We've made it to Moving Day Eve, and I'm spending a little quiet time reflecting on our time here.
In this house: Dannon went to preschool and Kindergarten.
In this house: Ashlyn started middle school, had sleepovers, learned to play the flute, read more than anyone I know, and played on a championship softball team (Go Reynolds Pride!).
In this house: I was a full time college student for two quarters and had a 4.0 GPA.
But most of all, this was the house of Samuel.
It can feel a little emotional sometimes to leave the place your family has grown in; but we're so anxious for what our next chapter will hold.
We've put in a lot of hours today, with many more to come tomorrow, but for now we've got one more sleep.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
House hunting, decluttering, and packing - Oh my!
To say the rental market in the Seattle area is crazy right now would be a drastic understatement. One of the best suggestions we have had was to find a leasing agent, someone who would be working WITH us in our search for a new home. We happened to come across just this on accident and it has been the biggest blessing!
We were feeling pretty discouraged after determining that all three homes we were hoping to look at over the weekend had already been rented. We spoke with property management companies and private home owners on Tuesday and Wednesday and set up appointments to view their homes on Saturday and Sunday, but one by one they were rented before we were even considered a player in the game. Yikes.
As we were driving through a neighborhood to take a peek at a home that had another applicant pending approval we saw a rental sign and called the number. It turns out the home for rent was through a company called Invitation Homes that buys houses specifically to rent out. The house we discovered on accident was waaaaay out of our price range, but the person Bob spoke with assured us that they had others listed and she would have a leasing agent contact us to see if we could find a good fit.
Success!
The timeline details still need to be worked out, and we haven't seen the inside of the home yet (aside from pictures and what we could see peering into the windows), but we've entered into a Pre-Lease agreement on a home in Puyallup's South Hill area. Pre-Lease. Yep. Thats a thing now because of how agressive (our agent's word) the rental market is. What it means for us is the house will not be advertised as available to anyone else. Its ours to confirm yes or no on when we are able to get in and do a walk through (tentatively set for August 1st). We signed electronic documents this morning, and are overnighting a deposit on the deposit today.
It feels like a big weight has been lifted to have a home lined up for us to move into in a few weeks. This is one more prayer that has been answered, and we are so, so blessed.
Now its time to focus on having a moving sale, packing and cleaning. I desperately wish I could fast forward through these tasks. I'm really struggling with how to get these things done. Thankfully my mom is on her way down to spend a few days with us and help out as needed. I'm sure she'll have some time on boy duty as I try and prep for the sale as much as possible over the next few days, and hopefully we can come up with a list of deep cleaning tasks that we can tackle now. If our timeline falls as it is looking right now, we've got just over 3 weeks before we pack the truck and drive away. Such an awkward amount of time.
I need to somehow get over this paralyzing feeling and just DO SOMETHING. So, I write a blog post. And wish for a nap. I'll do something this afternoon. I promise.
We were feeling pretty discouraged after determining that all three homes we were hoping to look at over the weekend had already been rented. We spoke with property management companies and private home owners on Tuesday and Wednesday and set up appointments to view their homes on Saturday and Sunday, but one by one they were rented before we were even considered a player in the game. Yikes.
As we were driving through a neighborhood to take a peek at a home that had another applicant pending approval we saw a rental sign and called the number. It turns out the home for rent was through a company called Invitation Homes that buys houses specifically to rent out. The house we discovered on accident was waaaaay out of our price range, but the person Bob spoke with assured us that they had others listed and she would have a leasing agent contact us to see if we could find a good fit.
Success!
The timeline details still need to be worked out, and we haven't seen the inside of the home yet (aside from pictures and what we could see peering into the windows), but we've entered into a Pre-Lease agreement on a home in Puyallup's South Hill area. Pre-Lease. Yep. Thats a thing now because of how agressive (our agent's word) the rental market is. What it means for us is the house will not be advertised as available to anyone else. Its ours to confirm yes or no on when we are able to get in and do a walk through (tentatively set for August 1st). We signed electronic documents this morning, and are overnighting a deposit on the deposit today.
It feels like a big weight has been lifted to have a home lined up for us to move into in a few weeks. This is one more prayer that has been answered, and we are so, so blessed.
Now its time to focus on having a moving sale, packing and cleaning. I desperately wish I could fast forward through these tasks. I'm really struggling with how to get these things done. Thankfully my mom is on her way down to spend a few days with us and help out as needed. I'm sure she'll have some time on boy duty as I try and prep for the sale as much as possible over the next few days, and hopefully we can come up with a list of deep cleaning tasks that we can tackle now. If our timeline falls as it is looking right now, we've got just over 3 weeks before we pack the truck and drive away. Such an awkward amount of time.
I need to somehow get over this paralyzing feeling and just DO SOMETHING. So, I write a blog post. And wish for a nap. I'll do something this afternoon. I promise.
Monday, July 13, 2015
5 Things: The Productive Weekend Edition!
One of my favorite bloggers, Money Saving Mom, has been doing regular posts of "5 Things" that I've really enjoyed. Its a little peek into her day/her family/her life and I love and appreciate that she keeps it real!
I thought I'd do my own 5 Things today and reflect on our productive weekend!
- We left Big Sis home with all of the boys and hit up Home Depot for some storage bins. It is so nice that she is old enough, and responsible enough, to watch her brothers for short amounts of time. The quick errands together don't really qualify as date status, but its still nice to do things together without kids. I {still} love spending time with Bob. I'm pretty sure that means we're on the right track with this relationship/marriage thing!
- After obtaining bins, we spent a few hours on Saturday working on getting the garage a little more organized. I wish I had before and after pictures to share! We had quite a big pile of stuff destined for the dumpster at Bob's work and separated consignment items from moving sale items. The moving sale pile is pretty unruly and will need a lot of attention before our eventual sale dates (yet to be determined.)
- Saturday's dinner was supposed to be London Broil on the grill, but our meat spent a few too many days in the fridge waiting to be cooked and just didn't look appetizing/safe any more. I hate wasting groceries, especially meat! Instead of beating myself up over the beef gone bad, we rewarded our efforts with Godfather's Pizza. We really should be pinching the pennies, but sometimes its better to take the easy way out for the sake of our sanity.
- On Sunday I spent some more time in the garage entering the consignment items into the consignment sale system. (Did I mention that I've already signed up for the Just Between Friends fall sale in Puyallup?) I'm not moving stuff to sell unless its partially prepped and committed. I've got nearly $500 worth entered already and one more bin on the To Do List for today!
- We were also able to get about 3/4 of the decor items and stuff off the walls packed on Sunday. It is looking pretty bare in here (well... if you're looking at the walls, that is.)
- **Bonus Thing** As I was going through a laundry basket of stuff that was "cleaned" off the kitchen counter at some point and put in the garage out of sight, I found a birthday card from my grandparents with a $50 bill! It was a pretty exciting discovery! We treated ourselves to a fresh cut of London Broil for dinner and blizzards for everyone at DQ.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Moving. Again.
Despite the potentially negative feeling to the title of this post, we're excited to announce we'll be moving again!
Bob got the green light on his transfer request which means we'll be saying goodbye Oregon, hello Washington in the very close future. And by close future I mean a number of weeks. And because the thought of everything that needs to be done between now and then is crippling to me, I'm writing a blog post instead of jumping in and getting started... because really... where do you start?!
Lets see, things to do:
I know that I need to find a place to start and just get started. The moving sale is going to be one of the biggest stressors, but so very important. I wasn't able to do the Spring consignment sales this year, it would have been too much to take on with being in school full time and our Illinois trip planned right around the sale dates. Our garage is a nightmare. I should probably start inside, but without a moving date its hard to start packing up! Today my goal is to focus on the back yard toys and miscellaneous shrapnel spread all over.
Our current landlord is a fanatic. I don't know if we should put in the sweat and elbow grease to get things back on par with his expectations for move out, which would probably include hiring some yard guys to do the dirty work, or write off any hope of getting some/all of our deposit back and just let him deal with it so it's done to his liking. I would be so angry to invest time and money into the yard work for it not to meet his approval and lose out on our deposit anyway.
Oh my goodness, I can't wait to own our own home.
So, if you're reading this and have any great moving tips, want to pitch in in any way, or know of any great 3-4 bedroom rentals within a 30-40 minute radius of Kent please let me know!
Bob got the green light on his transfer request which means we'll be saying goodbye Oregon, hello Washington in the very close future. And by close future I mean a number of weeks. And because the thought of everything that needs to be done between now and then is crippling to me, I'm writing a blog post instead of jumping in and getting started... because really... where do you start?!
Lets see, things to do:
- Find a new home in a good school district, where we will be able to buy in the next year or so and keep the kids in the same school. (daunting because it feels like we need to make a forever choice RIGHT NOW!)
- Give notice to our current landlord
- Pack & eliminate unnecessary stuff
- Have a MASSIVE moving sale (where we can hopefully make enough money to finance part of this move)
- Clean house & yard
- Take care of all the day to day stuff in the meantime
I know that I need to find a place to start and just get started. The moving sale is going to be one of the biggest stressors, but so very important. I wasn't able to do the Spring consignment sales this year, it would have been too much to take on with being in school full time and our Illinois trip planned right around the sale dates. Our garage is a nightmare. I should probably start inside, but without a moving date its hard to start packing up! Today my goal is to focus on the back yard toys and miscellaneous shrapnel spread all over.
Our current landlord is a fanatic. I don't know if we should put in the sweat and elbow grease to get things back on par with his expectations for move out, which would probably include hiring some yard guys to do the dirty work, or write off any hope of getting some/all of our deposit back and just let him deal with it so it's done to his liking. I would be so angry to invest time and money into the yard work for it not to meet his approval and lose out on our deposit anyway.
Oh my goodness, I can't wait to own our own home.
So, if you're reading this and have any great moving tips, want to pitch in in any way, or know of any great 3-4 bedroom rentals within a 30-40 minute radius of Kent please let me know!
Monday, January 5, 2015
The Eve of Back to School
... Or in other words, YES YES YES YES YES!!
