Old Navy trip with mom today

I talked to mom this morning and she wanted to hit up the Old Navy sale.  The girls and I went with her.  I inventoried the tote box I have of the next size clothes for K and realized that I mainly concentrated on pants and she has very few shirts.  I went to ON with the intent of getting her some shirts and some more underwear.  I ended up getting her one more pack of underwear and the following shirts as well as a few things for me, a gift for my dad and a couple shirts for mom.  Retail cost was $185 and I spent $30..awesome.  I spent all of my blow money for the week but it's alright.  We are set now!
The first 2 pics are shirts for K, the 3rd pic is pj pants for K and 2 shirts for mom, the 4th pic is shirts for me and yoga pants for me, 5th pic is a hoodie for my dad and underwear for K and the finally pic is a Hannah Montana Mic for K for her birthday. $3.74 at the Disney store. 

While I was cleaning and reorganizing today

I sorted out some stuff and made a big donation to the food pantry.  It felt pretty good.  Alot of it was stuff that we would not use up by the expiration date (less than a month for the most part) and I knew the food pantry could use it. 

When I started stockpiling sale items and using coupons to get a lot of stuff for free or mere pennies, it was hard not to go overboard.  As a result of that I am finding that I sometimes have a lot more of an item than we will use so I have been doing quite a bit of donating.  The longer I have been shopping this way the more I realize that we don't use as much of some things as I thought we would so I have been buying or getting less, even if it is free after coupons and sales.  Other things we use more of so I have adjusted my plans accordingly.  It took awhile to get a good "feel" for what we need.  Others that shop as I do have said it takes time to figure it out but in the meantime the food pantries, friends and family in need, etc. can really benefit from it.  They have!  I have given away boxes of cereal that I got for 25 cents a box and were getting close to date to a family friend, knowing they were short on cash and needed the help.  It feel good to help and there was no waste. 

I still hope to be able to donate even though I am getting a much better feel for what we *should* have on hand. 

well that didn't last long

my little freak out/ ephiphany from last night I mean




K has been bugging me to go to the mall. IDK why but she has been asking EVERY. SINGLE. WEEKEND. I hate taking both kids to the mall so we never go unless I can leave one home with R. So tonight I finally said you know what K let's go after O's in bed. I figured I could use my ON gift card up and it would get her to stop asking me about the mall. I walked out of there only spending $6 and 75 cents of that was on K's ride on the ice cream truck thingy.



ON has an additional 50% off clearance going on now (at least at the outlet by us) so I scored bigtime I paid 75 cents over the gift card which was $19.29. I got a bunch of stuff. I will detail it in my blog later on. Then we went to the disney outlet and K was in love...we spent a lot of time in there. She talked me into a clearanced Disney princess shirt ($1.99) and a minnie mouse cup for O ($1.99). We went into Childrens place and I found NOTHING that I was even remotely interested in...even with the clearance and additional 30% off. Carters was the same, although K really wanted these ballerina pjs like she used to have but don't fit anymore but the one size they had was the same size she already has that doesn't fit.



So yeah...my freak out is over...Thanks to two friends for talking me down from the ledge. And my friend S too. I talked to her today and told her about my freak out and she laughed and said "seriously?!? you are the best shopper I know and you spend a quarter of what I do and get more stuff for it. Why are you freaking out?" HA!
 
so my ON scores are as follows
 
7 pack of undies for K $2.49
Shirt for my youngest neice 98 cents
pj pants for K $1.49
2 hat and mitten sets 98 cents each
Shirt for O 98 cents
shirt for me $1.48
spiderman tee for my nephew $1.23
yoga pants for my mom $2.49
Shirt for K $1.24
baby one piece outfit for $1.23
 
Thinking back I got 13 things but there are only 11 on my receipt...hmmm....
I called my brother and told him about the sale and they are planning to go tommorrow.  I think I might ask them to get K a couple more packs of underwear.  $2.49 for 7 pairs of underwear is pretty dang cheap! I used up my gift card..had to pay 75 cents cash. 

We got K a shirt at the Disney Store...also clearanced...and she picked out a sippy cup for O which was on sale for $1.99. 

I am officially done shopping for both neices and the nephew for birthdays and Christmas this year!  I will no longer look at anything that I think could be a good gift for them...no matter the cost!

I had an epiphany tonight...in a Kohl's dressing room

of all the places huh?

So I needed some alone time and R was more than willing to oblige but for me to get alone time I need to leave the house.  R cannot just take the kids anywhere in winter here and he has to work tommorrow anyway.  So I tucked the kids into bed, gave R a kiss and left.  Where else would I go to get alone time but to Walmart?  Yeah, it's not like we have coffee shops or bookstores or even a mall with a food court that I could go and people watch, read a book and relax...not happening in this area, so Walmart it is.  I browsed the clearance 'cause that's just what I do and I found some cute flying Tinkerbell things that I just knew K would love.  I also found plastic Disney princess Jewelry boxes that were perfect gifts for my older neice, K and O.  Awesome!  I ended up getting that stuff, a Dale Earnhardt JR shirt for my MIL (on clearance as well) and a couple requests of R's...all in all I spent less than $20...not bad, but I forgot the reason I went (besides the requests for R)....a card for my parents' anniversary which is tommorrow...Happy 31 years of Marriage mom and dad!

I walked out feeling good that I spent less than $20...go me!  So I decided to stop by Kohls and walk around and see if they still had the picture frame my mom had really wanted.  I looked at kids' clothes first and saw so many cute things.  The clearance tags were almost screaming at me to buy buy buy....60%, 70%, 80% off!!  Holy Cow!  Great Deals...but I remembered that the kids have too many clothes already so I stopped looking...it's not a good deal if they won't get enough use out of it...and that's when the epiphany started.  I continued to browse around some more.  Found a super cute winnie the pooh plush with a musical christmas book..70% off...oh that would be so cute for my youngest neice next Christmas and I grabbed it.  I browsed a bit more and found the picture frame my mom wanted marked down to $3..so I grabbed that (anniversary gift!) and they had adorable angel picture frames that I just knew the sitter would love (also $3).  I next went over to the men's section and found clearance boxer shorts (the kind in the shaped tin, budweiser, Xbox, South Park, etc), and wallets...ooh Dad needs a new wallet badly...but I knew I could get him a wallet cheaper (planning on getting him one for his birthday anyway) and R hasn't even opened his new pack of boxer shorts yet...I passed on those as well. 

I figured out that once you walk around a department store long enough the deals start to look really good..even if they are not that good.  Oh those jeans are originally $40 and they are clearance for $15!  Wow!  A steal!  uh huh..right!  But that didn't stop my brain (which knows better!!) from thinking wow what a great deal.  I ended up grabbing a few pairs of pants to try on.  I headed to the dressing room and while I was in there suddenly everything became clearer.  It was very odd.  I stopped..put my jeans back on and sat down for a minute.  WTF am I doing?!?!  I have 6 pairs of really good jeans, I have 4 pairs of yoga pants, I have a couple pairs of dress pants, I have khakis, I have pj pants.  WTF am I doing?!?!  Because these pants are $7.20 I think I need them!?!?!?  I do NOT need them.  I have pants just like them at home!  Why do I need yet another pair of pants?!?!  Then I started to think about my purchases at Walmart.  Did I really need to buy those toys for the kids?  Another thing to add to the 4 toy boxes (yes 4!!! and big toys that don't fit in the toyboxes besides the ones stuffed into them already!) UGH!  WTF is wrong with me?!?  We have so much stuff and yet it always seems like there is something else we need that we don't actually need.  Then I realized I was still in the dressing room, I grabbed up the picture frames, left behind the Winnie the Pooh and hightailed it to the registers and got the heck out of there.  WTF?!?  I spent so much time and energy in the 20 days since Christmas buying stuff for next Christmas and Birthdays in this coming year that I already feel like I am behind on shopping for a holiday that is over 11 Mother F'in Months away!  WTF?!?  Sure I am glad that I am ahead of the game and won't have to be out searching for deals when it gets closer to the birthday of the recipient but why?!?  So my neice can have another toy that she probably won't play with for more than a day or two?  So my kids can have another toy that I step on, complain about, the dog eats or I end up donating to the thrift store because they are bored with it after a couple months?!?  All the way home I thought about this and how shopping and buying gifts is so ingrained in us as consumers...I literally feel sick over the whole thing...mainly the money and time I spent doing this.  UGH!  I don't know how to fix it...how to make it better...how to stop!!  Of course I am still going to buy gifts for my loved ones and things we actually do need but I need to stop the one woman shopping spree and figure out a way to better channel my energy. 

my only consellation in all of this is that I have not spent a lot of money for what I have bought and have not onced used my credit card to pay for any of it.  I have gotten some pretty amazing deals and it is all on stuff that I know the recepient will love but then again...it's stuff.  I am so sick of stuff!

