a few savings ideas

So here we are a month into the new year - how has everyone been doing with their New Year's resolutions?  I have probably been keeping up with half of mine, half the time...which I am actually pretty happy about.  I'll do a post update next week.

I am assuming whether it was a resolution for you or not, most people would like to save more money. (Me, me, me!!!!)  But the trick to doing so WITHOUT sacrificing quality of life or the things you like to buy and it takes some learning.

I went on a savings quest 2 years ago.  Since that time, I really have just learned how to coupon.  This has been wonderful at helping me still get what I want (organic milk for instance, most of the time), but I pay less money.  I consistently save more than I spend (spending $65 for instance but saving $75).  My favorite part of couponing is getting most of our toiletries for free (shampoo, lotion, toothpaste/brushes, etc) so that I free up "real food" money.  I am still learning, though.  I don't like how I do some months - this past one I spent $497 on groceries and household needs - so all drugstore (not Bailey's Rx) and grocery trips.  Now, when I started this journey I spent upwards of $150/wk, so spending $500 a month would have been good!  This past month I had to rebound from not couponing at all through December, so we went through some of our stockpile - esp meat and I had to replenish.  This next month, my goal is to spend $400 - all of the things we need and to continue to build my stockpile.

Anyway, here are a few things I just implemented this year to save more at the store.

*No more lunchmeat at the deli counter.  Even at $4.99/lb which is a SALE price for Boar's Head turkey, that is just too much!  I was spending at least $10/wk on Kevin's lunchmeat.  So now I am cooking up an extra serving or two of whatever meat I am making that week - chicken breast for instance, or london broil, and I slice it thin for his sandwiches.  I also have been making egg/tuna/chicken salad a few times, and he gets pb&j at least once a week.   I have 2 turkeys in the freezer that I got for .39/lb at Thanksgiving time that I look forward to cooking soon and saving some of that meat for his sammies.

*Speaking of meat, I have been stretching it with more veggies and sides.  I have been making soup once a week also, which helps too - soup is a frugal meal.

*I stay on top of what's in the fridge.  I used to waste too much!  I'd have high hopes of my kids eating blueberries let's say, and maybe we'd make it through one pint not two.  For shame!  Now I flash freeze the berries (and any other fruit/veg that can freeze) after a few days to insure it won't go to waste.  Our fave way to eat fruits that are in the freezer are in smoothies and waffles, and for veggies - soup.

*Buy big, and separate.  This new year, I have switched most of the girls yogurt to organic.  When they were babies/toddlers they ate organic, but I got away from it in favor of Gogurts for school - so easy to pack!  Well, I'll still buy go-gurts once in awhile but they eat yogurt every day, so now they are getting organic and I buy the quart size and separate it into reusable containers for their lunches and freeze the night before so it stays cool until lunch.  Sometimes it is cheaper to buy small and use a coupon (ie - if a coupon says $1 off, any size - use 4 coupons and get 4 of the smaller one that's on sale for $2, than buying the bigger one that's $8.  So you spend $4 for the same amount of product, than buying the bigger one and spending $7.  See?) but in instances such as the yogurt, it's cheaper to buy big.  (Stonyfield Farms has coupons on their website by the way - you can still coupon with organic!)

*Speaking of couponing organic, look through your circular!!  Last week at ShopRite I scored Gala organic apples (my fave!) and organic cut baby carrots for .99/lb with a coupon that was in the circular.  No limit was on the apples, so I got a huge bag, apples last for a while.

*I made a list of products I like, and am going to be emailing the companies.  I have done this a few times, but want to do more of it.  My favorite coupon I received from emailing the company so far has been Eggland's best - they sent me 4 .50 off coupons.  I waited for a sale - SR then had Eggland's best for $1.77 - the .50 doubled (most grocery stores double coupons, drugstores and supercenters like Target and Walmart don't) so I got the eggs for .77 each.

Do you have any tips?  I'd love to hear them!!

the best present

If you asked your children what the best present they ever got was, what would they say?

