Busy People.... Still able to survive on $20 a week!

A typical day in our lives is very crazy. We are both really driven to get our degrees; however, we realize we need to work too (Just to survive in this economy.)
Sadly, we are living in one of the most depressed areas of the USA, with little or no opportunity. The wages here are low, and the opportunity for promotion is low.
We spend our days between work, other work, and school. We hardly have two hours together sometimes (Awake time that is…)
One of the comments people have said to us, (Upon mentioning this blog idea) is that “You are too busy to eat on that little of a budget”… Well here we are proving everyone wrong.

Let’s take a look at a typical day for Nick and me:
Tuesday:
5:00AM- Nick up, shower, dressed and out the door. Grab packed breakfast+lunch.
6:00AM- Dogs wake up Katie, take them out, go for a walk, come back in and make coffee.
7:00AM- Read news, update blog, go over homework due, write emails, check up on training clients.
8:00AM-Clip Coupons from newsletters, check out coupon websites, put dinner in slow cooker.
8:30AM- Katie Head to work (Nick eats early brunch which is packed)
9:00AM-Work, I have the best job in the world though!
2:30PM- Nick home, take puppies out, Nick does homework and cleans.
5:00PM- Katie heads from work to college, Nick heads to class (Or on a night off, does homework!)
10:00PM- Finished for the night, come home, eat dinner. Katie pack lunches for next day, prep dinner for slow cooker in the AM, watch some shows, groom the dogs, play with dogs, and pass out.

Our sleep schedule is REALLY bad right now. Some nights its 11pm before we are in bed, other times its 9pm. It’s an exhausting schedule but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Although most people would grab fast food and rack up a huge bill, we choose not to. I like to be in control of what I put in my mouth, and especially in to my husbands. We love running and working out. Fast food just is not good for us.

While we were trialing our $20 a week diet. We ate a lot more vegetables, and at our work we got a lot of compliments on how healthy our food was.
The key for busy people is preparing the night before, and SLOW COOKING. I can’t emphasize how much I love my slow cooker. I make everything in it.
It’s actually really energy efficient too.

Another great idea, is buying certain vegetables in bulk. I use onions in everything. Until I can grow them next year, I will be buying a huge bag of these every month to keep me going.


These are just little ideas that we will go over day by day in the New Year. Just to give you a idea of where this is going.

Sunday Morning Coupon Clipping...

Money saving tip of the week:

Every Sunday morning I coupon clip.

From there I organize them in to categories.

1: What I need this week, what I can use this week to feed us
2: What is on sale at the store, and what coupon I can use this week to get more savings on top

From there I sort them by expiration date in categories:

Grocery- This week I had; soy milk, green giant veggies, mayo, butter, yogurt, green tea, coffee etc

Health+Beauty- This week I had; Body wash, Nauzene, Tylenol

Cleaning: This week I had; A huge amount of Lysol coupons, dishwasher tablets, resolve, hefty bags, detergent, paper towels, and so on..

Alcohol: This week I had; Vodka, Wine, Baileys….Mmmm

Meh, not good coupons this week. But it’s worth stocking up on some of these things before the New Year!

It may seem obvious, but this is essential to saving a LOT of money.