Of course I will still buy gifts and look for deals but how do I change this?  When is enough, enough?!?  Is there ever a point when I can just say ok I am done?  I know I can and I have before but I really need to just stop for a bit and reprioritze and take a break....I think that is the meaning of my thoughts.

~rant over~

updated stockpile pics

I just took the pics today.  I reorganized the laundry room.  I am not quite done but I needed a break to think about what I want to do.  I was scheduled to work tommorrow but got called off so I am planning to do some more constructive work tommorrow, such as cleaning out and defrosting the big freezer. 
Anyway...on to the pics.

the big freezer

the little freezer

kitchen cupboard and baking supplies above

Kitchen Pantry

laundry room pantry

we are well stocked on food.  Hooray!  Time to take a break and concentrate on other things!

Non food stuff-will add tommorrow...blogger isn't like me tonight :(

Gift stockpile 2010

I inventoried today.  I have only done the gift stockpile so far but here is my list..

*Christmas*
Green Bay Packer Ornament (MIL)
Angel Waterglobe (sitter)
Satin Makeup bag (Brother's GF)
Christmas Carol Barbie (K)
Pup Ornament (youngest Neice)
Soft Belle Doll (youngest neice)
Strawberry Shortcake Polly Pocket with DVD (2 of them...K and older Neice)
Pewter Ornaments (Dad, youngest neice, Grandpa, sitter)
Wooden Snowmen Plaque things (4 different for mom)
Bod men cologne sets (dad, brother, hubby)
Remote control Truck (nephew)
Various take along Thomas engines (4 total for O)
2 foot kits with lotion and socks (mom and brother's GF)
Singing Hannah Montana Doll (K)


Birthdays, Easter, Miscellanous
flavor lip gloss (adult ish...misc.)
Tinker Bell bracelet (K)
Hannah compact with comb and mirror (K)
2 barbie lip kits with hair clips (K and older neice)
3 Jonas Brothers lip gloss tins (K and sitters granddaughters)
Princess and the frog makeup and nail kit (K)
Ariel Doll (neice birthday)
Talking Thomas (O birthday)
Soft Baby doll (youngest neice birthday)
Angel Figurine (sitter birthday)
Disney Stamp Kit (K easter)
Hot wheels Monster truck (nephew birthday)
6 lip cream tubs
2 adidas mens cologne sets (dad and brother Birthdays)
4 Barbie lip gloss and purse sets
1 hair brush, ponytail holders, and clips set


and that is the list so far.  I also have a box of Chocolates for my parents anniversary but that is not in the storage tote.  I believe I have a really good head start and have most everything done that I needed to get done.  I need to do Mother's day and father's day yet and find a couple other things that I have been looking for (track for O's train is the big thing).  I will wait closer to Christmas to find some of the other stuff and will continue to watch deals throughout the year

added on 1/14
2 flying tinkerbells
3 disney princess jewelry boxes
angel picture frame
grandkids picture frame
t-shirt for MIL

added 1/15
spiderman shirt for nephew
pants and shirt for youngest neice
shirt for K

Added 1/16
2 shirts for mom
1 Hannah Montana Mic for K
hoodie for Dad
pj pants for K
6 shirts for K
Hoodie for Josh
pj pants for K and O
4 shirts for K
wallet for dad

1/25
motorcycle sweatshirt Brother
pj pants mom
shirt neice
I am now done for the year for my neices and nephew.

2/2
2 tea party sets ($1 each)
1 flying tinkerbell ($2!!!)
1 crayola stampers set ($2!! it's the toddler one)
plush baby doll ($1)
2 pixos starter sets ($1 each)
beaded light up bracelet (50 cents)

kinda cheated on the grocery budget

I started this coming week today instead of tommorrow as I had planned.  We had the money so I will just count it for the coming week.  It is hard right now to figure out the best way to do the budget so I am experimenting.  Today I spent:

$7.49 groceries (brown sugar 2 bags, tuna 4 cans, 2 liter of soda-2)
$5.74 groceries (milk for us and at the sitters, donuts, bread)
$6.99 misc household stuff (laundry detergent and garbage bags)

$20.22 and barring any more necessities we should be good for the week!
We will need more bread but that is 59 cents a loaf.

We also had to buy diapers for O but those are not part of the grocery/household budget.  Walgreens has their brand of diapers on sale for $5.99 a pack this week.  Good deal if you need diapers.  I like the premium ones for night and the regulars for day.  The regulars do not hold Super O pee at night.  Gosh I wish this kid would just potty train already!

gonna be an easy and cheap grocery week

our list is
milk, bread, a couple 2 litrs of soda, brown sugar for needed stuff and tuna for not needed right now but good sale price items.

our non grocery list is diapers and garbage bags, and possibly laundry detergent...I gotta check my stock on that but it is on a good sale so I want to get a couple if I am running low. 

That's it.  Should be less than $25 total for the whole week.

I feel kinda bad for last week.  I went over and then went over again last night at Walmart.  I didn't buy hardly any grocery stuff but still.  I considered last week an adjustment week as I have not been as strict with our grocery budget recently.  I need to get back to that however.  Next week should be a good start to getting back to budget.

Walmart

A little rant about Walmart....We have limited shopping options in this area.  It is getting better I do have to say but as far as "everything stores" (walmart, Target, etc), Walmart is it.  The nearest Target is an hour drive.  I don't mind Walmart.  Some people HATE Walmart.  I don't love Walmart but I don't hate it either.  R and I used to pretty much only shop there before we had kids.  We got our meats locally but the bulk of our grocery shopping was Walmart.  As I have been couponing, shopping sales and bent and dents, and basically watching the prices of things better, I have come to realize that Walmart is EXPENSIVE.  It truly is.  Some stuff is cheaper but the drive for me does not make it cheaper than just getting it locally on sale.  Walmart is a 15-20 minute drive depending on which one I go to.  I like to 20 minute away one better so I tend to go there more often.  It is cleaner and more locals shop there.  The other one is in a touristy town and I try to avoid tourists.  So anyway, I had to go to Walmart tonight for a couple things.  I didn't have to go but there are a couple things we only get there and we needed that stuff so I went.  It sucked.  They were out of 2 of the things on my small list.  I did get the important things and I browsed the clearance toys.  They had some pretty good deals but I only found one thing that I wanted to get and that was a $4.50 Hannah Montana Doll for K.  She loves Hannah Montana and this doll sings!  She is gonna be so happy!  It was clearanced at 50% off.. I intend to put it away for her birthday or Christmas.  I hope they go lower on their toys yet.  There were a couple other things I would have gotten....had they been a bit cheaper.  A singing snow white doll, a Dora Castle for O, a barbie scooter for K, and a ride on airplane toy for our youngest neice.  If these things go to 75% off I will try to get them but if not...I won't. 

For dinner this coming week (at least a couple days planned so far)

I as a rule do not try to meal plan more than a couple days at a time.  For one, I just don't like to know what I am going to eat everyday.  I get bored.  For two, we have so much in the freezer that I really do not have to plan ahead.  We have everything we need for our normal meals here. 

I am going to try to plan out the next couple days though. 

Tonight is crockpot ham cooked in pineapple juice and pineapple slices. 
Tommorrow night is lasagna
Monday night is left over lasagna.  We have a guy coming Monday evening for an estimate on a new furnace and this will be happening when we eat dinner so having the leftovers ready to reheat when we get home will be perfect.