I think we had a decent school break, but I'm excited for a new normal. The older two will be back in school, and this girl starts classes tomorrow too! I am really hopeful that becoming a full time student will help me to schedule and prioritize better, to bring a litte structure to our otherwise chaotic days. It feels like such a fresh, new start full of potential and possibilities. Each new year presents itself in that way, the difficulty lies in actually DOING something to build on those feelings.
Bob and I sat down together on New Years Eve, after putting the boys to bed at 9pm without much fanfare, and talked about our hopes, dreams and goals for 2015. We still need to add some details to our "resolution blueprint" and outline how we plan on working towards the goals, but it was so awesome to see just how on the same page we were about the things we were writing down. I think it will make a world of difference in my ability to follow through when we can be accountable to each other and working towards goals and achievements together.
Here is the rough draft we came up with, and a few other photos that sum up our NYE:
Our goals and start to a bucket list.
My crazy boys, ringing in the new year.
Samuel skyping with Nerdy Girl, I mean.. Big sister!
Our version of two player cards against humanity (the deck ended up kicking our heinys!)
....and us, taken early in the evening just in case we didn't make it until midnight (we did!)
I'm feeling ready to take on 2015, who's with me?!
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
The Pit of Despair.. Oh wait, that's our Bedroom...
In the spirit of keeping it real, I will divulge one (just one for today, but don't worry, there are many!) of my problem areas--that room that no one ever ventures into, and thanks to child proof door locks, is always hidden behind a closed door -- our bedroom.
I love the thought of a calm, organized, clutter free area. A place to rejuvenate. A place to sleep (do you hear that Baby Sam? SLEEP) and a clear desk area where I can set up space and encourage myself to be a successful student.
This room is none of those things. It has become a room of dumping and hiding. All the piles that collect downstairs eventually move upstairs. This room is the first that I am choosing to tackle for my own sanity, for a place to study and baby-willing a place to feel more rested and ready for each day.
Here are a few "before" pics that I snapped this afternoon. Yikes! I know! I apologize in advance if any undies made it into the shot, I'm telling you -- keeping it real!
The first task I assigned myself was to empty the crib and change the sheet. Time for Sammy to transition to the crib. For real. I was obviously joking when I said that a few months ago... Wish us luck with the transition and stay tuned for an account of my success with taming the stuff. Too. Much. Stuff.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Preparing for the Year: 2015
I have been anxiously preparing (ok, I mean... Pinterest-ing) for the new year! I'm not a resolution maker, but instead I try to set some goals, put new routines in place and come up with a bucket list of things we want to accomplish and experience.
I tend to bite off more than I can chew, classic overachiever style... and then get frustrated/burned out/give up. My stick-to-it-iv-ness sucks and thats something I've always wanted to change. Well, why not now?
At times I have the desire to be a blog worthy super mom, and when I sit and actually picture what that means to me the first thing I think of is a mom who smiles and is happy. Someone who enjoys their life, their children, their home, their marriage (or soon to be marriage). I envision someone who is busy and productive, but has time and resources to make memories with their family.
Is it strange to think that maybe my complacency and laziness stem from the fact that I just haven't been busy enough? I have nothing to do so I do nothing? We're about to find out, because this mama starts back as a full time student in just a matter of days!
But, I digress, back to the purpose of this post... New Year! 2015! It feels like its going to be a good one, and I want to do everything in my power to feel accomplished and on top of things. I want to feel like I am living life purposefully instead of being drug along by life, struggling for footing.
To my "2015" Pinterest board I have added a few pins about challenges that I plan to take on:
Resolution Blueprint
52 Weeks to an Organized Home
Declutter 365
Dave Ramsay's baby steps
Fiscal Fast
The first of these that I want to discuss is How to do a Fiscal Fast. I'm excited about this and plan to follow through in January! Can you believe it? Excited? Yeah.. I'm a little surprised too, chronic shopper that I am... but we have been in what I call "eff it mode" for the past two months. "Eff it mode" consists of a loss of income (the child support that the ex-husband has not paid since the end of October) and the desire to enjoy life and the season without having to say no all the time. "Eff it mode" was enabled by a new credit card, and boy did we put that thing to use! I'm not proud of our spending choices, but I'm going to own them because we were fully aware of what we were doing. The reality is that now its time to buckle down and be purposeful with our spending again, and we will start that by NOT spending for 30 days.
With a few exceptions of course:
Here is my gray area:
Gift cards -- during our Fiscal Fast, can we use gift cards we received at Christmas as long as we're not spending additional money out of pocket?
B/S/T items -- if I sell cloth diapers, can I re-invest those funds into new to us diapers?
Is the Fiscal Fast challenge about NOT shopping, or about NOT spending money? In my opinion, shopping for pleasure is out. My thrift store outings will be a no go, and instead I'll invest that time into decluttering our home, working on projects in progress and spending time with the family. But I would like to have the option of a family outing to Cold Stone Creamery to use the gift cards that my Aunt, Uncle & cousins gave to the kiddos, and when I make the 3 hour round trip trek to pick up the girlie can I redeem my free Starbucks drink available on my Gold Card? Can I spend the remainder of my Amazon gift card on items that aren't necessary? Does this fast apply to my kiddos as well? Good thing I've got a few days to determine our final guidelines! What are your thoughts on my gray area issues?
Stay tuned for more about my hopes, dreams, plans, goals and wishes for 2015!
I tend to bite off more than I can chew, classic overachiever style... and then get frustrated/burned out/give up. My stick-to-it-iv-ness sucks and thats something I've always wanted to change. Well, why not now?
At times I have the desire to be a blog worthy super mom, and when I sit and actually picture what that means to me the first thing I think of is a mom who smiles and is happy. Someone who enjoys their life, their children, their home, their marriage (or soon to be marriage). I envision someone who is busy and productive, but has time and resources to make memories with their family.
Is it strange to think that maybe my complacency and laziness stem from the fact that I just haven't been busy enough? I have nothing to do so I do nothing? We're about to find out, because this mama starts back as a full time student in just a matter of days!
But, I digress, back to the purpose of this post... New Year! 2015! It feels like its going to be a good one, and I want to do everything in my power to feel accomplished and on top of things. I want to feel like I am living life purposefully instead of being drug along by life, struggling for footing.
To my "2015" Pinterest board I have added a few pins about challenges that I plan to take on:
Resolution Blueprint
52 Weeks to an Organized Home
Declutter 365
Dave Ramsay's baby steps
Fiscal Fast
The first of these that I want to discuss is How to do a Fiscal Fast. I'm excited about this and plan to follow through in January! Can you believe it? Excited? Yeah.. I'm a little surprised too, chronic shopper that I am... but we have been in what I call "eff it mode" for the past two months. "Eff it mode" consists of a loss of income (the child support that the ex-husband has not paid since the end of October) and the desire to enjoy life and the season without having to say no all the time. "Eff it mode" was enabled by a new credit card, and boy did we put that thing to use! I'm not proud of our spending choices, but I'm going to own them because we were fully aware of what we were doing. The reality is that now its time to buckle down and be purposeful with our spending again, and we will start that by NOT spending for 30 days.
With a few exceptions of course:
- Textbooks and school essentials
- Ashlyn's birthday preparations/gifts
- Essential grocery items (including any medicine/first aid need that might arise)
Here is my gray area:
Gift cards -- during our Fiscal Fast, can we use gift cards we received at Christmas as long as we're not spending additional money out of pocket?
B/S/T items -- if I sell cloth diapers, can I re-invest those funds into new to us diapers?
Is the Fiscal Fast challenge about NOT shopping, or about NOT spending money? In my opinion, shopping for pleasure is out. My thrift store outings will be a no go, and instead I'll invest that time into decluttering our home, working on projects in progress and spending time with the family. But I would like to have the option of a family outing to Cold Stone Creamery to use the gift cards that my Aunt, Uncle & cousins gave to the kiddos, and when I make the 3 hour round trip trek to pick up the girlie can I redeem my free Starbucks drink available on my Gold Card? Can I spend the remainder of my Amazon gift card on items that aren't necessary? Does this fast apply to my kiddos as well? Good thing I've got a few days to determine our final guidelines! What are your thoughts on my gray area issues?
Stay tuned for more about my hopes, dreams, plans, goals and wishes for 2015!
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Quitting Facebook
Gasp! I've done it. I've deactivated my facebook account (temporarily). I'm going cold turkey and for the first time in my life I might be able to identify on a very small level with the way addiction feels. When I turned the computer on this morning with the intention of checking my email, the first site I clicked on was facebook. Its now my phantom limb.
Social media can be all consuming, the easiest distraction and quite frankly has begun to cause me more harm than good so it was time to step away for a bit. I have tried before to limit my time online or my facebook usage and I've failed miserably. As a parent, how can I try (also, somewhat unsuccessfully) to limit the time my kids spend on their electronic devices when I can not follow through with setting limits for myself? I'm not setting a good example.
My kindergartener had a project that was supposed to be returned to school this morning, a BIG piece of paper where we were supposed to trace the hands of each member of our family and then decorate them with the things we like and are interested in. We didn't complete the project. We didn't even START the project. Was it because it was forgotten under piles of paper and stuff on the kitchen counter that I haven't bothered cleaning? Was it because when he brought it home, excited to work on it, that I said "Oh, we'll do that later..." I'm not saying that facebook is to blame for my son's homework not being finished, but what I can say is that my priorities are not where they should be. I've let it go for far too long and now the time has come that something drastic needs to be done in order to make things right, or at least getting on the path to making things right.
I'm not happy with me. Its easy to admit, but hard to take action. I've always been pretty good at identifying the problem, but from there .... ? Usually nothing. I want to take this time and treat it as a reset. Change my focus from -- "Who is doing what today?" "Are you kidding me? Are they really that stupid?" "Oh, my goodness, that person is annoying, but I can't bring myself to unfriend them" "Hmm, I wonder what is available on the b/s/t sites today." "Oh! I haven't checked the diaper swap pages, or the babywearing swap pages yet this morning even though I really shouldn't be buying anything right now" and instead focus on paying attention and engaging with my kids when they are excited to show me something or be fully present while I'm nursing our 4 month old (4 months already! It instantly brings tears to my eyes to think about how quickly he is growing and how soon he won't need me in this way) and to spend time reconnecting to the amazing man I have beside me. I'm tired of living a distracted life. Its not fair to anyone that I invest more of my time and attention on things happening in other people's lives outside of our home and family.
