Weekend happenings

I'm feeling a tad better today. I'm not that snotty, its just so much pressure in my head and it wont break up!  Life goes on as normal around here though.  The no spend challenge is going strong,, when there is no money to spend it makes it pretty easy :)  Now this weekend is when I will get paid and that is normally what I use to go out and buy groceries, but no this time,, its going to the doctor bills, thats gonna be the hard part but we still have plenty of food.  Sunday morning I made strawberry pancakes!  They were super yummy!

Here is a quick snap of my fridge as of today,  just a hodge podge of stuff in there.  Lots of condiments.. But my cabinets are still plenty full and my freezer has food.

I did a very bad thing on Friday.  I thought I was doing a good thing.  I went through the cabinits and freezers do a inventory and made of list of what we had.  Well when I was going through the garage freezer and counting apparently I sat out one of the bags of venison meat to count what was under it.  Stupid me forgot to put the bag back in and the whole bag got ruined.  6 lbs of ground venison and 1 roast. :(   I didnt know it until the next day when Ben went out and smelled/saw it on the ground :(  I cried!  I can't believe I wasted meat!  I was so upset. We still have 7 more packages of it that I didnt sit out so we arnt out, but now I really hope the boys will get another deer   We really do rely on that meat because I just dont have the money in my grocery budget to buy hamburger right now.   I'll be more careful next time I go through the freezer, thats for sure!!!!!

Sunday I had a baby shower to attend,, the baby had already been born,, Meet Jacelyn.  I will  be watching her when her mom returns to work sometime in January!  I'm excited!  She is so precious and little and sweet!

Saturday was my Grandma Baldridge's 77th surprise birthday party!  It was a great success and she was so happy!  I'm so glad all the family got to share this occasion!

Here' s Jess holding baby Zayden.  He's a  all full of sweetness also! Last night I made potato corn chowder and it was YUMMY!  Everyone liked it.  And tonight we are having burritos made from the pinto beans I cooked in the crockpot last Friday.    Bean and cheese is all you really need and they are still so yummy and very affordable!

Contentment

Contentment.  This is something I have struggled with and worked on my entire life.  As a child it always seems your friends have bigger and better things,, the grass is always greener concept.  Well unfortunately as an adult I still struggle with this.  Lately it has gotten so much better though.  Here's the thing. Most days I am happy.  I am more or less living the life I have always wanted.  I have a husband that loves me, I've got great kids, I am able to be home with them.  There have been quite a few times I have despised my house but I have finally come to terms with the fact that this is where we are meant to be right now.  The payments are right and we can not afford a bigger house payment.  Everyone has there own room,, granted it is only 1000sq feet and there are 5 of us, plus extra littles here through the day but we all fit and its cute and comfortable.  It is our home and will more than likely be our home for quite a while. It could be so much worse.  The main thing I want right now is to get out of debt!!!! I want it so bad! I wish every other thing in life wouldn't keep coming up making it near darn impossible to pay down the credit cards.  All in good time.  If we want something really bad and are willing to work for it we can make it happen eventually right?

The only time I get down about my life is when I'm around other people,, listening to them talk about where they are going or all there grand things,, mostly I'm home though and hardly talk to anyone besides my family. lol   I guess that's something I need to work on.  Jealousy of other people.  I'm sure somewhere out there in the world might be jealous of me.   Like I said my life isn't bad at all!  I'm so lucky to have these great kids and man that would walk to the end of the earth if I asked him to.

What do you do when you feel the jealousy monster creeping in?  Or is it just me that this happens to?

2013

Jan 2, 2013!  Seems so strange,, I can't believe another year has come and gone.  So much happened last year, we prepared our house to sell, then at the last minute changed our minds because the 2 oldest kids ended up getting their braces....  Priorities right?  I quit smoking!  Yay!   I lost 50 pounds!  Over the holidays I gained a little back but its gonna go away fast,, this morning started me recommitting to healthier eating.   So right there were 2 resolutions from last year,, quiting smoking and losing weight.  I have more weight I want to lose but I'm heading in the right direction!! 