That's all I got so far. :)

quick trip to walgreens

I had to run to Walgreens because I am completely out of my generic Excedrin Migraine.  I need to have it on hand and I cannot believe I ran out.  I thought I had a lot left but I had generic acetominophen, ibuprofen and the night pain relief stuff but no migraine stuff.  UGH!  I hate paying full price...but it turned out I didn't have to.  They had the actual excedrin migraine on said for $6.99 for 100 gel tabs (I usually get the capsules but anything will do) and it had a smaller 24 ct bottle shrinkwrapped to it for free..so 124 geltabs for $6.99 works out to 5.6 cents per tab.  The generic I usually get was 7 cents per tab.  I ended up getting 2 of the shrinkwrapped deals so 248 tabs.  That oughta last for awhile.  The shrinkwrapped ones were hidden in the back of the 100 count bottles.  Glad I dug around a bit.  I got myself a better deal.

While I was in Walgreens I walked around a bit and found some hair dye on clearance for $1.39 a box.  I ended up getting 4 boxes.  This is usually $8 per box.  I dye my hair every 3-4 months so this will last a year or so.  I also found some Walgreens brand 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner on clearance for $1.09 for the big bottle.  Granted I don't use it for me or K (we have thick, longish hair and we have to condition seperate or we have a mess) but it would work great for R and last him a long time so I bought 1.  They had a bunch but really 1 will be plenty.  He still has some pert plus left from when it was free and he can use the Suave if needed.  Suave is our go to product for bathing the dog (and cats...yes our cats take baths), the kids bubble bath, and for my youngest's thin, not very long hair, and it works great as shaving gel and body wash in a pinch.  We have a ton of Suave...we use it for just about everything EXCEPT what you are supposed to use it for.  LOL.

And a pretty awesome non household use score was an angel musical waterglobe for $3.  As I have mentioned before the kids' babysitter collects angels and I try to get her angel things for her birthday and Christmas.  I already got her a couple angel things for Christmas but they were very Christmasy and cannot be used for her birthday so this is a perfect birthday gift.  So now she is done for 2010 for gifts (besides her bonus...which will happen in November or so and is cash).

Slighty over budget this week

I went slightly over my grocery budget this week...and the week isn't over yet.  SIGH!

This is my expenditures

1/5 $17.51 grocery-meat


1/5 2.12 misc household items (water bottle for me for work and pack of 12 sponges at the dollar store)

1/8 11.03 grocery-general (yogurt, cheese, sunny D, soda, milk, bread, cottage cheese, lasagna noodles)

1/8 26.17 grocery-meat

1/8 2.69 misc household (freezer paper)

59.52 total this week

I could have waited on my 2 liter of soda (99 cents), the Sunny D wasn't need but was on sale (huge jug for $1.99 and the kids like it..I don't buy it alot), Freezer paper won't be needed again for awhile but was needed to wrap the meat I got on sale), lasagna noodles were not needed nor was cottage cheese but that was a special request from hubby.  I haven't made it in a long time and both the noodles and the cottage cheese were on sale.  We have mozzarella in the freezer already and plenty of sance and ground beef so I only had to get the noodles and cottage cheese. 

Everything else was needed and on sale.  Without the unnecessary stuff figured in, I would have come in under budget. I cannot think of anything else we would need at this point until the new ads come out so we are good.  We came in just slightly over budget so I am pleased.  Next week I hope to come in at or under budget.  Preferrably under by $10 to make up for the overage this week.  The overage is covered with our miscellaneous money.

I scored a pretty good deal for K today.  I am in the process of getting the next size of clothes for her (well 2 sizes if I find good deals).  My employer has a company store that is just for employees only.  It is a small space in the building where I work.  I stopped by after my shift today and they were having a sale 50-75% off the already low employee prices.  Sweet!  I didn't find anything for myself or R but I did find a pair of jeans for K for $5.  Brand new!  I found boots for O and debated about buying them.  She already has boots so she doesn't need any right now and the ones I bought K for her birthday should fit O next winter.  They would have been $5.  I debated for a good 5 minutes and then decided to pass.  They would probably fit O next winter but IDK for sure...and they were only $5 but $5 is $5 and it is $5 that I wouldn't have to spend and the ones K has will fit her for sure so in the end it was better to just not get them.  They had a cute shirt for O too and it would have been $3.75 but O has a ton of hand me downs as it is and really does not need ANY more clothes so I passed on that as well.  When I checked out the cashier informed me that the same pants were on clearance on the website for a bit more than I paid for that pair.  My willpower was screaming not to even go look but I did anyway.  $7.99 a pair with an additional discount making them $7.19 a pair...for QUALITY blue jeans with an adjustable waist.  I ended up ordering 3 more pairs.  The total with shipping was $29.  $29 for 3 pairs of quality jeans is not a bad deal.  I ordered them in K's next size and the size up from that.  She should be in them about the time she starts school so that will take some of the burden of school clothes off (we don't have a uniform policy in our schools...just a dress code) when I am a SAHM again.  We have the extra money now and they are such a good deal I could not pass it up.  When I looked last week at JCP, the arizona jeans (which are not nearly as sturdy as these jeans) were on clearance for more than I paid for these quality jeans on clearance so I feel alright about it.  I didn't need to get them but K will need bigger clothes and she will need nice clothes for school...there I go justifying again.  LOL

should be a minimal spending week

So far there are only a few things we plan to buy as far as groceries go.  Milk and ground chuck so far.  Ground chuck is on sale for $1.69 starting tommorrow.  We have room for about 10-15 lbs in the freezer.  Kinda wishing I would have bought freezer paper at the bent and dent now but I didn't think we would need any for awhile so I passed.  Oh well.  We do have some. 

As part of our New Year, New Budget plan our weekly grocery money will fall in line with the ad weeks instead of pay weeks as we have previously done.  It is a bit of a change, but gives me a bit more freedom to stock up on sales as the money will be refreshed halfway through the sale week so if there is a good sale I can use the remainder of the previous weeks money and get a little more when we get paid.  I am going to try this for a bit and see how it works.  I really want to stick to the grocery budget and get more money in savings this year. 

When O and I went shopping today we stocked up on pasta and baking supplies.  We really should have very little expense grocery-wise for quite a while.  Dh is on board with trying new recipes and using up our pantry and freezer so we should only have to buy sale items, fresh produce, milk and bread for quite a while. 

mommy and O day

O and I spent the day together today.  We went to checkout JCP and Sears clearance.  Lots of good deals but nothing good enough for me to buy.  Even at Sears with my discount, I couldn't justify any more clothes for the kids, nothing I like for myself or R and the Christmas clearance consisted of about 12 ornaments...all of which were still too pricey for me.  JCP had additional 40% off their clearance price but there was nothing I needed for the kids or myself.  Our youngest neice is growing like a weed so I hated to get her anything not knowing if it would fit her by next winter so I passed.  If it were for my kids I would have taken a chance but I don't want to "waste" money buying a gift for someone else that might not fit.

We headed over to Walmart for lunch...the turkey and provolone rollups from their deli.  YUM!  We saw that Christmas stuff was now clearanced to 75% off so we browsed that a bit and found a couple things.  We also got K a strawberry shortcake polly pocket with a DVD for $1.97.  It was marked $2.98 which was still a good deal with a DVD but it rang up for $1.97.  Cool!  Would have gotten one for our older neice had I known that.  Oh well.  We also found a coat for me clearanced out to $7.  It is similar in color and warmth to the one I had picked out from my work that was $27 with my discount and shipping but hadn't ordered yet.  I didn't need a new coat until yesterday.  I went to put on hubby's and the zipper broke...I had an old down coat in the closet that I have been wearing since then but it is a bit tight.  I have been wearing hubby's old coat which is super warm but now he needs it back.  My options were to buy a coat for him and keep his old one for me or buy myself a new coat and give him back his old one.  A new one for me ended up being cheaper so that is the route we went. 

Our favorite bread was on clearance at Walmart too.  The italian loaf, garlic and parmesan flavor.  SOOOOO good!  We eat it so fast that I don't worry about buying a day old loaf.  It won't go bad around here.  O has already had 3 pieces since we got home.  LOL

mmmmm stuffed green peppers

I LOVE stuffed green peppers but have never made them.  The girls and I went to the bent and dent this morning and they had frozen stuffed peppers $1.50 for 2.  YUMMM!  I ended up getting 3 packages of them.  R doesn't like them and the kids have never tried them so frozen is the way to go for me.  I can eat them when I want and make something else for the family. 

