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Spending, Life, Extra Income, Food Updates…

Last Updated: BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 34 Comments

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Happy Monday everyone! I’m loving that it’s a 3 day work week for me (as I’m sure it is for most of the rest of you in the US).

Not too expensive of a weekend for us. The boy’s little brother and sister spent the night with us and we hung out with them (they are in elementary and middle school). And on Sunday we saw Lincoln. It was good, anyone else see it? Or I’m guessing everyone saw Twilight? 🙂

I didn’t complete anything that I was supposed to do this weekend, so I plan on dedicating next weekend to that. Ugh procrastination is really getting to me.

My updates:

Spending:

We did good with our spending this past week. We have really begun watching all unnecessary extra spending so that we can pay off my student loans quicker.

We’re really targeting April of 2013 as when we want my student loans completely gone, but would of course want them gone the month earlier if we can really stick to it. Some of you have asked why we chose this date. There really is no reason, we just wanted to choose something that was realistic and close. I will be making a post on this soon.

When do you plan on having your student loans gone? Or how long did it take you? If you have any tips, please share them below and I’ll try to include you in my post about my student loans.

Extra Income (this is on top of my salary from my job):

Another good week here for us. I made $1,210 from extra income last week. I will be making a post on this soon, so you all can be happy now 🙂

Don’t forget about my giveaway, maybe you can make some extra monthly income as well!

Food: 

We did good with our food spending also. I spent around $50 at the grocery store for last week’s food. We would’ve spent more but I still have a ton of meat in the freezer to use.

We ate out a couple more times, but that was only because we had the boy’s little brother and sister with us and we took them out for dinner and breakfast over the weekend. How much did you spend on food last week? I always love hearing about everyone’s food updates!

I forgot to do a meal plan yesterday, so here it is below:

Monday – Chicken Teriyaki, Tuesday – Out to eat, Wednesday – Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burrito, Thursday – Thanksgiving of course!, Friday – Steak, Saturday – Out to eat, Sunday – Italian Sausage Soup

Being healthy:

I did horrible with being more healthy this past week. I went out to run a couple of times, but they weren’t very long. I’m blaming it on the cold weather. I have been eating better though. No more buying unhealthy snacks that I just munch on for no reason all day long.

How’s your spending, working out and extra income going?

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About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. saveearnlove says

    Wow April isn't far off at all! We are on a long-term plan..and are hoping to wipe ours out in four years-or sooner!

    Reply

  2. John S @ Frugal Rules says

    Awesome work again on the side income! We want to see Lincoln. Glad to hear that it was good, that's what I've heard mainly. I wanted to see it this past weekend as we went our for my wife's birthday, but for some reason she didn't want to…something about it not being a birthday movie. 🙂

    Reply

  4. Julie says

    I love these posts because it gives me ideas on what to do in our lives. Our schedules are all messed up with my night hours but we get it all worked out 🙂

    Reply

  5. Sam says

    April is right around the corner! I know the feeling, I’m going to pay my car off next month. Soo ready not to have that payment! Looking forward to your extra income post. Hope you have a great thanksgiving!

    Reply

  6. Liquid says

    I love short work weeks. Who doesn't? We had ours last week in Canada so this week will be a normal one. Lincoln looks interesting. Last film I saw in the theaters was Skyfall, that's a good one to check out as well 😀 My work out plan is to hit the gym at least 3 times this week :0)

    Reply

  12. Budget & the Beach says

    There are so many movies out right now I want to see. Lincoln is one of them. Twilight is not. lol! I'll wait for redbox for that one. I'm looking forward to your post on how you made your extra money. I made $96 extra last week from taskrabbit jobs. On Saturday I served appetizers at this party. We got to enjoy the party just as much as the guests (except we had to so more dishes), and I knew about 10 people there. Small world. Easy money though!
    My recent post Falling in love again with your stuff

    Reply

  13. SavvyFinancialLatina says

    $1210 Awesome!!! And so jealous :p

    I love the pic of the little girl getting ready. That is me every morning of the work week. I basically drag myself out of bed and hit the shower.

    Reply

  14. Happy_Homeowner says

    Love the idea to boot the student loans! I had my own student loan epiphany over the summer–perhaps a nervous breakdown–but I randomly sent a $16,000 check to Sallie Mae, effectively punching her in the face as Ninja would say 🙂 Good luck!

    Reply

  15. ashleenikol says

    Woohoo!!! I so love your Monday posts 🙂 Gears me up for the week!
    I still owe around $4900 on my student loans 🙁 Only because I pay the bare minimum each month. Hopefully when some other things are paid for, I can throw a lot more towards my student loans.
    Have a Happy Thanksgiving Michelle!!
    My recent post Road To Recovery

    Reply

  17. Heather says

    That's awesome. I haven't explored the extra income route much. I listed some things on a local consignment site, but when people responded with interest they didn't show up to actually buy the items…irritating.

    We are a family of 6, so we've started really focusing on our food spending. It helps us to plan our meals and focus on not wasting food. I post about our food waste and grocery spending every week. Last week was under $150 and that's really good for us. http://wp.me/p2SKtH-5S
    http://www.thefrugalgirl.com inspired me to post about food waste.
    My recent post Someone Stole My LandLords’ Identity Just to Bug Them…and Me!

    Reply

  19. Veronica Hill says

    That picture made me laugh! Hahaha. I'm still impressed with your side income, very nice! Keep it up.
    My recent post Making Money From Home – Is It Possible?

    Reply

  20. mycanuckbuck says

    Wow – I'm still amazed at your extra income and am eagerly awaiting your post on that! I didn't see Twilight or Lincoln – last movie I saw was Skyfall.
    My recent post 10 recession proof businesses or jobs – part 1

    Reply

  24. Canadianbudgetbinder says

    Good for you keep up the hard work and bringing in all the extra $$. Time and dedication is all it takes at to start realizing dreams. You are an inspiration to most. That is a funny pic too haha… Cheers Mr.CBB

    Reply

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