This year my main focus is going to be going strong on paying off our debt,, that is a goal every year, but Im going to try my hardest to make it work.  By the end of 2013 I will be debt free accept for my vehicles and home!  I know I can do it!  
I will also keep focusing on eating healthy and exercising and hopefully be down to where I want to be weight wise by the end of the year. 
I will continue to use my time wisely and be resourceful with the things we have.  I want to keep making as much homemade as I have been and learn even more!  I also want to try to do more freezer cooking to help out when I dont really feel like cooking. 

Here's to a new year!

Money question and colors

As if making hubby go to second shift wasn't enough,, his employer has now decided that he will be working12 hour shifts for the next few weeks while another boss is out recovering from a surgery.  This means because he is supposed to be there 30 minutes early and stay 30 minutes late, that he will be working from 9:30am-10:30 pm.   Lovely.   The good thing is he should be getting a few really nice paychecks along with the extra hours.  I'm gonna do my best to be smart with the extra cash and either pay off some more bills or build up the savings.   That's my dilemma right now,, we don't have much in savings and I'm really not comfortable not having anything to fall back on,,, so do I bank the extra cash now or pay off other things?  I know Dave Ramsey would say bank it for the emergency fund first,, what's your all's opinion? 

I've been keeping myself busy with housework and kiddos...the story of my life really. LOL   I've really been focusing a lot of my attention lately on working with Emma on some learning stuff,,, for the most part she enjoys it but she does get tired of it now and then.... She will tell me  " I don't want to learn my colors right now MOM"!   :)   Of course were working on more than just colors but for some reason she still doesnt have them all down and I really want her to get it.  

Busy days and other thoughts

 Man, how time flies by,,, seriously everyday I think I will have time to sit down and blog for awhile but my days are consumed with cooking, cleaning, childcare...lots of childcare!  My work is never done,,and thats ok, it sure can be exhausting sometimes though!  

Our weekend went well,, super busy.  Saturday morning the kiddos had a dentist appointment... That went well!  NO cavities,, although the dentist did say that we really need to get the 2 older kids in to see a orthodontist.  I knew this but had been putting it off but now that the dentist has said it I feel like we really need to get started,, I was trying to get a few other things paid off before we have huge ortho bills.  Gary has a tooth that should be through but isnt coming through though, and Jess has teeth coming in in crazy places due to lack of space in her mouth.  So the time is now I guess. 

 After the dentist we went straight over to my moms for my step-dad's birthday party.  That was fun,, he had sat up a 9 hole golf course in the yard and we all did that,, we also did some jump roping,,, hilarious and fun!   Then Sunday the kids and I went with mom and Dave, and Grandma and Grandpa  to Stone Trace,, its a historical site and there is lots of booths set up there and very educational...the kids loved it!  Here is Jess stirring and making apple butter like they did in the old days. 

 Emma getting her face painted

 We didn't go bowling this weekend but I felt like I needed a pic of Gary in here and apparently he sneaked out of all the photos this weekend. :)

Life is hard but good.  I'm so thankful for what we have and have been trying to make the most of it.     I remind myself daily to appreciate what we have and try to not want so much more,, we are so blessed for what we do have!
I'm also working hard to not get upset over Ben(hubby's) crazy work hours, and other commitments he has,, not to get upset over his lack of enthusiasm over what we do have and his constant wanting more and more.  Leaving it in God's hands to help him realize these things.  My constant nagging gets us nowhere but in arguments.   I must go on and try and have a cheerful attitude!