We got waffles, canned corn and green beans, some cookies, organic whipped butter, 3 pizzas, 7 welchs Strawberry breeze frozen juice concentrate (the girls fav!), a couple TV dinners for me for work, Southern style banquet frozen chicken (R's fav) and a few other things.  It ended up being one of my most expensive trips there ever at just under $40.  But we came home with 2 big boxes of food for that money.  We stopped at the hospital auxilary when we got back to town and got a couple christmasy things (1/2 off Christmas stuff there) and they gave us a couple free things too, Christmas stuff they were trying to get rid of.  Cool!

budget is worked and a bit more.

and we are sitting pretty good.

If all goes according to plan we should be able to put away quite a bit of money every month and still live life pretty dang good.  I am waiting on the state forms yet to figure out our tax return but so far it is looking good.

I have 2 more days off from work and I have a couple side projects I want to accomplish.  One is going through the saved clothes and figuring out what the girls will need for spring and summer, fall and winter for 2010.  Clothes for O are a moot point.  She has K's stuff to grow into and she gets a new outfit or two for her birthday and Christmas.  I want to garage sale again this year but I want to be a bit more prepared so we don't get an overabundance of clothes again.  As K has been outgrowing clothes, I have been sorting out and getting rid of some things when I put them away for O.  When I take them out for O, I have also been going through and getting rid of things as well.  They just have too many clothes.  R and I both have been sorting through when we do laundry as well.  Anything stained, torn, worn out has been getting tossed accordingly, with each load of laundry.  We both weeded out our clothes as well.  Feels pretty good. 

pretty good deal for not really looking...

I had to stop at the grocery store tonight.  I am about out of soda (GASP!).  I need my diet coke like other people need coffee.  Seriously I cannot function in the morning until I get that first diet coke.  Gotta have my caffeine...it's baaaaad if I don't.  Diet coke was on sale there so I stopped in to get a case.  Yesterday when K and I stopped by to pay the sitter, she said they had refilled their clearance carts with good stuff.  hmmmm.  So I checked them out.  I didn't see too much good for us except Welch's strawberry preserves in a squeeze bottle.  Sweet!  Clearanced out, still in date, not damaged, for $1 per 1lb bottle.  NICE!  We have been eating toast with jelly for breakfast a lot lately so I grabbed up 5 of them.  That ought to last awhile.  I never have been a big breakfast eater but my job requires that I eat something before work.  It isn't in the job description but it might as well be.  If I don't eat before work by the time first break comes around I am ravenous!  Even just 2 pieces of toast with a little jelly tides me over until lunchtime. 

Happy New Year!

K and I closed out 2009 by having a mommy/daughter day.  We had a good day.  We went to the thrift store (2 of them) and ended up getting 28 ornaments for our tree next year.  They were getting rid of all Christmas stuff by selling it for 25 cents per item.  We also got a skirt for K for 50 cents (half off colored tag sale).  We also went to Walmart because I had a few coupons to use by 1/5.  I found a rack of shorts for $2 and K needed some shorts for this summer so I got 4 pairs for her.  With the skirts, skorts, and shorts she should be set for summer now.  O is already set as she has all K's old clothes to wear and I got her some shorts clearanced out for $1 at the end of last summer.   Some pics of the ornaments.  K found the train, carousel horse and airplane for her sis.  She picked out the snowman and the tree for me.  The train has someone else's name on it but I can cover that with a ribbon (thanks Tori!) or gems or something.  The airplanes propellor and wheels actually turn.  It is aluminum or tin or something like that.  Pretty cool!

The Walmart we went to still had a ton of Christmas stuff left but all we got was a couple more lip balm things for K.

We stopped a few other places and I found the cutest little caroling cat wooden plaque things.  I got 3 at first and they were 1/2 off the clearance price (ended up being 25 cents each).  Later, I thought they would be cute to have around as an extra gift, as I always end up forgetting someone so I went back and got a couple more.  This time they rang up full clearance price (50 cents each).  Oh well.  They are still cute and cheap and they do not look cheap.

Later today or at least sometime on these days off I want to sit down and rework our budget for the new year and will post more about that when I actually sit down and do it.  I would like to do it now but the house is a mess and we are headed to brunch at the inlaws shortly. 

wooo I DID get what I wanted!

a friend called me this morning and said a different walmart still had all the bath sets and lip gloss things I had wanted so the girls and I went there. they had toys on clearance already too so I got a few toy things for our youngest neice and a thomas for my youngest for later. We ended up getting the bath stuff and lip gloss things I wanted (little birthday gifts for the sitter's granddaughters and my daughter loves lip gloss and lip balm so she will get some for easter and her birthday. Also found the prettiest pewter angel ornament with crystals for the girl's sitter for next Christmas. She collects angels.




We also went to farm and fleet. They only had 25% off their toys but they had a ton of thomas stuff left so I got a take along Thomas and Percy for my youngest for later for $8 total. I was pretty happy about that. Mom is getting her the track for it so I have been on the lookout for the engine and cars.



We stopped at Family Dollar also. 50% off all toys $10 and up. I got 4 things $10 toys originally for $5. A soft Belle Doll for our youngest neice for next Christmas, a remote control truck for our nephew for his birthday, an Ariel Barbie for our oldest neice for her birthday (end of January) and a Christmasy Barbie for my oldest for next Christmas, we got a few ornaments there too.

Day after Christmas deals

I went to 7 stores throughout the day. We went to Christmas on my mom's side but I got up early this morning and went with mom and dad to Kohls and a Walmart. I got like 10 rolls of wrapping paper at walmart, a couple things of candy, some cologne sets for my brother and hubby for gifts for later, a little lip gloss disney princess purse thing for my oldest DD, a tote box for ornaments since our collection grew by a lot this year and some chistmasy colored take alongs food storage things for $1 per set. There are 3 or 4 in the set. I was going to buy a larger fake tree but when I mentioned that to mom she said not to because she would just give me her 7 1/2 ft because she only puts up a little one now. SCORE! We have a 4 ft now but our ornament collection grew so much this year that we need a bigger tree now. LOL. I scored huge last year at Sears in early January. They had a ton of Dora, Diego, Tigger, Disney princess, Tinkerbell, and Barbie ornaments for 90% off. I got sets of 4 for under $1 per set! They became gifts this year since I get the girls and ornament or 2 (or more...if we find cute ones at the thrift store) every Christmas season. I try to buy things that fit their personality and interests that year and if they don't already have the year, I write the year on them with a sharpie real small.  We also went to breakfast.  That was Delish!  A meal where I didn't have to tell someone to eat; just try a bite; how do you know you don't like it?, you eat eggs all the time; what do you mean you are full, you ate 2 bites?!?!; stop fighting with your sister and EAT! 




At kohls I only got 2 ornaments for the kids. I didn't see anything that was priced good enough for me to bite.



After visiting at my grandpa's, the kids and I stopped at a Walmart. I got the girls some stickers, and we got a few grocery things. Mainly we went to decompress from the mass of people at Grandpa's and to check on the Christmas clearance there but there was not a lot left at all and it was surprising not very busy. We got gas and dinner in that town.



We got back on the interstate and we had gone about 10 miles when my oldest said she had to go to the bathroom. We went before we got back on the road so I asked her if she could hold it for a little bit. The next exit was 15 miles and there was a wayside coming up (in the middle of nowhere) but because it was just me and the 2 kids and starting to get dark, I really did not want to stop there unless I absolutely had to. She said she could hold it longer so we just got off at the next exit and walmart was right there. We went into that Walmart and she went. Then we checked out the Christmas clearance again and the girls found a couple ornaments they liked and I found some pj pants for $5.



