I washed laundry, and hung it on the line yesterday. Today we have rain (desperately needed,) so the laundry will be in the dryer.

I went to the bread thrift store and purchased our usual monthly amount of bread. There was a also a great deal on bagels, so I bought a dozen packages to freeze (for upcoming school lunches.)

I also grocery shopped, and did well. We were pretty low on everything, so I stocked up a bit. I also made a start on buying items on sale for lunches and school snacks.

I've always used the coupons from the grocery store flyer, but this time I attempted to make an effort to use manufacturers' coupons. I found for the most part that I still do best with the store and generic brands (which suit us fine.) BUT...I did manage to save about $10 (about $7 being manuf. coupons.) AND...my total for two weeks of groceries (including general and school lunch stocking up and health/beauty and hh cleaning supplies) was $190 rather than its usual $200-220. SO...it seems worth it to continue working at this (thanks to Flash and all here who share their expertise!)

A rainy, lazy Sunday ahead - definitely a reading sort of day! Take care!

We're back from our camping trip up north. It was so fun and relaxing. We spent lots of time in the water - swimming in Lake Superior and under Gooseberry Falls. Roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over campfires at night. My second daughter discovered a talent at making pancakes, so we had several breakfasts featuring her artistic creations (round is boring, mom!)

During the requisite laundry catch-up, I spent time gathering together my youngest's outgrown clothes, as well as checking out the rest of the girls' closets. Altogether I had eight bags of clothes, shoes and miscellaneous household clutter to donate at our favorite place. Yesterday afternoon, we made a run to make the donation, as well as check out their thrift shop for clothes for school. I told the cashier that we were leaving with almost as much as we donated. Well, only four bags...but good deals nonetheless. Still looking for some jeans for the two youngest, but not desperate yet.

We're almost school-ready. I have the bulk of the school supplies bought (just a couple things that I need from the art and office supply stores.) My mother-in-law offered to buy the girls their gym shoes - the oldest and youngest are done, still have the middle two to do. Yay all around!

The next two weeks, I'm working the 'Ready, Set, Kindergarten' class. I need to get out of vacation mode, and back to real life! I have to plan out meals for the next two weeks, make the gocery list, and then head to the bread thrift and grocery stores. I'll definitely be out of vacation made by today's end! Take care!!

I've been starting to see some more samples coming through the mail. I wished there were more coupons with the samples, but free is free.

Also, inspired by our own Flash, I've made more of an effort to clip (and use!) coupons. We usually purchase a lot of store and generic brands, as well as staples that don't often have coupons, at the grocery store. But right off the bat, quite by chance I get to use a rebate for batteries, where we happened to buy the right brand. I bought a package of Charmin tp for mere cents with a coupon at our local Snyder's drug store. I usually buy the mega roll size, and this pkg was regular size (it looked puny!) I got some softsoap (coupon) and some generic ibuprophen (no coupon.) I think I need to work more on this a bit more. It seems that you have to shop weekly to maximize the best use of some of the coupons.

Last night, I took the girls to our local night out event. My husband is in the police reserve unit, so was already there grilling a ton of hamburgers and hot dogs. Very fun to see friends and neighbors, even in the rain...can you believe after weeks of blazing sun and drought, we had rain through the day, and a downpour right during the event?! We were all so relieved to not have 100 degree weather, that no one cared getting soaked.

Today is beautiful and predicted to be in 70s - no window a/c's, no fans, laundry on the line. Yay!

The youngest two girls are attending our church's vbs this week, and my second is a teacher's helper. Tonight the oldest two will go to a bbq at one of the congregant's (beautiful!) home. Then tomorrow evening is the family potluck for all the vbs students, staff and families. It's an easy week for dinner, that's for sure!

We're all looking forward to our camping trip. Food is all bought, and in the freezer or safely stashed. We'll pack the van up on Saturday, and leave early Sunday. Can't wait!

So as to not have to scramble when we get back (coupled with catching stuff on sale,)the girls and I finished buying the rest of the school supplies they need for September. When we get back, we'll search for athletic shoes for school - and I have some coupons for those.