I've committed to at least one week facebook free, which means the earliest I may return will be Thursday, November 13th. As daunting as this seems, I'm also excited. Its freeing. I hope this helps. I pray that this helps. Please, let this help.
Social media can be all consuming, the easiest distraction and quite frankly has begun to cause me more harm than good so it was time to step away for a bit. I have tried before to limit my time online or my facebook usage and I've failed miserably. As a parent, how can I try (also, somewhat unsuccessfully) to limit the time my kids spend on their electronic devices when I can not follow through with setting limits for myself? I'm not setting a good example.
My kindergartener had a project that was supposed to be returned to school this morning, a BIG piece of paper where we were supposed to trace the hands of each member of our family and then decorate them with the things we like and are interested in. We didn't complete the project. We didn't even START the project. Was it because it was forgotten under piles of paper and stuff on the kitchen counter that I haven't bothered cleaning? Was it because when he brought it home, excited to work on it, that I said "Oh, we'll do that later..." I'm not saying that facebook is to blame for my son's homework not being finished, but what I can say is that my priorities are not where they should be. I've let it go for far too long and now the time has come that something drastic needs to be done in order to make things right, or at least getting on the path to making things right.
I'm not happy with me. Its easy to admit, but hard to take action. I've always been pretty good at identifying the problem, but from there .... ? Usually nothing. I want to take this time and treat it as a reset. Change my focus from -- "Who is doing what today?" "Are you kidding me? Are they really that stupid?" "Oh, my goodness, that person is annoying, but I can't bring myself to unfriend them" "Hmm, I wonder what is available on the b/s/t sites today." "Oh! I haven't checked the diaper swap pages, or the babywearing swap pages yet this morning even though I really shouldn't be buying anything right now" and instead focus on paying attention and engaging with my kids when they are excited to show me something or be fully present while I'm nursing our 4 month old (4 months already! It instantly brings tears to my eyes to think about how quickly he is growing and how soon he won't need me in this way) and to spend time reconnecting to the amazing man I have beside me. I'm tired of living a distracted life. Its not fair to anyone that I invest more of my time and attention on things happening in other people's lives outside of our home and family.
I've committed to at least one week facebook free, which means the earliest I may return will be Thursday, November 13th. As daunting as this seems, I'm also excited. Its freeing. I hope this helps. I pray that this helps. Please, let this help.
Friday, October 17, 2014
TGIF! {the To-Do list edition}
This week I've focused on making my daily to-do list manageable. And not only creating a manageable list, but actually following through and completing each task. (Crazy idea, right?)
Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday were a success. Tuesday and Wednesday even included a trip outside of the house with both boys and I was ready to pat myself on the back. Then came Thursday. I don't know if I was just in a slump and that is to blame for not getting through my reasonable list, or if not getting everything crossed off and completed is what sent me into a slump. Either way it wasn't pretty. I'm grateful I was able to keep myself somewhat in check and didn't fall into full on "I'm done with this" attitude, but I was irritated and as a result left nearly half of my list untouched.
As a stay at home mom, I put a lot of pressure on myself. I've said it before, and its worth mentioning again (and again) that my greatest struggle is how I picture things SHOULD be. Thankfully I am learning to give myself a little grace and accept that some days aren't going to go as planned. Sometimes I won't be as productive as I'd like to be. Sometimes my child will act like a human pinball inside of Ikea and bounce around the store with me chasing behind to the point I will feel like I could have added "Exercise for one hour" on my list for that day. (Tuesday. Thank God for meatballs to make the trip worth it!) Some days there will be a few things that don't get crossed off the to-do list. But luckily for me, I will have another chance to try again the next day.
Yesterday my list included 15 min cleaning in our bathroom. It didn't get done so I wrote it down on today's list. I'm happy to say that I spent the 15 minutes cleaning, and then took a few extra minutes to sweep & mop. Our house isn't spotless, but when I stay on top of things and rotate through different rooms that need attention, its not so bad!
As soon as I finish this post which just happens to be #6 on today's list, there will only be three tasks left... including #5 - pack. The biggest, the littlest and I are heading for an overnight trip to my parent's house this weekend. I'll reward my efforts this week with a cup of coffee from our favorite coffee shop on the way up, and some good time with my family as a way to recharge before coming home and giving it a go again next week!
Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday were a success. Tuesday and Wednesday even included a trip outside of the house with both boys and I was ready to pat myself on the back. Then came Thursday. I don't know if I was just in a slump and that is to blame for not getting through my reasonable list, or if not getting everything crossed off and completed is what sent me into a slump. Either way it wasn't pretty. I'm grateful I was able to keep myself somewhat in check and didn't fall into full on "I'm done with this" attitude, but I was irritated and as a result left nearly half of my list untouched.
As a stay at home mom, I put a lot of pressure on myself. I've said it before, and its worth mentioning again (and again) that my greatest struggle is how I picture things SHOULD be. Thankfully I am learning to give myself a little grace and accept that some days aren't going to go as planned. Sometimes I won't be as productive as I'd like to be. Sometimes my child will act like a human pinball inside of Ikea and bounce around the store with me chasing behind to the point I will feel like I could have added "Exercise for one hour" on my list for that day. (Tuesday. Thank God for meatballs to make the trip worth it!) Some days there will be a few things that don't get crossed off the to-do list. But luckily for me, I will have another chance to try again the next day.
Yesterday my list included 15 min cleaning in our bathroom. It didn't get done so I wrote it down on today's list. I'm happy to say that I spent the 15 minutes cleaning, and then took a few extra minutes to sweep & mop. Our house isn't spotless, but when I stay on top of things and rotate through different rooms that need attention, its not so bad!
As soon as I finish this post which just happens to be #6 on today's list, there will only be three tasks left... including #5 - pack. The biggest, the littlest and I are heading for an overnight trip to my parent's house this weekend. I'll reward my efforts this week with a cup of coffee from our favorite coffee shop on the way up, and some good time with my family as a way to recharge before coming home and giving it a go again next week!
Monday, October 13, 2014
Tackling the To-Dos!
Lets talk lists!
I am the type of person that really enjoys the process of making a list, and crossing things off. I think its because I strive to be productive and organized, but with 4 kiddos now, productive and organized are not always words that I would use to describe myself or our life.
Side note: Does anyone else ever write something down and cross it off AFTER you've completed the task?
Sitting down with my notebook and a cup of coffee is part of my usual morning routine, but I frequently find myself caught in this vicious cycle of writing #allthethings, not having the time/energy/motivation/ability to finish #allthethings, and then feeling down and frustrated because if I didn't cross off #allthethings, than I must not have been very productive for the day. And in my mind a non productive day is not a "good day".
Is this a struggle that all moms have, or is this a SAHM thing? Either way, its something that has the potential to either leave me feeling great or (as its happened more and more recently....) not so great.
This week I am going to make a conscious effort to limit my daily to-do list to 10 manageable tasks. I will brainstorm a special mama treat to celebrate when I am able to follow through on my list every day this week!
How do you manage your to-dos? Are you a list person like me or do you have a different system? I'd love to hear your thoughts and/or suggestions!
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Putting Together a Quick & Easy Minecraft Birthday
Earlier this week we celebrated the middle child's birthday. Where the last few years have gone is a mystery to me! The night before his birthday we went on a mommy/son date for a haircut, dinner and a little shopping trip to Toys R Us to spend the gift card and birthday money that had arrived in birthday cards that day. While we were out together I said to him that I didn't think I was ready for him to turn five and asked if he could be four just a little bit longer... he's a smart little guy though, and replied with "How about I be four for the rest of the night?" Ok. Guess I can't argue with that...
He is a Minecraft fanatic. I'm not quite sure how that even came to be, but Minecraft on the iPad, Grandma's computer, playing "real life Minecraft" and watching Minecraft videos on Youtube consume his little (now) five year old life. I should also mention that he was Steve from Minecraft for Halloween!
He had seen some Youtube videos of different Minecraft themed cakes. One in particular in the shape of Steve caught his eye and he had me watch it with him multiple times. Unfortunately for him, my cake skills are severely limited... fortunately for me, Pinterest has a plethora of Minecraft themed birthday ideas and I found a cake that I thought we could replicate AND that would satisfy our blonde birthday boy AKA DanRidesMinecarts.
This is what we ended up with, I was so happy with how it came out and our birthday boy was pretty excited too! It was easy to control the portions on this cake, we only needed to have enough for our little immediate family, but you could easily build something similar on a larger scale. For this cake I used one box of chocolate cake mix, two 6oz packages of blue jello and one batch of Rice Krispie treats (and ended up with leftover "blocks" of each) I used square pans, either 8x8 or 9x9, to make each component so it would be thicker and more block like than having the batter spread out in a larger sized pan. I also grabbed a can of green Betty Crocker cupcake frosting, and the star tip was perfect for making the grass on top of the dirt blocks. I will freely admit that the star of the cake was the little figures we found to put on top. I was hesitant to fork out $25ish dollars for these guys, but he has played with them every day since his birthday so I've considered them just another one of his gifts. We found the packaged figures on Amazon, Core Player Survival Pack and the Creeper Pack.
The one thing I forgot to consider were candles for this awesome cake. Thankfully the man of the house came to the rescue with the brilliant idea of using matches to represent the Minecraft torches. (I apologize for the crummy picture, but you get the idea)
We also decided to go the Minecraft route with birthday treats for his preschool class. Again, with the help of Pinterest, we were able to come up with a cute and fairly inexpensive idea. I like coming up with things that are a little different than the standard store bought, sugar bomb cupcakes. I bought clear treat bags from the Dollar Tree (they come in packs of 25), a roll of green curling ribbon, a bag of stick pretzels, rolos and new cookies and creme Hershey's Kisses in very diamond-like blue foil. Too keep these preschool friendly, each treat bag got two of each candy and a handful of pretzels. The real Minecraft highlight of the treat bags were these free printable tags I found on Pinterest. We downloaded the ones we wanted to use (diamond, gold & sticks) to a USB drive and took them to the office supply store to be color printed on cardstock. HERE is the site I found on Pinterest full of great party ideas AND free food printables.