These cats - Cocoa and Oreo - were for the girls' 7th and 5th birthdays, last year.  They have been a lot of work - and expense - but they have brought so much joy to our life.  Taylor loves her cat (yes, the one trying to wriggle out of her arms in the pic) so much that she asked if Cocoa could wait to go to Heaven until she does bc she always wants to be with him.  And yes, someday (good things cats can live a long time) the girls will have to go through saying good-bye to Cocoa and Oreo.  I'm hoping it will be the only lesson in death they have until they are much older. (Wishful thinking I am sure - but Kevin was a married man with children when he lost anyone special to him, his Pop).

Chillin' after school.  Being around people all day is exhausting for a Tater Tot.  

Oreo loves his mommy so much.  The rest of us he's not sure about.

I'd love to know what the best present your kids ever got was.  It might surprise you what their answers will be!  You may think it will be the Ipod, but maybe it's the time you took them to throw rocks in the lake and have a picnic lunch with a birthday cake.  You might think it would be the Wii, but maybe it's the time you actually said yes ( I haven't yet) to having a sleepover birthday party.

I personally can not remember what my favorite birthday gift growing up was.  I can remember Christmas, but not birthday gifts.  But what I do remember is that for many years my dad would help me make a heart shaped birthday cake, and we'd decorate it together.   My mom has some kitchen-cleanliness issues, and didn't let me help in the kitchen much.  My dad had some other issues, and time with him could be fraught with tension.  But all I remember about those times was the thrill of baking and decorating that cake, and it was fun and carefree.  Precious memories to me now.

Sometimes the best gift you could ever give - or receive - costs nothing but time, thought and love.  These cats on the other hand, are costing me tons.

But they are earning their keep.  I mean, look how sweet he is with Taylor.  It must be confusing to him, to have a mommy that acts like a cat but looks like a human.

Simple pleasures

I haven't done a top 10 in a while, so I thought I'd do one.  Here are my top 10 simple pleasures in life.

1.  Tucking in my girls.  Unless I've had it with them.

2.  Date night in.  Date night out.  You get the gist.

Yes, my pants are bright orange, it's not your eyes.

3.  Being at the beach with my girlfriends and all of our kids together, for the whole day and into the evening.  Wow I miss that so much the 8 months of the year we can't do it.  Now, let me clarify that not every moment is a pleasure...the million trips to the bathroom with Tate who needs her sensory breaks, the million screams of "That's far enough Bailey!  Far enough Taylor.  GIRLS!!!  Listen to me or you will sit out!  Bailey, stop going underwater when I'm talking to you!  Taylor!!  I SAID THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!!"  But the sun, the water, my children's joy, being with great friends who don't bat an eye at me in my skirted bathing suit, the feeling of my toes digging into the sand, the gratitude I feel that this is my life - I love it.

My beach beauties - Taylor is 4 yrs old here, Bailey is 6.  Waaa that they are now 8 and 6.  Or yay depending on the day.

4.  Holding my infant nephew.  He is precious.

5.  Shopping and talking with my mom.  I love her.

We spent the day in NYC, also with my cousin, her daughter, and my aunt.  We had the best time seeing the Statue of Liberty from this boat ride, but the best part of the day was picking out American Girl dolls and having tea at the AG store.  SO FUN!!!  God knew what He was doing making me a mama of girls, I love it.

6.  Reading.  Preferably in the tub.  Preferably without the kids or Kevin interrupting me every other sentence.

7.  Talking to my sis-in-law on the phone.  For hours.  She is fun.

8.  Getting a backrub from Kevin.  He's rad.  (We don't use that word nearly enough anymore.  I'm going to bring it back).

9.  Listening to classical music with a hot cup of coffee.

10.  Going to church on Sundays with my family.  I love every single part of it.  The whole day is nice actually.

I want to go to the beach right now!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd love to hear YOUR simple pleasures!!

Why I hope they don't have a nanny-cam

So 2 days a week I babysit for a just-turned-2 year old and thank God, but he hasn't gotten the memo that he can now be in his "terrible twos," and he is an angel.  I love him so much!!   He is cuddly, and funny, and so easy on the eyes with his chubby belly and sweet feet that he crosses when he sits.  I am way too attached.

