Grocery Haul: Mini-Costco trip

I don't know about you, but I kind of love grocery haul blog posts and videos! It's a small thing, but I enjoy seeing what and how others eat and the different prices of groceries across the United States (or even other countries!).

We've never shared a grocery haul on Mom2MomEd before, so we hope you'll indulge us for a moment!

For this trip, I went to Costco for a few staples, as well as a few treats for the family of a police officer that frequently stops in at the hospital where I work. I also picked up a little Galentine's (Valentine's Day for your female friends) treat for a friend.

My son and I are working on tightening up our family budget in order to prepare for some big savings goals, to crush debt, and to work towards financial freedom. As a result, we are spending February meal planning and eating out of our cupboards, fridge, and freezer rather than making our usual grocery store trips. Our goals include using up as much as possible with as little waste as possible, to create a more comprehensive list of recipes and menus that we enjoy on a regular basis, and to maximize our money. Thus, my most recent Costco trip was quite small compared to my normal Costco grocery hauls!

So, without further ado, here is my mini-Costco grocery haul:

• Ziploc 4-pack of gallon sized freezer bags (152 bags total) -- $14.49 
• Turkey breast lunch meat (1.58lbs) -- $10.41
• Godiva chocolate hearts (14.6oz) -- $8.59
• Kirkland Asian snack mix (2.5lbs) -- $9.99
• Kirkland chocolate covered mango slices (19.4oz) -- $9.69
• Kirkland organic ground beef (4lbs) -- $19.99

The Ziploc baggies will be used primarily for storing chopped up banana chunks in the freezer for smoothies, but I also use them to carry dog food when traveling, to carry my toiletries through airport security, and so on. In truth, it will take us an exceptionally long time to go through all of these baggies--probably a few years!).

The turkey breast is a lunch staple for us. No explanation there...

The Godiva chocolates will go in a Galentine's Day package for one of my closest friends--she LOVES Godiva!

The Kirkland Asian snack mix and the chocolate covered mango, however, were totally unplanned splurge purchases which defeats the purpose of my grocery shopping goals. However, they also are both snacks that we like and will consume completely, so the only waste will be the packaging. My mom also really likes both of these snacks and thus I'll pack up a bit of each for a trip we'll be taking to Southern California in a few weeks. 

And, the organic ground beef--well, it's expensive stuff compared to regular ol' ground beef! I swear, it's worth the price! We don't eat a lot of beef at our house, I grew up with a mom who bought ground turkey instead of beef. I ate turkey sloppy Joe's, turkey burgers, turkey meat balls, and so on. For years, I followed in my mom's turkey buying footsteps. Then, however, a few friends started telling me how much better organic, grass fed ground beef tastes. Then, a vlogger I follow on YouTube (The Former Mrs. Jones) did a Costco haul video proclaiming how much she loves the flavor of this beef. We decided to give it a try and now it's our go-to whenever we make tacos or other dishes that require ground meat.

• Grape tomatoes (2lbs) -- $5.99
• Kirkland quinoa salad (1.55lbs) -- $7.73
• Bananas (Weight? Maybe 3.5lbs) -- $1.39
• Organic baby carrots (5lbs) -- $5.49

These items were all on my Costco grocery list. We use the tomatoes in a whole bunch of ways, including just eating them as is, and we dice a bunch of them up to cook into taco meat. 

The bananas will primarily be used in smoothies and banana bread (see above regarding the Ziploc baggies...). The carrots will be eaten as is, used in soups, and so on; however, our dogs happen to LOVE baby carrots as snacks! In fact, one of them begs for them and she FrEaKs OuT if you say the word "carrot"!

The quinoa salad, well, it's simply delicious! I'm not a big quinoa fan, but this salad is refreshing and tasty. It is chock full of tomato, cucumber, cilantro, and other yummy goodness! I especially love a bowlful with a dollop of hummus on the top. 

• Tree Top fruit snacks (80 pouches) -- $11.79
• Clif Kid Organic Z Bars (36 bars) -- $17.49
• Pocky sticks (1lb 9oz) -- $8.99

These three items were all purchased as a contribution to the gift for a local police officer's family as I mentioned above. I did pull out about 20 of the fruit snacks for my family, and the rest went into the gift package. 