All in all, I think we pulled off a pretty fun day for our boy! Without breaking the bank, without spending WEEKS upon WEEKS planning and preparing and still managing to give him a themed birthday to remember.
He is a Minecraft fanatic. I'm not quite sure how that even came to be, but Minecraft on the iPad, Grandma's computer, playing "real life Minecraft" and watching Minecraft videos on Youtube consume his little (now) five year old life. I should also mention that he was Steve from Minecraft for Halloween!
He had seen some Youtube videos of different Minecraft themed cakes. One in particular in the shape of Steve caught his eye and he had me watch it with him multiple times. Unfortunately for him, my cake skills are severely limited... fortunately for me, Pinterest has a plethora of Minecraft themed birthday ideas and I found a cake that I thought we could replicate AND that would satisfy our blonde birthday boy AKA DanRidesMinecarts.
This is what we ended up with, I was so happy with how it came out and our birthday boy was pretty excited too! It was easy to control the portions on this cake, we only needed to have enough for our little immediate family, but you could easily build something similar on a larger scale. For this cake I used one box of chocolate cake mix, two 6oz packages of blue jello and one batch of Rice Krispie treats (and ended up with leftover "blocks" of each) I used square pans, either 8x8 or 9x9, to make each component so it would be thicker and more block like than having the batter spread out in a larger sized pan. I also grabbed a can of green Betty Crocker cupcake frosting, and the star tip was perfect for making the grass on top of the dirt blocks. I will freely admit that the star of the cake was the little figures we found to put on top. I was hesitant to fork out $25ish dollars for these guys, but he has played with them every day since his birthday so I've considered them just another one of his gifts. We found the packaged figures on Amazon, Core Player Survival Pack and the Creeper Pack.
The one thing I forgot to consider were candles for this awesome cake. Thankfully the man of the house came to the rescue with the brilliant idea of using matches to represent the Minecraft torches. (I apologize for the crummy picture, but you get the idea)
We also decided to go the Minecraft route with birthday treats for his preschool class. Again, with the help of Pinterest, we were able to come up with a cute and fairly inexpensive idea. I like coming up with things that are a little different than the standard store bought, sugar bomb cupcakes. I bought clear treat bags from the Dollar Tree (they come in packs of 25), a roll of green curling ribbon, a bag of stick pretzels, rolos and new cookies and creme Hershey's Kisses in very diamond-like blue foil. Too keep these preschool friendly, each treat bag got two of each candy and a handful of pretzels. The real Minecraft highlight of the treat bags were these free printable tags I found on Pinterest. We downloaded the ones we wanted to use (diamond, gold & sticks) to a USB drive and took them to the office supply store to be color printed on cardstock. HERE is the site I found on Pinterest full of great party ideas AND free food printables.
All in all, I think we pulled off a pretty fun day for our boy! Without breaking the bank, without spending WEEKS upon WEEKS planning and preparing and still managing to give him a themed birthday to remember.
 |
| Happy 5th Birthday DanRidesMinecart! |
Monday, March 10, 2014
Goal Setting {Week 2}
After my mostly successful first week, I'm using this forum again to gain some accountability for a new week's goals!
I sat down with my coffee this morning (anyone else's favorite time of the day?) and came up with the following list:
You'll notice my first two goals... I have felt pretty crummy over the last few days and I'm attributing that to not being aware of my water intake AND splurging on junk that wasn't in our budget and didn't agree much with my body. The crap food I consumed over the weekend included a late night Dairy Queen snack of chicken strips & fries, Mt Dew, cheese cake complete with cherry pie filling, pizza, donuts and multiple Cadbury Creme Eggs. I tend to go through periods of zero impulse control, and then I pay for it massively. Enough is enough! Its one thing to have a treat (or fulfill a pregnancy craving... thats where the Cadbury eggs came into play) occasionally, but I need to do a better job of cutting myself off.
I wrote "Consignment sale prep" as a goal for the week, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to measure that. I'm consigning at my second Super Kids Resale next month and I've got a lot to do between now and then to get ready! There is definitely work involved in being a consignor at these types of sales, but its really something that I look forward to. I have fun volunteering during the sale, I LOVE shopping the sale and I really love the check that comes a few weeks after the sale. The income from the sale will be very beneficial to us this year, but I'm also at a bit of a disadvantage with our desire to leave the gender of our baby unknown until birth. IF we knew we were having a girl, there are a lot of baby boy items I could tag for the sale and if we knew the gender I would also be able to stock up on clothes and other items we're needing for baby at a great discount. But... since thats not the case, I will come up with a list of items that we're needing that can be gender neutral and I'm sure I'll find more than a few good bargains during the sale!
I sat down with my coffee this morning (anyone else's favorite time of the day?) and came up with the following list:
Goals for the week of March 10-16
1) Drink 4+ glasses of water each day
2) Focus on real food - No fast food or gorging on junk snacks
3) Dannon's Birthday! (Wrap gifts, make cake)
4) Follow week 2 of 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home challenge
5) Wake up with alarm
6) Sell $85 worth of stuff and pay natural gas bill
7) Consignment sale prep
You'll notice my first two goals... I have felt pretty crummy over the last few days and I'm attributing that to not being aware of my water intake AND splurging on junk that wasn't in our budget and didn't agree much with my body. The crap food I consumed over the weekend included a late night Dairy Queen snack of chicken strips & fries, Mt Dew, cheese cake complete with cherry pie filling, pizza, donuts and multiple Cadbury Creme Eggs. I tend to go through periods of zero impulse control, and then I pay for it massively. Enough is enough! Its one thing to have a treat (or fulfill a pregnancy craving... thats where the Cadbury eggs came into play) occasionally, but I need to do a better job of cutting myself off.
I wrote "Consignment sale prep" as a goal for the week, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to measure that. I'm consigning at my second Super Kids Resale next month and I've got a lot to do between now and then to get ready! There is definitely work involved in being a consignor at these types of sales, but its really something that I look forward to. I have fun volunteering during the sale, I LOVE shopping the sale and I really love the check that comes a few weeks after the sale. The income from the sale will be very beneficial to us this year, but I'm also at a bit of a disadvantage with our desire to leave the gender of our baby unknown until birth. IF we knew we were having a girl, there are a lot of baby boy items I could tag for the sale and if we knew the gender I would also be able to stock up on clothes and other items we're needing for baby at a great discount. But... since thats not the case, I will come up with a list of items that we're needing that can be gender neutral and I'm sure I'll find more than a few good bargains during the sale!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Week 1 Review & Unplugging Success!
I sat down on Monday morning and wrote out a list of 6 goals for the week, I will admit that I didn't follow through on ALL of them, but nonetheless I am happy with what was accomplished over the course of the last week. Here is the recap:
1) Follow 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home plan
2) Sell $50-100 worth of items
3) Attend family night @ headstart on Tuesday
5) Get up each morning with the alarm
Goals for the week of March 3-9
4) Get fabric & make Minecraft Steve pillow for Dannon's birthday
6) Yoga x2, Just Dance x1
My biggest feat was following along with the daily tasks associated with the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home challenge. Its kind of a no brainer that household chores are easier when you stay on top of things, but I have a habit of NOT staying on top of things which results in a massive house cleaning attempt when the motivation does hit. I'm slowly becoming the type of person who does a little bit every day in order to keep things manageable, and to avoid the hit-by-a-tornado style of "decorating!" The tasks for the week included a 15 minute quick pick up of living areas, cleaning out the purse/diaper bag and getting rid of 7 things on Monday, a 15 minute quick clean of the kitchen, cleaning out the refrigerator and finding another 7 things to get rid of on Tuesday, a 15 minute quick clean of the master bedroom, ANOTHER 7 things and cleaning out the freezer (the one task I didn't feel was necessary to our home this week) on Wednesday, a 15 minute quick clean of the master bath, cleaning underneath beds and furniture, and yes, you guessed it... 7 more things on Thursday and finally cleaning the couch (vacuuming under cushions, spot cleaning and washing all the covers) on Friday.
I was able to do each of these special cleaning tasks in addition to the other 5-7 things on my daily to do list. There were a few days that I procrastinated the things on the list, but at the end of the day, it felt great to follow through! I love knowing that if I devote 15 minutes to a quick clean I can get most of the needed things done in one specific room (NOT including our bedroom which will require more than one 15 minute interval!)
The next goal for the week that I was able to cross off was selling $50-100 worth of items! Between the local facebook buy/sell group that I am part of and one item sold on ebay I was able to make about $72 this week. Its not close to closing the income deficit we're experiencing since my ex husband stopped paying his court ordered child support, but every little bit helps. I applied $40 of my sales to our natural gas bill and spent the rest on a few things we needed to pick up at the grocery store and Target.
Lets talk about Family Night at Dannon's school! It was totally worth sitting through a presentation that was mostly done in Spanish, to see how happy Dannon was to have us all there. They fed us all an amazing meal of tostadas and all three of the kiddos got to play in the classroom. It was a nice way to break up the sometimes monotonous feel of our weeknights without spending a dime. We'll definitely plan on attending next month too!
The last weekly goal I was able to cross of the list was getting up each morning with the alarm. I guess if I'm being TECHNICAL I should admit that I hit snooze once or twice... but each morning I was out of bed before 7am and it just feels better to get a start on the day, instead of the day starting without me.
Now for the weekly goals I didn't complete:
Exercising and making a Minecraft pillow for Dannon's birthday.
I've got no real, valid excuses for not exercising a minimum of 3 times. I just didn't do it.
