Budgets, budgets, budgets

I have to mention that I had no idea how much money we actually spend each week until we are put on a budget. It is amazing how much money you can save. The past several weekends we have had great family weekends and haven't spent over $20. There is so much free fun things to do in the St. Charles area its unreal. Although we do spend a lot of time skating at the rec plex, but thats alright because my kids love it and of course its free. We also have been to the zoo, St. Patty's Day Parade, and fun park days.
I have my food budget down to $75 a week for a family of 5! Thats huge compared to what I used to spend. I still buy almost the same amount I used to but I have been working hard on savings with coupons and stocking up. I haven't paid for toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, Chris' hair gel, or hairspray since this started and I've got probably 6 months worth stashed away. We have so much that Chris actually tells me to quit getting it, but its hard when its free. At least I can save some for friends or people who really need them. I also have enough diapers stored up for Joey to last a couple of months from several really good deals.
I finally sucked up and bought a pair of tennis shoes since my current pair has heels that are so worn out the plastic is actually cutting my feel. I kept putting it off because I had an issue with spending $60 on a pair of shoes. Well I was able to find a website that had a huge sale on shoes. I found an awesome pair of Adidas shoes that were 50% off plus an additional 20% off from a coupon on Mr. Rebates. I also got a 12% rebate from Mr. Rebates for buying them. When all was said and done I got an $89.00 pair of shoes for $23.00 that will be shipped to my house. Now this price I can live with.
My next big purchase I was really wanting to buy was a double jogging stroller so I can start running with the kids. I've been looking on Craigslist for the past two months and it seems like everytime I find one that looks in good condition and in my price range it is already sold. So I've been looking at once upon a child and they never have any. So I finally saw a brand new one at once upon a child that I liked for $199.99. It was more than I wanted to spend but I had saved up the money from selling kids stuff in the consignment sales so I would just have to fork out a little money out of pocket. But I knew I would make this up if I sell my breastpump and infant car seat. So Chris told me to go ahead and get it, but I wanted to wait and read reviews on it and research it first. So I began looking at reviews on it and the only bad ones I found was a couple stating that you couldn't fit an infant car seat on it (no issue for me) and that it was too wide to fit through a normal door frame (which most double jogging strollers don't) so you have to take the back wheel off. This one also has a swivel front tire which will be great when I take it to the zoo and other places that I don't want the wheel locked. So I began researching other prices for this stroller. I saw that babies r us had it for $189.99 but it was only online. I finally found the deal I was waiting for. It was listed at $175 with no taxes and free shipping! This was the best price I had found but wait it got better. If I choose to pay for it with eBill (which is bill pay on my online banking) then I saved an additional $15. So after all was said and done I got the stroller for $160 and it will be shipped to my house within 1-2 weeks! It was still more than I was really wanting to pay but its brand new and I still won't have to use any money out of our budget after I get more of my baby items sold!
To be honest when we started our tight budget I thought I was going to have a really hard time doing it, but it is honestly really easy and makes me appreciate what I do buy a lot more because I know the sacrifices I am making to buy that purchase. I can't believe how much money I used to waste before. Without Chris' bonus' we are still able to put money into our savings account each month which is something I never thought we would be able to do. I am very proud of how far our family has come!