Enjoy the day....take care!

My big plans for the weekend include doing a pile of laundry - bedding, towels and the regular load. We're predicted to have a little rain this afternoon, but so far, so good for hanging out on the line.

It was another chow-down week on the snacks, so next week will be a bit paltry - I keep reminding myself it's a learning process for the girls. It's just the snacks; no real starving for them.

We're working on clearing out the clothes that don't fit my youngest, and general closet cleaning and straightening. My, how that girl has grown this summer! We're accumulating a few bags of stuff to donate soon. Where we donate has a thrift store, so we'll start checking for jeans for school (and for camping in August - I think my youngest two have either outgrown or worn theirs to tatters.)

In between, there will be time for swimming at the lake and reading and puttering - definitely my sort of weekend! Take care!!

Not much happening here. Several hot and humid days in a row has slowed us down. Thankfully, the predicted temp of 100 has not happened so far today, though the dewpoint is making for a very steamy day. The lake has been the only place to be lately!

My husband and I both got payed on Friday. So I headed to the grocery store and spent less than usual for the next two weeks. This was due to having leftover meals from the previous two weeks, as it's been too hot to cook inside the house, and no one is all that hungry in this heat anyway. With fans running when we're inside and all night (no a/c, at least) - well, we'll probably come out just about even, when the electric bill comes.

Otherwise, I've taken the plunge and signed up for some of the freebies in the forum area. My worry in doing this has been mentioned a few times in others' blogs - a deluge of junk mail. Others have posted that they haven't had that happen, plus receiving some coupons, as well as the samples, would be nice. Anyway, if I don't like the result, I figure I can redo measures in reducing the junk mail flow.

I just heard from my oldest, who traveled on a mission trip to a Montana Crow Reservation. She is back in MN, and is due to arrive around dinnertime. My second girl has her bag packed, and is ready to head out with a friend to her church camp up in northern MN tomorrow morning. Whew! Coming and going...

Plans to grill tonight, IF anyone is hungry (the sun is just starting to peak out from the clouds - we may hit 100 yet)...stay cool & take care!

Getting settled into the new work schedule, having the girls off from school and enjoying summertime activities has left me with less time to make entries here. But everything is going great!

I'll end up receiving continuous paychecks throughout most of the summer, due to working at least some each pay period. Some checks will be tiny, but nonetheless welcome! I'm almost half way through my summer position. I'm enjoying the work with the special ed. middle and high schoolers for these few weeks, but I really, really appreciate my regular position in the preschool.

I'm continuing to grocery shop every two weeks, and have been keeping to budget. There is a difference in having the girls home, though. They are slowly figuring out that if they go crazy the first week, there isn't so much left for the second week. It isn't the food I use for meals, it's more the 'fun' stuff, like ice cream and snacks and stuff for baking. There were a couple times last week that I could have ran for things at the grocery, but I held my ground to make the point of spreading out the consumption (plus we were hardly going to starve!) I grocery shop today, so it'll be interesting to see what happens these next two weeks. (Gosh, I'm probably sounding like an evil, conniving mom, but I promise you, I won't let my girls suffer malnutrition!)

The girls had birthday money to spend, so we went to Target yesterday. They did well, spending a bit for fun. They saved some too, when they realized there wasn't anything they needed or wanted right now. As for me, I bought a box fan on sale - we had our old one fall out of the window it was in, and some of the blades broke. I didn't need or want anything else either.

Happy July! Take care!

I went strawberry picking yesterday afternoon with my oldest and youngest daughters, and my best friend and her daughter. We snacked on what seemed like a ton of berries. For dinner, we had salad with chicken and strawberries on top, dressed with a blush wine vinaigrette - fantastic!

I cleaned, topped and hulled berries until my hands gave out. Next I froze them single-layered on trays, and then put them into freezer Ziplocs. We still have half of our pickings left in the fridge today for processing into jam, today's snacking, and some to bring over to my inlaws this afternoon. A bit of work, but oh so delicious!