Weekend update and mommy fears

We had a pretty good weekend here in the household.   Saturday Ben worked,,, I took the kiddos and got their pictures taken.  Its been a really long time since they've had them taken professionally so it was way overdue.  I'm so excited to get them back,, they were all so cute!   My mom had gotten a picture package for us that has quite a bit of pictures with it but it only includes one pose.  They took a bunch of pictures with individual shots and together shots then at the end they showed them all to us.  If we wanted we could have gotten more poses but the cheapest package was $100!!!  Not in our budget right now.  It was very hard to say no but I did.  I guess thats why the run the cheap package and then they make their money by people ending up getting more pictures than whats in the package.  The lady actually said I was the first person to only get the package!!!   Sure made me feel like a cheap-o mom :(   

Our budget has not been going according to plan lately. Things keep popping up here and there that need bought or paid.  In the past 4 days I've spent over a hundred dollars just on Jess.  She had to have all this stuff for soccer,,t-shirts, sweatshirt, team pics,,,,then needed new dress shoes and then had a field trip for school that she needed money for.  I just feel so bad to tell her no to stuff for school cause everyone elses parentsdo it and I dont want her to be left out.   Times like these I see where home schooling would come in handy cause you dont have the pressure to have the cool clothes,, and everything else school related.  She still makes me feel like I dont get enough for her.  It seriously brings tears to my eyes cause I dont want my kids to feel "poor",, or left out.  I feel like we do a lot with the kids but I guess they just don't see it.  It's so hard!

Sunday we celebrated Ben's b-day over at moms house.  His b-day isnt til  Friday but it was easier for everyone to get together this weekend.  He had asked for clothes and a wallet and money for his deer hunting licence,, oh and hunting gloves.  Between everyone he got all that,, plus I got him a sweatjacket for work that he had been wanting so that was a surprise for him....   I think he was happy.   But with b-day presents comes more expense.    can you tell I'm stressing about money? LOL   Ben gets paid every other week and we only have 2 paychecks left b4 we head off to Florida!!!!   It's my whole fear again of the kids not having fun,,, wishing we could have done more than we did.  They are already upset because I told them we arnt getting them presents for Christmas because of the trip... we will buy them stuff there though,, souvenirs and such.  And I plan on sneaking some stockings in the suitcases and surprising them with those Christmas morning.  The big kids want big things though,,,like Ipod Touch,, and DSI XL.....well I hate to say it but with this trip I cannot afford to buy those things for them this year.    I thought I was doing good by taking them to FL for 2 weeks and going to Disney World........I can not ever win with them. 

Oh well.  I'm sure once we are there they will have fun.  I know I plan on having a great time,, I just hope the kids remember to pack there happy attitudes. :)

Our weekend and a menu plan

We had a pretty lovely weekend. It sure went by way to fast! Saturday Ben worked a couple hours in the morning then went to a golf tournament. Mom invited us out to breakfast so the kids and I jumped on that offer, then we went up to the zoo with mom and Dave. It was fun. I'm so happy we purchased the zoo membership at the beginning of the season. We have defiantly got our moneys worth. I think we've been up there 5 times. The kids don't seem to get tired of it.

After the zoo the kids and I went shoe shopping. Jess said she needed a new pair of cleats for soccer and new soccer socks. She wanted certain shoes and I was so scared to see the price tag. First we went to PayLess and found a pair that fit her and was only 17.99! Of course they were only black and white and not really the ones she wanted. I told her we would go look at the other store but I wasn't promising anything. She found a pair she liked but they were 35. After much debating in my head I told her to ask if they had her size and if they did I was going to get them for her....I lucked out and everything was to big! So I asked her if she would like to go back to the other store and get that pair and she said yes! So back to payless we went,,, we got her cleats and Gary informed me that his shoes were coming apart... I said no way. He just got a pair not even a month ago. But I looked at them and the soles were barely connected ...ughhh.....luckly all shoes were buy one get one half off so he found a pair....then of course the baby Emma taken off her shoes in the store and trying on all the shoes while we were in there...she kept asking which ones she could get. Well,,, I'm a softy, and my own tennis shoes I've had for 2 or 3 years and every time I wear them they hurt me cause they are so worn out so I decided since the buy one get one sale I would buy myself a pair and get Emma one too. So four pairs of shoes later we were out of the store. I spent $64 in there,, but for 4 pairs of shoes I don't think that's too bad!