Anyway, I am good friends with this family I sit for, but you never know if they have some kind of nanny cam rigged in every room.  They're high tech people, and I totally get it if they did - that's their baby.   If they do, most of the time they will find me taking care of their boy - and couponing while he naps.

Most of the time I don't think about such a camera, but once in awhile I do when I, you know, go to the bathroom with the door wide open bc I don't want him to do something on my watch - like put a marble up his nose or a Thomas train down his throat.  And today...today I thought about the camera.

So we were downstairs where the playroom is, and I had brought down a cup of water for myself.  I sat on the floor, and put the cup behind a ride-in car that they have down there.  I actually thought, "Self, you are being dumb bringing that water down here.  It's going to spill."  And sure enough, somehow the car got bumped and water spilled and soaked my bum.  I quickly stood up trying to figure out exactly how soaked I was - very.  Ok, we only had about 45 minutes until we left, and after dropping him off to Mommy, I had to run to the store for milk and such.  Now, for some reason since becoming a mom and basically losing all sense of style and dignity, I never mind anymore going to the store in my sweats.  I don't mind going most anywhere in my sweats, except maybe to church on Sunday.  But I did mind looking like I pissed myself.  I grabbed a towel from their bathroom and blotted up all the water, and went to the laundry room to see if I could dry my pants.  Since my little guy doesn't talk much and say at an inopportune time something like, "Miss B was walking around our house with no pants on", I felt ok taking my pants off to throw in their dryer for 10 minutes.  I didn't feel great, I felt just ok.  Unders too.  I yanked my t-shirt as far down as I could while I waited for a few minutes and then I smartened up and realized I could just hold the towel around my waist.  (I'm not too quick).  Every few minutes I'd check to see if they were done.  At one point, bending over to reach in the dryer to check, I dropped the towel.

This is the precise moment when I was hoping they don't have a nanny-cam.  Full moon.  Not to mention the fact that these are skinny people, and they have normal sized towels, not the "bath sheet" kind I favor, which would have fully covered me while I waited for the pants to dry.  Instead, this normal towel gives you more than a peek at what's going on under there.

If they can't look me in the eye without either laughing or crying, I will know I have been cammed.

best and worst

Every night at dinner we do the whole "what was the best/worst" part of your day.  We've only been doing this for maybe a year - dinners before then looked like this:

"Taylor, please sit on your bottom.  Taylor, please stop crying because there are green beans on the table.  Taylor, please stop gagging you don't even have anything in your mouth."

You get the picture.

Anyway, when we sit down together, this is something that starts great conversation.  We also ask the kids when they have "seen God" that day, a concept Bailey gets and Taylor really doesn't, but when she hears Bailey's answer "I saw God when Xander picked me for the 7-up game" she'll answer similarly.

Sometimes the best/worst game is about things at school, sometimes home.  Sometimes their answers make me swell with pride, sometimes I cringe.  But now that my girls are getting older and can hold a conversation like that, I am trying to make time to really listen.  I want to set the stage for them to be used to talking to us and sharing about their day and feelings.

Of course, having 2 girls who already seem to be divas, I expect some eye-rolling in the future when I ask these kind of questions.  That's ok, I'll just take away their itouches - which is fine by me, I want to play with them anyway!

Unexpected opportunites

I recently read a book on Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-Fil-A.  I expected it to be a boring read to be honest with you, but I couldn't put the book down!  And the message that I took away from the book - besides what an amazing man he is - is that we always have to be on the look-out and ready for "unexpected opportunities."  Truett Cathy is a brilliant businessman to be sure, but I think we have even more to learn from him as someone who seeks out to considerably help others, and change their lives, every day.  He has fostered hundreds of children, as an example.  Associate pastor Randy Peterson spoke on this topic of opening yourself to opportunities also, in his message at church this past Sunday- so I "got the message" and have been really reflecting on that.  Basically, an unexpected opportunity is when you are not looking at that time, to find yourself in a position to help someone, but something happens and you are able to.