Our final exit from the interstate there is a Kmart and the girls were tired of riding so we stopped there and ended up getting a set of ornaments, some boxers for DH, a Thomas Train for my youngest, a barbie lip gloss set for my oldest, a couple more of the barbie sets to put away as gifts, everything was on clearance and they had an additional 20% off clearance toys so the Train was only $7. O is really into trains...big time!  she was so excited about her Thomas she wanted to sleep with it.  I think I might call my MIL tommorrow and tell her about them and then have her pick up the others.  For $7 a piece, they can become birthday presents later :)



After the kids were in bed, I needed some alone time, so I told hubby I was leaving for a bit.  I went to Pamida and got a couple keepsake ornaments with 2009 on them. They are pewter with crystals. Really cute and kinda pricey for me (even clearanced they were $4.50 each) but I had a really hard time finding ornaments with 2009 on them for some reason. I also got my mom a wooden snowman decor thingy. She collects snowmen so that will be perfect and only $5. Their clearance was 70% off a lot of the Christmas stuff. They are really pricey so I don't shop there very often but I do check out the clearance. I stopped by Walgreens and I found a couple things but didn't buy. They had a lot left so I will wait and see if they go lower. If I don't get them, no biggie. They are just things for the sitter for her Birthday and stuff. She collects angels.

Christmas is over

Hooray!  I sincerely love Christmas but I am so glad when it is over.  We do have one more get together that we are supposed to attend but depending on weather tommorrow, we may skip it, as it is a 3 hour round trip drive on roads that I drive once a year.  Besides the drive, it is with family that I don't necessarily care that much for (with the exception of a couple people) and we generally stay for an hour tops and then hit the road...4 hours of my time spent driving and visiting with people that I don't care to see...whatever.  I went last year.

One thing I am not skipping though (barring a dramatic weather change overnight) is my traditional after Christmas shopping.  Mom and Dad did decide to go so I am headed out with them at 5:30 AM.  R says I am crazy but even if mom and dad weren't going I was going to go alone.  I really need a break from the family for a few hours.  I love my kids and my hubby but I am in dire need of some time without someone asking me for something or whining, crying and fighting.  Tis the season.

Should have posted this yesterday

I will still have a job after Christmas.  I was a bit worried because that is what I do.  My boss saw no reasons to let me go so I will still be working part-time for 2010 until we meet our goals, preferrably by the end of October.  I said Thanksgiving previously but R is hoping for a end of October quit date for me.  I do enjoy my job and would like to stay on but this year's Christmas season was a bit rough on the family and that comes first.  I imagine next year will be the same or worse so I will continue on with the plan as it is now....always subject to change though :)  just the way it is for us anymore.  I intend on leaving there on a good foot so I can go back when both kids are in school and possibly work something out with before school and after school care for the kids.

We had a fairly lowkey Christmas with my parents this afternoon at their house.  It was nice.  I am glad they downplayed it more this year than in years past.  It has been an overabundance of gifts in years past and this year was much more tame.  Although I did miss the big dinner and all the trimmings.  Mom had to work last night and didn't feel like cooking a big meal (we still had a pretty decent meal of prime rib, baked potatoes, and corn). 

Tommorrow is our little family Christmas.  One gift each for R and I from the girls (slippers for me...shaving set for R) and the rest is about the kids.  Then we go to the inlaws for Christmas with them. 

Saturday is my most favorite day of the year.  The after Christmas sale day!  I love this day.  It is also my mom's birthday and it is a tradition for her, dad, my brother and I to go shopping.  I am not sure if my brother will be going this year but the rest of us are.  The kids will stay home with R.  We hit the stores and then go out for breakfast.  I am looking forward to it.  On my list this year is wrapping paper (I ran out!  Shocker!), some of the bath sets that are clearanced (they had some really cute ones that I will not pay $10 for but I will pay $5..make great birthday gifts!), some ornaments (still have to get the 2009 year one for the girls but I wait until after Christmas to get them).  I really want to get O a train ornament of some sort.  I wanted to get her a Thomas one (the kids LOVES trains!) but after seeing her eyes light up at even just a train on the tracks not moving, I figured that any train ornament will do.  K has been big into Hannah Montana this year so I would like to get one like that for her.  A new tote box for just ornaments.  I started collecting ornaments for the girls when they were born, 2-3 each year, and have amassed quite a collection now.  I get them each one with something they are into (trains, barbie, hannah montana, etc.) and then one with the year for sure and usually they pick out one or two when we visit the thrift store.  Our tree is a hodge podge of different ornaments, some mine, some K's, some O's.  It's pretty cool though.  I am also looking for a bigger fake tree but that is not necessary.  Our little 4ft Charlie Brown fake tree is ok but every single branch has at least one ornament on it this year.  You can hardly see the actual tree (which might not be a bad thing!).  I bought that tree the year Liv was born.  Our other tree got ruined in the basement and Rodney has just changed jobs.  We didn't have a lot of money and that tree was $10 at Family Dollar.  It was all I could afford to spend so that is what we got.  Even if I do get a bigger tree, I will probably keep this one and put it up but not fill it so full with ornaments OR I will not get a different tree, still put this one up and just get some garland to hang around the livingroom and hang ornaments on.  That would work too.  That is about all that is on my list this year.  If I see some other good deals I will probably snag some more gift type things for next year but I might hold off on that until later, when JCP, Old Navy and Sears do their big clearance sales in January/February. 

Merry Christmas! and our goals in the new year

First off  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

and now for the financial stuff....LOL.

For the new year, I have set us up some pretty aggressive (yet doable) goals.

New furnace!  (original quote a couple years ago was $4500 but I have talked to some people over the last couple weeks and I am certain that this will be cheaper now.  I am still budgeting $4500 and the leftover will go to meet our savings goal)

Have at least $7500 in savings by next November...would like $10,000 but that might be pushing it.  Ultimately I would like to have one year of my income in savings (just over $11K by the end of this year), but I don't know that we can do that before we need to be able to accomplish goal 3....

Goal 3 is for me to be a SAHM before Thanksgiving of 2010.  There are a variety of reasons (some personal, some I won't go into this publicly just in case, and because I would like some time home with both my kids before K starts school...and once K is in school my current work schedule does not work with getting her to school and home from school.  That is a mess unto itself so I won't go into that here). 

In order for Goal 3 to happen we need to get the minimum of $7500 in our emergency fund.  We could do without it but I want to have the cushion.  Why $7500?  That is 7 1/2 months of just bills.  The reccommended amount in an emergency fund for long term is 3-6 months of living expenses (more savings is better).  For us the yearly total for our monthly bills and our annual and semi annual bills comes to just under $15K.  $7500 is half of that.  I did not budget in groceries or other stuff in that $7500 for a few reasons:

That money is for unemployment for R.  Should he lose his job, he would get unemployment.  Therefore I did not feel it necessary to budget in money for gas, food, etc in an emergency fund.  If we were in a bind we could use some of it to pay for groceries, etc.  I can feed us pretty cheaply when necessary so I am not worried.

We have the stockpile.  We can live off the stockpile for a while, only needing to buy milk, bread and some fresh veggies and fruit.  I continue to stockpile even now so having food would not be an issue.

Should we need it, there are various assistance programs.  I do not advocate using assistance as a lifestyle but as a helping hand.  I will say that I have used assistance in the past and I will again if the need arises.  With the budget I have set up and the goals I have set, we should not need assistance barring any unforeseen changes. 


so those are my goals in the new year.  I am currently checking out my local banks and figuring out which one (excluding our current bank) that I should use to open a new account for this emergency fund.  I want the funds to be more difficult to get a hold of but not so difficult that I can't get to them in a time of need.  The reason for picking a new bank for this account only is so I cannot just transfer it online like I currently can from our mini emergency fund.  It is so easy right now and I want to make it a bit more difficult on myself.  My intent is to use our current savings as bill paying but clear it out (minus the $100 minimum balance required) at the end of the month when the bills are paid and transfer that to our other savings at a different bank.

if you have a little extra money now....

Ha who does right?!? but seriously this could save you quite a bit in a month or so, so keep reading!

I got this in an email.  Here is my thoughts. 

I know Old Navy has an extra 50% off clearance sale in late January or early February (and again sometime in the fall but I have never shopped that one) so my thought was taking $50 or $100 (saving $10 or $20 respectively) and THEN using that gift card when they have the extra 50% off clearance sale. Not only would I save money when I got that gift card I would save money when I bought new clothes for the kids.  I have walked out of Old Navy before with $100 plus worth of clothes for $25.  So this way I could potentially walk out with $200 plus of clothes (which I could very easily spend because the girls are growing so fast and I could get a TON of Christmas presents for next year for our neices, nephew, my brother and my parents) for $40. 