I also have to cut some rhubarb for Mom's nursing home and deliver it this morning. I'll bring along my mom's dog for a visit too.

Another day of being able to hang out the laundry - wonderful for me, but it's getting a bit dry around here for the farmers. Some overnight rain would work for all of us...as if I have any say in the matter!

Well, the strawberries won't take care of themselves, so I had better get going...take care!

Waiting on the washer to finish, so I can get the laundry on the line outside. I love that we've had this incredible stretch of wonderful weather for line drying.

Need to pick some more rhubarb. I'll make up a double batch of muffins for us. My mom's nursing home called for a bunch for the residents to cut up for their rhubarb jam making session later this month. I think I'll offer to help with that, as I would love to learn how to make jam, and the recipes seem confusing. I'm sure there are many laughing at this, but I think I'm more of a visual/hands on learner, at least with canning.

To continue on the picking theme...the two girls and I are heading out to a pick your own strawberry place this week. I'm going to call a friend and her daughter who were interested in doing it too. I'd love to do up some strawberry jam - at least I do know how to do freezer jam.

Enjoy your day...take care!

Work was busy today - the kids definitely sense the school year's end!

Got the laundry up on the line. It's not real breezy, but there's enough air moving to do the job.

I'm going to do a little straightening around the house. The girls are having some friends over after school, and later we'll do some grilling.

My husband will go over to help his parents out tomorrow morning. I know of two school projects for my youngest to get started on this weekend. Tomorrow I'll head to the thrift bread store and do my grocery shopping for the next two weeks. And last, we're packing the camp gear into the big van for our camping trip over Memorial weekend. The week is looking very busy, and we want to leave Friday after the girls get home from school. I can hardly wait!

The weekend is shaping up nice - just enough activity to keep us from being total slugs, but plenty of relaxing time too.

Enjoy your weekend! Take care!!

The two girls, who were sick yesterday, have recovered and headed off to school this morning. So far, no one else in the family has shown any signs of the illness. What luck so far!

I got a call last night to cover one of my co-workers on Wednesday over the lunch period. A few more dollars on my paycheck in face of the upcoming drought while I'm off for the summer.

It's been so crazy busy lately, between working extra hours and attending to the school year-end activities. It's hard to get to all of the frugal things I usually like to do. Luckily, we tend to live without, rather than throw money at what we're lacking - too busy to even spend! I'm relying heavily on my trusty crockpot and meal plan - haven't eaten out yet, in response to being too tired and busy. A big yay, as this is where money has flew out of our hands in the past.

Per family request - no crockpot dinner tonight. Once we're home today, we can stay home. I took some chicken out to defrost in the frig, and we'll grill it up. Shaping up to be a relaxing sort of evening...well, of course, there is the homework and school projects. At least we can be home and not in the van!

Enjoy your day...take care!

It's a beautiful sunny day - just not very warm. Last night the temp was down in the 30s outside (60 inside this morning - heat is off, so piled on blankets!) We had 80 here a couple days ago! Ahh, Minnesota. At least, there was no snow like some in the west had. I wanted to hang the laundry outside, but with temps so low and hardly a breeze - wimped out and used the dryer instead.

Grocery-shopped yesterday for the next two weeks. I've been shopping every two weeks since January, and it's working great in keeping that portion of the budget down. I've been consistantly spending $200-230 for two weeks of groceries. This covers three meals a day for six people (bring lunches to school and work), some pet items (we get the majority of food and supplies at Petco once a month) and most of our paper, cleaning, and health/beauty needs. Previously, I spent $150-170 a week. So quite the savings! I've learned two things: 1) Shopping is not a favorite pasttime for me anyway, so I get to do it half as much. 2) The less time I spend in the store, the less I spend (I know, this one is very profound!)

Most importantly, the grocery savings have allowed us to fund a small emergency fund, have helped us to keep current with the medical bills of late, as well as, have let us up what we are paying monthly toward the cc debt (with no charges for almost a year, and consistent 'more than minimum' and some 'way more' payments, we are seeing progress!) It does feel good to be in charge of the finances, instead of the other way around. You all are good influences here!

