putting me to the test

The next couple of weeks, and perhaps longer, will be a test for my frugality. R's hours are being cut to 32/week. Currently he is scheduled 40 but they have been sending him home early each week so he has been getting 36 hours or so. Cutting out another 4 hours won't be so bad considering that it will cut out some hours that we need a sitter for. With his current hour cut, it doesn't help out with the babysitting but this way it will help cut out possibly 8 hours depending on what day he is off. Thankfully I have a good stockpile of stuff we need. I do need a few things next week from Walgreens (vitamin shampoo and conditioner is free after RR!).

Today we got new shoes (doesn't help out the thrifty-ness but they were necessary for both R and I). We love Skechers and the outlet had them buy one get the 2nd half off so $68 for 2 pairs of shoes....not exactly thrifty but they were needed.

We stopped at the amish produce stand and got a giant sweet onion and 3 green peppers for $1.50. The kids love fresh green peppers and eat them like apples. A trait inherited from R. We went to our favorite bent and dent and scored!! Not on food stuff though. They had boxes full of tylenol cold liquid and caplets. 50 cents for each package of caples and 50 cents for the bottles of the liquid. IDK why they had them, didn't have a chance to ask. I assume because they are close to date but not expired. They were all still sealed and in date but expire in the next month. No biggie for us. I got a couple boxes of pills and 2 bottles of the liquid. I also picked up some markers for work and a few grocery things for us and for my brother. He is currently unemployed and they are hurting for $$ (who isn't) so if I can help them out $5-$10 here and there I will. I got them some bacon, margarine, and cat food. In a few days I plan to pick them up some diapers from Walgreens on sale. I can't help alot but we have been in that situation and every little bit helps tremendously.

Back to school sale

Even though neither of my kids are of school age, back to school sales are a perfect time to stock up on art supplies for the kids. We get markers, crayons, paper, etc.
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The coupons lately have not been for anything we need so I have been slacking in that department. Since Walgreens got rid of the easy saver booklet I can count on one hand how many times I have been in there are actually bought something. I went last night to check out the vitamin shampoo and conditioner that will be free after RR's in a couple weeks. I might get a couple to try but won't be stocking up. While I was there I picked up some stationery sets for K and our neice for Christmas for 50 cents each and I got some jaw clips for my hair for 45 cents for 3. I am hoping to go back today and pick up a couple more packs of jaw clips (on for my mom for her Christmas gift basket) and the other stationery sets (perfect for the neice and Kaitlin. They are really cute sets with stickers, stamps, pens, cards and envelopes..originally $2. Definitely would not pay that for them!)
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I picked K up a new shirt the other day from the place where I work. They have an employee only store on site which sells unused returned goods, samples, defective items (seam not sewn evenly or stuff like that) for super cheap and they also change the discount every week. All the tags are colored and depending on the color of the tag your discount could be 30% to a whooping 75%. I scored yesterday with K's shirt being originally $5 but 75% off that. AWESOME! It was a sample so it was perfect!
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Lately we have been shopping the sales at the grocery store. Only buying was we truly need for the week (bread, milk, bananas) and then stocking up on what is on sale that we need or want. This week we bought 8 cube steaks, 1 jar of grape jelly, 4 malt cups, bakery bread, milk, mac n cheese, 6 lbs of ground chuck, diet coke 2 liters, (on sale for $1!!) and some discounted day old cupcakes since the kids were good while I shopped.

We made a trip to my favorite bent and dent too. I got a HUGE bag of the hashbrown patties for $3, southern style hashbrowns for $2, and some other miscellanous things. I added some green pepper and onion to the southern style hashbrowns. YUM. My picky little K ate 3 HUGE helpings with ketchup of course :)
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Work is really picking up so it is nice to have so many groceries in the house. I don't have to go shopping on a weekend if I don't want. I can stop after work before I pick up the kids and get the few things we need.

Fortunately my work is picking up because R's work is falling off quickly. This week he worked 37.5 hours. Last week he had 36. The only reason he had the extra 1.5 hours this week is because he had to wait for a truck that didn't show. He got alot of his coworker finally at one point and the co worker told him to just leave. He had been sitting there for over an hour with the lights off all he had to do was load one skid and then lock up. It was a last minute order and shipping and there was a lot of miscommunication (it happens A LOT where R works!!!) and he thinks the poor driver was never even told he had a pick up there. It would not surprise me, considering the company where R works decided they would cut everyone to 36 hours a week, then said 32 hours, then STILL did not have anything figured out by the time they left on Friday evening. So he still has no clue what hours, how many hours, what days, or pretty much anything at all about his job next week. Whereas I know I am working Monday, Wednesday, Friday for sure and potentially Tuesday. I orginally requested Tuesday off but no longer need it so I am going to try to work. My boss was off Friday so I won't know until Monday.

new updates

It looks as though DH will be working for at least another month. Last Thursday they got in some orders. Hopefully more orders come in over the next month. The owner of his company is out of state on vacation so nothing is definite until he returns and make a decision but at least we know he has work for a month.

I am still plugging away at work. I figured out the issue (something I was doing that was making my job harder for me than it needed to be) and am currently working on rectifying it so my job should become easier within the next week....hopefully.

We had a nice 4th of July. Nothing fancy. I enjoyed a 4 day weekend. The first day was spent doing much of nothing. Just running some errands and we took the kids to the lake in the evening. Friday we did not do much either. Saturday the kids and I took a 4 hour total trip to see family. It was nice. I packed snacks for myself and the kids as well as juice and soda so we only stopped once and got some fries. K and I had to use the bathroom and it was the first place off the interstate so we stopped. O has really been expressing an interest in the potty lately so she has been going on it sometimes as well. More often than not she just sits there and claps and says "I big girl momma" but I will take it. It is a sure sign that she will be ready to potty train shortly. We are getting close to the end of our diaper stockpile so I will start to work with her a little more. She is not quite 2 yet so no hurry but to not buy diapers at all anymore would be so awesome!

We ate at the family picnic so we had really no food expense either and because next payday my check is going to be small because I was sick, my parents paid for my gas to drive there. I told them no to worry about it, I would figure out a way but they insisted and gave me $20 to cover gas (which more than covered my gas expense). I never ask them for money, I would rather go without something myself or raid my change jar than ask someone for money but they knew I had missed 10 hours of work last week and was only scheduled for 24 to begin with and ended up getting done a couple hours early the other day I worked. Ah well. We are purchasing my dad's birthday cake (which will be about $20) so it evens out. Today we mowed lawn, grilled some pork chops, and never left the property at all.