Pretty cool right?!  Now I don't recommend doing this if you don't usually shop Old Navy or there is nothing you need there but if you do shop there regularly it is a good way to save some $$.

last minute Christmas stuff and more

I worked for a little bit today.  After work I got my hair cut and then spent the rest of the afternoon with my brother.  We went to Walmart.  I spent a little there.  Not much at all.  Then we went to Goodwill.  I got a purse and a like new wallet, some PJ pants for hubby and a "ho ho" (aka Santa) ornament for Liv.  After that we went to Dollar Tree, where I got the remainder of the stocking stuffers I needed for Christmas.  A few things for my girls, a pumice stone for my brother's girlfriend, and a few other things.  On the way home we stopped at my favorite bent and dent.  I am super excited because they installed a whole bunch of new freezers. They have a ton more freezer stuff now.  Hooray!  I get almost all of our frozen juice concentrate, fries, and pretty much all of our freezer things there.  I am wondering now though if they will raise their prices. hmmmmm

 It was fun spending the afternoon with my brother.  We haven't done that in a long time.

goals

With the lack of motivation to be at work, I decided to set new goals.  Goal 1 is to get 6 months of bills in savings...right around $7500.  Our monthly bills are actually just under $1000 but we wanted to get a bit more for LP and our life and car insurances.  Goal 2 is to get $5-6K in savings for a new to us vehicle when the time comes.  We can accomplish this quickly when we get our tax return.  I did a preliminary estimate of our tax return last night and we should get quite a chunk of change back.  Part of this will go for a new furnace and the rest will get put away.  The original plan was to get a new furnace and new siding but we are going to wait another year on the siding but we cannot wait on the furnace.

I was worried about my job and how losing it would affect our savings goals.  I don't know that I am losing my job but temps are done on 12/31 and I am technically a temp.  I was injured again last week so whether or not I still have a job is up in the air in my mind.  Then I got a call from hubby today and he is going to be able to start working 10 hours (or more) of OT in a week.  That will quickly help us meet our savings goals!

car is paid off!

wooooo!  I sent the payment early on Thursday, checked yesterday and it cleared my account so now I am down to just owing a very small amount on my credit card that I will pay off this week and we are DEBT FREE (except the mortgage!)  I am so happy!


The downside to knowing that I am debt free is that I do NOT want to be at work.  I do NOT need to be there for the money so I really really do not want to get up and go in or anything.  UGH!  makes it soo hard to do a 10 hour day.   I felt that way yesterday but today was even worse.  My body aches and I just kept thinking about how my car is paid off and I already made enough this week to pay off the credit card.  Why am I here?!? 

I am thinking that because way back when I was offered and decided to stay on year round at my employer, it was *just until the car is paid off*, now it is just until we have more in savings and then it will be something else I am sure.  I make good money and I do like my job usually.  The problem is that right now we are busy and we are working A LOT.  I do not need to work A LOT, I do not want to work alot but it is mandatory to do the extra long days and Saturdays.  UGH!  Once we slow down, it will get better. 

Hubby and I talked tonight and we *think* that I am going to end up quitting before we get to this problem next year.  We are having issues with the early start days and our sitter arrangement.  I cannot do another year of this.  It is too stressful on me and on the sitter so for now I am not planning on changing anything, just keep saving money and building us up a nice big savings account but before the Christmas rush at work next year, hubby and I have lots of talking to do.  :)

busy day

We dropped off the old vacuum and some other stuff at the thrift store this morning and got a receipt for taxes. When we were in there K found a brand new angel ornament and O found a Santa driving a tractor ornament that she HAD to have so I got them both. Then we went to Farm and Fleet (regional store...mostly farm stuff but they have an automotive section, clothing section, housewares, shoes and a seasonal toy section. They have the best old fashioned seasonal candies too!) We got dad a gift card there for new work overalls and got a few other things...like the BEST manual can opener EVER. LOVE it. It actually works!! (that is a whole vent I have to type up sometime). O lost her shoe in farm and fleet but some nice person turned it in at the courtesy counter. Hooray!




Then we went to Walmart to pick up my pics and get a couple other things. Ended up finding racks of clearanced kids summer clothes for $1 each. I got 11 things. 9 for the girls and 2 for my youngest neice. Hooded dresses, skirts and leggings. They had some long sleeve shirts too but nothing that would fit my girls. I usually don't buy Walmart clothes for the kids (zippered pjs, socks and underwear is all) because I have found that they don't last with how rough my girls are on stuff and I can get it cheaper through work or by watching sales at Childrens' place, old navy or JCP or even at the thrift store or garage sales but for $1 each I can't pass it up.



Then we ran to dollar tree and got some picture frames for the pics I had made. One for MIL, one for us and one for my grandpa. The other pics will just be given to mom and our sitter since mom got picture frames for Christmas and our sitter is picky about frames.



Then we had lunch with hubby and now we are home. I have some housework to do and then get ready for the next 3 days of work work work.

what is it about a new vacuum....

or other cleaning tool to get me in the mood for cleaning.  I was a cleaning machine today.  I moved the huge couch and vacuumed under that.  OMG!  I need to do that more often.  It was disgusting!  I took the cushions off and vacuumed the entire couch out as well.  yuck!  I used the upholstery attachement and vacuumed off the couch.  I used the crevice tool and went around the baseboards in every room.  I shampooed the carpets and couch as well.  Then I vacuumed the stairs (which weren't bad because I just did them last week) and then moved everything upstairs and vacuumed the kids rooms and hallway as well.  I filled an entire vacuum bag already. 

I know you are not supposed to, but I emptied the bag out and put it back in.  You are supposed to just throw the bag away when it gets full but I am going to try to get a couple uses out of each bag if possible.  Might not always be possible and bags are cheap enough but if it works this time I just might try it.  The bags are small enough that I can just shake them out.  The amount of pet hair in the bag was astounding.  Yuck.  I had just used the old vacuum last night too so I am thinking that thing was not sucking stuff up very well or the pets are just shedding like crazy (or possibly because I hadn't vacuumed under the couch in awhile and that is what filled the bag up so much.  IDK but gross!)

The house feels so much cleaner now.  I still have to clean my room yet but the rest of the house is clean. 

Spent too much money over the last week

but it was all cash or debit...no credit card usage at all!

Tonight was hopefully the last of my spending for awhile.  I ended up buying a new vacuum.  I am sick and tired of the one I have not cleaning properly.  I am pretty sure it is just because it needs a new filter.  However, a new filter for this dang thing is $20!  With 2 cats, 1 dog, 2 kids, 2 adults, a gravel driveway and carpet in every room except 2 (bathroom and downstairs bedroom are linoleum and hardwood, respectively), a vacuum cleaner gets a workout in this house.  I religiously clean the filter after every use but I still end up replacing it every 3-4 months.  Sometimes I can go 6 months but not usually.  At $20 a filter, it gets expensive.  Before I bought the bagless vacuum, I had a bagged vacuum that I loved.  That thing was awesome!  I had it for 5 years or so.  I replaced it because the handle was broke.  It was still working but was annoying to have to adjust the handle all the time and forget trying to take it upstairs.  That was a nightmare ordeal.  The handle would pull right off.  The screw was stripped out and wouldn't hold the handle on.  I got tired of it and replaced it.  I didn't check the price of filters before replacing it and now wished I would have.  I learned a valuable lesson.  So today I replaced the bagless with a bagged vacuum.  Pretty much the same one I had before.  Bags are just under $3 for 3.  Previously I only had to change bags once a month or so.  Even if I have to replace them more often it will still be cheaper than buying filters for the bagless.  The new vacuum was $39.  I haven't been able to use it yet as the kids are asleep but that is on the agenda for the morning.  Can't wait!

