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!

Soup and the Ballet

Remember that chicken in the crock pot from my last post?  Well from that one chicken I made a crock pot full of chicken broth that I froze some of, and then I turned the rest of the broth and leftover chicken that we didn't eat the night before into yummy homemade chicken noodle soup!  I kept it simple, chicken, broth, noodles, carrots, onions, and seasonings simmered on the stove for a couple of hours.  It was yummy.

 Saturday we were treated to the ballet.  My mom bought tickets for all of us(thanks Mom).  It was Cinderella, the girls really enjoyed it as did I.  The only problem was I had nothing to wear.  My old dressy clothes are way to big and sloppy looking but we managed to throw some pieces together and I didn't look to bad. :)  The shirt and skirt were some of my sisters old things,, mom had the skirt, it was what she had worn to her high school graduation.  New to me though :)

 They didn't let us take any pictures during the performance but I took a couple beforehand.  Jess and Emmas smiling faces

 And me and Amira :)

Afterwards we went out to dinner.  Yummy Mexican food!  I splurged on my calories and just ate what sounded good.  Yum

Homemade is the only way

Oh, I really need to start doing better with this blogging business. . I just cant decide if I wanna do it or not, I can totally write the post in my head while I'm folding clothes or making dinner, but to actually take the time and sit down to type it out and upload pics is hard.  

Anyways we have been doing fabulous not eating out and  making things from scratch.  In fact if I mention buying something from the store, for example tortillas, Ben about goes crazy.  He says why buy something when we can make it ourselves.  Its all good and dandy, but geez it sure is a LOT  more work and a LOT more kitchen clean up for me!  We have been making all kinds of pizzas, we've done tortillas

, I made some breakfast hot pockets that went in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast for the the kiddos before school.  We made homemade egg rolls the other day and they were delish!!!  All this yummy food and we are still trying to lose the weight.  Its coming off still, slowly but surely.  43 pounds down,, it was 50 but I gained some over the holidays.  We try to fit in our exercise most days.  I've decided without it I wont be losing any weight.  So elliptical and weights it is along with some exercise videos thrown in here and there.  And counting my calories on myfitnesspal.com  feel free to add me on a friend on there!

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!

Weekned and our menu for the week

We had a pretty good weekend.  It went by way to fast.
Friday night Ben worked, so he slept Saturday for a while,
while he was sleeping I was cleaning.  Then Saturday
evening my sister and her husband came over for dinner and to hang out for awhile.  It was fun.  Emma just

 loves her Aunt Dawn and Uncle Johnathan.  I made taco salad and tacos for dinner.  Then we just hung out, sang karaoke and had a camp fire.  We were up late so Sunday was a lazy day.  We slept in and layed around for most of the day.  I did manage to get out and get some groceries for the week. 

On Sunday our cable box stopped working completely. :(   So until we can get someone to come out and fix it its just netflix in the living room for us.  Its not to big of deal for me.  I've been hinting around to Ben that we have been having so much trouble with our cable company we should just cancel it completely.  He doesnt agree though. LOL.   This week is our towns fair.  I think were going out to it on Tuesday night,, thats kiddie day so all rides are just a dollar.  Besides that I dont think we have any plans.  I really need to start limiting our trips into town so we can save our cash.  I need to fully focus really hard on building our savings and paying off debt.  I've not been doing so well with that lately so I'm gonna be going gung ho!!   
Here's my menu for the week:
Monday-B-zucchini muffins, sausage pattys
              L-hot dogs, mac n cheese, frozen fruit
              D-BBQ ribs, baked potatoes baked zucchini sticks, peas
Tuesday-B-cereal
              L-make your own pizzas
              D-? not sure if we will eat at the fair or not
WednesdayB-waffles
                  L-noodles
                  D-sausage lentil soup
Thursday B-cereal
               L- tater tot casserole
               D-BBQ chicken, pasta salad, green beans
Friday-B-pancakes
            L-homemade version of hamburger helper
            D- hamburgers

HOMEMADE TORTILLAS

Have you ever looked at the list of ingredients on a package of tortillas in the store?  Its a long list of words I can't pronounce.  I decided very spur of the moment yesterday try out making some on my own.  After a bit of research I found one I liked that used only 4 ingredients(and I could pronounce all of them). 

white whole wheat flour
salt
butter
water

Can't get much simpler than that!  Here's what I did:

1. Mix together 2 cups flour and 1t.salt

2.Cut in 1/4 cup of slightly softened butter (you do not need a fancy pastry cutter for this.  I took 2 butter knifes and held them together and cut the butter in) til it starts to look crumbly

3.Then add you add 1/2 cup water.  Mix and toss with a fork, then kneed for a couple of minutes.  Then u take it and put it in the fridge for at least 4 hrs. 

