Question #1

Question #1 is: Where do we get extra money to throw at this debt? The obviously answer is either:
A) Generate more income, or
B) Spend less

A) I do have a couple of ideas to generate more income. Since I work evenings at the present time, one thing I may do is work in the school lunchroom 2-3 days a week for about 3 hours for a small third income. I wouldn't be able to do that until August though. Also, April 1st will be the last tuition payment we have to make on Kylie's preschool, so that's a bit more money. I also work overtime whenever I'm given an opportunity. Any bonuses that Steve gets will also go towards the debt.

B) Spending less is a tough one. I feel like we already live pretty frugally in a lot of areas. I clip coupons, bargain shop and try to keep our spending to a minimum. I'm not always successful, but I try. And holy cow, are kids money-sucking machines, or what?

I've been playing The Grocery Game for a while now, and I think I've learned a lot about couponing and deal-finding. However, I've been doing the majority of my grocery shopping at Fry's, using their sales and matching up coupons. I normally spend an average of $400 a month on groceries, which includes food, toiletries, paper products and cleaning supplies.

I'm going to try an experiment. I'm going to seek out the best deals at several different stores, and see if that saves any money. I don't think gas is an issue, since I have Fry's, Albertsons, Basha's, Sprouts and Safeway all within 2 miles of my house. The test will be to see whether or not it saves any significant money, and whether going to different stores is worth the hassle and time.

Trying this for the week of March 16th - March 22nd, so far we have:

Albertsons
2 bags Fresh Express salad, on sale for $1 each, minus a 50 cent coupon each.
7.25 lbs of pork ribs, on sale for $1 a lb.
Total paid, $8.39, total saved $9.55. Just over 50%. Eh.

Basha's
3 lbs bananas @ 69 cents a lb, minus a $1 off coupon for bananas when you buy at least 3 lbs. In retrospect, this wasn't such a great deal. I should've waited until the bananas were on sale, and then used it. They're normally 49 cents a lb at Fry's.
2 loaves of Basha's 100% whole wheat bread, $1.50 each. I normally buy this kind of bread at Fry's for $2.29 a loaf.
2 bottles (32 loads) Purex laundry detergent, on sale for $2.99 - $1 coupon for each, so $1.99 each.
Total paid, $8.93, total saved $11.58. A little bit better.

So far this week, total grocery money spent: $17.32. Tomorrow I'm hitting Sprouts for some fruit and veggie deals, Safeway for a few things, and the majority of my shopping at Fry's. We'll see how it goes!