https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 20 May 2026 17:20:46 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2022624 Tue, 13 Jan 2015 17:38:22 +0000 plantains 2022624@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: bringing your own teabag is next level stuff, that is hugely admirable. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2009824 Mon, 05 Jan 2015 10:25:42 +0000 Veggiemama 2009824@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion: I loved your series! Maybe you could do an update since you're expecting another baby?! </p> <p>@Mrs. Jacks: another yes please! for a blog post on your extreme budget! I regularly refer back to your previous post. I also admire you sticking to your grocery budget while shopping at Costco. That's where our spending gets out of control and I am trying to figure out how to improve! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2007646 Sat, 03 Jan 2015 08:27:57 +0000 Mrs. Pen 2007646@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@808love: hahahah to your autocorrect. Love it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2007382 Fri, 02 Jan 2015 21:20:08 +0000 808love 2007382@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. Jacks I love hearing grocery stories from the trenches. I aim for $100 and am overjoyed when I go under. We love tuna and rice too. Eggs are super cheap and versatile and fruits re almost always chosen by rotating sales. I just started doing the split the pound of ground beef too. **Boy, my autocorrect just tried to change that to "pubs of groins." :) That is an appetite killer in itself. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004606 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:31:16 +0000 dc yoga bee 2004606@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion: @Mrs. Jacks: When I looked at our trends on mint, I found we spent $$$ on fast food this year. I mean, we don't even like fast food but it's convenient after work. This tells me we need to research quick meals for week nights, and less pizza and subs regardless of where we are living! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004600 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:28:34 +0000 Mrs. Lion 2004600@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: Yes, it definitely does! With me being pregnant we have increased ours to $350 but I find myself throwing more impulse stuff in the cart when I'm not paying attention! It definitely takes dedication. We are increasing our budget in other areas this year and could really use to cut back a bit :) Thanks for the reminder that it is possible! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004592 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:24:55 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2004592@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lion: absolute necessity, my friend. But now that we're doing it, we keep asking ourselves why we don't always do this. It keeps you so mindful about what you're doing! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004590 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:24:40 +0000 Mrs. Lion 2004590@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@dc yoga bee: You definitely can't go by these amounts in a place like DC. But the principals are the same, and should still help you cut way back! I live in a suburban area where the cost of living is pretty average. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004589 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:23:37 +0000 Mrs. Lion 2004589@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: That is incredible discipline. I am very impressed! &lt;3 </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004587 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:22:02 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2004587@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@dc yoga bee: I have a distinct advantage of living in one of the lowest cost of living regions in the country to be sure. I'm not sure I could do this in DC.</p> <p>And I know it's a bummer, but we haven't eaten out one single time since mid-November! I bring a tea bag with me when I have a coffee date. I ask for a medium cup of hot water with a little room. I steep my tea bag from home and then add half and half and sugar from the condiment bar (or whatever you call that!)</p> <p>It's a better drink than what I could buy at Starbucks and it's absolutely free! (Except for feeling sheepish and having to explain that I'm saving to adopt. Everyone is incredibly gracious about it and sometimes they even offer me other free things which I always turn down). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004585 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:17:50 +0000 dc yoga bee 2004585@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: Thank you! I cannot wait to see your blog post on this. We eat out way to much. $60 a week for a family!?! Granted, I've found groceries in DC are way more than we paid in ATL, but we leave paying $100-120 a week if we don't get organic, and paid $170 yesterday for organic fruits and veggies. That's just too much!</p> <p>@Mrs. Lion: Sweet, I'm going to read these now! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004581 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:14:56 +0000 Mrs. Lion 2004581@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>These are the blog posts, in case anyone is interested :) </p> <p><a href="http://www.hellobee.com/2014/03/27/feeding-our-family-for-300month-part-1/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hellobee.com/2014/03/27/feeding-our-family-for-300month-part-1/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.hellobee.com/2014/03/28/feeding-our-family-for-300month-part-2/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hellobee.com/2014/03/28/feeding-our-family-for-300month-part-2/</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.hellobee.com/2014/04/22/feeding-our-family-for-300month-part-3/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hellobee.com/2014/04/22/feeding-our-family-for-300month-part-3/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004575 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:08:39 +0000 Mrs. Lion 2004575@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: I did a pretty intense blog post series about how we eat for $300 per month. $60 is definitely tight! You have 1 more mouth to feed than we do. But it really is amazing how much you can trim the budget when you work really hard at it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004566 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:04:31 +0000 matador84 2004566@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I really need to buckle down and recoup our savings from all the medical expenses we incurred this year.