I'm jealous of all the talk of gardening lately. Here in MN, after May 15 is when it's usually safe to plant anything not frost tolerant (and often there is still a lot of covering things up at night.) So I've raked, cleared the perrenial beds off, and planted our frost tolerant pansies in the wondow boxes of the girls' playhouse. Our trees have gotten so tall over the years, that I'm getting less and less full sun, and lugging vegies around the yard catching the rays of the sun is a less than fun activity. I was just reading in our community ed brochure that garden plots will go for $10 behind the school I work at, not even a block away. The $10 covers the tilling and fencing (very necessary - the school backs up to woods with deer, raccoons, rabbits and more.) Sounds like a good deal for a sunny patch and fresh vegies.

Another spring time thing to do at our house - clean the garage! I ended up piling in my mom's stuff from her move from assisted living to the nursing home. Decisions will have to be made. Then there is the yard and patio furniture to freshen up with paint. So far, only one chair needs a full paint job. This stuff is ancient - some were my parents' things, some even my grandparents'. I can only imagine how many times they've been painted over the years. But nothing beats how well they were made - steel and wrought iron - heavy but indistructible! And I still have paint leftover from last year that's still good.

Enjoy your day. Take care!

...that the weekend holds for us!

It was just my husband, youngest and myself at home last evening. We offered to go out to eat, but couldn't think of anywhere we wanted to spend our money, so opted instead to rent some movies and eat at home. We usually make use of our own collection of favorite movies, but every three or four months we rent a few (December was the last time we rented!) I watched 'Dreamer' with my youngest last night. Enjoyable, but glad to rent rather than own. Bambi II, Mummy and Mummy Returns still to view - from one end of the movie spectrum to the other! Far less than a meal out, and more fun too.

While the movies are what we'll do in the next few evenings, our days will remain busy! I'm heading over to the bread store in a little bit - Saturday is discount day. I'm getting better at tracking our usage, so haven't run out of what we need, or ended up with indistinguishable ice chunks in the bottom of the chest freezer. I throw my purchases into the freezer when I get home, so I'm set for the month. It's such a treat to spend around $10 for 4-5 grocery bags - what a deal!

Then on some sad business later this morning, I'll attend the memorial service to celebrate the life of a dear friend from a writer's group I was in for a while. Almost a year and a half ago, he had a heart transplant (after a whole lifetime of heart troubles and surgeries.) He fought so hard to keep on living, but his body couldn't handle all that it was dealt. He was 61, and while it is so very sad to see him gone, he truly lived life to the fullest - and we are all the better for knowing him. In the eight years that I've known him, he showed us all the importance of family and friends, life and love. I will miss him.

The rest of today will be filled with outside work - gorgeous day - and grocery shopping for the next two weeks.

On Sunday, my oldest is lector at church, and there's Sunday school for the younger three. Otherwise, the rest of the day is open...with boundless possibilities. Could check out the signs of Spring at a great little forest preserve a couple miles from our house. Of course, there IS the garage that could use a bit of Spring cleaning, and, well, the vans themselves could use some of that cleaning too. The lawn furniture needs a bit of paint. Some baking to do for the week. Hmmm, boundless!

Enjoy your weekend - take care!

Ran around yesterday doing the normal Saturday errands. I got gas for the van. Went to the bread store and grocery store, and shopped for two weeks. Did really well, though that's because we ate out a couple times last week and still had the makings of meals that will be made during these two next weeks. Will do some baking today for the lunches and snacks for the week.

I woke up early this morning - just couldn't sleep in - and worked on getting my annual credit report (I got the email reminder last week.) I looked the info over, and read up in the forums what everyone had to say. I decided since last year I got all three sent out at once for both my husband and I (last time we'd seen it was when we got our mortgage over 9 years ago) that we'll do one every four months. I picked Equifax, mostly because it was at the top of the list. I really debated whether to pay extra to get the FICO score. I'm curious, but still cheap. Since we're not planning any purchases, and everything looks very good, it didn't seem necessary. I'll try one of those free FICO score calculators.

