Monday, December 31, 2007

Some Great Ebooks

Crystal at her site money saving mom is having a great sale check it out! I loved the Supermarket Savings 101. It was a great way to learn about savings. I was surprised at how easy she makes it. I was really able to save after listing to the first few lessons. I also like many of the ebook cookbooks, so did my husband. Who knew you could do so much with so little. Click Here! to find out more!

New Years Resolutions

I am one of those people that always has the big ideas and I get a great start, but I lack the follow through I should have. Now when I really set my mind to something I do it, don't get me wrong. Its just that I have many ideas that I don't get around to. I know that if I set down with a long list of resolutions I will not make it on them. So instead I know there are things in my life God is working on with me. I want to go along with these. God is teaching me to be a better steward of time and money. I have some general areas I am working towards. Spending less around the house, loving my husband and son more and showing it more, and building a quality relationship with my Savior. So instead of resolutions I have prayed and refined these general goals down to 2 actions things that I can right now actually work toward and do. These are the two things I am going to work towards for right now.

1. I will spend time each day with God and seek His face. I do pray to God in my head often, but I have found if I quiet myself he speaks to me. I want to draw on this strength to make me a better wife and mother. The one issue I have is that if you speak to most people they recommend doing this 1st thing in the morning. I would love this but when I have tried in the past to implement this it does not work out for me. What has worked out in the past is doing this right before bed. I am relaxed and do not have a hundred things on my mind. I all ready read the bible each night now I will add some listing and journaling (sp?) time to this. This worked quite well for me in the past till I let comments from others make me feel guilty for doing this in the morning. So I will do what works for me.

2. I am going to do my best in getting the grocery bill down to $65 a week. This should be plenty for our family of three. I know some who do it for a lot less but I am going to start there and see what happens. This would be a big boost for our budget. It may take some time to get to this goal but I think it will be doable for us.
These are the specifics I will work on. I have other goals but these are the ones God is putting on my heart. I can't wait to see what he does.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Savings Now

I am pretty much trying to stay home so I do not have any new saving tips since I am not going out much. We have gone a few places but we are mostly spending time with family and just hanging out at home.
I am reading the book "How to become the woman of his dreams." I have to say this is a great book. What wonderful ideas and outlooks on the way we can be better wives. I am trying to do some of the things I read all ready and I love it and dh seems to as well.
There are many things I like about this book. One is that many men were interviewed for this book. The results are sprinkled through the book. This gives the male perspective in a true way.
Second, she breaks it down into seven different areas. I can handle that. It does not have tons and tons of things to memorize or vague ideas. 7 aspects that will help you become the woman of your man's dreams.
Third, there are many places she gives great lists of tips on implementing these ideas. They are practical and doeable.
The last one for now is the most important it is biblical. It starts with prayer. I love this book and I think that it will help our marriage become even better.
I am excited about this book. I got it from the library but I may have to buy it because I want to mark so many things in it.
Have a blessed New Year
Elizabeth

Friday, December 28, 2007

Ways to save

Today I just thought I would share some of the ways I like to save around the house. Many people may already know these but I thought I would share for any that are interested. I like these and they stretch my $

1.) I buy the foamable soap at like Aldi for very cheap around $1. I have found a great way to refill them and get that great foam. I use some Avon bath soap I have had forever. In the bath it makes me itch, no such problem as hand soap though. It has a great berry smell. I fill my empty foam soap container about one inch or so of the bubble bath then fill the rest with warm water and dissolve it as I am filling. Experiment with the ratio of soap to water for what works for you.

2.) I shop in bulk when it is cheap. I hate wimpy trash bags so I do not buy them. Yet I hate the price for the name brand. I have found that Costco's bags are great! They are just as heavy duty as the name brand and at a great cost savings. $12 or so for a box of 250. This works for us. As I improve on combining coupons and sales I may find better deals on name brand but for now I am happy with this.

3.) I refill my water bottles. We love bottled water around here. We also have one of those under the sink filters I am so happy with it. The water taste very good and I am a water snob. My son and I drink considerably more water though, when we keep it very cold. We have an old water cooler that chills the water and holds the 5 gallon jugs. I refill these 5 gallon jugs from my filtered water. I do this a few times and then we exchange them for cleanliness sake.

4.) I make some of my own cleaners. Soon I would like to try more natural ones but for the present this is what I do. I realised that the bottles of spray that is safe around everything is just the same old stuff we mixed up at all the day cares I worked at. About 2 tablespoons of bleach and fill the bottle with water. I bought one spray bottle of it and now I just refill my own and it works great. I also make my own Cleaner with bleach. I just used my old name brand bottle. I had found an all natural laundry detergent at Costco's (GREAT price) Econ or something. I just used about an 8th to quarter cup of that half that amount of bleach and fill with water. It is working wonderful. This one does bleach things so be careful and it is not safe around kids. I like to use the old name brand bottles this way I know how to store them and I don't have to mess with labeling them myself.