Sunday we went back up to the Dunes beach! We got to swim this time and it was so fun and relaxing! Again we only spent 5.00 to get in, and this time we didn't buy ice cream. We packed our lunch again. I LOVE it there and so does the rest of the family!

Because of the shoe purchase I'm skipping grocery shopping again this week. Seems like its pretty much been averaging about every other week around here. I spent a lot last weekend though on groceries so were not too low on much. I've got a menu plan layed out and you can see were still having plenty of yummy food with what's on hand...

-goulash with cornbread muffins
-deer steak, baked potatoes, corn
-roast with potatoes and carrots
-tater tot casserole
-easy Swiss steak with rice
-beef and noodles, mashed potatoes

I'm a dreamer

The rain is coming :( We've been really enjoying being outside the last few days but I guess its gonna be pretty wet around her for a couple days. Emma just loves to be outside and swing,, play in the sand, blow bubbles! All that fun stuff, I enjoy it to, I don't feel stuck in my to small house. I've been feeling the squeeze a lot lately. I'm sure its because I've been looking online at local houses for sale. I found one that's out in the country, same school district that we are in now, and its like 2500 sq ft! It also has a finished basement, 5 bedrooms, 2 baths! I can only imagine how wonderful that would be. The price is reasonable, but still a tad bit more than I think we can afford right now. I just don't think it would be smart to move until all of our finances are where we want them to be, so that means another couple of years in our under 1100sq ft home. Its really not that bad I guess,, some people live in little shacks with dirt floors. (see this is what I remind myself when I start to get down,,,,it could be a whole lot worse!)
But it never hurts to dream! Keeps my eye on the prise, so to speak.

Life is just so darn expensive! Its so aggravating!!! But I have 3 great, healthy children, a wonderful husband who puts up with so much crap at work just so he can provide for us and pay the bills. I get to watch my children grow up and not have to worry about missing a thing because I am home taking care of them... Yeah,, I would say I'm a pretty darn lucky woman.

Tax time

Tax time,,, some love it, some hate it. With 3 children we are in the stage of loving it because we always get money back. : ) This year turned out even better than we expected, and that is a good thing because I already have plans for this money. And believe it or not were not getting anything extravagant or unnecessary. The only questionable item is a dishwasher, but to me that was a necessity. Having 5 people in our family, plus childcare children and being home all day produces a lot of dishes! Plus we got a pretty good deal on it!

With our return we will be purchasing a used vehicle for Ben with cash (finally!) I'm really hoping we can find a good deal for him, I don't want to spend more than 3000 on one, but we also want something that is reliable for him. Then I will be able to set up my 1000 dollar emergency fund,(first step of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover). Then I am going to be able to totally pay off a credit card that has a pretty hefty amount on it and a ridiculous interest amount on it (then that card will be cut up and seen no more!) I have a medical bill that will get paid off also.

I am very excited to be able to do all of this. It really gonna help me get the ball rolling. From there then I can focus on the rest of the credit card debt, using the money I was paying on the CC that I paid off and putting it toward the next one on my list along with what I was already paying on that one! By using a website that you can calculate how long it will take you to pay off a card, I should be totally free by the beginning of 2012. It will probably be a lot sooner though because once we get the ball rolling and any extra money will go towards those debts, it probably wont take that long. It seems like a long way off but it will be totally worth it!

Now I just hope that nothing gets screwed up b4 now and the time we receive our refund. Something always seems to happen, but I'm thinking positive!

Approved

I am very happy to announced that yesterday we applied for a loan at our bank for a first time home buyers loan and..................WE GOT APPROVED..........YAY. The best news is its a lower interest rate than whats on this house now because it was considered a rental for my mom so the rate was a little higher. I really am so happy! All the hard work and decisions on where the money goes has finally paid off. It makes everything so worth it.