Otherwise, the girls did great in their play performances on Friday and Saturday nights. Today we are going to head into Minneapolis to the Marshall-Fields Spring Flower Display. It's free, except for parking, but very beautiful. We've had some warm temps and even a glimmer of sun here and there. But we have to get Spring in March in Minnesota where we can get it (usually indoors!)

Enjoy your day! Take Care!

The girls' band concert at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis went great last night. There were 431 kids performing. When they played en masse 5th - 12th grade, they filled the orhestra stage, were in the first set of balconies on either side of the stage and on the floor in front of the first row of seats. We didn't get home until after 10pm (my two youngest are usually in bed by 8:30.) Very tired girls - and parents too!

My three youngest girls auditioned, and got parts in the community ed children's theatre. The audition was on Monday, with the performances will be on Friday and Saturday nights. (It's a traveling theatre group in our state that does these week-long residencies in school districts. My girls have done these for years and absolutely love them. It's a nice way to do theatre, without having a month and a half of rehearsals - though we do those too.) Anyway, they'll need bag lunches for their dinner break this week.

I need to do a little baking this afternoon for the lunches, and the bag dinners too. It's so darn gloomy around here today, it will be nice to have something warm and tasty in the oven. Otherwise, the groceries are holding out well. I should be able to go as planned this weekend.

Gas usage is going to be up, with the trip into Mpls last night, the orthodontist tomorrow, my daughter's medical appt on Thursday, as well as the extra running back and forth to school for the play this week.

Hope your day is great! Take care!!

Today ended up being a fairly busy day. The preschool kids were wild! We took them outside for a longer playtime, then sent them home - yay! Worked a little extra after class exchanging the toys in our room. Too many fire trucks crashing around the room - though we may have replaced them with even crazier toys (other types of vehicles - we reserve the option to remove any troublesome toys - darn, not kids, though.) Next week I work extra for our upcoming Kindergarten registration and info night (our program organizes this because we're better suited for caring for all the children.)

Next week also my husband leaves for some training for work. He'll have the travel and motel paid, but will have to provide money for meals (will be reimbursed.) We knew this was coming, so are set for him, except that he would like a new swimsuit for the pool. His was so old the waistband elastic crackled, but didn't stretch back - not a good shape for a suit to be in!

Planning ahead -

Starting to make out a grocery list and plan meals (for the two weeks.)

Need to fill the van again.

The older three girls are working at a youth group fundraiser at our church on Sat.

I need to shop for that above mentioned swimsuit and a birthday gift for MIL.

Bring MIL her gift on Sun.

Go to the library.

Clean up a bit around here.

Help my husband get packed.

...well, I'm glad I enjoyed last weekend's quiet... Take care!

but eventually I catch up! I finally got around to calculating totals for what we spent money on for the month of January. I know, I know, it's practically the end of Feb...I'm not the quickest with this. Can I blame it on my family, house, pets, work, and general lack of time??

It doesn't help that I'm doing it via the very old-fashioned method of pencil, paper and calculator. I do know how to find Excel on my computer, but that is all I can do.

So in an effort to get a start on February, I've started to fill in my sheet on expenses so far this month that have been paid and are done for the month. I took a preliminary gander at the grocery amount, and I'm pretty pleased. Considering we had my daughter's birthday party with her friends, as well as a big extended family dinner, well... ta-da! We're coming in at less than we did in January. I can hardly wait to see how March goes with our new grocery shopping measures (no birthdays or large gatherings planned, so a better indicator.)

A few things were revealed in my January spreadsheet of sorts. Medical was our most expensive category - we're paying off a hospital and dr bill from November, paying for weekly medical appt for one of my girls, and mail-ordered 90-day supplies of 3 expensive prescriptions. The next expense was our grocery expenses - working hard on reducing this! Third is our mortgage. Hmm, more to think about AND act on - I like what has been written about it being nice to think and write (and read!) about money matters, but it's the action that really makes the difference. Take care,all!