4. Take dough out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.  Make around 8-10 balls depending on how big you want them.  Flour a surface and roll the balls out until they are as flat as you can get them.  I rolled out then flipped over and rolled some more.  Heat a ungreased griddle to 400degrees and place tortillas on it for about 20 seconds until they start to brown and bubble on that side then flip them over until the other side it browned.  

It's that easy!  Eat right away or store in fridge or freezer!   I only made this one batch yesterday, but next time I think I'll double or triple the batch.  My family LOVED them.  I also figure them to be a lot cheaper than the good whole wheat ones you would buy in the store.

Here is the stack I made,, mine were not perfectly round,, but really,, who cares?

And here's one with some goodies in it.

My three year old helped me roll out the little balls and had a great time. She said it was like playing with play dough.  I made these with the intention of making enchiladas but Emma and I just had to taste one before we rolled them all up and covered them with sauce.   Yummy!

Quick thoughts

It's getting late and I'm tired.  I'm sitting here waiting for my 3rd shift child care kid to come so I can head to bed.  I'm feeling very grumpy tonight,, I dont like feeling this way.  My lower back is KILLING me.  This has been happening to me every month.  The pain is darn near unbearable.  I'm thinking it has something to do with my monthly cycle because it happens every single month.  It's not cramps, its all in my back but it seems to happen a week or two before my period starts.  Not sure why.  It makes doing almost everything painful and hard.   My laundry is piling up something fierce,, I've  been doing some just havent taken the time to fold or put away.  I have to get on top of that tomorrow. 

Another reason I'm so aggravated is the last 3 weeks my grocery bill has been outrageous!  Since I started weight watchers I've been buying different kinds of foods.  My bill has been crazy.  I've been thinking a lot and I dont wanna buy fat free everything,,, I wanna still be able to make food from scratch, and eat whole healthy natural food.  Not buy processed stuff because its easier to count the points that way.   Ugh,,,, It is working, but I think I could still continue to loose weight buy watching my portions and eating healthy.  I'm paid up for 3 months before I have to renew my subscription again.  I might not do it.  

We have been very loose lately with our spending also.  We have made a lot of big purchased over the past few months..And while we did pay cash and didnt use credit to buy any of it I think its time to buckle down again and really watch  where our money is going.  We have a fun thing planned for Memorial Day weekend and I wanna make sure we have plenty of cash for that and yet still have money in the bank when we come home.  

Well she's here now, so I"m off to brush my teeth, let the doggie out and head to my awesome bed... Some days I really wish I could just stay in there all day and sleep the day away...haha.

Productive weekend

Happy Monday all!  We had a busy weekend, but a great one.  First Friday night I went to the Pierceton re-sale  contributor's sale.  I got a few cute things and didnt spend much!  Saturday the kids had a dentist appt., so we went to that.  It was Emmas first time at the dentist and she did wonderful!  I was so proud of her,, and no cavities for anyone!  I took a pic on my phone,, sorry bout the thumb i) the picture, LOL.  Then we met my mom and step dad for lunch and then went to the Home and Garden show, Hobby Lobby(so the kids could buy supplies for the dream catcher my step dad has been wanting to make with them, I also bought some cute material to make cloth napkins with).  After that we went to Sam's Club and got some: sweet pickles, 10lb. hamburger, poptarts, sourcream, nectarines, dish soap, frozen strawberries, fresh organic strawberries, angel food cake,eggs, bagel thins, and english muffins,, and a soft fuzzy blanket!   We were all pretty tired by the time we got home,, it was quiet a long day.