5.) The detergent I mentioned above I got on sale at Costco's for like $12 for about 120 loads for me this goes even further since we have a front loader. I have always used Tide I was afraid to try anything else, but when I started to have to buy the Free and Clear for my skin I just could not do that anymore. This detergent works and it also saves because you do not need an extra fabric softener with it.

These are some of the ideas we save around here. How about at your house?

Monday, December 24, 2007

Staying In

First I wanted to let explain that I picked up the free print from Walgreen's. I had picked my favorite shot of my son at his Christian summer camp last summer. It happened to be on of my husband's favorite as well and he loved it to. When I got in the car he said "Now you can get a frame cheap at CVS and you'll be all set." He is really behind me on my frugalness. (Is that a word?)

Second, as a family we are going to see how much we can stay home after Christmas. My husband and I both work in the schools (he teaches and I tutor part time) So we have off for the next while. This means we could do lots of things and end up going into debt. So we are going to try stay in as much as possible over week and a half. I hope this saves us big time. Since we got some really great Christmas gifts that we will open tomorrow it will not be too hard. In fact we should really enjoy some together time as well as finish a few projects.

I am going to do a challenge for myself. I am going on a "thing" fast. I found this idea at The Christian Woman's Page I am not going to buy any"thing" for myself even for the kitchen or house for a month. Now I will do my CVS because I can do that without spending money. I also have to buy my son a new coat. He needs one and I have been waiting for them to go on sale. If I really need something I will look for it around the house or make do. We shall see how it goes.
I hope you and your's have a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Free Socks at Kroger

I live in the Central Ohio area so I have no idea if this is the same way at other Krogers. I did my shopping today and as I was heading out of the store a cart was filled with No Nonsense socks marked $1. I had a coupon from a few weeks ago in an insert and it was for $1 off of a No Nonsense product so they were free. It scanned just fine I just wish I had a few more coupons.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Free 8x10 at Walgreens

I just ordered mine I found this one on Biblical Homemaking She tells you how to do it and I found it very easy. When I checked out I put in that code and at the end I did not owe a thing. I will let you know what happens when I pick it up. I just thought I would pass it on.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Getting that tree up





Just thought I would get a few pics posted I will write about them later. The dog's name is Baxter and he was in the mood to pose so my son took his picture

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Rantings from a frustrated infertile woman

I am going to post about my feelings today rather than bargains. It is very hard to understand why I can't get pregnant I mean I have one child. I also got pregnant with another one. I was not trying to even get pregnant with the child we lost so why now when we want it so bad am I unable to get pregnant?
I have read about so many women who are not even able to have one child. Should I just be happy that I have the one and go on with life? I mean he is 81/2 they would be so far apart in age. Yet this desire is still there. I wake up with it, I go to sleep with it, I tell it to go away, and it does not leave. It is almost like a hunger that eats you up inside. I really wanted a child before I had my son. I never imagined that I would still want another so badly. Secondary infertility is more common than many people think. The thing is that the feeling to have another child is not less when you actually have one.
Perhaps that is why I want another so bad. I adore my son I never thought parenthood would be so wonderful. He is an interesting, intelligent, and all around great kid. Who would not want another one? I also know that my husband is such a great father. He love our son, who is actually his stepson, my husband adores him and they do all the father and son things together. One of the things I know is that we could have 5,6,7,8 of our own kids and it would never change the love he has for Lars. That means so much to me.
This is going to be a hard week because I am in the two weeks wait they call it. The between ovulation and when you would find out if you were pregnant. So of course I will find out Christmas Eve if I am. The hard thing is that I am not going to be. I don't have the symptoms I have had before. If I think hard enough my body starts to feel them though. Oh yes I am a little tired. Oh my stomach is a little upset. I think that is what hard those whole two weeks I am constantly searching my body for hidden signs I may actually be pregnant.
I will not allow my disappointment to keep from having a great Christmas with my family or to take away from the true meaning of Christmas.
So now you have the rantings from a frustrated, infertile woman.
On a side note we got the tree put up last night and it looks great. I will try to post pictures of it tomorrow.

Monday, December 17, 2007

One great way to save

One of the ways I save a ton of money is this great method I started when my son was quite small. He was always in the same size as his age. If he was 4 he was in 4t. That is at least after the 1st year, he was smaller than his size then and it took a while to catch up. But after that it was pretty predicatable. This was especially the case with his shirts. So I do not normally buy for the current size or season. As soon as it hits Feburary I will begin to shop for his clothes for next winter. I will buy a size 9 or 10 since he is currently wearing an 8. I am able to buy many of his clothes that way. I do not normally shop at thirft stores for him because I am able to get his clothes even cheaper brand new. Last year I found Rebox Addidas and Nike hoddies for $4-6. I ask the sales person to leave the hanger on and I stick them in the back of the closet till it is time for him to wear them. I like this way of doing it. The only problem is that I cannot find jeans this way. I look but very rarley find them on sale. The other problem is that if I buy them used the knees are gone in like a week. I hate to see him wear them after that. So this works mainly for the shirts and when he was younger it worked for outfits. I have no idea if this will work for you but I love it and it has suited us well.
I also often update my clothes this way, but I just don't need as many. I wish it worked for my husband and to some degree it does, but with his job he wears t-shirts all year around so I am always buying them. I just thought I would share one of our frugal ideas.
I hope you are having a Merry CHRISTmas

