Mom's Plans

Vitalicious Mini VitaCake Fudgy Chocolate Review and Giveaway

2012-02-23T12:57:44Z

One of the hardest parts of reforming your eating habits is giving up high fat, high sugar foods. However, with Vitalicious’ new creation, mini VitaCake, you don’t have to. These sweet little chocolate treats only contain 50 calories. You could walk them off in 7 minutes! They are also rich in fiber at 6 grams per bar. They contain no artificial colors or preservatives, so make sure to pop them into the freezer if you buy them.

My whole family loved these treats. Our favorite way to eat them is to microwave them for a few seconds. They become warm and have a soft, gooey center. Yum!

The Giveaway

Vitalicious has generously offered to give one Mom’s Plans reader 48 bars to enjoy. To enter, just visit Vitalicious’ web site and state what other product you would like to try.

Additional Methods of Entry

-Like Vitalicious on Facebook

-Like Mom’s Plans on Facebook

This giveaway will end on March 5th at 11:59 p.m. CST. The winner will be chosen via random.org

I received samples for review purposes. I received no other compensation for this giveaway.

Ah, Tax Season

2012-02-23T19:22:58Z

Remember my failure of an eBay business? I have been free of it for 7 months now, but it is coming back to haunt me now that it is tax time. I will be spending part of my day today wrangling up all of the records so the bookkeeper can close the books on my eBay business and I can file my taxes. Finding all of the documents is no easy task, considering we moved in December and still haven’t unpacked everything in the basement.

Long story short, there is no post today, but be sure to come back tomorrow for a sweet, chocolatey giveaway.

Photo courtesy of 401K.

How Simple Dietary Changes Can Save Your Grocery Budget and Improve Your Health

2012-02-22T01:22:55Z

For years my husband and I bought lunch meat every week and packed our sandwiches for work. While we were making a smart financial move by packing our lunches rather than eating out at work and school, we were still spending more than we needed to by buying lunch meat at a cost of $4.99 per pound to $6.99 per pound. We did try to cut costs by packing egg salad sandwiches occasionally and peanut butter and jelly, but lunch meat was a regular staple in our diets.

In recent years, thanks to my soy intolerance, we have stopped buying lunch meat and have instead begun to rely on fresh meat, which offers us a substantial savings. Just last week I was able to buy organic free range chickens from Whole Foods for $1.99 a pound. I bought two whole birds for approximately $7 each, spread a dry rub on them, and cooked them in the slow cooker.

We will use the meat for a variety of meals including:

-a simple taco meal of roasted, shredded chicken meat mixed with salsa and served on tortillas with shredded lettuce, tomato and avocado

-chicken salad sandwiches

-chicken breast sandwiches, and

-chicken soups, to name a few

In addition, we will take the bones and skin and use it to make homemade chicken stock. One batch easily makes 12 cups, which is the equivalent of 6 cans of chicken broth, and the broth is much more flavorful than canned broth. Just recently I read that you can use the bones and skin twice, to make two batches of chicken broth. Using this method, my two organic free range chickens will yield 48 cups of chicken broth (the equivalent of 24 cans) and at least four meals for the five of us and several lunches for my husband and son.

Compare this abundance of food to two pounds of lunch meat, which would cost the equivalent of two of the chickens I bought.

Beyond the financial savings, one also needs to consider the health advantages. Lunch meat is packed with sodium nitrates, which have been linked to heart disease and diabetes. Martha Grogan, M.D., a Mayo Clinic cardiologist explains, “Sodium nitrate may damage your blood vessels, making your arteries more likely to harden and narrow, leading to heart disease. Nitrates may also affect the way your body uses sugar, making you more likely to develop diabetes.” (mayoclinic.com) In addition, canned chicken broth, even if you buy the low sodium version, also contains a great deal of sodium.

By buying organic chicken to use for sandwiches and making homemade chicken broth, I not only save quite a bit of money, but I am able to feed my family healthier food without added preservatives or sodium. Who says healthy eating has to be more expensive?

Photo courtesy of stevendepolo.

Menu Planning, February 20, 2012

2012-02-21T01:53:24Z

We are on a mission to lower our grocery bill (or at least stop it from increasing), while improving our health, so you’ll notice several recipes with beans this week. Luckily, most of us love beans.

Monday–Black Bean Enchiladas and broccoli

Tuesday–Chicken Salsa Tacos, Smoky Refried Beans, salad

Wednesday–Our Favorite Black Bean Soup, homemade bread, spinach

Thursday–Black Bean Veggie Burgers wrapped in lettuce, salad and pepper strips

Friday–Pepperoni/Homemade Meatball pizza with peppers

Saturday–Dad’s choice

Sunday–Dad’s choice

Breakfasts will be muesli, smoothies, oatmeal, eggs and fruits

Lunches will be leftovers and salads for me and sandwiches and leftovers for the rest of the family.

