tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46114291193171990432026-05-22T13:59:35.054-07:00Tales of SheGazelle's Attempt To Outrun the Cheetah of Debt and Financial StupiditySheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.comBlogger319125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-72717110510690045342013-01-09T11:16:00.000-08:002013-01-09T11:16:33.942-08:00

Ok, so I realize my kid is barely approaching 4 years old, but this blog post by Beard nails my thoughts exactly.  Not only does it speak to my disdain for wasting money, the thought of teens with open, unmonitored internet access SCARES. ME. TO. DEATH.  My other fear is that by the time my kid is 16 and driving and actually may need a phone, basic phones may not be available anymore.

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-43217000248446205992012-08-28T13:17:00.000-07:002012-08-28T13:17:10.417-07:00

While I am still alive, this blog may not be.  I think the birth of a child is enough to kill just about any blog.  Besides that, I'm still couponing, budgeting and attempting to make the most of each dollar that comes through my fingers.  HG is treating me to tickets to the Dave Ramsey event coming to our area, so maybe I'll be re-inspired to blog again after the event. Until

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-37353973451146404042012-05-07T17:18:00.000-07:002012-05-07T17:18:08.613-07:00

More importantly: I have a new car and no car payments.  *big cheesy grin*  Finally, after searching for months, and saving even more months, we are the proud owners of a Volvo XC90.  White was the #1 color we wanted, but since it was difficult to find, we had resigned ourselves to silver, black or titanium gray. We wanted: A Volvo XC90 Smallest engine possible (2.5L, 5 Cyl.)

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-59446834138196048092012-04-26T15:12:00.000-07:002012-04-26T15:12:34.607-07:00

Everyone around me seems to be driving a new car.  It's intoxicating and almost more than a "car person" like me can stand.  We aren't even saving for a brand new vehicle, just a newer one with more room and fewer miles.  I think I'm on cars.com a minimum of twice a week.  *sigh*  My savings needs a shot in the arm.  Maybe I start mowing my own lawn again and squeeze

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-58354881093501556852011-12-02T13:10:00.000-08:002011-12-02T13:14:15.467-08:00

Just found this deal over on Common Sense with Money. I've been on the look-out for a way to get some more kids books for cheap this Christmas- I think I just found it!10 books for about $15 bucks

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-34275893121811209892011-10-24T10:41:00.000-07:002011-10-24T11:32:24.955-07:00

I made it thru September without using my paycheck, and it was a good thing. HG ended up in the hospital having his gallbladder removed and leaving him unable to work for 2 weeks!I sure wish Murphy would leave my new car savings alone...

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-73689057822705783462011-09-16T15:04:00.000-07:002011-09-16T15:21:07.416-07:00

I've been practicing something. I've been practicing saving my paycheck and living solely on Hegazelle's earnings. I was able to do it for the whole month of August! That was exciting to me. Not to mention it was a helpful boost to our car fund. So I'm gonna keep working at this- I may have to use my check occasionally if work is slow for HG, but whenever possible I wanna do our budget

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-13075459953456056852011-06-10T12:41:00.000-07:002011-06-10T13:12:06.497-07:00

I really enjoy eating. Maybe even a little too much. Meals are like 3 delicious celebrations everyday. And I'm delighted if I have enough room between meals for a good snack or dessert. I'm even eating while I write this post. Ok, this food love-fest is getting a little far out. But you get the picture.Anyway, I think I could safely say my food budget is second only to my mortgage. Which

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-90995500884082141932011-04-01T13:27:00.001-07:002011-04-01T13:35:50.293-07:00

I can't do it. I was going to try to make a April Fools joke and tell you that we couldn't wait any longer for that Volvo XC90, so we just went and bought one with the cash we had and financed the rest. But I'm no good at lying, so I will skip the April Fools festivities. :)We do have car fever though, so we're being careful to watch ourselves and prevent any rash decisions.Meanwhile, we've

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-934077354026186232011-02-18T14:30:00.000-08:002011-02-18T14:36:25.964-08:00

I am by no means a deal or coupon blogger, but I'm sharing this deal today even though the day is more than half over. Whole Foods has whole organic chickens for 1.69/lb. This is a great price for conventional chicken, and an extraordinary price for organic! GO TODAY- it's a one day sale only. I picked up 7 chickens and got some oats, castile soap and organic chicken broth to bring my total

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-5011464301354064132011-02-10T13:20:00.000-08:002011-02-10T13:49:28.171-08:00

The latest thing in the Gazelle home is homemade laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent. Aside from taking a few shreds of thumb with the grater, we are pleased with the results. It's easy, cheap, and made from natural ingredients.You'll need:a box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (way expensive on Amazon, I found it at my local WinCo grocery for $2.99 a box. Also at Ace Hardware for

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-36771982464074109732011-01-06T15:35:00.000-08:002011-01-06T15:53:39.269-08:00

I've begun again. Couponing, that is. The straw that broke the camel's back? We hadn't had to buy toothpaste in over 2 years, but the stockpile finally ran out. Besides, this couponing thing turns out to have a pretty good hourly rate if you look at it like a part time job.Here's today's loot:From CVS:This all cost me 5.97 plus tax and I left with $17 in CVS extra care bucks (basically store