As for the pillow... I ended up ordering about $25 worth of Minecraft miniatures to use as decorations on Dannon's birthday "cake." I am crossing my fingers that he will love the idea I came up with (thank you, Pinterest!) and we're sure the little figures will provide hours and hours of play. There just wasn't anything left in the birthday budget to buy fabric for the pillow project. It will go on the back burner though and definitely will be completed sometime. Maybe he'll get a Minecraft quilt and pillow for Christmas if he is still obsessed in a few months.
The last thing I wanted to touch on for this post was our success at unplugging for 24 (turned 36) hours this weekend. We are a family that has a habit of being entirely too wrapped up in our gadgets (ahem, boys...) and social media (guilty as charged.) Bob shared with me an article he read on cnn.com about the National Day of Unplugging and we decided to participate. I'm happy to report that it wasn't as hard as I thought it might be and in fact, its something I want to incorporate on a regular basis! There were a few times that Dannon asked about his iPad, and a few times I though "oh, I should post this on facebook" or "I need to remember to look this up..." but I discovered that a lot of the time I spend online is just wasted time and it takes my focus away from my family and my home commitments. I wish the weather would have cooperated so we could have gone outside to play catch or another fun family activity outdoors, but in true pacific northwest fashion it was rainy. We used our time to get a few things done around the house, rest and recharge and watch movies together. We questioned at the beginning of our unplugged time what that really meant for us and how we would apply it, and we decided that tv and movies were acceptable, individual usage was not. It was a nice break, but I was definitely happy to hop on Facebook and check my email this morning while I was drinking my cup of coffee :)
The next goal for the week that I was able to cross off was selling $50-100 worth of items! Between the local facebook buy/sell group that I am part of and one item sold on ebay I was able to make about $72 this week. Its not close to closing the income deficit we're experiencing since my ex husband stopped paying his court ordered child support, but every little bit helps. I applied $40 of my sales to our natural gas bill and spent the rest on a few things we needed to pick up at the grocery store and Target.
Lets talk about Family Night at Dannon's school! It was totally worth sitting through a presentation that was mostly done in Spanish, to see how happy Dannon was to have us all there. They fed us all an amazing meal of tostadas and all three of the kiddos got to play in the classroom. It was a nice way to break up the sometimes monotonous feel of our weeknights without spending a dime. We'll definitely plan on attending next month too!
The last weekly goal I was able to cross of the list was getting up each morning with the alarm. I guess if I'm being TECHNICAL I should admit that I hit snooze once or twice... but each morning I was out of bed before 7am and it just feels better to get a start on the day, instead of the day starting without me.
Now for the weekly goals I didn't complete:
Exercising and making a Minecraft pillow for Dannon's birthday.
I've got no real, valid excuses for not exercising a minimum of 3 times. I just didn't do it.
As for the pillow... I ended up ordering about $25 worth of Minecraft miniatures to use as decorations on Dannon's birthday "cake." I am crossing my fingers that he will love the idea I came up with (thank you, Pinterest!) and we're sure the little figures will provide hours and hours of play. There just wasn't anything left in the birthday budget to buy fabric for the pillow project. It will go on the back burner though and definitely will be completed sometime. Maybe he'll get a Minecraft quilt and pillow for Christmas if he is still obsessed in a few months.
The last thing I wanted to touch on for this post was our success at unplugging for 24 (turned 36) hours this weekend. We are a family that has a habit of being entirely too wrapped up in our gadgets (ahem, boys...) and social media (guilty as charged.) Bob shared with me an article he read on cnn.com about the National Day of Unplugging and we decided to participate. I'm happy to report that it wasn't as hard as I thought it might be and in fact, its something I want to incorporate on a regular basis! There were a few times that Dannon asked about his iPad, and a few times I though "oh, I should post this on facebook" or "I need to remember to look this up..." but I discovered that a lot of the time I spend online is just wasted time and it takes my focus away from my family and my home commitments. I wish the weather would have cooperated so we could have gone outside to play catch or another fun family activity outdoors, but in true pacific northwest fashion it was rainy. We used our time to get a few things done around the house, rest and recharge and watch movies together. We questioned at the beginning of our unplugged time what that really meant for us and how we would apply it, and we decided that tv and movies were acceptable, individual usage was not. It was a nice break, but I was definitely happy to hop on Facebook and check my email this morning while I was drinking my cup of coffee :)
Monday, March 3, 2014
My Project for the Month of March
I started this year with the thought of having one thing I would focus on each month. In January my focus was to begin eliminating clutter, in February I loosely followed my goal of setting an alarm and getting up at 6:30 each morning and now for March I will be following along with one of my favorite bloggers, Money Saving Mom, and her 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home.
You can find her first post on the project here, which includes the first day's "assignment" and a sign up to receive the free e-book she has written to go along with the project.
Today's "assignment" includes getting dressed, writing out 5-10 goals for the week, create/follow a morning routine, 15 minute quick pick up, finding 7 items to get rid of and cleaning out your purse/diaper bag.
Since I'm a stay at homer, and regularly bite off more than I can chew and get frustrated later when I don't follow through to the fullest extent, I appreciate that she has a complete list of suggested things for the day, and one highlighted task to make sure you accomplish.
I wanted to share my list of goals for the week, I have found that its easier for me to stay accountable when I put myself out there!
You can find her first post on the project here, which includes the first day's "assignment" and a sign up to receive the free e-book she has written to go along with the project.
Today's "assignment" includes getting dressed, writing out 5-10 goals for the week, create/follow a morning routine, 15 minute quick pick up, finding 7 items to get rid of and cleaning out your purse/diaper bag.
Since I'm a stay at homer, and regularly bite off more than I can chew and get frustrated later when I don't follow through to the fullest extent, I appreciate that she has a complete list of suggested things for the day, and one highlighted task to make sure you accomplish.
I wanted to share my list of goals for the week, I have found that its easier for me to stay accountable when I put myself out there!
Goals for the week of March 3-9
1) Follow 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home plan
2) Sell $50-100 worth of items
3) Attend family night @ headstart on Tuesday
4) Get fabric & make Minecraft Steve pillow for Dannon's birthday
5) Get up each morning with the alarm
6) Yoga x2, Just Dance x1
I plan on checking in through my blog later in the week to update with my progress. Please let me know if you will be joining this month's project, its always encouraging to tackle something like this with a friend (or two!)
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Thrift Store Scores - The Mommy/Daughter Date Edition
Thank you Queen Bee Coupons for posting about Value Village's 50% off sale on Presidents day!
Since the man of the house was home from work earlier than usual on Monday due to the holiday I decided to ask Ashlyn, my just-turned-11-year-old daughter, if she wanted to ride along for a little thrift store hunting. She agreed to go and grabbed her purse containing her birthday money and off on our mommy/daughter adventure we went!
First stop was the local Starbucks for a much needed 3pm-ish pick me up. I used my Starbucks gold card birthday reward for a free drink and paid $2.95 out of pocket for Ashlyn's chocolately chip frappe.
Then off we went to Vancouver. Slowly. I forgot what a pain it is to deal with after work traffic. One fun thing I discovered on our crawl towards I-205 was using Siri to send text messages. We also noticed some fun graffiti with the message "Excuse me world, I know you're busy but I wanted to say you are loved" Ash tried to snap a picture, but the words weren't quite large/dark enough to see.
We finally arrived at Value Village and I put Ashlyn to work searching out clothes in her size. She's not really in need of much clothing wise, but she is getting to the point where she would rather pick things out for herself than have me shop for her and I can accept that. She ended up with 5 or 6 tops that we narrowed down to these three:
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Top left: Longsleeve from Justice (her new favorite store, crazy expensive in my opinion!) I was happy to pay $3.50. Top right: xhilaration brand short sleeve, $2. Bottom: 3/4 sleeve short sweater that she is excited to wear over her zebra print cami, $2.
I paid for her clothing selections and she found a new book and a softball that she purchased with her own money. Neither of those items were half price, but we talk a lot about the value of buying good quality items secondhand and I think she is beginning to understand this concept more and more each time she accompanies me on these treasure hunts and THAT, to me, is priceless :)
I found a few maternity items for myself, because who really wants to pay full price for something that will only be worn for a few months? The best thing about these purchases is it will be easy to sell these online when I am finished with them and make back the money I paid or more.
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Liz Lange shirt for $2.50, Liz Lange jean skirt for $2.00 and a pair of new with tags bermuda length khaki shorts for $2.50.
Our last, but not least, finds at Value Village half off prices were my favorite:
I heart Dad Oshkosh tee $2 (perfect for father's day, right?), Hanna Andersson 2pc pjs $1 (super score!), Old Navy muscle tank for my blonde boy who desperately wants to play tball in the spring $1.50, Gap swim trunks in the coolest nautical/sailor print $3, Thinsulate snow mittens $1, and a pink Gap onesie that says BYOB Bring your own bottle for .50 cents (we'll keep this if we have the girly sort of baby in June or toss in the consignment pile if our baby ends up being of the boy variety.)
We left Value Village and it wasn't too late yet so we checked with Siri to find the closest Goodwill because I know there are a few in Vancouver. It just so happened that we were 0.3 miles away so we decided to head there for just a little more browsing before calling it a night and I'm sure glad we did because these are the treasures we found there:
Two new in packaging Taggie blanket clips for 99 cents each. I will probably keep one for our newbie and use the other in a baby shower gift or add to my consignment sale inventory. One pair of Gymboree cargo shorts for $2.99, and two pairs of excellent condition Stride Rite shoes in wide sizes for $1.50 each (they were marked $2.99 but happened to be the half off color!) I am undecided on the shoes. We may hold on to these until we find out the gender of our baby... we'll need wides if this one takes after it's bigger, redheaded brother... or I may list them on ebay, probably in the neighborhood of $10-12 each pair. Not pictured are a usb mouse & keyboard for $3.99 each that we needed for our new kid's desktop computer set up.
Ashlyn found another book and a Nerf gun while we were at this location.
We worked up quite the appetite with our evening of shopping and hit up Subway for dinner before heading home. It was a great time spent with my daughter, and I really do hope that having these experiences with her now will carry over into positive spending and saving habits as she gets older.
