I must confess. I haven't been following my frugal roots for about three weeks now and it is interfering with my goals. While I still have a few money-saving ideas in place (the anti-smoking envelope, the bill shaver envelope), my family has had approximately two out of three meals outside of the house for a few weeks now. I normally do not spend this much but since we've been hot-footin' it around finding change, documenting our travails, and coming home EXHAUSTED, I just haven't had the time to cook home meals (the house needs a good whirlwind cleaning as well).

Fortunately, I am done with class for this semester and I can now work on fixing the issue before any further damage continues. Twenty three days is usually how long it takes for me to adopt a new routine. I have chosen to start today and since it's barely 5:50 am, I can start out my day withere Here is my itinerary for day one of twenty three:

--MISSION ONE:INVENTORY--
Check fridge for meal makers and shakers. I know I have plenty of food to cook weekend meals- the goal is to pull out one meal making item and prepare it for easy cooking later on in the day.
(Outside goal: Head to commissary later today or tomorrow to buy groceries for the week).

Inspect bathrooms, kitchen sink for applicable cleaning products
(I am frugal with the products except for bowl cleaner. That's pretty much self-explanatory )

--MISSION TWO:TARGET AREA--
For day one, my objective is to DEEP clean the first floor of my home. When I say deep clean, I'm talking windows, rug shampooing, the whole nine yards.

--MISSION THREE:CASH INVENTORY--
Earlier in the year, I saved up a sizable amount of cash from some freelance marketing jobs I completed. I used up approximately 2K of this cash for frivolous spending in less than one month(eating out TOO MUCH, buying useless items, spending on things "because I could"). Since I was dropping hundreds each time, I wound up with ALOT of change and loose bills. My changejar from this month alone yielded $160.44. The bills are scattered in various pockets, purses, drawers, even bathroom closets. The majority of these bills are going back into the cash fund while a few will take their rightful place in my envelope system.

I plan on completing these three missions before 12pm so I can spend the rest of the day with my little ones.

My goal is to document my frugal plan of attack on this blog for the next 23 (22 now) days in order to keep track of my progress and document my short-comings.
Each daily entry will have two parts-- the morning report and an end-of-day update. Wish me luck!!

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End-of-day Update:

Accomplished two out of three missions- cleaned the first floor and took inventory of meals. I found enough food to cook full fledged meals for at least 6 days! Today we took the kids to the zoo and I forgot to grab the sandwiches/snacks bag . The trip to the zoo (not including gas and tolls) cost $41.00 ($8.00 parking fee and $33.00 for lunch (OUCH)). I did prevent three incidents where frivolous spending would have lowered my cashflow:

1. No facepainting for the kids & hubby this time around (3 faces for $25)

2. X-men dinner and movie date w/hubby (admission plus dinner at Boulder Creek for an average of $60 tip included)

3. Stopped the Dunkin Donuts A.M. trap b making an egg and cheese sandwich on a square bagel (three #3's and hubby's notorious Giant sized Coffee with extra stuff for $18.00)

So, I saved myself from spending a grand total of $103.00 YAYYY!!!