3 Big Steps to Fight Off Rising Produce Costs this Summer

2012-02-20T13:14:56Z

My family has been increasingly consuming organic produce because we are trying to eliminate all food additives, preservatives and pesticides from our diet. If you are trying to feed your family the recommended five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, you may be spending more than you would like on produce, regardless if you buy organic or not. Just for my family of 5, meeting the USDA dietary recommendations means feeding us 25 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, or 175 servings a week! Here are steps you can take now to save money this summer on fresh produce:

Grow a garden. If you have the space, consider growing your own garden. You will have an abundance of fresh, organic produce growing in your back yard, and food doesn’t get any fresher than that. Eliminate the chemicals and the long transportation time that your produce often endures to get to the grocery store shelves.

If you live in the city or don’t have room to grow a garden, consider getting a plot at a community garden. Community gardens are designated locations that usually have 15 to 40 plots available for members of the community to garden. You use a plot and plant what you would like. You just have to agree to maintain your plot and water it at least once a week. There is often a small fee. The community garden I plan to use this summer charges $20, but that money is refunded at the end of the season if you have tended your garden throughout the season.

Subscribe to a CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Many CSAs offer organic produce and deliver it to a location near you every week.

To continue reading, head over to Beating Broke where I am a staff writer and let me know what your favorite way to save on produce is.

Photo courtesy of ahmadpi.

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #7 – Earned $211

2012-02-20T03:22:25Z

This week I earned $211, all of which was from staff writing, virtual assistant work and advertising.

However, not all of that money gets set aside for March’s bills. While I didn’t snowflake any of my earned money on debt because we are saving for my husband’s conference when we have to travel out of state next month, I did have some expenses. I had $9.93 in blog and PayPal expenses, so all told, I was left with $201.07, giving me a grand total of $2,016.58 to put aside for March expenses .

To see how others are doing on their challenges, visit The Saved Quarter.

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #1 – Earned $1541.22

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #2 – Earned $1390.00

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #3 – Earned $166

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #4 – Earned $714.51

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #5 – Earned 1,071.38

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #6 – Earned $939

Debt Snowflake Challenge #7, Use “Found” Money

2012-02-24T03:48:24Z

Welcome to week seven of the Debt Snowflake Challenge.

We are in the midst of income tax season. Millions of Americans get a tax refund every year. If you will be getting one, what do you plan to do with your refund? Treat yourself to a vacation or a night on the town? Pay for a new purse or new shoes or an accessory for your car? Rather than using it for consuming goods, why not use it to become debt free?

The average American gets a tax refund of $2,913, according to CNN Money. Sure, it may feel painful to apply the entire tax return to your debt, but think of the effects of that snowflake. Every payment you make after a huge snowflake has more power; because you have lowered the principal, you have reduced the amount of interest you must pay monthly meaning that each payment you make going forward will make a greater impact on reducing your debt.

Beyond income tax returns, you may “find” money a variety of other ways. For the first time since I went on my leave of absence, we have a flexible spending account. I will pay medical and child care expenses out-of-pocket. When I am reimbursed, rather than absorbing that money back into my budget, I will snowflake it.

If you take advantage of a rebate and get a $10 check in the mail 8 weeks later, snowflake that check.

What are your suggestions to ”find” money?

Our Progress

This month I probably won’t be able to snowflake as much as I would like. Next month we are traveling for one of my husband’s conferences. The majority of expenses will be reimbursed, but we need to have the cash upfront to pay for it, so this month most of the money I would normally snowflake is being set aside for the trip. Then, when I receive the reimbursement check, I will snowflake that. Still, we did make some progress.

I turned in our change (excluding quarters, which we save for our coin operated washer).

Spare change: $19.28

We were able to snowflake $19.28 since my last report a week ago. In the last seventeen weeks since we have gotten gazelle intense, we have “found” $5860.73 to snowflake!

Link Love for February 16, 2012

2012-02-14T19:31:47Z

I haven’t done link love in quite some time. :) Here are the latest posts I have been reading around the web:

Be Careful When Using Your Social Network as Part of Your Career at Sustainable Personal Finance. Referring others can be trick. Here, Miranda explains why.

Tight Fisted Miser shares how he made nearly $4,000 online this month! I am impressed and have a lot to learn. :)

The Penny Hoarder is giving away $130 in cash. Click here to enter!

Jana at Daily Money Shot shares 11 fun facts about herself. We have at least three characteristics in common.

20′s Finance shares ways to deal with college debt. I hope we can employ enough strategies for our kids so they don’t have to be saddled with college debt like we were.