We pay all the bills and the house payment now, but now that's its in our own name,, we will be getting credit for it, and I can call myself a home owner! We go on Friday to go over paperwork and stuff.

Random Randomness

Just thought I should pop in and write a little. Ive been busy lately with lots of things. Soccer has finally come to an end. Gary got a trophy ( first place team! ),, and Jess got a medal! Gary is so proud, it is his first trophy ever.
My youngest sister's wedding is this Saturday. Jess and Gary are kinda in it, they're in charge of the guest book and handing out programs. So we have family coming in. My step uncle is up from North Carolina and he has a daughter around Jess' age so they play together really well! She is coming over here later today and gonna hang out until Friday night after the rehearsal dinner. Then Saturday the wedding is at 6 :30. I've been working hard on a special present for them. I really hope they like it!
Also I'm gonna try to squeeze in a tiny garage sale with my neighbor Saturday morning. I'm not doing very well finding things for it though,,, I'm gonna work today on that. I don't think I have a lot to contribute but if we can make a little extra cash that would be awesome!!
Speaking of cash......,. I am totally bombing this no spend challenge :( I shouldn't have started it until after the wedding. We all needed to buy something to wear to the wedding, then the kids needed shoes to wear.... so needless to say cash has been disappearing around here like crazy. I've had to take money out of savings to cover it all and no extra has been going in yet...:(

After Saturday thought its crunch time!! We don't have a choice because we are going to try to get our house in our name,( its in my parents name now), and the time has come to get try and get our very own first home loan!! We pay for the house payment and all the expenses that come with home ownership right now,, its just all in their name, so we arnt getting credit for it.
So we might end up needing some sort of down payment and we need to have the money in the bank for that..... Whew...........Scary stuff!

Tuesday

I am sad to say today was a spend day. And we had to take money out of the savings....:( It was a necessity though. Ben had a doctors appt. and then we had to get a prescription for him. Our checking was to low so we needed to transfer funds to cover the cost. Not exactly gonna help build the fund up, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Today went pretty fast, this morning we went to our local library and signed up for the summer reading program. They have prizes and lots of fun stuff for the kids to do, plus its all free! Then we went to our neighbors and played outside with them for a little bit. I have some of the best neighbors, they truly are great and we are blessed to have them in our lives! Then this evening I went and worked out at the Y! I never want to go, but once I get there and after I'm done I am so glad I went!

Hubby has to go into work tonight at 2 am! He is gonna be one sleepy boy tomorrow. the crappy thing is they are gonna send him home early so he wont get any overtime pay. :( That isn't allowed where he is working right now.

How is everyone doing that was gonna do the no spend challenge with me? Harder than you thought? NO difference?

I've had it. i just spent the last 2 hours fighting with my husband about money. Mainly about this no spend challenge, so I guess its off. It is impossible for do this by myself. What is the point of me suffering all week,, going without things, then the first chance he gets he runs to the bank and withdraws 20 bucks, without telling me!! I am trying to buy a whole weeks worth of groceries for 5 people,,,,, more when you count daycare kids,,,,, for 45 dollars.....(which buy the way didn't work out,,, it was impossible to get everything I needed for that and I was told if I didn't come home with everything on my list I would be in "trouble". I spent 65 total.

20 may seem like no big deal to some,, but when I'm trying so hard to spend so little, ...........It is a lot. :( I'm just so tired of it. We are like 2 different people and it scares me. We never resolve anything when we argue....he cant ever see my point.

I just don't see how I can do it, when he isn't on board with it. so I guess I will just try my hardest, and do what I can here and there. The problem is it makes me resent him,, when I'm doing things to save,, like only pennies on the dollar, and hes goes out and just blows money on things. What am I supposed to do? Obviously its not worth breaking up my marriage. Ugh.....

Then I found out that I will probably be losing yet another day care kid because the dad is changing shifts. whatever... I'm just about to give up. It seems the harder I try to make things work out, the worse it gets.

sorry about all the complaining. It really helps me to get it down into words though.