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-72010610236428730552010-12-31T12:04:00.000-08:002010-12-31T12:15:59.858-08:00

I feel as though we've been bleeding money. The adventure has been fun, but I'm ready to stop the bleeding. Christmas was more fun than ever- a new recliner for HG, outdoor playhouse for the Baby Gazelle, and best of all we gave more away than we have before. Yes, being debt-free with an emergency fund has certainly been better than the alternatives we've experienced in the past. But as is the

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-20405322412141272162010-11-09T08:18:00.000-08:002010-11-09T08:41:51.149-08:00

That's the sound of this poor blog coming back to life! Not that I intend to post daily or even weekly...Where I live it is cold this morning. Finally. And I think that chill has got me in the mood for Christmas shopping! And the person I keep getting gift ideas for? That Baby Gazelle. We have a money market account that is specifically for gifts, and a small amount is auto-debited from our

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-14724249259134093372010-08-12T15:11:00.000-07:002010-08-12T15:14:41.351-07:00

I'm posting this give away by Lynn's Designs even tho there's not a soul on earth who can say they've ever seen me sport one of these things!That's not to say I never will- who knows, maybe I'll win this one free!Go on over an check out Lindsy's goodies, she's quite talented!

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-8451755746661000372010-08-09T16:47:00.000-07:002010-08-09T17:05:48.288-07:00

We achieved our goal of saving for those Disneyland Resort Annual Passports. And it's a good thing we passed the goal by a few bucks because last week Disneyland implemented price increases on everything from Annual Passports down to parking. Of course that's aggravating when you're just a few weeks away from making the trip and the purchase, and the price goes up. So to make up the difference,

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-52138903870873763052010-07-06T16:52:00.000-07:002010-07-06T18:49:12.797-07:00

Well, what is going on with the gazelles? The truth is: nothing too exciting. Yeah, I haven't felt the need to post about the financial plateau we have been on. Mind you, it's nice to have achieved our goals thus far, and I'd rather not have Murphy show up and give me something to post about, but I have been an uninspired blogger. So today I bring the smallest morsel of an update.Hegazelle has

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-79712186118460629082010-04-03T19:39:00.000-07:002010-04-03T20:05:30.735-07:00

I'm no junkie for direct sales, but I've found a company that has caught my interest. So, I took the plunge and have started my own new business with Usborne Books. With the baby gazelle growing at rapid pace and that gazelle brain absorbing EVERYTHING, I was quite pleased to get my hands on these books. Usborne is simply the best in children's literature. Hegazelle is working on this

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-46573628793377522592010-03-12T16:09:00.000-08:002010-03-12T16:33:33.206-08:00

Bait and switch is the term used to describe what Snapfish did to me- and apparently many other people. Using valid and current (not to be confused with invalid and expired) coupon codes I ordered photo coasters from Snapfish last month. One week later they sent this email: Dear ******, It has come to our attention that an expired offer featuring coasters was incorrectly added to your new

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-74336698380935606622010-02-25T12:41:00.001-08:002010-02-25T13:08:23.406-08:00

Finally, we have reached our goal of saving an even $10,000 in our emergency fund! This is about the equivalent of 6 months of living expenses for our household. We became debt free at the end of July 2008, went on a super celebratory vacation in October 2008 and got started on Baby Step 3 when we returned. Many things occurred during this span of time, not the least of which was the birth of

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-17983759240012980792010-02-15T11:47:00.000-08:002010-02-15T12:18:32.390-08:00

In January we were mostly successful in reaching our goals. Not 100%, but mostly successful. We reached our $400 savings goal (thanks to 5 paydays instead of 4!) but we fell way short of our fitness goal of walking 12 times. January was a busy busy month for us, and left us with not enough evenings free for walking. HG became familiarized with the workings of our finances to the point that

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-43843041674842644462010-01-04T11:35:00.000-08:002010-01-04T11:47:07.405-08:00

Hegazelle and I are making our resolutions for the new year one month at a time. We've decided to make resolutions regarding home improvement, financial improvement and physical improvement and write them on the calendar each month. (Of course we have our individual resolutions for spiritual improvement- those are written internally.)For the month of January our financial improvement

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-24985921033115216452009-12-15T08:34:00.001-08:002009-12-15T08:46:44.059-08:00

We were pretty much finished Christmas shopping for the Baby Gazelle. Two toys. Yes, that's it. The baby is content to play with the few toys we have for quite extended periods of time, so no need for us to fill up a toy chest yet (not to mention we have a small house.) But when a good deal comes along....well, this gazelle can hardly pass it up. The Playskool Explore 'N Grow Activity ball

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-28805353840116112562009-11-06T08:54:00.000-08:002009-11-06T08:55:48.747-08:00

Remember this post from last December? I just ran out yesterday. 11 months of laundry detergent- not bad!

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611429119317199043.post-55182374676226614262009-10-30T08:38:00.000-07:002009-10-30T08:51:42.920-07:00

Christmas is coming, budgets are tight for many people- do you have different holiday plans this year? Just curious...the subject interests me.In my last post I was lamenting an awful money leak. Yesterday I received a bit of salve for my wound. Our property tax bill (for which I save a little every week) arrived in the mail. It has been reduced by over $500, meaning we have over-saved! My

SheGazellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389563443160281249noreply@blogger.com1