Then on Sunday we went over to my moms so the kids could make their dream catchers and I could have them help remind me how to set up my sewing machine thats been sitting in the closetcollecting dust for 10 years.  We got to work and cut the material,, pinned the sides for the seams, and sewed away!  I did all the sewing by myself and you will never believe who helped withthe pinning and pressing of the seams.....Bennie!  My sweet amazing husband!  He had been hanging out on the couch and decided to mozy over and see how we were doing,, mom showed him what to do and he got to work and helped until the job was done!  I did all the sewing, all by myself.   I am so proud of myself!  Now I'm thinking of what else I could do,, I would love to try and sew some aprons for myself and the girls.   The napkins are so cute sitting in the middle of my table in this old looking wire basket I got!  I will take some pictures soon and show ya'll.   I decided to do that napkins in hopes of going through less paper towels,, for frugal and enviormental reasons :)  
In between the sewing I had to take a break and go pick up my money for the items I sold at the kids sale.  I ended up making $75.50!  I was very happy with that!  I had a few things left over that I will put in the Kids Market sale this weekend and try to sell. 

Next weekend will be a busy one too,, kids market volunteering on Thursday evening,, the sale on Friday evening, Saturday us girls are going to Disney Princess' on Ice at the Colosseum, and then probably going to my dad's house Sunday sometime cause we havent been over there in a long time.   All those things will be fun though so I'm excited!    How did everyone else's weekends go?   I've noticed a few new followers to the blog,,please feel free to comment anytime and introduce yourself.  I love hearing from people!

A quick break for a update

Whew...it feels good to sit for a minute.  I've been a busy lady today.  This mornig I made a huge batch of sausage egg and cheese bisquts for breakfast and the freezer, then had to clean up after that. 
   Then I had to take a shower and get ready to go to Wal-mart so Emma could get her big girl toy.  Last night she finally decided to give her binky up to the binky fairy and she put all of them in a envelope and left them out for the fairy to take them to a new baby that needed them since she is a big girl now. :)   She went right to sleep and slept the whole night through!  Then when she woke up this morning the binky fairy had left her a cute little note and some cash for her new toy!  I'm so proud of her,, I didnt pressure her to do this.  We have been talking about it a lot and when we were at the library yesterday we picked up a book called bye bye pacifier.  Before bed she said she wanted to put her binky in a envelope like the girl in the book!!!  I was thrilled, and scared I would be in for a long night, but like I said she did great!   She hasn't asked for it at all today but I think its been on her mind.  Nap time didnt go to well, she didnt fall asleep but some days she just doesnt take naps so hopefully that was the case and she isnt gonna not nap for me anymore.  We will see how tonight goes.  
   When we got home from the store I made lunch,, cleaned up from that and then since then I've been working on getting my kids stuff  hung tagged and priced for the kids resale thing coming up tomorrow!  thats a big task  but I love getting the check and getting to shop for "new" used clothes for the kids.  These second hand sales are such a blessing in my life! 
   I'm still working on going through things and decluttering around the house.  We have such limited space here we really dont have room for all our stuff.  The goal is to only keep whats needed and figure out the best way keep/store the stuff we need and use.   
  Anyways, I guess I should get back to work,,,:(    I need a maid.  LOL

Content

I'm not absolutely sure when this happened, but I'm glad it did.  I was just sitting here with Emma watching Cailou, listening to Bennie snore beside us(he's taking a nap before going to work tonight),  and thinking to myself,, I'm happy.  I love this.  I love sitting at home with my family not doing anything.  Not having to go or be anywhere.  I'm content. 
There was a time in my life that I felt like we constantly needed somewhere to go or be, even if that ment just going to my moms house. I felt like we were boring or something if we just sat at home.  But now I really enjoy just hanging out here.. dont get me wrong I also like doing things outside the house but it doesnt bother me to be here, especially when Ben is home with us. 

I was able to get out by myself this morning and go to Walmart.  It was so nice to take my time and not worry about chasing after anyone.  I got a new drying rack.  This one says heavy duty so I hope it holds up for a little while.  I like being able to air dry stuff even in the winter time. With as much laundry that goes on around here I'm sure I save on electricity by using the dryer less.  I'm still going strong with using my homemade liquid laundry detergent.  I think its working great and saving us loads of cash. :)  I hope everyone reading this has had a great weekend.  Coming up this week I'm planning on writing a post of all the frugal things that I do, to give you some tips and you guys can give me some ideas on things that I could also be doing. 

