by a budget is a challenge, but it’s necessary right now because of plans we have in the making. More on that in a few months. I am pretty much in charge of the money, I do okay, could do better. I have to cut back on things like shopping every payday and eating out. We manage to pay the bills and keep the house going, that is the goal. We eat out on payday, shop when the girls have a need which as most of you that have children know is almost every week. My youngest needs clothing and shoes right now because she is growing out of everything, even things I purchased three months ago. I can’t keep up with her sometimes, she’ll come home and say something is too little. My current budget includes my big plans, summer school, clothing and activities. Whew, I need another gig! Have a blessed day everyone!

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