I love Costco but I'm not a member. I shop with a friend who has a membership.

Dinner with dessert was $3.64! I had a large slice of pizza and a frozen yogurt. I took the frozen yogurt home to be divided into three small containers and placed in the freezer for consumption later. What a deal!

I am fortunate to live in a city where going "green" is extremely important. A month ago, I had a green home evaluation through the Dept of Water and Power.
They evaluated electricity and water usage, installed energy saving light bulbs, checked my irrigation and made minor adjustments for the areas with overspray and reset the automatic timers.

They inspected the insulation in the attic and A/C unit. I really had no insulation in the attic. It must have been the original insulation (from 1930!).

I qualified for attic insulation and A/C service.
The cost: FREE!!!! Yes, I said FREE!

Today, the insulation was blown into the attic. An inspector came by and tweaked some of the vents so the airflow is better and a separate crew came out to service the A/C.

The crews were great and very professional.

I know the A/C tune up is at least $100. I can only imagine what insulation would have cost me if I had to pay for it myself.

Check with your city for these types of services.

I am soooooooo happy!!!

I am the owner of (2) indoor cats and (1) outdoor feral cat. I feed them premium food because (IMO) quality food equals healthy cats.

I decided to compare pricing on line. My regular discounter sells a case (with tax) for $34.
Amazon offers it for $27 and free super saver shipping.
That's a good deal. But it gets better.........

I decided to purchase (2) cases when Amazon offered me a $40 instant credit if I applied for their credit card. I looked over the terms (which were not great) but I don't plan on carrying a balance so it doesn't matter.

The total cost for (2) cases of food is $15.90.

I am thrilled!

It's midway through the month and my totals are:

$69.42 over budget (cash).
Babysitting fund:
$160-$69.42(overage)=$90.58 cushion remaining.
$2 CVS Bucks
$20 TJ card

I was able to score a few bargains at Target:
*(4)boxes Kashi cereal@$2.99 ea - $6 coupons = $5.96
($1.50 a box)
*(1)bag (3.5 lb)Purina cat food $5.99-$4 coupon=$1.99
Perfect for the outdoor cats

Kashi is pretty generous with their coupons. If you sign up at their website, they'll send coupons to you. They used to affix $1 & $2 coupons to their boxes at Target but I haven't seen any in the past six month. When my family members were living with me I would buy 20 boxes at a time. I swear I didn't spend more than 50 cents a box. It was amazing. They probably stopped because of me! LOL!

Time to replenish...
Pet food $34.77 (1 case).
Household $6.56
Food $42.49

.39 cash remaining (YIKES!)
*2.00 CVS extra bucks
*$20.00 TJ gift card

**Coupon savings: $10.54

It's obvious I need more cash. I transferred $50 from my PAYPAL account into the cash fund. (This is money made from selling on e-bay and doing surveys). I'm babysitting this weekend. I should net $100 but won't add it the the new totals until I'm paid.

New totals:
*$50.39 CASH
*2.00 CVS extra bucks
*$20.00 TJ gift card

Lord, give me strength! This month is really tough. I'm doing well with exercise. I walk between 4-5 miles each day before work. I'm energized all day and feel great!

I am making a master list of the foods I buy most often. I will buy larger quantities (and/or containers) since they are depleted quickly.

I have been more creative with my food and meal prep.
Ordinarily, if I didn't care for something I would throw it out. Now, I'm eating it as long as it isn't disgusting. LOL!

One week down, 3 more to go!