Too often, I busy myself with to-do list stuff that doesn't open myself up to interaction with people.  If I have a day where I'm not working at the church or babysitting - which is currently 2 days a week - I am a hermit.  I do my couponing, cleaning, cooking, etc...and yes, I consider that serving my family, or "helping" someone.  But it is too comfortable, too mundane...and not giving God the chance to use me for others.  There are seasons - first coming to mind, the season of having babies and toddlers - where most of your time will be spent serving your family, with little time to serve elsewhere.  Sometimes we are in a season where we need to focus on becoming healthy, and we are unable to give much of ourselves.  I have been through seasons like that, but for the last few years, I am in a season with time to give, and I have.  But God has been pressing on my heart that He has a change in store for me, and I don't know what that is yet.  I tried to get a part-time job at a social work agency, and they hired a full-time staffer instead.  I was disappointed at first, but then I realized that this may be God's handiwork in guiding me towards what He has in mind for me - and I guess that job wasn't it.  For now, anyway.

I am excited about what's coming.  I just feel like something is.  Or maybe it's just more of what I have done already - like sending encouragement notes to people, or making meals.  I do not do that nearly as often as I should...my goal should be weekly.  I feel that I need to do more serving, more encouraging, more interacting with people.  As I do so, I will be teaching my girls 2 crucial Biblical principles - giving and loving.  There is nothing I want more for them, than for their hearts to be generous and full of God's love, spilling over into the lives of their friends and family.  I want them to be healthy, happy, prosperous...of course, all of those things.  But more than anything, I want them to know God, and live God.  I want them to believe in Jesus, and live for him in all they do.  How will they do that, if they don't see their mother living that way.

So tonight I am making a meal for a family.  It's something that I know how to do, and an opportunity presented itself.  On Saturday Kevin and I have our small group dinner, and we are going to be leading a study with other married couples on the book The Five Love Languages.   But I am going to keep my eyes and ears open for more opportunities.

What are ways that you serve?

pat your back

So, I have learned in these past several years, that if you are a Mama, you have guilt.  Mine started when I was newly pregnant.  I realized, counting on my fingers one morning, that I was *late.*  So I dug out a pregnancy test from the closet that I had received in a shower gift, and took it.  I needed to start getting ready for work, so I jumped in the shower, leaving the test on the bathroom counter.  I truly didn't expect it to be positive, it really was just for my peace of mind that I was just late out of stress or the cold I had just had.

Mid-shower I peeked at the test.  2 lines and they weren't light.  Glaring was more like it.  I took it in my hand, and was just shocked looking at it - and then I slipped in the shower.  Fell right on my heiney, the water falling on me...and was immediately guilty!  Pregnant?!  And I fell already!!!  Oh my gosh, and the cold medicine I took last week!!  I haven't been taking folic acid...I haven't been taking any vitamins at all!!

You get my drift?  How often a day do we berate ourselves as mommies?  When we let our kid eat a bag of fruitsnacks, and don't insist they finish their soup.  And when I say soup, I mean the canned stuff, so we feel guilty about that too.  How about when we snap at our little angel to HURRY-UP-AND-GET-DRESSED knowing full well that if we had gotten out of bed earlier than little angel, we could help him/her better and possibly make it through the morning without rushing.  We feel guilty letting them watch another 1/2 hour of tv...make that an hour.  We feel guilty every.single.time we compare our weaknesses to another mommy's strengths.  Sure, another mommy may handmake their child's babyfood, blankets, and have scrapbooks that should be showcased in a magazine...but perhaps they sacrifice time with their child to accomplish those things.  Perhaps your strength isn't handmaking a blessed thing, but you love playing football with your kid outside for hours.

Wait...I don't do either of those things...

But my point is, I do have strengths as a mother.  Plenty of weaknesses that yes, sometimes the guilt can be suffocating!  I am trying to get away from that.  I am trying to remember that God made me a certain way, and I would make much better use of my time using the gifts He gave me to the best of my ability, than to wish for other gifts and abilities that don't come naturally to me.  I don't think it's wrong to try to do something that isn't your "gift" - like learning how to sew even if you seem to be all thumbs.  But when you do so only out of guilt, or to measure up to someone else, it's not going to go well.

So what are your strengths as a mother?  Take some time today to think about it, and give yourself a nice pat on the back.