Thursday, January 7, 2010

"Cow Fund"

Last week I told you all that we would be eating from the pantry this entire month. I also told you that I would be telling you what I intend to do with the money saved! Are you ready...

We are saving to buy a cow, well, another cow! You see, this past September we went in with 3 other families and purchased us some MAJOR meat. None of us had ever done this sort of thing before, but we (I think I can speak for all of us) have been pleasantly surprised on both the taste and quality. At first, I had such a hard time eating my cute little cow. I continually thought of his poor little life being cut short. Visions of him roaming the pastures constantly came to mind...then I ate a wonderful steak and eventually I got over it! (well, I guess I'm not totally over it)

When we decided to purchase this cow, we just bought it...there was no saving to it. It was kind of an impulse buy (that sounds weird, can a cow be an impulse buy?), but this year I want to save for it, or at least most of it. Even if you already have a savings, I think it is good stewardship to build the "extras" into your budget so you don't dip into your savings. So, this is what we are going to do...and I will be showing you how I plan to gather the money!

I am not trying to say, in any way, that you should save for a cow, too. I just want to show you some ways that you could save for things YOU want/need. I don't know...for you it may be to help pay off debt, save for a vacation, build an emergency savings fund, etc.

These are a few of the ways I plan to get there:

1. "Eating from the Pantry Challenge"
I plan to save a minimum of $60-80 (I am crossing my fingers for more) over the course of January. I will probably do this again in a few months if all goes well.

2. Save all change
Yes, we will be emptying our pockets in the change jar...it adds up fast. We already have some accumulated and instead of cashing it in, we decided to just add to it all year.

3. Cut back on groceries as much as possible throughout the year
At the end of the month I will put any left over money in the "cow fund" jar!

What are you saving for this year? What are your creative ways to get there?
Hit up the comment section and share with the world (um...at least the rest of us)!
This post is linked to Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Those all sound like great tips! Good luck with your cow!

Unknown said...

Man that is one ugly cow!

His eyes look like someone is trying to cut a steak off of him right then!

Katie said...

Seriously???

I thought he was absolutely adorable. That smiling face is the vision I have of a "happy" Samson before we put him in the freezer.

Ashley said...

I love it! My family goes in on a cow or two and they are raised at my parents ranch. It's great to know where the meat came from and that the processor was a great person that gave individual attention to our family. I think it saved us well over $400 last year at a minimum.

Katie said...

Ashley,

Wow, $400! Before we got it I thought it may not be cheaper than just buying the meat at the grocery store; however, after tasting it and seeing the expensive cuts of meat we got, I knew we had saved quite a bit.

I don't think we will ever turn back!

Misty said...

I like your cow pic... he is cute! :)

I think I shared on here earlier but my youngest son is in speech therapy and with the new year, our co pays and deductibles all went back to up, so my goal I set for the "eating from the pantry" was to save enough out of my grocery money to off set the cost of his therapy. I am still in the stockpiling phase, so I hope to be able to just continue clipping coupons and saving...


I must say, I like the saving change idea and just throwing it in a jar or can...

Katie said...

You would be surprised how fast the change adds up...and you really don't miss it.

Someone gave us a little water bottle filled with change last year. He had saved, planning to give it to us...very sweet! I figured there was maybe $15 in it, but there was $35! I couldn't believe it!

Unknown said...

That has got to be one of the happiest cows I have ever seen. You never cease to amaze me.

cherielynn09 said...

OK...let's not talk about the "actual" cow and visions of his life in the pasture....I saw some pretty ugly video on a news show last year and LITERALLY couldn't eat beef for over a month.

Ummmm....I hope you didn't mean you were going to put Samson in the freezer????? Gross!!! Even a worse mental pic than the cow one!!!

OK...let's change the subject before I totally lose it here!!!

I think saving change is a GREAT idea for a want/need!!

Chris and Sonia saved...get this...like $800 in 2 years doing that!!!!

Anonymous said...

Where do you get that pix! That's a pretty cow and looks like she had a very very good dental hygienist. Love the color of lipstick also. Change does add up. When John worked at Champion in Quality Control, he made coffee and someone left him change. So he put up a coffee can for donations just to buy the supplies, but 3 years later he had a nice down payment on a new truck! A large coffee can hold about $300 worth of quarters and occasional $1 bill. Wanda

Katie said...

Cherie,

It sounds like I don't want to hear about that cow video...

When we decided to buy the cow, Dad talked to the guy and planned it all out. He told me the guy said that we could come and see the cow first, and that it's name is Samson...I about cried that I was killing a "Samson". SO, I am gullable, I believed it for a long time, and Dad had made it up, it was not named Samson. Why is my family so mean to me??? You guys always pick on me!!!!

Chris and Sonia saved a lot of money, man! I could buy a half if I saved that much!

Katie said...

Wanda,

You like my cow?? We took her down to the dental van (where I work), and fixed her up nice! Ha ha!

I can't believe John saved that much! That is amazing! Hmmm...where can I make coffee for people? Ha ha!

Frugal Sara said...

LOL, the picture is hilarious! Good for you. Sounds like you have a great goal. I would like a cow too, except already processed! Hubby and I have been thinking about purchasing some grass fed beef this year to stock our freezer.

We are saving to fund our 6 month emergency fund. We too are saving change and cutting back on groceries. I am also eating from the pantry this month! Another idea I have is all money I get back from can redemption goes right into my "change jar" and gets taken to the bank.

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