Stocking up and more snow :(

Its snowing again!!!  I am so sick and tired of cold and snow!  I'm really hoping for a early spring this year!

Were having a kind of lazy Saturday today.  We did go into town for a little bit to get some groceries that we didnt get last night.  Yesterday Martins in our town was having a truck load meat sale!  They also had some other really good sales on other items. We went and got quite of bit of stuff. We got some steaks!  We rarely buy steak due to the high price but they were supposed to have boneless rib eyes for 5.99 a pound,,normally I think they are close to ten.  We were gonna get some of those but they were all out but they seemed to have replaced the ribeyes with t-bones so we got a couple of them.  We also got two 3lb bags of boneless skinless chicken breast for 3.99 for the whole bag!  The also had bulk pork sausage for pretty cheap,, they had different kinds,, I got some Italian sausage, the only other kind left was spicy hot so I didnt get that.  I would have gotten breakfast type but they were out,,, guess we shoulda gotten there earlier in the day.   I will split it up into bags with my food saver cause it was a in bulk.  I'm so glad we got that thing, its really coming in handy.  We got quite of few other items but I wont list them here.  When things are super cheap thats the time to buy!  Today we went to Aldis to get  a few other items that we needed that I knew were cheaper there.   We ended up spending two hundred dollars on food between yesterday and today but its gonna last up a while. 

I wrote up a budget at the beginning of the month and plan to stick with it.  I felt that we were getting a little to relaxed with our spending and now its time to get back on track again!  I set our food allowance to be $500 for the month and between groceries and eating out we have already spent 300!  Thats not good!  So more than likely no more eating out for the rest of the month.  I think two hundred on groceries is doable to last us since I stocked up so well this weekend.  I'll try and keep you updated if I am able to keep to the budgeted amount.  As our family is growing our food seems to be disappearing faster and faster now adays. 

And now just for your viewing pleasure here's Emma,  She wore this princess dress all day the other day,, when I asked her if she wanted to take it off she said "no mommy, I'm a princess"   and that she is. :)

Liquid laundry soap

Someone had asked for the recipe I used to make my laundry soap so it it goes:

Homemade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap

1 cup washing soda

1 cup borax powder

You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallons

Grate the soap and put it in a saucee pan.  Add 6 cups of water and heat until the soap dissolves.  Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket.  Now add your soap mixture and stir.  Now add 1 gallon plus  6 cups of water and stir.  Let the soap sit for 24 hours and it will gel.  Used 1/2 cup per load. 

I am really enjoying this liquid soap. I also add a scoop of Sun (generic oxyclean from the Dollar Store) to each load.  I feel it gives it a extra boost and our water is a little hard so I think this helps.  I am on my second batch now and plan on continuing to use it.   Another helpful tip I have is to pour the soap into a old detergent bottle for easy pouring!

Thoughtful Thursday--Eating out

I decided Thursdays are now officially thoughtful Thursdays here at Everyday Life of a Mom.  It will be the day that I will share something that's been on my mind.  If you have your own blog and wanna do a thoughtful Thursday post feel free and just leave you blog address in the comments section and please link your post back to my blog, and of course please feel free to comment and let me know what you think of my post.  

Today's topic here is on "Eating Out".   My family LOVES to eat out.  I'm not sure why,,, I know I'm a fairly good cook and they always compliment me on my cooking.  I like to eat out because it leaves little to no work on my part :)  Plus the food is yummy,, but I was thinking and there are many disadvantages to eating out also...I'll name a few...

 1. costly----hardly anywhere can you go that you can get a well balanced meal for less than you can make it at home.  (I say that because some could argue that you could go to Mc Donald's and buy a cheeseburger for a dollar and you cant make a cheeseburger at home for a dollar,, but that is NOT  a healthy well balanced meal)

2. unhealthy,, fattening food  (when I go out to eat I am not thinking of any diet,,, I figure if I'm going out and paying for it I might as get something I really wanna eat.)