Everything Finance shares 3 Financial Goals to Accomplish Before Saying ‘I Do’. While I agree with these in theory, many people who have student loan debt would have to wait a long time before they were able to wed if they waited until their debt was paid off.

Mighty Bargain Hunter explains how to avoid the fees with your next free trial. I try to avoid free trials now just because I don’t want the hassle of cancelling the service later.

Mentions

The following blogs were kind enough to mention Mom’s Plans recently:

Young, Cheap Living

Daily Money Shot

The Millionaire Nurse Blog

Cash Flow Mantra

Newlyweds on a Budget

Tight Fisted Miser

Little House in the Valley

My Multiple Streams

Happy reading!

4 Signs Your Gazelle Intensity Is Hurting Your Relationships

2012-02-15T03:30:41Z

Embracing Dave Ramsey’s principle of gazelle intensity, beginning last fall I increased my work substantially while also caring for my children at home. While I love what I am doing, it is becoming increasingly hard to balance my work commitments with my family commitments.

On one hand, gazelle intensity has been great for our family. In a little over 3 months, we have paid down $7,262.44 on our credit card and student loan debt. The credit card debt especially troubles me, so I am excited to see that our gazelle intensity has reduced it by 33%, dropping it from a high of $20,316.33 on October 20, 2011 to $13,582 as of February 2, 2012. Still, in addition to the remaining credit card debt, we have $37,121.37 in student loan debt, so it will be some time, even with gazelle intensity, before we are completely out of debt.

On the other hand, Dave Ramsey never addresses the fact that a gazelle cannot be intense 24/7. Even a gazelle must rest. While I want to get out of debt as quickly as possible, I also must temper it with the fact that I want to appreciate and enjoy my life now also. My children will only be small and at home with me during the day for a few more years. In fact, my middle child starts preschool in August, and our “baby” follows behind her one year later. There are only 18 more months I will have children at home with me during the mornings. Do I want to spend those months bleary-eyed and exhausted all in a quest to pay down debt as quickly as possible?

If you are in the midst of gazelle intensity and struggling to balance your extra workload with family life, here are four ways to determine if gazelle intensity is affecting your personal relationships:

1. You experience lifestyle creep to keep working as hard as you are. Because I can no longer fit in all my work during naps, at night, and on the weekend, I have had to hire a babysitter two mornings a week so I can work, which adds an expense of $300 a month to our budget. We also sometimes go to a place where the kids can play and I can get work done while staying on site. This is another $34 a week, or $140 a month. Now, out of pocket I am paying $300 to $440 just to work more.

In addition, now that I am earning more, I am having to set aside a portion of my earnings to pay taxes, which wasn’t an issue previously. Between paying for a babysitter and having to set aside money for taxes, I don’t think I am actually making much more than I was before my workload grew so much.

2. Your children’s behavior is changing negatively. My middle child, who is usually fairly independent, has become clingy. She cries now when I am away from her for any amount of time, and she is always afraid I am going to leave here. While she likes playing with the babysitter, she would prefer that I sit with her; she sometimes cries when I go in the other room to work.

3. You have no time for yourself or for basic household chores. I am so busy that I have trouble finding time to pay the bills or clean the house. I do still pay the bills (of course!) and clean, but I never feel that I can give my time and concentration to one activity because I have so many more vying for my attention. In addition, I would love to have just a bit of time to relax.

4. You spouse suggests a post “3 Reasons Why Gazelle Intensity Isn’t Working for Your Family.” Yes, this post, while an important one to write, was the brain child of my husband, who is clearly feeling the effects of our gazelle intensity. We have very little time to spend together, and we are both feeling the effects of that.

We are not giving up gazelle intensity, but we are finding that it may be time to become a little less gazelle intense. I am paring down some of my work to get a bit more balance in my life, but we will still be snowflaking. In addition, I plan to ramp up my work efforts when my girls are in preschool. For now, I am going to slow down just a bit so I can enjoy my children when they are small. My son is proof of how quickly this time goes.

Photo courtesy of rexboggs5

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #6 – Earned $939

2012-02-20T03:18:14Z

This week I earned $939, all of which was from staff writing, virtual assistant work and advertising.

However, not all of that money gets set aside for March’s bills. While I didn’t snowflake any of my earned money on debt because we are saving for my husband’s conference when we have to travel out of state next month, I did have some expenses. I had $79.88 in blog and PayPal expenses, so all told, I was left with $859.12, giving me a grand total of $1,815.51 to put aside for March expenses .

To see how others are doing on their challenges, visit The Saved Quarter.

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #1 – Earned $1541.22

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #2 – Earned $1390.00

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #3 – Earned $166

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #4 – Earned $714.51

The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012, #5 – Earned 1,071.38