Today was make out like a bandit day!

• 29 boxes of Kleenex
• 1 large bottle of Cascade dishwasher soap
• 2 Speed Stick deodorants
• 14 bottles Joint Juice
• 6 boxes Raisin Bran cereal
• 2 36ct packages Chinet plates
• 2lbs cheddar cheese
• 2lbs bacon

$89.15 retail prices for which I paid $6.48 (plus $3.84 in sales tax for a grand oop total of $10.32).  And, I have $6.00 oyno cash for my next purchase.

Not many sales at Safeway this week, but still did great!!

I just updated the “our progress” section…  hoping to do this on the 1st of every month.

Looks like in the last 2 months of being focused, we were able to eliminate $2,328.62 in debt, which is an average so far of $1,164.31 per month.  With an average of approximately $1,000 per month of debt payoff, it’ll take us approximately 43 months to get rid of auto loans, credit cards and taxes.

That’s entirely TOO LONG.  We’ll keep plugging away at finding any money in any way we can to pay off this stuff.  We want it done by Christmas 2010.

Years ago I used to do this every week… however hubby and I changed our food consumption to literally only meat, fresh veggies and limited fresh fruits. We pretty much ate nothing else. Not too many coupons available for those limited items so I quit even bothering to look for coupons, although I’d watch for meat sales.

However, we are now a family of 6 with 4 boys that have ginormous appetites and they are only getting bigger. So, our diets have changed and for now, that’s going to have to be ok. Our diets will be dictated by our budget. Our “healthy” eating will simply be that we do not eat at fast food places or restaurants. We will have some version of protein at every meal and it will be very plentiful.

Anyway, the first trip this week was to Albertsons… I used their circular and coupons that I found on coupons.com. I spent a total of $64.00 and this is what I came home with:

• 20 dozen eggs
• 4 boxes general mills cereal
• 2 gallons whole milke
• 1 loaf white bread
• 5 half gallons of minute maid brand limeade/lemonade
• 10lbs chicken thighs
• 8 lbs cheddar cheese
• 2 one and a half quarts breyer’s ice cream

This is just one trip and not everything we need for the week, nor is it things we always eat each week.  Because of the coupons and discounts, I was able to take advantage of a few things we don’t normally eat such as cereal, the drinks and the breyer’s ice cream.

As I said I am not concerned about organic or “perceived” healthy foods (ie: low fat, lean meats, etc.)  I am concerned about getting as much “balanced” food for my family as possible, with the lowest price possible.  In fact, our current grocery budget is $500/month but my goal is to get our grocery spending down to $300/month on average.

I supposed I should have mentioned this earlier… we completed Dave’s baby step #1 which is to put $1,000 aside as our temporary “baby emergency fund” while we are snowballing our debt.  We are keeping it in our local credit union savings account - interest is not important at this point.  I want the money accessible but no so easily accessible that we can squander it.  It’s current location requires us to physically go into the bank to withdraw it.

What’s an emergency?  Dave defines an emergency as not being able to financially fund your “4-walls” because something truly unexpected happens.. ie: job loss, accident, fire, etc.

I’m not overly comfortable only having $1,000 but like Dave says, this is temporary and only while we are paying off our consumer debt.

Some readers have commented that using your credit cards is an option for an emergency fund. Frankly, that’s ridiculous. If your goal is to be debt free, why would you keep using the credit cards? Sure, the idea of paying them off in full every month is great, but obviously if you are trying to get out of debt, you haven’t been paying them off every month! Get real people! Get that emergency fund established so you never have to use your credit cards again.

Remember, it’s a mind set. You must make up your mind that debt is not an option. This means that using your credit cards is not an option. When you are recovering from carrying balances (aka, getting yourself out of debt) you have to stay out of temptation completely. Become a “card carrying member” of the cash is king world!