3.  stressful ---For me anyways,, when we go out with my kids in tow,, there is always some kinda drama when the little one is there.  If its just Ben and I then no its not stressful.

4.  Guilt-----  lately whenever we go out I feel so stinking guilty.  I view it my job to provide my family with their meals.  When we go out to eat that usually means I was to lazy that day and didn't feel like cooking.  I failed to suck it up and make something.  I mean really,, how hard is it to boil some noodles and throw some spaghetti sauce over it?  As a wife it is my job to help be smart with our money.  And going out to eat is really a waste of it.  For that $40.00 meal my husband had to work like 2 in a half hours...or if you look at if from what I make, that's watching one kid for 2in a half days!!!!!  Is it really worth it? 

This is what I need to think of next time I don't feel like cooking.  My money goals right now are to important and I need to keep my eyes on the prize. 

And one more thing,, this is not to offend anyone.  If you have the cash and its not hurting you to go out to eat than more power to ya.  I am not one to judge.  I am purely speaking for myself and my unique situation.

for more frugal tips visit lifeasmom.com

Laundry soap results

ugh,,,,I'm not feeling very well.  I have this nasty head cold and now its moving into my chest.  I should have posted earlier about our weekend and thanksgiving cause already it seems like it was so long ago!  We did have a great Thanksgiving,, spent some time at mom's house, then went to my dad's.  The boys hunted,,big surprise, lol.  Shot gun season is officially over and they didn't get anything.  But mussel loader season starts on Saturday so Ben will be out again.  I really want him to get one,, even 2 would be nice so we can start filling our freezer back up.  He gets so crappy when he doesn't get a deer and then is in a grumpy mood so it would be nice if he could get one and lift his spirits also.  The two of us have been having a rough time as of lately.  Isn't it funny how marriage has so many ups and downs.  I know we will get through it, we always do.  I just have to let go of my expectations. 

I've been using the liquid laundry detergent I made for over a week now and I am really liking it.  Seems to be getting all the clothes just as clean as anything else I've used.  Of course I still pretreat the stains,, I have been using Tide pretreating spray and it really works pretty well!  So I think I have found my new detergent to stick with.  I still use fabric softener so our clothes can still have a yummy smell.
I know I was gonna talk about more stuff but my brain is to stuffed up to think so this will be it for now.  Have a wonderful day all you people out there in bloggy land.

It's Wednesday!  That means this week is half over!!   I live for the weekends...there is just so much less stress around here.  Although I will loose my husband to the woods starting Saturday, cause that is the first day of shot gun season.  He is so excited.  We don't see much of him during deer season.  I can deal with that,, I just hope he can get one this year...he hasn't had much luck the last few years and it sure would be nice to have some meat in the freezer.  Even though venison is not my favorite....Beggars can't be choosers. :)

Last night we had a basket ball bonfire to go to.  Jessica's basketball team has a get together for all the parents and team mates... Kinda like a meet and greet.  The kids had a blast,,,it was right beside a playground so they got to play...oh,, and it was dark cause it gets dark here at 6pm now... I think playing in the dark was even more fun for them.  Its always kinda awkward for us at those things.....I don't know if Ben and I look stuck-up or what,, but no one ever really talks to us.  All the parents already seem to know each other and Ben and I are just kinda standing there twiddling our thumbs....luckily we had Emma to chase after so we couldn't really sit around the fire and talk anyways.  I'm kinda a shy person and I guess so is Ben.   I want to get to know other parents but am to scared to initiate the conversations.  That's kinda the story of my life.

Before the bonfire I ran to Owen's cause I noticed they were having some great deals....yesterday was the last day for them.. I went in and only got the best deals,,spent $24  and saved $24!  I love when I have those kinda receipts.  Most items were canned goods and pasta,,,they were all on sale for 49 cents if you bought ten(mix and match).  Plus ground chuck was 1.77 a pound so I grabbed some of that.  Good deals!

Right now I've got taco soup in the crock pot for dinner smelling Yummy!    Ta Ta for now.