Happy Valentine's Day! Yesterday and today, I celebrated with our preschool classes. I think the kids were fed candy hearts for breakfast. By the end of the day, the teachers felt like running around the room screaming, right along side the kids!

After work, I headed over to the nursing home - much, much quieter. Mom was eager to see me. I brought her an azalea plant and a soft stuffed dog to hold, as well as some cards from my husband and I and the girls. I usually go for more homemade food sorts of gifts for the family, but she's on a restricted diet now(and it's a pain to get it all approved and written down on her chart.) I got her the dog, because I'm learning the importance of holding soft items for older people. She seemed to be thrilled with it, and kept petting the stuffed dog.

I made valentines for my husband and girls using construction paper and glue and markers - I know, I'm stuck at the preschool level. I collected a bit of candy kisses and hearts into little bags too. We'll celebrate when we're all together at dinner tonight.

Moneywise, we're maintaining what we started in January. I did spend a little on Mom for today, but spent less on groceries for the two weeks. I went ahead and shopped for two weeks, which was cheaper per week, as I expected. I'll try the two week grocery shopping for this month. I mailed out the federal taxes yesterday - we'll get back just over $2200. We owe MN $85, but April is soon enough for that.

Happy Heart day to you all! Take care!

I feel like all I've been doing is working lately. But I know the extra hours won't last forever, so I'll keep doing them while they are still available. Got back a bit ago from working our preschool's Super Saturday - several hundred kids and adults came. It took a bit to get the rooms back to normal, but it was fun to see everyone having a good time.

My husband got paid yesterday, and my check will be in the account on the 15th. All our OT and extra hours have made it possible to keep up with the interest free payments to the hospital and doctor. Just one more payment to the hospital and two more to the dr - yay! I will be so glad to not have them hanging over our heads.

Our next goal is to then funnel the extra money in paying off the cc debt. We haven't used the card in a long time, and now we are serious about getting it paid off.

Need to send off two more mail-order prescriptions. Got gas for the car - $41. Need to go to the grocery store - am thinking of trying to bump it up to two weeks. I spend a bigger amount, but when averaged over two weeks, the total is quite a bit less. Need to finish the shopping list.

A trip to Target is planned this weekend. My 3rd daughter turns 11 soon, and will have a swim, pizza and sleepover party next Friday. We swim at the school's pool for very cheap. Then we head home for homemade pizza and cake. The girls watch movies (that we own) and hardly sleep. We hand out party favors, but make it cheap. Being it's so close to Valentine's Day, I saw cute little heart decorated tin pails at the $ spot at Target, and we'll add a fun trinket or two, and a little candy. At our house, it's the birthday party down to a science. We've done this one over and over through the years, and the girls don't tire of it.

It feels like I've spent a fortune lately. But when I actually did the checkbook, it wasn't too bad.. I guess it just feels that way because our spending has been only the absolutely necessary lately.

Went to the grocery store and it's back to ugh again. $145. I think I'll look over the total for the month of January. I'm sure it was less than normal, but I want to get a better idea of how much I'm saving or not. Then I'll be able to tell whether the $145 is really an ugh. Gas was $36 for the week. That is another ugh!

The three younger girls, my husband and I went to the school's fundraiser, the Funfest. Spent $22 - not too bad, but my head is pounding from the noise. Not my favorite activity, but the girls love it.

Cleaned the house yesterday. Finally got the last bit of info needed to do the taxes, so that is on the to-do list for this weekend (I have mostly completed them except for inserting this info.) Sleep!! Yes, that's on the list. Otherwise, two of the girls are going to a church youth group event tomorrow (it's free and fun!) So the weekend is shaping up to being a quiet, relaxing one again - my favorite sort!

Have a great weekend...take care!

Today I got paid. Worked a little extra - the licensing people are coming into work tomorrow, so all the rooms need to be looking their best. Still no 1099 from the bank - they are waiting until the end!