<br /> @Mrs. Jacks: sounds amazing. I'm def interested...wish my husband would buckle down with me though! He's particular about his food. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004549 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:54:51 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2004549@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wrkbrk: maybe I'll throw together a quick blog post to help people get started and then work on the more detailed stuff when there's more time.</p> <p>Gonna go write! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004542 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:51:21 +0000 wrkbrk 2004542@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: gotcha. those snacks sound great actually! i told dw about what you're doing and she's on board for us to try, too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004522 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:39:10 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2004522@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@wrkbrk: we cut out all juice. We can still afford tea and I found 360 organic hot chocolate on sale for $2.99, so we've got that in the house right now (with a small pack of marshmallows to go with).</p> <p>We're snacking on almonds, popcorn, fruit, carrots, cheese, sometimes boiled eggs when I need a quick protein fix. Avocado if I can find a good deal. Graham crackers for the girls.</p> <p>Oh and I've lost 7 lbs. I think it's all related to cutting out prepackaged processed foods. Instead we're using heavy whipping cream and bacon. So satisfying! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004504 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:30:01 +0000 HabesBabe 2004504@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: This is genius. I always buy "extras" when I grocery shop (which I do 99% of the time-- hubs only grabs a gallon of milk for C if we ran out) since I'm the one who cooks and eats most of the fruits and vegetables. I'd only be weary of this plan since the hubs HATES grocery shopping and would just grab 5 random avocados without checking to see if they are bruised/overripe, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge/page/2#post-2004497 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:24:49 +0000 wrkbrk 2004497@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: another vote for a blog post if/when you have the time!! Do you guys get snacks and drinks (juice, tea, etc. - im assuming no alcohol!) out of the $60 too?? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004487 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:19:12 +0000 Mrs. Grizzly Bear 2004487@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: Yay! A series :D </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004486 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:18:18 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2004486@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Pen: but I'm sacrificing on Organics. Kind of sad but has to be done. I'll try to work on a blog post. It's going to take a lot of time to put together and I'm working on several others right now.</p> <p>If I do this, I think I want to walk you through the pantry and then show you where I went from there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004451 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 15:53:11 +0000 Mrs. Pen 2004451@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: you're my hero. If I could eat on $60/week we would save so much and have more for debt/savings. I always try and it never seems possible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004441 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 15:42:15 +0000 autumnleaves 2004441@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: this is very helpful - thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004295 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 14:10:30 +0000 Somebunny 2004295@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: I would LOVE to read more about how you do this! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004215 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 13:16:55 +0000 charleysmom 2004215@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs.jacks Definitely interested to learn more! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004205 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 13:09:50 +0000 regberadaisy 2004205@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mamaof2: thanks for this. I'm going to check it out! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004202 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 13:07:56 +0000 looch 2004202@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: My husband does the grocery shopping, so if it's not on the list, it doesn't make it into the cart, so we waste very little food compared to when I grocery shop and I want every fruit and veggie that is displayed.</p> <p>I find it very difficult to eat out of my pantry. I have a lot of random things that I thought looked great, but then I never actually use them. So, having my husband shop solves that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004200 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 13:06:52 +0000 Happygal 2004200@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: Allrecipes.com has a search engine where you can enter ingredients you want to use and don't want to use. Then it spits out recipe ideas--not perfect, but it's a start! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004193 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 13:03:24 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2004193@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: we sit every weekend and puzzle out "what the hell do we do with onions, potatoes and cheese? Can we find a great recipe with those thing?" Thank god for heavy whipping cream, cilantro and bacon crumbles! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/1-year-saving-challenge#post-2004190 Wed, 31 Dec 2014 13:01:52 +0000 HabesBabe 2004190@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm going to try this challenge (or just putting $20 in a piggy bank every week-- less money, but I think I'll be better motivated if it was something tangible). I'd like to go on vacation with the family in 2016, so this would be perfect for saving. </p>