Monday ramblings

We had a nice weekend.  We really didnt do anything,,, we went to my mom's house on Saturday afternoon and visited.  Sunday we stayed home.  It was great!  I think we needed to just hang out and relax.   I did a lot of cleaning on Sunday,,another advantage of staying home!  The greatest thing of all was since we stayed home we didn't spend any money! Woo HOo!  I am also proud of us because I stuck to my guns and we didnt eat out.  Sunday during dinner I said to the family,, I'm so proud of us we did really good this weekend.  My husband knew exactly what I meant cause he said, I know but it was hard.....that puzzled me,, I said I was talking about not eating out, and he said I know.   I'm not sure why it's hard for him to not eat out,,,,I'm the one cooking and cleaning up the meals. LOL   I guess he just enjoys the treat of having something different every now and then.   Last night after dinner I made apple dumplings!  They were sooo good,  and sooo fattening!    I'm gonna really try and start watching myself and what I eat.  Florida time is coming up and I don't want to feel like a big blob while were there.  I really wanna get back to where I was before I had Emma,, its just so hard for some reason!   Not much else to say today,,, Enjoy your day

Frugal Friday tip--Reusing coffee grounds

In a effort to up my traffic on my blog I'm going to start participating in some blog carnivals.  Over of Life as Mom every Friday they have tips for being frugal.   My tip this week is about coffee. 

My coffee maker is kinda cool.  You can use it to make a pot of coffee or you can use it to just fill up those reusable themas cups.  You can see it here.  I didnt pay nearly that much though.  Through the week when its just me I make myself a themas full of coffee,,,,I'm a little addicted and one just isn't enough.   So when I go to make my second cup I reuse the grounds that are already in there and just add half as much as I normally would.  It taste just as good and strong and fresh!   Coffee is not cheap and this is a way to make it stretch.  I do the same thing on the weekend cause Ben and I normally go through two pots,,, he doesn't know though, I 'm sure he would think it was awful...so shhhhhhh , don't tell him. :)  hehehe

For more frugal tips check out Life as Mom

Use what you've got

The other day we ran out of shower gel. It was the middle of the week so I was hoping to not have to run to the store so I decided to check the cabinets to see what we had. OH MY, I found lots of little trial sized shower gels. Jackpot! Then that got me thinking.......I wonder how many duplicates I have of some items. After looking around the house I decided I have a overabundance of things and I need to stop buying them until I actually run out of that particular item! Doing this will help me free up some space and save some money!

I took a little inventory of items and made out a list,, here it is:

Hygiene:
-lots of little sized shower gels,,,none bought buy me,,, most were given as gifts or just given to us by family not wanting them any more.
-lots of body lotion!
-3/4 gallon jug of hand soap refill, bought at Sam's Club

Laundry:
-around 2 cups homemade powder laundry det.
-1/2 full big bucket powdered Wind Fresh laundry det. from Sam's Club
3/4 container Wisk liquid laundry det.
-Big container Downey fabric softer, just recently bought from Sam's Club

Now I know what your thinking....who has 3 different open containers of laundry soap??? Well,,, me, lol, I have a little obsession with laundry and various smells and seeing how cheap I can go with it still working good. I love Tide but hate the price tag. I have had mixed results with the homemade soap. I think my main problem is it not having a smell to it,, that's the same thing with the super cheap WindFresh I bought from Sam's,, so I decided when I use the cheap-o soap I just need to use a good smelling fabric softener to be happy. I'm going to finish off all of these detergents and then try the liquid homemade version I think. :)

Air Fresheners:
1/4 bottle Febreze Downey Fabric Refresher
3/4 bottle Febreze Hawaiian Aloha air refresher
1/4 bottle Glade Cinnamon
*like I said,m I'm obsessed with smells

Cleaning Products:

Furniture Polish:
1/4 bottle Great Value polish
1/4 bottle orange glow almond polish
1/8 bottle Murphy's oil soap wood cleaner

Windex:
1/4 bottle

All purposecleaner:
1/2 bottle arm and hammer essentials

Toilet bowl cleaner:
1/2 bottle The Works

Bathroom/Tub cleaner:
-1and 1/2 bottles Comet
-Full Kaboom Foamtastic
-1/4 bottle soft scrub deep clean
-1/4 bottle the Works tub and shower cleaner
*that's a little embarrassing, lol, to my defense I am constantly trying new products because with Ben working at Dalton's the dirt and grim that comes off his body when he comes home and shower is disgusting and very hard on our bathtub!