I have a couple more things to do yet before Christmas but for the most part we are done with Christmas shopping.  No more gifts to buy other than a gift card.  What I need for my father in law's gift basket I can get at the grocery store.  I can order the gift card I want to get for my dad online so no trips to the store there.  I was originally done with my dad's gifts but he gave use $300 toward our new tv so I felt that I should give him something more for Christmas.  It will be nowhere near what he gave to us but he has stated many times that he knows we cannot afford to do that so I shouldn't worry about it.  I do though.

the madness (and deals) that is Black Friday

I got into a minor scuffle at Walmart but Dad and I had fun though. I got into a shoving match with this incredible rude and pushy lady. Dad and I got to Walmart about 3:30. We looked at the other tvs and Hubby and I had a contingency plan in place. We had discussed other TVs the night before and checked stock online of the ones we were interested in.  I would have been #2 in line for the Sony TV but they only had 5 of the stands that we wanted. We liked an RCA tv that was a bit cheaper and same size so I decided to get the RCA (no waiting!!!) and wait by the stands until the sale started. Dad was after a tom tom for mom so I didn't want to ask him to wait for me. So I told mom which TV I wanted and she had someone get it out and on a cart for me and had them take it upfront so when we were ready to checkout it was there. (my mom works at the Walmart we were shopping at.

I got over to the TV stands just before 4 am and was alone until 4:30 when another guy joined me by the stands and then a younger guy and an older woman a short time after that. There were 5 stands and 4 of us. They all agreed that I was there first and waitng so long I should get the first one. Then at 1 minute to 5 this lady comes over and SHOVES me out of the way and then rams me with her cart. I shoved her back and rammed her with my cart and said look I have been waiting here I am getting one first. There are 5 of us and 5 stands no need to shove me. Then it was 5 and the older guy helped me get one in my cart and then he got one all the while this lady is shoving and ramming the 4 of us with her cart. I gave her one really good push with my cart and yelled wait your goddamned turn (insert a not nice name here). Then I put my knee on the other boxes while I helped the lady that had been waiting with me. Meanwhile this rude lady is trying to steal the stand from my cart so this young guy that had been waiting with us grabs ahold of my cart while the older guy and I put one in the younger guys cart. HA! teach her to mess with me. The reason the stand was such a big deal is because it is over $100 off the regular price.  Yeah.....normal price was $199 and this was $89.  Not worth fighting over really but worth it enough for me to get up early and make sure I got one!

I had already got the boots ($7 and I NEED winter boots.  I haven't had a pair since middle school!) I wanted before the sale started and on my way to wait for the TV stand. One of the pallets was unwrapped and my size was right on top so I grabbed them quick before I went to wait by the stands. Then after I got the stand I walked up front, grabbed mom's picture frames ($13 for a $13 piece set) she wanted and then called dad. He got what he wanted and we were out of Walmart by 5:15.

Then it was sears (I didn't go into that one with him) then here and we set up the TV. I went to our local usually overpriced (but suprising they were not this time) store and got the HDMI cables and brought them back to hubby. 

Then Dad, the girls and I went to the big Sears. I gave the girls some change to donate to the Salvation Army Bell ringers.  K thought that was neat and O wanted to keep the money but eventually she did drop it in the kettle after a little prodding from my dad.  I got my blanket and sheets (that I had wanted but wasn't something I was going to get to Sears that early for...$20 comforter and $10 sheet set).  I didn't get the color of blanket I wanted but it's ok.  I just wanted one and the sheets are not something I would have paid full price for (the pattern is flowers and not my thing but after I got them on my bed I do like them and we needed sheets badly!).

Then to Farm and Fleet for something dad wanted and I grabbed a couple good deals (a toy for our niece, a GOOD, working manual can opener-which is a rant that I need to type up soon!, super cheap bags of popcorn for our popcorn machine and some seasonal candies).

My oldest was such a sweetheart in that store.  She had gotten $20 in birthday money from various relatives on my hubby's side.  She wanted to spend the money on a toy for herself and said that she "couldn't spend all of the money on myself.  Livy needs a new toy too and I want to buy her one." awwwww how sweet is that from an almost 4 year old!?!?!  She wanted to get her sister a present too!  K can be such a little pistol sometimes but she really does have a great heart!  and she did that all with NO prompting from me!  She ended up getting herself a Polly Pocket play set and a disney princess activity book (I let her pick out whatever she wanted and just read the price to her and told her how much she would have left).  They she led the way to the toy aisle that her sister could get something from and picked out 4 things and then she said O could pick one of those 4. O picked a baby doll that was $4.  It turned out that K spent $2 more than her birthday money but I really didn't care.  I was just so happy that she was so nice to her sister.  K has been asking for a Precious Places Swan Palace for an eternity and they had a bunch of them on the shelf.  I told K she could get one of them and she said "no momma they are too much money.  If I buy one I can't get sissy a present too."  I had told her I would chip in some money if she wanted the palace but nope she wanted to get her sister a present and that was more important that getting that palace she has been asking for.  It totally melted my heart to see my daughter being so generous!

Then it was lunch and I came home to a cleaned up house (go Hubby!) and a very happy hubby who was loving his new TV.  That made all the craziness of Walmart disappear.  It was worth it to see him so happy!

So all in all I had a great day with only 5 hours of sleep.  I have to work tommorrow so I am off to bed now.  Hope everyone that ventured out had a great day and got the deals they wanted!

and the worrying is becoming less

I was told today that I have a pretty good chance of keeping my job after christmas.  That made me smile.  I like my employer and I like my job.  I like working part time and I like my hourly wage. 

so my youngest asked for

an electronic drum set today.  While we were at Kmart we were perusing the toy section and of all the things on the shelf that particular item caught her eye.  I handed it to her and she played with it for a few minutes.  She said "I have that for kitmas? I tell ho ho?".  So Ho Ho (aka Santa Claus) will be getting Miss O the $15 electronic drum set from Kmart.  O has not asked for one thing yet for Christmas until today. 


Tonight I took a bit of alone time and went to Dollar tree.  They have some nice stiff cardboard book 2 packs for $1.  I got the girls some for stocking stuffers.  I didn't get too much there.  I also went to Walmart to get the rest of K's birthday present, a couple movies.  While I was there I looked at the bath sets because I like to pick them up on the after Christmas sale.  Wow there are some NICE sets this year.  I am hoping that they have a bunch left.  I have some pretty good ideas for Birthday gifts for neices and our nephew for next year as well as some gifts for my kids. 

started the Christmas "chores"

I started the chore of wrapping presents today.  It is my least favorite part of Christmas.  I realized I have gotten very little presents for my mom.  She is such a hard person to buy for.  I think I am just going to get her a gift card.  I have no clue what else to get her!

I was able to get the deep fryer I wanted for my brother.  I was upset at first because they didn't have any but as we were walking around the store I found an endcap with a bunch of them on it.  SCORE!  He will be pleased!


UPDATE

I finished wrapping everything that I have already bought.  Whew.  It took FOREVER!  Got meatloaf in the oven for me and the kids and chili in the crockpot for hubby.  I didn't get any housework done but at least the big Christmas chore is done.  Next weekend we will put up the Christmas tree and decorate it.  After dinner I will get the house in order....maybe.  Maybe I will just relax :)

While the man's away doing his manly thing.....

Opening day of the 9 day gun deer season is today so my hubby is out with his brothers, uncle and dad doing "the man thing".  So far this morning I haven't done much.  I perused some more black friday ads here, reorganized the ground beef section of the freezer and made breakfast for the kids. 

I reorganized the ground beef section because our local store has it on sale again.  I have been trying to keep the section almost full.  I have been leaving room for 5 lbs in case I run into a deal at walmart again on the tubed ground beef which I use for jerky since it is too fatty IMO for burgers or casseroles but if I can get it for $1/lb it is perfect for homemade jerky.  I bought one 3 lb pack of the sale meat from our local store knowing that I could fit it in the freezer.  I have room for 1 more 3 lb pack but I just might skip it.  It is not like we need it and the sale runs for 2 weeks this time. 

That is one thing I really like about this local store.  It runs 2 week ads around holidays.  It is nice because I can plan out what I need and get it one week and then not have to worry about it the 2nd week.  Less OOP money for groceries that 2nd week. 

We are so close to being debt free (besides the mortgage).  I am so proud of us.