What do your grocery hauls look like? Do you enjoy this type of post? If you have a Costco membership, what's the best thing you've ever bought there?

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Financial Peace University~*~Week TWO review

Last week, I wrote about starting Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (FPU). Week one was a great confidence boost and fired me up to get debt free and financially stable once and for all! It was a great overview of why so many of us wind up in debt and often stay there.

Week two, was just as good!

In week two, Dave talks at length about the impact of money problems on relationships and why money fights so often lead to divorce. Most of week two was focused on couples and how to talk about money, the family budget, and so on. I had heard from a YouTuber that I follow that FPU is heavily focused on couples working their way out of debt together, so I was afraid that week two of Financial Peace University would hold little of value for me.

I was wrong!

Although I am not married or in a relationship at the moment, I still enjoyed the lessons on relating to your partner and to your money. I gleaned a few ideas on how to talk to my son about money as well. In week two, there was also a segment specifically about being single while on the journey to financial freedom.

I truly appreciated the approach to being single and in a financial mess as presented by Dave. He points out that single people trying to dig out of debt and to become financially free have some special challenges not faced by couples.

Namely, single people are trying to do this ALONE.

We need support just like people in relationships, but we are missing that counterpart and accountability partner. Our homework was, in part, to find accountability partners. Funnily, I had my annual lady exam and my gynecologist saw my Dave Ramsey book. Turns out she and her husband are doing FPU as well! It was a great way to break the ice as I'd never met this doctor before, and now we have a common bond.

But, I digress...

My dear friends, I hope that YOU, along with McKenzie, will step up and help me to stay accountable and on track! Posting about my FPU experience certainly will help, so please keep coming back and reading about my progress through FPU and towards my goals of financial freedom!

Week one's lesson was all about "super saving" and building up a starter emergency fund of $1,000. Well, I don't have a spare $1,000 lying about, but I did count out all the change in my coin bank last night and will set that aside as the base of my emergency fund. That's just shy of $20. I also applied for four part-time and on-call jobs to supplement my income. I have an interview with one of them on Monday. Any of the four would likely result in an extra $1,000 net monthly income which would--BOOM--give me that starter emergency fund!

As soon as you have your mini-emergency fund saved, you get to move on to baby step two in the Dave Ramsey plan: paying off all non-mortgage debt. I did send a little debt payment last week as I owe a friend some money. This friend saved my butt during a vacation that went wrong and I owed her a little over $600. I have gotten that down to $300! I'm super stoked to be more than halfway towards paying her back!

(Can you tell I spent my teen years growing up in California? I'm STOKED, y'all!)

At the end of each reading assignment associated with FPU are several reflection questions. This week, the one that stood out for me was "In what ways could stress and fatigue impact your financial plan? Give specific examples."

That reflection question is so timely for me! As a single mom, I feel stressed ALL. THE. TIME. Even when things are going well, part of me is stressed and worried. I think all moms (and dads) feel that way at times, but Dave mentions that single parents often feel a different type of stress since pretty much everything is on our shoulders with no one to help share in it all. 

I've been pretty stressed out lately due to my uncle's cancer diagnosis (see point 4 in THIS post...I also mention Dave Ramsey in the same post), but lately, I am even more stressed out due to a health problem of my own that has lingered for a few months now and suddenly has become worse after a very brief respite.

Plus, I'm under a lot of pressure from certain family members to "light a fire" under my son and to get him motivated (more on realistic expectations and marching to your own drum in another post). Add in recent stress at work (I can't really post about that situation though as I love my job and don't want to give anyone the wrong idea about anything), and the stress is just piling up!

And, on top of it all, it's *just me* trying to dig myself out of my huge amount of debt and to climb my way up Mt. Financial Freedom! I don't have a spouse or boyfriend to lean on. Most of my friends and relatives view debt as normal and most see it as a positive as it gives you a credit score (Dave has a lot to say about this!).

When I'm stressed out and tired, I don't spend time planning out my spending. I find myself grabbing expensive pre-made meals at the store or hitting a fast food drive thru. I spend cash at Starbucks instead of finding ways to earn a gift card to pay for my coffee. I cave in and buy junk food for my son.

I get lazy.

I have very few people around me other than a good friend in Phoenix, McKenzie, the friend that gifted FPU to me, and now my doctor, that are on board with the Dave Ramsey plan.