And last but not least I have something from shaklee, its called Basic H . Almost a full bottle and u dilute it when you use it.. It would probably last me a year or more!!!

So as you can see I have a LOT! I am making a vow to not buy another one of these things until I am down to my last bottle and its empty! It might be awhile before I ever have to buy a cleaning product. so is this normal? Do you have a lot of cleaners around your house? Do you want to use it before you buy like me?

Frugal Fake

That's what I feel like. I big old frugal fake! I talk about saving money and making my own cleaners, saving at the grocery...and while I do a lot of those things, I feel like I screw up in so many other areas that I'm wasting my time with the other things.


Honestly, what difference does it make if I spend an hour making my own homemade laundry detergent to save a few bucks when the next day we go out to eat and spend $30.00? Does that make sense?



I feel like whats the point? I try so hard to scrimp and save and then it all gets blown in a matter of an hour. I am not blaming it all on others,,, I am to blame too. Last night we went out for ice cream when we had ice cream in the freezer. And I didn't even try to say no or talk anyone out of it. So I'm partly to blame to. But I realize the depth
of the situation now and if something doesn't change soon my family is going to be extremely disappointed come December. I have decided that I personally can do nothing about the way my family feels about money. I can argue and fight til my head falls off,,,,believe me I know, I've tried, but there is nothing I can say to change my husbands mind about saving money.




So there are only 2 options that I can see....


1. leave....since he is the major breadwinner and we have 3 kids, I can't really see how that would help my financial situation


or


2. do the best I can by myself,,,,be as frugal as possible by myself,,, put back every cent that I can and try my hardest to not let him talk me into taking it back out of savings. Be strong,, and keep positive about the situation, trying not to feel down or deprived.


And lead by example for my kids.



Obviously its number 2. Wish me luck.

Lots of stuff.....

Oh my,, I can not believe its been over a week since I have blogged! Everyday I get a idea in my head of something to write about but then when I find the time to sit down and type the idea is lost,,, I need to start writing them down! Lots has happened since my last post..let's see...

Jess and Gary both tried out for the school soccer team.. Gary got cut after the first day of tryouts and Jess ended up making it. Talk about a hard situation. That was my worst fear when they both tried out and it happened. I actually think Gary handled it pretty well though. He was very bummed but he's gonna try out again next year and he will continue to play for the CCAC soccer league in the spring. Jess is very excited! It's a co-ed team and she is one of the only 2 girls! She's gonna have to be tough!

Saturday we had dentist appointments for the oldest 2 kiddos. NO cavities! WOOHOo! So now I owe them each $5.00, I made that deal a while ago with them that every time they came out with no cavities I would pay them because fillings are expensive and if I can give them a little incentive to brush well.....then that's still cheaper than paying to have extra dental work done.

After the dentist we went Sam's Club shopping and stocked up on a few things. Then went to Aldis for the rest of our groceries. I ended up spending 200 on groceries this week,,, but I hadn't been to the store in 2 weeks. Plus some things I got at Sam's club will last a long time. I was thinking of writing a post on Sam's club and what I get there,,,what I've found to be bargains,,anyone interested in that or not?

Sunday we went to the Indiana Sand Dunes!! It was sooo fun. Its about a hour and a half drive and its only $5.00 per car to get in. We packed our lunch. When we got there we found out the water was closed due to dangerous rip currants :( WE still were able to play along the shore line and get wet and splashed by the big waves though. It was fun,, even Ben sat there with the kids and let the waves crash on him. I could tell he really enjoyed it,, I think it reminded him of the ocean. WE also hiked up the big sand hills and buried each other in the sand. I took some pictures but not nearly as many as I'd hoped to because me camera broke while we were there. the lens wont go back in so I don't know if there is sand trapped in it or what but I'm lost without my camera. :(

I've got a chicken roasting in the crock pot right now and after its done I'm gonna debone it and were having chicken tacos for supper tonight, and tomorrow chicken and homemade noodles with mashed potatoes!! YUMMY!