Since the man of the house was home from work earlier than usual on Monday due to the holiday I decided to ask Ashlyn, my just-turned-11-year-old daughter, if she wanted to ride along for a little thrift store hunting. She agreed to go and grabbed her purse containing her birthday money and off on our mommy/daughter adventure we went!
First stop was the local Starbucks for a much needed 3pm-ish pick me up. I used my Starbucks gold card birthday reward for a free drink and paid $2.95 out of pocket for Ashlyn's chocolately chip frappe.
Then off we went to Vancouver. Slowly. I forgot what a pain it is to deal with after work traffic. One fun thing I discovered on our crawl towards I-205 was using Siri to send text messages. We also noticed some fun graffiti with the message "Excuse me world, I know you're busy but I wanted to say you are loved" Ash tried to snap a picture, but the words weren't quite large/dark enough to see.
We finally arrived at Value Village and I put Ashlyn to work searching out clothes in her size. She's not really in need of much clothing wise, but she is getting to the point where she would rather pick things out for herself than have me shop for her and I can accept that. She ended up with 5 or 6 tops that we narrowed down to these three:
Top left: Longsleeve from Justice (her new favorite store, crazy expensive in my opinion!) I was happy to pay $3.50. Top right: xhilaration brand short sleeve, $2. Bottom: 3/4 sleeve short sweater that she is excited to wear over her zebra print cami, $2.
I paid for her clothing selections and she found a new book and a softball that she purchased with her own money. Neither of those items were half price, but we talk a lot about the value of buying good quality items secondhand and I think she is beginning to understand this concept more and more each time she accompanies me on these treasure hunts and THAT, to me, is priceless :)
I found a few maternity items for myself, because who really wants to pay full price for something that will only be worn for a few months? The best thing about these purchases is it will be easy to sell these online when I am finished with them and make back the money I paid or more.
Liz Lange shirt for $2.50, Liz Lange jean skirt for $2.00 and a pair of new with tags bermuda length khaki shorts for $2.50.
Our last, but not least, finds at Value Village half off prices were my favorite:
I heart Dad Oshkosh tee $2 (perfect for father's day, right?), Hanna Andersson 2pc pjs $1 (super score!), Old Navy muscle tank for my blonde boy who desperately wants to play tball in the spring $1.50, Gap swim trunks in the coolest nautical/sailor print $3, Thinsulate snow mittens $1, and a pink Gap onesie that says BYOB Bring your own bottle for .50 cents (we'll keep this if we have the girly sort of baby in June or toss in the consignment pile if our baby ends up being of the boy variety.)
We left Value Village and it wasn't too late yet so we checked with Siri to find the closest Goodwill because I know there are a few in Vancouver. It just so happened that we were 0.3 miles away so we decided to head there for just a little more browsing before calling it a night and I'm sure glad we did because these are the treasures we found there:
Two new in packaging Taggie blanket clips for 99 cents each. I will probably keep one for our newbie and use the other in a baby shower gift or add to my consignment sale inventory. One pair of Gymboree cargo shorts for $2.99, and two pairs of excellent condition Stride Rite shoes in wide sizes for $1.50 each (they were marked $2.99 but happened to be the half off color!) I am undecided on the shoes. We may hold on to these until we find out the gender of our baby... we'll need wides if this one takes after it's bigger, redheaded brother... or I may list them on ebay, probably in the neighborhood of $10-12 each pair. Not pictured are a usb mouse & keyboard for $3.99 each that we needed for our new kid's desktop computer set up.
Ashlyn found another book and a Nerf gun while we were at this location.
We worked up quite the appetite with our evening of shopping and hit up Subway for dinner before heading home. It was a great time spent with my daughter, and I really do hope that having these experiences with her now will carry over into positive spending and saving habits as she gets older.
Thrift Store Scores - Ikea couch & bonus!
Thrift store shopping (aka, treasure hunting) is one of my favorite things to do. It actually fulfills quite a few of my passions; shopping, shopping at a discount, and reselling for profit. I have been an on and off ebay seller for quite a few years, and have been involved in the children consignment sale scene for a year or two as well. Having multiple kids and living on a fairly tight budget has made me much more aware of quality brands that will last and I am frequently able to find items used that will last through a child or two and still be able to sell at consignment when we are done with them. Very rarely do I buy brand new kid clothes from the store, and when I do its always when there are sales/free shipping offers or other rewards involved.
Finding half off deals at the thrift stores is even more exciting! I love the ability to find things we can use in our home, and knowing what I can buy at a fraction of the retail price and sell to offset the cost of the thrift store scores we keep.
This recent trip to our local Salvation Army during their half off customer appreciation sale has been one of my best trips yet!
As an avid fan of everything Ikea, I noticed this little couch right away and was happy to see the $75 price tag that equaled $37.50 with the 50% off sale. I carefully inspected the couch for stains, structural issues and yes, I did the sniff test too because no one wants to take home a stinky piece of furniture. The couch is in great condition, I wonder if maybe it was a floor model at the store, or just something the owner decided wasn't going to work out for them because it sure doesn't seem used to me. When we relocated from northern California to the Portland, Oregon area we ended up renting a home that has a front room and a family room/den. The extra space is great, but we haven't had furniture to fill both rooms. Its nice now to have a comfy little seating area in our front room turned play room AND it is a pull out style that can double as a place to put an overnight guest. (My mom recently visited for the weekend and apparently its comfortable enough for an adult to sleep on!)
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Of course, when I got it home I was excited to find the retail value so off to www.ikea.com I went and this is what I found: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70087108/ Under no circumstances would I have ever paid $169, but for $37.50 I am thrilled!
But wait.... there's more!
I also noticed this pair of shoes:
Cool, huh?! They were Vans and possibly a size that would fit my older son so for $3 (half off the marked price of $5.99) I grabbed them up knowing that if they didn't work out for him, they would be a great resale item. Again, I searched to find the resale value and found that they were only available at the store Journeys and had a retail value of $41.99! http://www.journeys.com/kidz/product.aspx?id=241289&c=1508
When I determined that they weren't going to work out for my son I posted them for sale on ebay with a buy it now price of $30 and offered free shipping. After shipping costs, paypal fees, ebay fees and figuring in my initial "investment" I ended up with a $16.32 profit on the shoes. (man, those fees add up!) I like to think that after this was all said and done my cute little couch only cost $21.18 out of pocket. I love these types of shopping trips. Its a hobby, its a passion and sometimes its even a small income.
Finding half off deals at the thrift stores is even more exciting! I love the ability to find things we can use in our home, and knowing what I can buy at a fraction of the retail price and sell to offset the cost of the thrift store scores we keep.
This recent trip to our local Salvation Army during their half off customer appreciation sale has been one of my best trips yet!
As an avid fan of everything Ikea, I noticed this little couch right away and was happy to see the $75 price tag that equaled $37.50 with the 50% off sale. I carefully inspected the couch for stains, structural issues and yes, I did the sniff test too because no one wants to take home a stinky piece of furniture. The couch is in great condition, I wonder if maybe it was a floor model at the store, or just something the owner decided wasn't going to work out for them because it sure doesn't seem used to me. When we relocated from northern California to the Portland, Oregon area we ended up renting a home that has a front room and a family room/den. The extra space is great, but we haven't had furniture to fill both rooms. Its nice now to have a comfy little seating area in our front room turned play room AND it is a pull out style that can double as a place to put an overnight guest. (My mom recently visited for the weekend and apparently its comfortable enough for an adult to sleep on!)
But wait.... there's more!
I also noticed this pair of shoes:
Cool, huh?! They were Vans and possibly a size that would fit my older son so for $3 (half off the marked price of $5.99) I grabbed them up knowing that if they didn't work out for him, they would be a great resale item. Again, I searched to find the resale value and found that they were only available at the store Journeys and had a retail value of $41.99! http://www.journeys.com/kidz/product.aspx?id=241289&c=1508
When I determined that they weren't going to work out for my son I posted them for sale on ebay with a buy it now price of $30 and offered free shipping. After shipping costs, paypal fees, ebay fees and figuring in my initial "investment" I ended up with a $16.32 profit on the shoes. (man, those fees add up!) I like to think that after this was all said and done my cute little couch only cost $21.18 out of pocket. I love these types of shopping trips. Its a hobby, its a passion and sometimes its even a small income.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Grocery Challenge - Menu Update
As an extension of yesterday's check-in, I'll pick up where we left off with our menu over the past week or so. We have deviated from the plan a bit, which is why I do menu planning the way I do -- to allow for flexibility!
{Wednesday}
B: Muffins, yogurt, cereal
L: PBJ for Dan, ham & cheese for Bob, and a lunchables type pack for Ash & Eli with chips and juice.
S: Animal crackers from the bread store -- free!
D: Breakfast for dinner - eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, cheese, english muffins and chocolate milk
Late night snack: Cinnamon bread toast, cucumbers & ranch for Bob
{Thursday}
B: Cereal (yogurt for Elijah)
L: Ham & cheese sandwiches with strawberries & popcorn
S: Grapes
D: Chicken lettuce wraps, potstickers & crispy zucchini fries
S: Cinnamon toast
{Friday}
B: Cinnamon toast & cereal for the kids, plus a yogurt for Elijah. Hard boiled eggs for Bob.
L: Mac & cheese, strawberries & chips for kids. Strawberry/banana smoothie for me.
S: Marshmallows, chocolate chip cookies from the store for free.
D: BBQ pizzas - one pepperoni and one zucchini basil.
{Saturday}
B: Cereal (and grapes for Elijah)
L: Left over zucchini pizza for D & E, peanut butter sandwich for Ashlyn with snack mix
Egg & ham sandwiches (Bob and I)
S: Grapes & apple slices
D: Beef & broccoli with rice (used the asian salad dressing as a marinade, out of teriyaki/soy)
S: Bob - macaroni & milk (his weird occasional snack/lunch)
Carrot/zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting
{Sunday}
B: Cereal & toast for kids, breakfast in bed for me! Egg, toast, ham & cake.