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Today's Bargain

I am so happy about the great deal I got to day. I love Flylady's calendar, but we are trying to use the money we have for Christmas so I had not gotten mine. Today I popped into Half Price books and there was a great similar calendar for less than $6. It has the big spaces to write daily appointments, and the stickers that give you a visual reminder of what is going on that day. Now, I still like Flylady's a bit better, but this is going to suit our needs quite well and a great bargain. I love that place.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Super Savings Saturday



Well I got all of the above deals for a grand total of $ .11 Yes that is right 11 cents is what I paid for these things. Even better I did not even have to use and ECB's This is what I did:
I bought one pack of Energizer Max batteries on sale for $ 5.99
One canister of cookies for $2.50
One special marked bottle of Johnson Baby Wash $4.29
One bottle Garnier Conditioner $3.33
Total was 14.90
My total was off because the baby wash had a different price on the bottle. The cashier rang it up for the price on the bottle.
These are the coupons I used
One $5 off $15
One $5 off one package Batteries
One $2 off Johnson Baby product
One $1 off Johnson Wash product (Sunday insert)
One $1 off batteries (on the package)
Many of the coupons were emailed to me by CVS the others I found on http://forums.slickdeals.net/ and http://www.moneysavingmom.com/
This brought my total down to $0.11 I was thrilled about this because I went in to make a photo album but I had not saved the pictures right. So I just picked the good deals. The conditioner I just needed and the cookies brought my total up I could have searched for something to give me some more ECB's but DH was waiting in the car. I was very surprised when it did print out a $1 ECB since I had not gotten that one on purpose. CVS is so fun!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

More of Getting it Done

Well today was pretty good with working on making my home a haven. especially since I still have plenty of time, but I have all ready got one load of laundry done, did my routine, and then worked very hard in the kitchen. Just since 2 P.M. All I have left in the kitchen is the table and all the things on it are sorted just to be put where they go. We have such a small house and so much stuff. While we are all on Christmas break I plan to sort and get rid of a ton of things. I can't wait. Until then I will focus on small parts of the house I can put in order. How fun I love it when the results are starting to show.
While I was working in the kitchen today I was trying to fit a few more food items into the cabinet. I was struggling to get it all in there in a decent order. While I was doing this i remembered what my son had to say this morning. He was telling me that there was a food drive a his school. I said "Yes, I saw the paper on it. Would you like to send something in?" He said "Well, do we have enough food to send and still have some?" I had to chuckle I then asked him if it ever felt as if we did not have enough food. He said "Well sometimes just before dinner I am so hungry I feel like we do not." I had to laugh I reminded him that there is always plenty of fresh fruit on the counter and that right now there are at least three different kinds to choose from and he can always have them.
I know that we have tons of food. I realise that this is just him expressing that he would like to have a junky snack before dinner. What I wonder though is how does this come across at school. "We just don't have enough food for us so we can't give any away." I think his teacher knows us well enough to know different I just wonder at times.
We are in the crazy search for a Wii but alas it seems there are none to be had. I should have thought about this earlier in the year. It is funny that Christmas comes each year and yet it seems to sneak up on me as if it was a new thing. I hope I learn soon. :)

Monday, December 10, 2007

My home a haven?

After some time of trying to figure out exactly what to blog about I have decided on somewhat of a focus. At this time I am trying to really make our house a home. We are also trying to live a more simple and frugal life style. To motivate myself I will share my progress and struggles here. But let me tell you a little about my situation.
I work each weekday morning at a school. I love my job. I am able to be done a noon each day so my main focus is still our home, this is really what I want to do I want to be a homemaker. I love my job though and want to find a way that these two things can be complementary.
One of the great things about my job is that I am able to take my son to his school each day and drop him off. We get to spend that focused time together each day and I don't miss any out of school time with him. I am also home by the time my husband gets home at 3. So in ways I have the best of both worlds.

Now I am focusing on making our home a very pleasant place to be in. One of the blogs I read is www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm. There Crystal is challenging people to create a haven in their own home. This is what I am going to work on. Today I created a routine for when I first get home. I then attacked my kitchen and worked on picking up around the house. I also was able to spend sometime in prayer and plan dinner. I hope that tomorrow I am able to get a little more done. Today my husband was home sick and I had to run errands. Also things were slightly crazy around here since we had gone to relatives yesterday and had kind of dropped things when we came in. So today was a lot of picking up after the weekend. I hope that tomorrow I can really tear into things.
I also stopped and did some of the CVS deals for this week. I love it when I can go in and buy things we need spend only $1 out of pocket and get $10 back to spend later! :)