Back to reality

We were going through our finances and realized its time to tighten up the budget belts again...
I know, I know,,, its the story of my life! Bennie asked yesterday how much was in savings,,,, I've been kinda dreading that question. Not that I'm hiding anything from him, its just he doesn't always realize whats going on with things,,, he just asks for money and assumes its there and every things fine. Don't get me wrong,, we have some money,, just not as much as he thought.

Then he asks me,,, "well, what if I get layed off again?",,,, okay,, now how is that possibly my fault? Or how can I control that? Things just arnt going as planned because of getting the new car, We had planned on not having a car payment, and soon getting the truck payed off, but then WHAM,,,,,,, we are back to 2 car payments again... Plus since I thought we werent going to have car payments I went out and got the Y membership. Now I have ended up with more money going out than I had in the first place!! The truck will be payed off soon though.

I feel like a failure sometimes when it comes to money. He said I should run another ad for babysitting in the paper but,, I really do not like doing that.... Sometimes you get scary people coming to interview you and you never know what they are going to be like, or if you can trust them to pay you... I much rather have word of mouth people. Ugh..... Sometimes I wish I had a fancy degree and could go out and get a really good paying job,,, but then that would mean I would have to leave my babies with someone else and I don't like doing that. I am doing what I always want be doing,, its just not enough income sometimes.

I am going to sit down today and re figure out the budget. See what kinda shape we are in and how long it will take to build back up the savings to where we would like it to be.

The new ride

Here is the view of my driveway from my front door. It's a 2006 Dodge Durango Limited Edition!! Now first let me say we are not fancy show off type people. We went to the car lot with a budget and price range in mind . We were very happy to find out that in the last few years our credit score has went up over a hundred points!!! And our interest rate went down by over half of what it was!!! Out of all this craziness, that was just the best news ever to me. We have worked very hard to repair our credit and now I can finally see it has paid off!!!

Anyways, back to the new car. It fits 8 people, leather seats, heated front seats, sun roof, DVD player, 18 inch wheels,,,,it pretty much has everything you could ask for. I LOVE IT!! OH yeah,,, and it has a HEMI!! :) LOL Jess told me she felt like a rich girl riding in that car! The kids love it too! This is a big step up for us and it feels kinda nice.

I am still a nearvous wreck though about the driving, but I would say its better to be extra careful, than careless. Have a super great day.
Jill

Emma, budget and my diet

We took little Miss Emma to the doctor yesterday. Her finger is all red and swollen and she had a fever over the weekend and has been super grumpy. Well it ended up it was infected and he gave her antibiotics. So hopefully that will help, we arnt sure what the fever was from, but everyone else, accept for me has been sick so she probably has what they had. Its hard when they cant just tell you what is wrong.

As far as my grocery budget is going,, I spent about 100.00 over the weekend and with a couple of trips last week. So I'm not sure if the $250.00 thing for the month is gonna work. I don't know...I feel like I failed but at the same time that is a very little amount when you consider there is 5 people in my family, plus I provide food and snacks for my childcare kids that I watch. So maybe 250 isn't really a realistic number. I've read other blogs and somehow some people make it work,, maybe I just need more practice. I am not willing to sacrifice the nutrition of my family. I think I will continue to track my totals and see what everything averages out to over the next few months.

I am also ready to step up my weight loss game a little. I've only lost 15 pounds so far and have been stuck here at this same number for weeks! I know for a fact I am eating to much and not exercising enough so I'm gonna step up my game and try to buckle down and stop being lazy about this! My little sis has inspired me, she is like the cutest thing ever and is still trying to improve herself by living a healthier lifestyle, and my cousin is having w.l.s., on Thursday, so his lifestyle will be changing dramatically! I guess its my turn too! If you haven't read my weight loss story in the past you may do so here.http://jill-everydaymom.blogspot.com/2008/09/weight-loss.html I wrote that back in September,, and my feelings are still the same.