L: Picnic! PBJs, cantalope, pretzel thins, water & juice boxes
S: Ice cream ($11)
D: Chili (went with chili in the crock pot instead of the mexi pasta meal I was going to try)
S: Cake
{Monday}
B: Cereal (seriously.... it never gets old)
L: Cheese slices, pepperoni, pickles & chips
Ham & cheese for Bob, last english muffin and breakfast leftovers for me.
S: Marshmallows
D: Chicken pasta bake, mozzarella cheese & green beans (another deviation from our menu plan, but we had all the ingredients to throw together and the kids all had seconds and Dannon even had THIRDS!)
S: Finished off the carrot/zucchini cake.
The fridge/freezer/pantry is down to pretty slim pickins and we've got a few days to go until payday. I had planned on doing another breakfast for dinner meal, but we've eaten eggs along the way and I don't think there are enough left for a meal for all of us. Trust me, I'm not complaining. I got breakfast in bed out of the deal! I may do hardboiled eggs with the remainders and possibly potato salad or egg salad sandwiches. We definitely have enough of the chicken pasta bake leftover for lunch, so sandwiches for dinner one evening are a definite possibility.
Another good by-product of this challenge is that not having a TON of food choices in the house is helping us to really use what we have without making much waste or throwing things out. I like that!
Stay tuned for at least one more post on this grocery challenge subject, I'll do a wrap up/recap on Friday or shortly thereafter.
{Wednesday}
B: Muffins, yogurt, cereal
L: PBJ for Dan, ham & cheese for Bob, and a lunchables type pack for Ash & Eli with chips and juice.
S: Animal crackers from the bread store -- free!
D: Breakfast for dinner - eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, cheese, english muffins and chocolate milk
Late night snack: Cinnamon bread toast, cucumbers & ranch for Bob
{Thursday}
B: Cereal (yogurt for Elijah)
L: Ham & cheese sandwiches with strawberries & popcorn
S: Grapes
D: Chicken lettuce wraps, potstickers & crispy zucchini fries
S: Cinnamon toast
{Friday}
B: Cinnamon toast & cereal for the kids, plus a yogurt for Elijah. Hard boiled eggs for Bob.
L: Mac & cheese, strawberries & chips for kids. Strawberry/banana smoothie for me.
S: Marshmallows, chocolate chip cookies from the store for free.
D: BBQ pizzas - one pepperoni and one zucchini basil.
{Saturday}
B: Cereal (and grapes for Elijah)
L: Left over zucchini pizza for D & E, peanut butter sandwich for Ashlyn with snack mix
Egg & ham sandwiches (Bob and I)
S: Grapes & apple slices
D: Beef & broccoli with rice (used the asian salad dressing as a marinade, out of teriyaki/soy)
S: Bob - macaroni & milk (his weird occasional snack/lunch)
Carrot/zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting
{Sunday}
B: Cereal & toast for kids, breakfast in bed for me! Egg, toast, ham & cake.
L: Picnic! PBJs, cantalope, pretzel thins, water & juice boxes
S: Ice cream ($11)
D: Chili (went with chili in the crock pot instead of the mexi pasta meal I was going to try)
S: Cake
{Monday}
B: Cereal (seriously.... it never gets old)
L: Cheese slices, pepperoni, pickles & chips
Ham & cheese for Bob, last english muffin and breakfast leftovers for me.
S: Marshmallows
D: Chicken pasta bake, mozzarella cheese & green beans (another deviation from our menu plan, but we had all the ingredients to throw together and the kids all had seconds and Dannon even had THIRDS!)
S: Finished off the carrot/zucchini cake.
The fridge/freezer/pantry is down to pretty slim pickins and we've got a few days to go until payday. I had planned on doing another breakfast for dinner meal, but we've eaten eggs along the way and I don't think there are enough left for a meal for all of us. Trust me, I'm not complaining. I got breakfast in bed out of the deal! I may do hardboiled eggs with the remainders and possibly potato salad or egg salad sandwiches. We definitely have enough of the chicken pasta bake leftover for lunch, so sandwiches for dinner one evening are a definite possibility.
Another good by-product of this challenge is that not having a TON of food choices in the house is helping us to really use what we have without making much waste or throwing things out. I like that!
Stay tuned for at least one more post on this grocery challenge subject, I'll do a wrap up/recap on Friday or shortly thereafter.
Monday, July 29, 2013
{Another} Grocery Challenge Check-In
So.... As we have progressed through the first week of this challenge I have made a few discoveries:
A) I focused A LOT more on dinners and not quite enough on breakfast, lunch and snacks.
B) I am going to be well over my $100 goal, even though I feel like we've made good use out of our purchases and continue to be smart about what we're buying.
C) I am caught in a vicious cycle! It is good for our well-being to get out of the house each day, but I have a tendency to spend money when we're out. Our daily "field trips" need to be more about going to the park/library/free events and less about using that time to run to the store... BUT... going to the park with three kids by myself isn't always good for MY well-being (or more specifically, my patience and sanity) ... AND ... when you take kids into the store after lunch you can bribe them with free cookies from the bakery. (Kids like cookies and my budget likes free snacks!) Finding a balance that works for us is a never ending challenge!
I am trying to focus on what I am learning as I complete this challenge, and not feel like I have failed because I have gone over my grocery budget goal. This process is giving me a clear picture of what we consume regularily, example: We drink this many gallons of milk over this time period. Same with loaves of bread, boxes of cereal, etc. When I have a better idea of how long these products last for our normal consumption, I have a better idea of what our final grocery budget will end up being, and how much to stock up on to get us through each pay period. I hope to build enough of a stockpile to meet our needs between sale cycles without spending a lot of money out of pocket while we are continuing to pay off some debts and find an even keel, financially speaking.
Here is the breakdown on the additional trips to the store we have made over the course of the last week:
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Chocolate Cheerios - $1.17 (on sale 3/$5 used $1/2 coupon)
Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch - $1.17 (same as above)
Safeway sugar - $2.34
Jif peanut butter - $2.99
Paper towels - $0.79
Gallon of milk - $2.59
Pizza dough from deli area - 2/$3.00
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A) I focused A LOT more on dinners and not quite enough on breakfast, lunch and snacks.
B) I am going to be well over my $100 goal, even though I feel like we've made good use out of our purchases and continue to be smart about what we're buying.
C) I am caught in a vicious cycle! It is good for our well-being to get out of the house each day, but I have a tendency to spend money when we're out. Our daily "field trips" need to be more about going to the park/library/free events and less about using that time to run to the store... BUT... going to the park with three kids by myself isn't always good for MY well-being (or more specifically, my patience and sanity) ... AND ... when you take kids into the store after lunch you can bribe them with free cookies from the bakery. (Kids like cookies and my budget likes free snacks!) Finding a balance that works for us is a never ending challenge!
I am trying to focus on what I am learning as I complete this challenge, and not feel like I have failed because I have gone over my grocery budget goal. This process is giving me a clear picture of what we consume regularily, example: We drink this many gallons of milk over this time period. Same with loaves of bread, boxes of cereal, etc. When I have a better idea of how long these products last for our normal consumption, I have a better idea of what our final grocery budget will end up being, and how much to stock up on to get us through each pay period. I hope to build enough of a stockpile to meet our needs between sale cycles without spending a lot of money out of pocket while we are continuing to pay off some debts and find an even keel, financially speaking.
Here is the breakdown on the additional trips to the store we have made over the course of the last week:
{7/24 Franz Bakery Outlet: $5.50 & Safeway: $6.31}
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Bakery Outlet:
Two loaves of whole wheat white bread - $2.00
1 package english muffins - $1.00
1 loaf cinnamon bread - $2.50
(not pictured 3 small snack sized bags of animal cookies given to the kids for free!)
Safeway:
2 ltr 7UP Ten - $0.54 (+ .05 Oregon bottle deposit)
2 ltr A&W Ten - $0.54 (+ dep) These were on sale with my Just For U specials but they were a CA deal and not an OR deal. I was confused so the cashier took $1.25 off the normal price of $1.99. My special offer would have made them 75 cents each. Sometimes you are on the winning side of a price difference, and sometimes you're on the losing side. In my opinion, when its just a few cents one way or another its not worth it to go in to the customer service desk.
Coffee creamer - $2.54 (used a 75 cent manu coupon)
Gallon of milk - $2.59
{7/25 Target - $16.40 - $10 swagbucks gift card = $6.40 OOP}
Popcorn from the snack bar - $1.43 (used a 10% off savings from the Cartwheel app)
Baby carrots - $0.69 (used a $1 off mobile coupon)
Strawberries - $0.89 (used 5% savings from cartwheel app & $1 off mobile coupon)
1 box elbow noodles & 2 jars of sauce - $1.00 for all 3! (used $1 off mobile coupon wyb one sauce & one pasta, pasta had a peelie coupon for $1 off wyb two sauces.)
Tension rod for shower curtain - $12.39
I cashed in swagbucks for a $10 egiftcard to Target that I was able to load onto my phone. Stay tuned for more info on Swagbucks!
{7/26 Safeway: $14.05}
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Chocolate Cheerios - $1.17 (on sale 3/$5 used $1/2 coupon)
Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch - $1.17 (same as above)
Safeway sugar - $2.34
Jif peanut butter - $2.99
Paper towels - $0.79
Gallon of milk - $2.59
Pizza dough from deli area - 2/$3.00
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The boys enjoying more free cookies!
{7/28 Fred Meyer: $11.97}
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Nearly out of milk again, I wonder if we are allowed to raise cows in this county...
Fred Meyer half gallons milk/oj - $5 on sale 4/$5 with FM store coupon
Coffee creamer - $2.50 (used FM store coupon)
2 Tillamook yogurts - $0.60 cents each (used a B1G1 free printable = 30 cents each)
Small block of sharp cheddar - $1.88
Colgate toothpaste - Free with ecoupon loaded to card
Store brand nasal spray (for my honey with sinus issues) - $1.99
These little side trips to the stores have brought our grand total so far to right around $140 and I anticipate that there will probably be one more trip this week for incidentals. We're on the home stretch! If I can stick to $75-100 per week on groceries and household needs for the 5 of us I'll definitely be a happy mama!