Visited Mom today. She started getting pressure sores on her heels, so is wearing huge foam boots. She doesn't understand what they are for, and is not enjoying her new fashion at all. She is looking good otherwise.

This is our first whole week of school in a while, so I'm thinking it's feeling long already. Yeah, I know - how rough we have it! We're on our second week of all taking lunches to school - still working out well, and is going to be something we continue. I bought ground beef at a good price the last time I went to the grocery store. I'll cook it all up with some onion, and bag it into 1lb. bags and freeze. I'll keep out 1lb. for use in tonight's tacos - a big favorite at our house.

We got our electric bill and it was almost $20 higher than normal - ugh! We're doing as others have mentioned here - shutting down and unplugging things. My husband is still trying to figure out our computers. I guess they are on a battery back-up thing that needs to stay plugged in or beeps and switches to the battery if unplugged. Needs?!! Well, I'm working on this (him!) The rates went up also. Oh well, the ups and downs of keeping money in our hands...

Take care!

Fast!! Ok, that's a little dramatic, I know. We got my husband's check yesterday (mine comes on Monday)and there it starts to go...

Went to the bread outlet store. With my oldest two girls taking their lunches to school (yay, they are!), I have been letting them take bagels. Last week they were on sale at our regular grocery store, but still pretty high for using too often. The last time I went to the bread store, a 6-pk of bagels was $.65, and on Wed and Sat there is a 15% discount. So I stocked up on a month's worth of bagels - there was even whole grain wheat. They are in the freezer awaiting lunch duty.
Bread store - $7.96 (including several loaves of bread.)

Next I got gas and a wash for the Voyager. We usually wash our vehicles at home from spring into fall, but in the winter about every two to four weeks we go through the carwash (clean off all that road salt we love to use in MN.) With the 5 cents off per gallon coupon from our grocery for the gas and using the stamp card for each gas purchase towards money off for the wash, the total was $27.85. We're driving extra for my daughter's medical appts. - probably using twice as much gas as we normally do.

Did the grocery shopping today. Well, I didn't come in at those wonderful $90 of the last two weeks. Hardly...It came to $156.23! My excuse is that I had to re-stock the paper products and cleaning goods, as well as a few pantry goods. I will, however, still take it as a guarded success. It is lower than my usual weekly average of $170. And I don't buy paper and cleaning items every week. So my goal in the next week (or two or three!) is to be closer to the $90 mark. I feel like this is something I can do.

Still no 1099 from the bank. I called on Friday, and they said they have until the 31st. I said that's fine (I kept the grumbles to myself) - I just wanted to make sure I didn't not receive it or had misplaced it. Patience is a virtue!

Otherwise, just a quiet weekend for us all here. We seem to be needing a lot of rest lately - no illness, but maybe preventing it if we take it easy. We all cleaned up the house yesterday - nice! I'll do some baking either later today or tomorrow. I'm not even sure what dinner will be...maybe something very easy like scrambled eggs and toasted english muffins. Boy, am I having a lazy Saturday, or what?!

Hope others are enjoying their Saturday in the way they wish...take care!

Worked my usual hours yesterday, then took my oldest to her madical appt ($25 co-pay.)

No school today, and my husband took off today as vacation. We're slowly making appearances this morning - I guess we all needed the sleep.

No definite plans for today, but we may use our Historical Society membership to visit one of the fun museums in the Twin Cities. We switch off memberships year to year to get a variety of experiences. Or, with our weather so warm and gorgeous, maybe we'll head over to the free zoo and conservatory in St. Paul. The day is open... (and that's the best of all!)

My husband got his paycheck today, and I'll get mine on Monday. The money is all planned out, and waiting for bills and/or transfers to savings.

Will be making my grocery list and meal plan for the week - hoping to continue at the new reduced amount that has been happening the last couple weeks.