I was going to wait to give our sitter her bonus but I couldn't.  She is having a ton of family over for Thanksgiving so I gave her the $100 bonus we have been saving for on Friday so she could use it for Thanksgiving or whatever.  I printed up a note and found a few poems online and printed them out.  I put everything in an envelope and wrapped the $100 bill up so she couldn't tell what it was.  She cried when she opened it.  She said we were too generous.  I feel like she totally deserves it though.  She has gone through so much with us this year from Hubby's layoff, to my department switch, hours being switched, last minute early start days, last minute work days, last minute days off, calling her for an emergency and having her watch K while I was in the ER with O, and never knowing if I am working 8 hours a day or 4 or 6 or however many.  Even some days where I have dropped the kids off and been back to pick them up 15 minutes later because they sent me home.  Yeah...she deals with a lot.  We pay her hourly so if I don't work, she doesn't watch the kids and doesn't get paid.  It is only fair that I give her some sort of compensation for her trouble. 

Later on, when the dense fog lifts, the kids and I are heading to Kmart.  My brother asked for a deep fryer for Christmas and they have the one I like for him cheaper than Walmart and I get a discount through my employer.  I only have a few things left to do for Christmas (a couple items on  Black Friday for the kids, making FILs jerky and gift basket, wrapping what we have already, getting something for our nephew, etc.)

Thanksgiving day (since we will be at the inlaws already and they are just a few miles from Kmart and their house is small and I will want to run away after spending an hour there with my BIL and all the kids and the rest of that side of the family except hubby's parents) I am going to Kmart for the fisher price toy deal.  B1G1F.  Perfect gifts for my little 6 month old neice. I plan on getting 4 toys total.  2 for Christmas and 2 for her Birthday.

do you "do" black friday?

This year there is really nothing that I need. Hubby and I are in want of a new TV.  The sound is starting to go on ours.  While it isn't a necessity as we do have a 19 inch tv we could use in a pinch, we are hopefully going to get a deal on an LCD TV.  It is what hubby really wants.  He wants a minimum of a 40 inch but that requires a new entertainment center as well so we'll see.  We do have the money saved for a new TV but I wasn't planning on getting one that big and I didn't save for the additional expense of a new entertainment center.  Fortunately my parents never know what to get us for Christmas and usually end up giving us cash, gift cards and socks.  So this year they are going to get us an early present of an entertainment center for our new TV.  This came about after I told hubby we couldn't get the 40 inch because I didn't budget for a new entertainment center.  HA!  So he thinks we are getting a 32 inch.  Won't he be surprised.  No worries, he doesn't read my blog so he won't even know. 

The last couple of years Black Friday has been something my dad and I have done together.  We meet at his house about 3:30 AM.  We get a drink and get our game plan paper.  We figure out our game plan on Thanksgiving.  Well, I usually have mine done well ahead of time but he waits until Thanksgiving.  We write everything down and then come Friday we are ready.  Last year was great.  He waited in line for his new TV.  I got my things and we were out of Walmart by quarter after 5.  We went to JCP and Sears then and headed home.  I got home just in time for the kids to wake up.  Hubby got up and wenting hunting and the girls and I went to a couple other stores where there were things I wanted but nothing that was necessary.  It worked out really well. 

Last year Black Friday was also when we met our dog.  I had got some towels from Walmart that were on sale and donated our old ones to the animal shelter.  While we were there, K and Sheena fell in love with each other at first sight and now Sheena is a part of our family.  This year there will be no trip to the animal shelter because Hubby promised K she could get a kitten in the spring because one of our cats died this fall.  I have a feeling if we go to the animal shelter K will fall in love with another animal and our family will grow yet again. 

I am fortunate enough to have Black friday off this year.  I had it off last year too.  I wasn't supposed to get off 2 years in a row but I switched departments and requested it off and got it.  I could just go before work.  I would still make it to work on time but I would rather have the entire day off.  This year in my department of 60 people only 3 took it off so pretty good odds that I can try again next year. 

I sign up for every Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas so really it is not a huge deal IMO. Most people want the Saturdays off and I only want that ONE Friday off. 

Finally starting to feel normal again

We have all been sick.  My energy level is starting to come back.  I am a pretty high energy individual normally but the last couple of weeks with being sick I was napping, going to bed early, and doing the basics around the house.  I was only doing what had to be done.  We ate carryout way too much from delis, subway, mcdonalds.  We had frozen pizzas and some nights just mac n cheese and hot dogs with a side of canned fruit.  I could not get my mind around cooking.  I didn't have the energy to deal with it.  It sucked.  We spent way too much money on food.  We blew our budget completely but I didn't even care. 

I am starting to feel a lot better and more like my old self...just in time too.  I have one more weekend off and then starts the Christmas rush at work.  An excellent time to make some big money and I intend to take advantage of that.  During that time the housework will fall behind but it is only 4 weeks.  We will manage.  I will be working 5-6 days a week...preferrably only 5...but doing 9-10 hour days except Saturdays which will be 4-8 hours...usually about 6 hours. Hubby will pick up the slack, I'm sure, but he is not as good about what defines clean but that's ok.  I won't complain. 

We currently have $900 in personal debt (my car and some on Hubby's credit car) and then our only debt will be the mortgage.  I intend to pay this $900 by the end of the year.  I want to start 2010 with no personal debt.  It will be an excellent way to start a new year! 

Tonight I am actually making a good dinner and I have dinner in the fridge for the crockpot for tommorrow night.  I have an appointment after work so I will be home late.  Hubby can make a side when he gets home and they can eat as I put the bowl in the crockpot and start it just before I leave for work tommorrow.  BBQ ribs.  Yum!

sorry for lack of posting..

we are still alive..just sick.  Will return to regular posting once we all recover.

is it just me or

Have your grocery ads been lacking too? 

It seems around here the grocery store sales have been a little dull lately.  It is nice for me because I can concentrate on using up our stash but on the other hand there are some things we are getting low on.  I could really use some pie crusts, cool whip, and soda.

It has been nice though because we are surprising slow at work.  I am off the next two days because we are so slow.  It is fine by me other than it adds another week or two of payments to my car.  I am paid ahead so it is not like I am going to get behind because of the lack of income but it also means I have less to spend on groceries.  Thankfully Christmas shopping is done for the most part.  I still need to get FIL's gift (making jerky and he wants a big clippers for the yard) and something for our nephew.  I have no clue what to get our nephew.  We don't go to their house ever and his mom doesn't usually like the clothes I get so I got him a personalized bath towel so far...that's it.  I am not sure why his mom doesn't like my taste in clothes.  I am a very simple clothes person as you can probably tell from the pics of my dig n save finds.  I don't go for all out wild clothes...more subtle, classic items that don't go out of style quickly.  I have always gotten their kids NEW gifts from Old Navy, JCP or childrens place.  So IDK.  I don't give used items to people unless I specifically ask (like my brother-who doesn't mind because he likes everything I get him and he knows I carefully check any used items I would get for him).  My girls on the other hand will get gently used items as gifts.  Maybe when they are older I will change but IDK.

I wish it wasn't so cold out here.  I would love to go out in the yard and clip some more but it is too cold for the girls to be outside.

I have to go out later today and get my tires rotated.  Fortunately, I don't drive a whole lot so I do not need to buy new tires this year.  I take that back, I drive...alot...but it is mostly in town so my tires don't get a lot of wear.  It isn't great for my car, all those short trips but it's not like I can walk the kids the mile to the sitters and then the mile and a half from the sitters to work every morning.  I would have to get up so early and get the kids up early and quite honestly...I am too lazy for that...especially in the winter. 

We have been discussing what our plans our for next year.  We need new doors and we are going to need a new furnace soon.  We are debating the merits of just saving our cash and waiting for it to die or replacing it in the spring.  I am for replacing it and not having to worry but hubby is more toward playing the waiting game.  If we didn't have two young kids I would be more on board with the waiting game but with the kids I don't think waiting is a good idea.  He sees my point so unless the furnace dies this winter we will most likely be replacing it in the spring or summer.  We have been wanting to re-side our house for the 6 1/2 years we have lived here but every year we have had more pressing issues; one year we did half the roof, the next year we did the other half (our roof is in two sections-the part over the main part of the house and then the part of the kitchen, laundry room and bathroom), we had to put ductwork upstairs and get central air (upstairs got so hot in the summer and got in the winter without it and we couldn't have the kids up there without some sort of climate control), we had to do a new deck because the floor in our old one was bad, Then we had the flooding and layoffs and there was no extra money for a project.  This coming year will be the furnace and hopefully the doors and then hopefully in year 8 of living in this house we will finally be able to re-side!