Thursday happenings

I went to the grocery today. Spent 65.00. I got some great deals though! So that brings my monthly total to 164 spent,,,, so I've got 86.00 for the rest of the month. Hmmmm... I should be able to do it.

Emma was extra ornery today. I lay ed her down for her afternoon nap. She whined a little but then got quiet so I thought she went to sleep. Well about 30 minutes later I heard her so I went in there and just about died. Her crib is by the wall and she had pulled down the border that we just put up in her room a few weeks back!...... I was so mad. It was just cheap stuff that we got from K-mart but still!!!! I managed to stick most of it back but there is one little piece missing. And the thing is now that she knows she can get it she will probably do that every time. We will see. Oh kids.... Ya gotta love them.

Tomorrow night we have the school carnival to go to with the kids, Jess is taking a friend and Gary is having one of his friends spend the night here. This will be his first sleep over here at our house. He has slept over at others houses but this will be the first time one of his friends comes here. It should be interesting!! Wish me luck!

Menu for the week and this weeks grochrey trip

This week I only spent $30.00 at the stores and have my meals for the week. I planned my menu around what I already had and am just got the things I didn't have to go with it. Here is my menu

Sunday: blueberry muffins, fried egg
leftovers
split pea soup

Weekday meals:
*corn dogs, cheesy mac, corn
*ham and cheesy potatoes
*garlic Parmesan noodles, garlic bread
*grilled cheese, leftover soup
*pizza pasta

Saturday: pancakes
leftovers
chili, cornbread

Here is the breakdown of my shopping trip,, before I went I checked Owens to see what kind of sales they had so I could see if I could get a better deal there than at Aldis,, also I have been buying there store brand of diapers ( they work good), and this week I had a $3 off coupon for their diapers which are only 6.99 anyways! So I needed ham for the split pea soup,, already had the peas and needed ham for the cheesy potatoes,, already had potatoes and Owens had ham on sale for 99cents a pound!! there eggs were on sale also,,, everything else I could get cheaper at Aldi.

Owens (same thing as Kroger)
cooked ham-4.67
lrg eggs-.99
comfort diapers3.99

total 9.93

Aldi
bananas-1.68
garlic cheese toast-1.64
Cheerios-1.59
shredded co-jack cheese-2.49
shredded mozzarella-3.29
light sour cream-.99
cottage cheese-2.29
skim milk-2.49
vit D mild-2.69
paper bag .06
ketchup-1.15
whole grain white bread-1.29
Total--21.65


I highly suggest if you have an Aldi nearby to shop there,,,, the basic supplies you need are almost always cheaper there, and then shop the sale fliers and use coupons for everything else.

One of the hardest things for me is that we are out of meat right now in our freezer so until we get to buy that half of beef later in the year I am just gonna have to plan some vegetarian meals, which hubby hates by the way, and plan my meals around the meat thats on sale that week.

Grocery budget

I am happy to announce that with my meal plan and making my list to go with sale fliers this week I only spent 30.00 on groceries this week and that includes diapers that I bought!! I am proud of myself. I think I am going to set my budget for 50.00 per week. I haven't decided if I will put the 20 I didn't spend this week for a different week that I might go over or just be happy with only spending 30. What do you think?

Happy Friday

Happy Friday to everyone out there in blog land! :)

I've got good news and bad.......I survived the first phase of my root canal! It wasn't much fun but 1 hour and 45 minutes later I made it! I will still need to go back 2 more times for the whole procedure to be finished.



The bad news....... its bad, real bad... I debated on even posting about it, but then figured what the heck,,,,
When my husband came home from work today he informed me that he has been lay ed off.
Obviously not good news. Times are tough and with the will of God, hopefully we will get through this. They said he should be able to return to work after 8 weeks. So here is the plan,,,,, buy absolutely NOTHING that is not a necessity!!! Try to pay all bills and still have money for diapers and food! Don't let anyone get sick because we have no insurance for the next two months! Be able to get along with my husband with him being around 24 seven!!



Its gonna be an interesting ride,,,, don't ya think?