Down

Sometimes I think I'm bipolar. My moods are up and down. It's quite ridiculous. I went from feeling happy and warm and fuzzy inside to feeling hopeless and sad. Within a matter if 24 hours. I know part of this is due to my birth control pills. The first week in the pill pack always hits my emotions hard for some reason. At least I recognize  it.  I try to not let my feelings reflect on my family but it's hard sometimes.  

Anyways I'm just bummed and it's all about money.  Not being able to buy presents this year for Christmas. And these stupid bills. And my cabinets keep getting emptier and emptier. And I keep saying Im doing this no spend challenge but in all truthfulness after November nothing is going to have changed. And we still have bills to pay so im not sure how I'm  gonna restock my food supply.  Ugh.  Sorry. Just sitting here on my phone before bed and had to get this out.  I'm not looking for sympathy and I don't mean to be a whiner. It just worries me. And makes me feel like a crap mom. 

Praying things get better !

Kohls and weight issues :(

I had $20 Kohls cash given to me the other day.  It was expiring soon and I wasnt gonna waste it so last night I went into kohls, I also had a $10 off $30 coupon,, so more or less I had a free $30 to use. Very exciting.  I hardly ever buy myself any clothes so I went in with a purpose of buying something for myself.  I really need a new pair of jeans.  I tried on about 5 pairs,, nothing fit right,,, the shirts I tried on that I though might have been to big were to tight :(     All in all it sucked.  I almost cried right there in the dressing room.  I was doing so well with my weight loss I had gotten up to 50 pounds lost and something happened and now I'm only 35 pounds lost,, which means Ive gained 15 pounds,,,, actually Ive gained 3 more and havent logged it into mfp, so 18 in a matter of a couple months...thats not normal.   I have been eating more junk and snacking,,,, I've been depressed about money issues and I'm a emotional eater.  I NEED to get this under control and get back to where I was and lose more.  It depresses me Its like I have to be perfect all the time or the weight just creeps right back on me faster than ever.   Ugh,,, I know I'm whining, but this is a real issue for me.  I need to have this self control over food.  I will get this!!!  I will I will I will I will I will I will
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I did end up getting 2 shirts,, they totaled 50 but with my coupons and kohls cash I only had to pay 20. I used my kohls card.   So Ben says I ruined my no spending challenge.. Whatever..... I"m still doing it,,, necessity......

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!

Sick :(

I think I have a sinus infection. My head hurts so bad, there is so much pressure it feels like its gonna explode!~   So I want to write but it hurts to bad to concentrate. Hopefully I'll  be back soon,  no spending going on though in case you were wondering, although the whole family got into a big argument about it last night :(

No spend challenge

My house smells yummy!  I've got a crock pot full of pinto beans cooking on low.  Were having tacos for dinner and we will use them in those, but there will be lots of leftovers.  Ill freeze some and we will eat some throughout the week.  Makes for yummy lunches!  I love having things going in my crock pot.  Just knowing dinner is mostly taken cared of makes me feel good.  And normally if anything is in the crock that means we will have leftovers.  I consider leftovers free food Yall!! 

So I decided yesterday our household is doing a no spend challenge for the remainder of the month.  The only thing we will buy is gas for the car and Thanksgiving is coming up so if I need to take something to my moms for that we will have to buy that.  Otherwise no money spending! 
I haven't been spending much money,, only on groceries, but we have some doctor bills that need paying otherwise they are gonna be sent off to collections so my grocery money is going for that!  So really this no spend challenge is more out of necessity than for fun, but everything seems better when you make a game of it right? 

I went through the outside freezer and the inside and went through all the cupboards as to see what I will have to work with.  I think we will be fine.  I made a list(love making list), so it will be easy to keep track of what we have and help me in deciding what to make. 

I'm doing little updates on snapchat, add me on there if ya have it. everdaymomof3
I'm also gonna   update on here

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!

Weekend overview

Wow, whata weekend! It went way to fast. Saturday was soccer games then in the evening I had my little sisters bachelorette party. I was a little nervous about going but it turned out really fun! She has some pictures up of it over on her blog. I didn't go out the the bar with them but I went to dinner and her apt. for a couple drinks and games. Brandy and I won the carve the male anatomy out of a cucumber game! Who knew we were such artist. :) lol

So today I was a pretty tired girl and Emma woke up early. She hasn't been feeling well this weekend, I'm not sure whats wrong with her, she just isn't herself. We went to my moms for lunch and for me to cut my step-dads hair. Then to Walmart to get the boys something to wear to the wedding next weekend. Wal-mart is not good for me when I'm trying to have no spend days. Unfortunately this weekend defiantly wasn't a no spend weekend. I don't have any excuses accept for it is really hard no to spend any money!!!

