On a budget

I started reading "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey and have been very impressed to follow his steps on getting out of debt. He gives 7 Baby steps to financial freedom. Check out this page on his website for details on the steps. So we are starting and it takes alot of work to get a budget together and to look at your total spending. I averaged our spending over the last 3 months on groceries and it was around $600 a month. I had no idea we spend that much. I was thinking more like $400. And that's with me being a bargain shopper. We decided that we will be putting paying off our debt above all other spending - vacation, Christmas presents, eating out, and so forth. I know we can do it because we have already been sacrificing and buying less.

One of my favorite bargains in town has been shopping at the local 99 cent store. This week I found bananas, grapes, tomatoes, tortillas, hash browns, Halloween candy, and a gift bag. The produce is usually not the best, I would give it a B- but it last just as long as produce that I buy at the super markets.