Thanks for visiting Ultimate Money Blog! If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. I realize that we’re almost two months into 2013, but I’d still like to go over our 2012 goals and recap how we did. I also need to set up some 2013 goals! 1. Set up a savings account for the baby. We opened a savings account with ING (now Capital One 360) for the baby a few months after she was born.  We put any birthday/gift money into it for her.  I need to research 529 plans and see if that is something we’d like to do. 2. Figure out life insurance. We have some life insurance though Mr. Money’s employer but should probably look into getting more. 3. Change beneficiaries.  Did this!  It was very easy once we got the baby’s social security number. 4. Make more money blogging/working from home. Looking back, this was quite a lofty goal.  I mainly focused on taking care of my high needs baby while trying to keep the house clean.  It was [...]

Obviously, with Mr. Money unemployed, we’re adopting a bare bones budget.  Here’s our budget and what we’ve done so far: Mortgage- $793.00 (Can’t change this) Escrow- $220.00 (Can’t change this) Gas & Electric- $140.00- Since we budget this ourselves, we currently have a surplus.  If things get really bad I can use up all the money in our electricity account and start contributing again when Mr. Money has a job.  I’ve started line-drying all the clothes and we’ve turned the thermostat down a little.  Hopefully those two things will help. Car Insurance- $92.00- I can shop around for quotes but since we bundle our homeowners insurance with it, I don’t know how much cheaper I can get it. Groceries- $300.00 I cut this a lot, and it makes me sad.  I am hoping we can actually make it on $300 a  month for groceries. Cell Phone- $43.00- Mr. Money is going to take over my phone since he’s losing his company phone.  I’ll go without until I get a prepaid. Cable, Phone, Internet- $145.00- I’m going to call to see [...]

We’re exactly three months away from Christmas.  Yikes.  I’m already planning because this is my first Christmas as a stay-at-home mom, and my lack of income is going to make it more interesting to purchase Christmas gifts.  I’m sure we’ll be fine though, and it will just spur me to be more creative.  Here are some things I’m working on to make our Christmas season a good one without over spending! 1. Make gifts. This is an obvious.  I need to get a move on this because if I’m going to knit things, it is going to take time.  And with an 8 month old baby, I’m going to have to find time first!  My plan is to knit a ton of dish cloths while I’m riding in the car and when I have some down time.  I think that will be the easiest.  I’d also like to knit some socks for people and maybe some new cute things for Penny. 2. Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a great way to make a little extra money for me.  What I do is [...]