The lack of broad support is stressful...

It is hard to tell others who don't get what I'm doing or why I'm doing it that I can't go out to lunch, I can't drive across town just to say hello, I can't just go shopping, I can't stop for Starbucks without a gift card. 

I can't, in good faith, do things that keep me from my goals of debt freedom and financial stability.

I want to be debt free and financially stable so I can live my life like no one else--to learn more about that, be sure to check out my book review of Love Your Life, Not Theirs by Dave Ramsey's daughter, Rachel Cruze.

Are you following a Dave Ramsey inspired path towards financial freedom? How has it been for you? Be sure to share in a comment!

Curious about Financial Peace University, but not ready to take the class? You can still read the associated book, Dave Ramsey's Complete Guide to Money. Just click HERE or click on the picture to buy it on Amazon.

And, be sure to check out these additional great articles and blog posts:

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Financial Peace University--Gaining control of our family finances

I am not a religious person, but I do believe I have had many blessings in my life, including some amazing friends. Several weeks ago, one of those friends posted on Facebook that she and her husband were finally debt free!

And, they wanted to help a few friends to achieve the same goal of financial freedom.

My friend's family had participated in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and upon becoming debt free, they decided to gift the program (called "FPU" by Ramsey's followers) to three friends. They asked people to comment or message if they could use Financial Peace University or knew of someone that could. I messaged my friend right away with no expectation of being chosen.

And, guess what? 

My friend and her husband DID choose me! This particular friend is truly a blessing in my life and has been even before this huge gift. A couple of weeks after I was chosen, I received the Financial Peace University kit in the mail and signed up for a local group. The program lasts nine weeks and is facilitated by a coordinator who plays a video each week and leads a group discussion.

Last week was week one, and I've already had some huge realizations:
1. Looking at my finances, laziness and ignorance are the only reasons I don't have an emergency fund! I have PLENTY of money for a Dave Ramsey starter emergency fund of $1,000! So where is that money? Nowhere to be found...

2. My overall debt is $5,000 LESS than I thought--I still have a huge amount to pay off though!

3. Getting out of debt and becoming financially stable IS within reach.

Last week's Financial Peace University class was focused primarily on the reasons why people end up in debt in the first place. In the video, Dave Ramsey talks a lot about the fact that we end up in debt often due to emotions and that debt often isn't about the actual math of money. We tend to tie our emotions to money and to turn money into morality...even though money is amoral. 

Ramsey also talks about how to use emotions to propel motivation when it comes to paying off debt. A lot of people disagree with his methods of paying off debt because he encourages tackling the smallest balances first, not the biggest interest rates. Critics often say that is backwards due to the mathematical end result (paying more interest in the long-term), but Dave rebukes this notion by saying (loosely paraphrasing) that if this were a math problem we wouldn't be in debt in the first place.

Debt is an emotional problem, not a math problem.

That resonates with me.

Tonight is week two of my FPU class and I can't wait! I've done the reading and the homework, and I'm ready to get deeper into my debt freedom journey!

As I look forward to tonight, however, here are a few things I do and do not like about FPU so far:

What I like:

• The program has both at home and group study options--I chose the group for accountability and support.
• The program is clearly laid out and comes with a book, a workbook, an envelope system, and a tracking poster.
• Each week has a focused, high quality, well produced video of Dave Ramsey giving that week's lesson.
• The steps are clearly laid out--the hard part is following them when your emotions are telling you to go buy another latte, a book, clothes, unnecessary groceries, etc.
• The focus is on harnessing your emotions around money and debt to turn your financial situation around.

What I don't like:

• Dave Ramsey and his products heavily rely on evangelical Christianity. I'm not a Christian. So far, this has been mostly easy to deal with, and I've even found a couple of the Bible stories to be relevant to my situation.
• The classes seem to be literally sitting and watching a long video with only a brief group discussion afterwards. I expected more group discussion and interaction and less sitting and watching.
• At the end of the day, it's still just you and your debt.

In the end, it is up to ME to relearn money habits, save for my emergency fund, and pay off my debt. It's not up to Dave Ramsey or a class to do it for me. It's not up to the members of my course to do it for me. It's not up to my parents, friends, or son to do it for me.

Getting out of debt, saving an emergency fund, and funding my eventual retirement are all MY responsibility.