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Grocery Challenge Check-in & Couponing tips/reminders
*First I feel compelled to mention that it is 8:29am on Wednesday morning and not only did the wonderful man in my life bring me my favorite coffee from Starbucks this morning before he left for work (Thanks for the gift card, Mom!) but I was able to take a shower AND the kiddos are all still asleep! This is unheard of! I'm sure I just jinxed this all by writing the words and they will be awake and needy in minutes, but for now I am enjoying the quiet time with my coffee and thoughts.
Last night I had the pleasure of "attending" a couponing web class hosted by Angela of Frugal Living NW. My motivation for participating in the class was the special offer for the Sunday Oregonian subscription, but she mentioned some basic couponing tips that are great reminders for couponers of all experience levels.
The first thing she said that stuck out to me was, "Don't let a coupon burn a hole in your pocket!" It is easy to think, "oh, I have this coupon so I need to use it." Not true. Coupons are only saving you money if A) the coupon is for an item that you need or use regularly and B) using the coupon will make the item less than the full price of the store brand/generic. The best time to use a coupon is when it matches up with a store sale on the item, don't be afraid to save them until that point.
She also touched on store sale cycles and buying enough during the sale to last your family until the item goes on sale again (store sales cycle every 3-6 months depending on the item). When you stock up at rock bottom prices during a sale you give yourself the ability in the future to "shop" from yourself instead of running to the store and possibly paying full price for that item you need. (and how often do you really go into the grocery store and walk out with that one thing you need to complete your recipe and not one of these and one of those and oh, that too?)
The last tip/reminder I wrote down was to be strategic about stockpiling. Stockpiling doesn't have to be crazy. Its about having items on hand that you need and use regularly. If your storage space is limited, only keep on hand the best deals that don't come around as often as others. It doesn't make sense to keep piles and piles of pasta and toothpaste on hand when those sales are available frequently, instead use your space wisely for more costly items like detergents and other household products you use daily.
I'm super thrilled for my Oregonian subscription to start! I paid $39.98 to have two Sunday papers delivered for an entire year! If I did the math right, that breaks down to about 38 cents per paper. The Sunday Oregonian is $2 if purchased at the store. That would add up to over $200 over the course of the year! Our finances are tight right now, but to me, this offer was worth shuffling some money around to cover the up front cost of the subscription in order to see the savings for an entire year.
As far as our grocery challenge goes, I think we're doing well! Here are the details of our meals & snacks over the last few days. What I hope to establish by tracking this and sharing with you is that a tight grocery budget doesn't have to mean pasta or beans every day. When you shop and plan your meals around what is on sale its possible to maintain variety.
{Sunday}
B: cereal (you'll notice we eat a lot of cereal! My 4 year old son, Dannon, prefers to mix as many open boxes of cereal that we have into one bowl every morning. The last few days that has meant Kellog's chocolate krave, cocoa pebbles, vanilla chex and hershey's cookies & creme. I buy whatever cereal I know they will eat and I can get for $1.50 or less per box. Right now its all the good stuff, sometimes its healthier options and they gobble those down too.)
L: PBJ sandwiches (made with my dad's homemade raspberry jam!) with chips/spicy snack mix.
D: Grilled pork chops & potato wedges
(forgot to track the snacks on Sunday)
{Monday}
B: Cinnamon rolls & cereal
S: Apple slices
L: PBJ, chips/spicy snack mix/fruit snacks & juice
S: Pickles & snack mix
D: Steak fajitas
{Tuesday}
B:Muffins & cereal (& hard boiled eggs for Bob)
L: PBJ for Dan, P for Eli, Ham & Cheese for Ash, chips, grapes & juice
S: Peanut butter crackers & marshmallows (things I found in the pantry)
D: Grilled chicken salad with carrots, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, cheese & crutons
Last night I had the pleasure of "attending" a couponing web class hosted by Angela of Frugal Living NW. My motivation for participating in the class was the special offer for the Sunday Oregonian subscription, but she mentioned some basic couponing tips that are great reminders for couponers of all experience levels.
The first thing she said that stuck out to me was, "Don't let a coupon burn a hole in your pocket!" It is easy to think, "oh, I have this coupon so I need to use it." Not true. Coupons are only saving you money if A) the coupon is for an item that you need or use regularly and B) using the coupon will make the item less than the full price of the store brand/generic. The best time to use a coupon is when it matches up with a store sale on the item, don't be afraid to save them until that point.
She also touched on store sale cycles and buying enough during the sale to last your family until the item goes on sale again (store sales cycle every 3-6 months depending on the item). When you stock up at rock bottom prices during a sale you give yourself the ability in the future to "shop" from yourself instead of running to the store and possibly paying full price for that item you need. (and how often do you really go into the grocery store and walk out with that one thing you need to complete your recipe and not one of these and one of those and oh, that too?)
The last tip/reminder I wrote down was to be strategic about stockpiling. Stockpiling doesn't have to be crazy. Its about having items on hand that you need and use regularly. If your storage space is limited, only keep on hand the best deals that don't come around as often as others. It doesn't make sense to keep piles and piles of pasta and toothpaste on hand when those sales are available frequently, instead use your space wisely for more costly items like detergents and other household products you use daily.
I'm super thrilled for my Oregonian subscription to start! I paid $39.98 to have two Sunday papers delivered for an entire year! If I did the math right, that breaks down to about 38 cents per paper. The Sunday Oregonian is $2 if purchased at the store. That would add up to over $200 over the course of the year! Our finances are tight right now, but to me, this offer was worth shuffling some money around to cover the up front cost of the subscription in order to see the savings for an entire year.
As far as our grocery challenge goes, I think we're doing well! Here are the details of our meals & snacks over the last few days. What I hope to establish by tracking this and sharing with you is that a tight grocery budget doesn't have to mean pasta or beans every day. When you shop and plan your meals around what is on sale its possible to maintain variety.
{Sunday}
B: cereal (you'll notice we eat a lot of cereal! My 4 year old son, Dannon, prefers to mix as many open boxes of cereal that we have into one bowl every morning. The last few days that has meant Kellog's chocolate krave, cocoa pebbles, vanilla chex and hershey's cookies & creme. I buy whatever cereal I know they will eat and I can get for $1.50 or less per box. Right now its all the good stuff, sometimes its healthier options and they gobble those down too.)
L: PBJ sandwiches (made with my dad's homemade raspberry jam!) with chips/spicy snack mix.
D: Grilled pork chops & potato wedges
(forgot to track the snacks on Sunday)
{Monday}
B: Cinnamon rolls & cereal
S: Apple slices
L: PBJ, chips/spicy snack mix/fruit snacks & juice
S: Pickles & snack mix
D: Steak fajitas
{Tuesday}
B:Muffins & cereal (& hard boiled eggs for Bob)
L: PBJ for Dan, P for Eli, Ham & Cheese for Ash, chips, grapes & juice
S: Peanut butter crackers & marshmallows (things I found in the pantry)
D: Grilled chicken salad with carrots, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, cheese & crutons
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Grocery Challenge: aka moving is expensive and we still need to eat!
Since my poor, poor blog is often neglected, I haven't written a recent update. Here is the big news:
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I <3 Target mobile coupons! I'm back from my morning of grocery shopping, I took pictures of my purchases from each store and I'm thinking I'll go into detail with a blog post (my poor neglected blog) Anyway, the overall update is that I decided to shoot for $100 over the next two weeks, shopping for our needs on a $50/week budget would have been too limiting because I like to buy value packages of meat, etc. I went to Target, Fred Meyer & Albertsons and spent a total of $92.23 on food items (plus another $7.99 for a much needed broom/dust pan and $5.99 for a 150ct bottle of kid vitamins so we can stop giving them gummy bears, lol!) I will end up slightly over my goal of $100/2 weeks because I know we will need to get a few more gallons of milk, fresh fruit and I've planned on bbq pizzas next weekend and I'll buy the dough from Safeway 2/$3. Might end up closer to $125... but if I can feed our family of 5 breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks for the next 12 days on that amount I'd say that is a huge success!
WE MOVED!
Moving is a chaotic process, and we definitely experienced our share of chaos, but we are now happy residents of Troutdale, Oregon. The best things so far about Oregon? We are just a 3 hour drive away from my parents, the temperatures are significantly cooler than Northern California (we're talking 20-25 degrees cooler!), I don't have to pump my own gas AND we're within a pretty close radius of quite a few shopping options!
Now let me tell you the downside of moving to Oregon: The act of moving is expensive. We went with a 26 foot Penske moving truck and let me tell you, we used every INCH of that truck! Gigantic moving trucks are not cheap, nor is the diesel for a 465 mile trip. Rents are also higher in this area than what we were blessed with in Red Bluff. $365 more a month to be exact, but thankfully we found a great (big) home that will meet and exceed the needs of our family for the next few years until we are able to purchase our own.
Oh, and if the moving expenses weren't enough... the registration on our van expires this month so we're forced to deal with getting the registration transferred and dealt with a lot quicker than we may have done otherwise.
Bob will be getting a cost of living increase, which will definitely help with our higher housing costs but I needed to find a way to decrease some of our other expenses, especially in the here and now while we try to get back on track with our finances and budget. Enter my facebook status post from last night:
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I <3 Target mobile coupons! I'm back from my morning of grocery shopping, I took pictures of my purchases from each store and I'm thinking I'll go into detail with a blog post (my poor neglected blog) Anyway, the overall update is that I decided to shoot for $100 over the next two weeks, shopping for our needs on a $50/week budget would have been too limiting because I like to buy value packages of meat, etc. I went to Target, Fred Meyer & Albertsons and spent a total of $92.23 on food items (plus another $7.99 for a much needed broom/dust pan and $5.99 for a 150ct bottle of kid vitamins so we can stop giving them gummy bears, lol!) I will end up slightly over my goal of $100/2 weeks because I know we will need to get a few more gallons of milk, fresh fruit and I've planned on bbq pizzas next weekend and I'll buy the dough from Safeway 2/$3. Might end up closer to $125... but if I can feed our family of 5 breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks for the next 12 days on that amount I'd say that is a huge success!
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