Being at home is tough

The last 2 weeks of being at home has been rough on me. When I am at home I get bored and then I want to either eat or shop. Being a teacher I have 2 weeks off during the holidays and that makes it even more difficult because everyone is posting on Facebook and Twitter all about the sales they are finding and the treats they are baking. It is frustrating because I want to do what everyone else is doing but I can't, which in turn makes me want to do it more. I keep thinking about what Dave Ramsey says in his book "If you live like no one else now, you can live like no one else later"

This morning was a tough one, I woke up and checked my email (like always) and right there was a 70% off email for the Coach outlet ugghhhh all I could think about was how Gary had just gotten paid and how we have a little in savings so I could go and get a really cute purse. I kept hearing my mantra in the back of my head "the best way to avoid temptation is not to go out looking for it" so I threw away the coupon I had printed out and set myself to the fact that I have a nice purse and I don't need another one. I felt good about it.

I get so frustrated when it comes to money though, even when I am being good I feel like I can never get ahead. I get paid every two weeks and that is the paycheck we use to pay most of our bills so I don't expect there to be a lot left out of that one. My husband gets paid weekly and I feel like that one goes just as fast! I can not figure out how to cut our grocery bill and still eat healthy. My youngest son, who is 18 years old and a big guy, will eat whatever we have in the house so if I don't have healthy food and snacks in the house he will eat junk all day and he already has high blood pressure issues. I have been shopping at Aldi which has helped cut our grocery bill quite a bit but they don't have everything we need so I still have to go to Winn Dixie or Publix. Part of Dave Ramsey's plan that we are following is to save up $1000 as quickly as possible and I just don't see how I can do that when there is still so much going out each month. I have created a budget and I work hard to stick with the budget but with things like groceries or gas if we have to go over budget then we have to, we can't go without those things. I think I need to really look at our monthly and weekly spending and see where we can cut back. I'm sure if I look hard enough I can find some places to make some changes. I have to turn everything over to God and allow Him to have control of our finances. My mother used to say "Give it to God and don't be an Indian giver" I need to follow that advice now.