Stay tuned to find out how week two of Financial Peace University goes!

Do you have experience with Financial Peace University? Share your thoughts in a comment!

You can find out more about FPU HERE.

If you liked this post, please check out my review of Dave Ramsey's daughter, Rachel Cruze's book Love Your Life, Not Theirs:

Visit all of our Financial Peace University posts:

Want more financial peace and guidance? Check out these books and products from Dave Ramsey, Rachel Cruze, and their associates:

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Book Review: Love Your Life, Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of attending a women's entrepreneur conference called Business Boutique. My boss at the time--and good friend--was gracious enough to invite me to attend with her and it was fantastic! I actually only was able to be there for the second of the two days, but I still learned so much--that conference is responsible for McKenzie and I really moving forward and turning Mom2MomEd from an idea into reality!

However...

This post is not about Business Boutique.

Instead, it is about the book Love Your Life, Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze. I had never heard of Cruze until Business Boutique, but I was already familiar with her father, Dave Ramsey. My friend mentioned that she had picked up a new book, Smart Money, Smart Kids, by Dave Ramsey and his daughter, the aforementioned Rachel Cruze, and let me have a look at it. The book looked fantastic and I decided to buy a copy myself.

Surprise, surprise! Smart Money, Smart Kids came with a bunch of bonuses, mostly centered around Rachel Cruze's new book, Love Your Life, Not Theirs. The bonuses included a hardcopy of the book, an audio copy, an emailed link to a video of a related talk, and more. The book wasn't actually out yet, and copies were finally mailed out in October. I started reading my copy as soon as I received it.

And, what did I think?

Well, I'm not totally in love with the book, but I do think it's worth reading.

First, the ONE thing I didn't particularly enjoy:
Cruze's age and the extent of her life experience really shows--at times, the book and her perspective seem a bit out of touch with the realities of a large portion of the population. There were many sections that I just couldn't relate to and many sections where I felt like Cruze has lived a bit of a charmed, sheltered life and hasn't had to face some of the very real hardships many people face every day. I don't fault her for this--I'm glad for her!--but it made it hard to take her advice seriously on occasion. It read like advice you would give to someone much younger than yourself and with a lot less worldly experience and far fewer life problems and issues. The book also mentioned but glossed over issues relevant to single adults and single parents.

Secondly, the things I did like:
I was expecting Love Your Life, Not Theirs to be much more religious in nature. I am not religious myself. It was a pleasant surprise to find religion only touched on here and there--and not very often. It was easy to look past those passages.

Love Their Life, Not Theirs was incredibly easy to read and did not come across as preaching, condescending or adamant that you have to do things Rachel's way or Dave Ramsey's way (although if you watch Dave's videos, you'll know he is a "My way or the highway" kind of guy).

I also really liked how Cruze explained mortgages and her thoughts on home buying. I mean, honestly, how confusing is the whole process? She breaks down the process into manageable, bite sized bits of information and uses vocabulary and terms that are easy to understand. Honestly, she changed the way I have been thinking about mortgages and home buying...I'm a long ways away from being ready to buy a house, but I feel a lot better about it and like I have a plan in place for when the time comes.

Rachel's advice is down to earth and her tone and style are friendly and supportive. Life has been chaotic for me lately, and I've needed light and easy. Love Their Life, Not Theirs was exactly the reading level, speed, and mix of information and support that I needed. It was also a good reminder that it's ok to slow down, to say "No thank you" to invitations or other potential financial quagmires, and so on. Cruze's book did a good job of helping me be ok with NOT keeping up with the Joneses.

The take aways? It's ok to...

• Say NO.
• Be ok with what you ALREADY have.
• Be content with your present situation, knowing things can be better in future.
• Enjoy your life NOW, even if you don't have all the *things* you want.
• Recognize that the Jones's are likely going deeper and deeper into debt...eventually you'll be living far better; you just have to be patient and put in a little work.
• Be weird and NOT have debt.
• Delay gratification, knowing you can have bigger and better later if you put in the hard work of being financially responsible now.

Interested in reading Love Your Life, Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze? Pick up a copy HERE. Or, if you'd rather read Smart Money, Smart Kids by Rachel Cruze and her dad, Dave Ramsey, just click HERE.

I'll be reviewing Smart Money, Smart Kids in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

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