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Wow! Thanks for that awesome reply.  I will definitely try that when I go shopping this week.  I had no idea that jam didn't freeze solid. That sounds like a great idea using the scoop.  I will get back to you to let you know how it's going. :)

I really appreciate the list of kitchen staples to have on hand.  I have been trying for the last month to figure out how to reduce our food budget and buy less pre-packaged/prepared foods.  When I get paid next week I will definitely be going to buy lots of the stuff on this list.  I guess now I just need to learn the recipes. :) Thanks.

I am a 27 year old new mother.  My daughter is 10 months old and I am on maternity leave for another 2 months.  I currently earn maternity leave which is 55% of my normal wage.  When I go back to work I will be bringing in an additional $524 per month. Unfortunately $410 of this is going towards the cost of full time daycare.  So I will only be bringing in an additional $114 per month to pay down our family's debt.

 My husband was making good money at his old job, but he got sick and had to get a new job that pays about half of what he was making.  It certainly did not help that he didn't work for about half a year while I was pregnant. Our debt just kept going up, we'd get help from family and return it to the old levels, and then "repeat."

 We currently have 5 credit cards totalling $14,500. We also have a car which we had to get through one of the high risk borrowers. We owe about $15,000 still in principal on our car. It still has 4 years worth of payments remaining. We also have a computer that we purchased on a monthly installment plan.  We've had it for 3 years, there's still another 5 years of payments, and our monthly payment is $70.

 Basically, to sum things up right now, we've living paycheque to paycheque, and we're only paying down our debt minimally.  We've been treading water now for about 2 years with really no difference in our total amount owed.  I am beginning to get frustrated.

Now that I am a mother I want to be able to buy things for my daughter with my own money.  Until now we've been relying on gifts from family but they're not going to keep giving us stuff forever.  I also want to be able to buy a house eventually so she can have a yard to play in.  I'm just afraid she's going to miss out on the experiences I had as a child since we live in an apartment building.

 I'm glad I found this website.  I really don't like to discuss stuff like this with my family and friends.  I would either get lectured, or pitied, or looked down on. I'm not sure which is worse. Everyone around us seems to be doing better financially.

So, in conclusion, I hope to join in on this online community and just know that I'm not alone and maybe get a little emotional support.