I'm pretty sleepy and hope to sleep well tonight. I gotta get up early in the morning for Mira to come. Here is hoping for a fantastic week ahead.

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.

June 5 spending

Yesterday we went dress hunting. I found a really pretty one for half off and then I got 15% off of that with a coupon! So I ended up getting a $90 dress for $40. And I had already planned on getting it so that doesn't count in the no spend challenge. I had budgeted in more than that to buy the dress with so I also bought a shower curtain liner, it was only 3.99, and I needed it.

Tonight is probably the night that I'll go grocery shopping and see how far I can stretch that $45. Its not looking good. I'll let ya know how I do.

NO spend again!

Yay for me! I held strong and waited it out. I made my own BBQ sauce for the pizza last night and it was quite yummy! Didn't spend any money.

Shannon, as for your question about his/her money,,, no not really like that. What it is, is he doesn't carry a debit card or anything with him so every week I give him money for the week to use as he pleases. Its really for gas/drinks, snacks at work/ his golf league. He used to get $80, but now its $60, cause he is quitting smoking and I take the extra 20 and put it in a fund for his "reward" for quitting ( his mussel loader). That way just works best for us. Before I used to do that he was using a ridiculous amount of money each week,, this way it keeps him in check cause he can look and see what he has left.

Today is pay day for me, so I should get my cash. And my goal is to figure out how to stretch it to get the things we need.

No spend Day 1

Well I did it. I didn't spend any money. This is harder than I thought. I shoulda did like Shannon is gonna do and went to the store one last time. But since I didn't have any cash, I didn't feel like it was fair for me to do that. Like I said yesterday, I'm outta coffee, then i realized last night that BBQ pizza is on the menu tonight, and I'm outta BBQ sauce and pizza sauce. But I am going to be resourceful and try to make up my own homemade sauce to go on it tonight, cause my family is really looking forward to eating it, I don't want to just make something else. Then Ben yesterday is like when are you going to the store, I need razors and shaving cream! Ugh......that means outta my measly $45.00 this week those things will have to come out of it,,, and they arnt cheap! Due to me having a little money in the bank it would be so easy for me just to run out and swipe that debit card,,,,, BUT......that would be cheating, and I'm not gonna do that! I will say though that I should have waited til Friday to start this challenge when I actually had some cash.

OH, one more thing,, on the way to the soccer game Ben wanted to know if we could get coffeefrom the gas station,, I told him not outta my money,,, so he used his own to buy it. But that doesn't count as spending because it came outta his work money.

Do you want to join me?

I was thinking today and if anyone wants to join me on my little no spend journey you totally should! You could kind of figure out how to make it work for you and then post on your blog about it,, or just keep us informed and updated in my comments section. I think it would be fun, and knowing I'm not going at it alone would be kinda neat too.

I am considering today the first day of my challenge, and since I have no cash I shouldn't be spending any money until Friday when I get paid. I let Bennie in on our little fun experiment and he of course has his doubts and says its not possible. All the more reason for me to make it work right. I also told the kids so they could be on board to.

My first big challenge is that I am out of coffee right now,,, I have instant but not regular :( I need my coffee in the morning,, but I am gonna be strong and just drink the instant until Friday, then I will buy the real stuff.

My own no spend challenge

I've been doing a little research on other blogs, and debating on whether or not to attempt this or even tell everyone about it. But alas.... I have decided to publish to the world my life yet again! :) And I have kind of made my own set of rules for it.

In a desperate attempt to first rebuild my saving to where it is suppose to be, I need to put $225.00 in there for at least the next 6 months...ugh,,, I didntrealize it was that many. Okay, well if any extra money comes up, it will join in the saving account, so hopefully this will go a little faster!! That is really the only extra we have to put in there after bills. This is all coming from Ben's paycheck. We will use my very little babysitting money to live on. Unfortunately since one of my day care kids parents lost her job I am down to only 2.... Bennie get all of the ones pay coming in for his weekly expenses. That leaves me with the other one to work with. She is not here full time, and it varies on the days. On average, due to not being full time, I only get around 45 dollars from her. So I am really gonna gave to stretch that for groceries and such.

Lord willing there wont be any crazy unexpected things come up and I will be able to make this work. I have decided that my kids have a sufficient amount of summer clothes to get them through, and Ben and I can survive on what we have. I do have to buy a dress for my sisters wedding. I am going this Friday to find one,, I have the money already set out in my account now, so this wont count.

This seems very drastic but its my own fault for not being more tight with our money these last couple of month. So I will try to have as many no spend days as possible and the money I do spend will come out of the babysitting income.... The goal is for nothing to leave the bank unless it is going for a bill. I will report on here when and what I spend to help keep me accountable. I am slowly learning that things will work out. It might not happen the way we think it will, but to just be patient and try my hardest and God will led the way and not let me drown. challenge