Cleaned out the freezer in the kitchen last night (already did this to our chest freezer.) Threw out some mangled and old stuff, but mostly did an inventory of what is in there, and organized it more logically. When the door was opened items would skid across the kitchen floor, if they didn't thud onto your toes. (I wish to point that I myself am very organized, but I live with others who AREN'T!!) Oh well, I'll enjoy my organized freezer while it lasts.

Have a great day...take care!

Sent the two oldest off with lunches, and I think it wasn't too bad for them (except that we'll try to pack them the night before - mornings are too crazy!) Still no 1099 - I know we'll receive it before the end of the month, but I'm ready to do up those taxes. I worked extra hours today, so that will be nice on the paycheck. Dinner is in the crockpot - another batch of the minestrone recipe I tried last week. Everyone wanted it again, so I put that together quickly this morning. I have some paid training to go to tonight with a meal provided by my boss. Hopefully the family will save a bowl of the minestrone for my lunch tomorrow. My daughter has to get on the computer, so this is it for now....take care!

Got a little done yesterday. No 1099 in the mail on Sat. - I'm anxious to get going on my taxes.

Baked oatmeal raisin cookies - you can imagine how much hanging out in the kitchen there was! I managed to pack up and freeze several snack bags worth for lunches and snacks.

Talked to my oldest two about school lunches, and the oldest grumbled a bit. The thing is is that they'll have to bring lunches this week, because they ran their accounts so low, and I don't have the money to replenish them. Really!! (This is not just mom-talk, and trying to introduce a new idea - they went through the money far quicker than they should have and we don't get paid 'til next Fri.) So we'll try it out for the week, out of necessity. I put aside some bagels and cream cheese (a treat for them!) they can take, as well as those squirreled-away cookies. Not much suffering on their part, I don't think!

I ended up getting gas for the Voyager again. I usually do this every two weeks, but we had extra driving from last weekend, and I have one longer drive this week for a medical appt for my oldest. I was just under half, and in the winter (even as warm as this one) I don't like to have the tank so empty. Gas - $26

The grocery store went well again this week. I created a list, and the total came to $91. Last week it was $90. I'm liking this trend - hope to make it continue!

I have church in a bit, and plan to do some serious straightening around here. Dinner will be chicken and rice/wild rice. And, definitely some relaxing....take care!

I mulled over what we're spending on our grocery, etc. bill weekly, and came up with a plan to help reduce it.

Lunches and snacks:

- Look for a cheaper source of hot cocoa/coffee - I was buying the cheapest of this at the grocery store we go to, but have looked up some homemade mixes that might give us a little savings

- Talk to my two oldest girls about bringing lunches to school

- Talk to my youngest girl about some charges on her lunch account - she brings lunch each day, but it turns out that she was still thirsty after drinking what I was sending, so we will make sure there is an extra container with water packed (she came up with the idea!)

- Determine the costs of the individual items packed into the lunches & figure out a max price I'm willing to pay to have an item in the lunch - started to do this and found that some of what I was thinking was cheap wasn't as cheap as it could be (mostly I plan to eliminate the really expensive few items, but still offer a variety of cheaper alternatives over the course of the week.)

- Make a concerted effort to bake and freeze more of the treat and snack items (so often it's cheaper to make than buy, plus having control of what's put in)

- Relating to the above is to prebag portions of snacks and homemade treats so as to easily pull together for snacks and lunches (do this already, but could improve - between my husband and the girls, they could eat whole packages and everything I bake fresh in one session - not good for the budget or waistline) - maybe what I need to do is find better hiding places

Take care!

Yesterday I was able to do a conference call with my husband to the office that manages his old job's pension. We now have the amount it's worth, if paid out lump-sum. Now the dilemma is, do we roll it over into an IRA or into his current 401K account? Or do we leave it, and hopefully it will still be available for a monthly payout (he can start receiving at age 55)? 55 is still 12 years away, and a lot of his co-workers are feeling uneasy with the old employer and have taken the lump-sum. My gut feeling is to take the lump-sum and set up an IRA account for it, then we are in control of it (well, except for what the market does to it!) He has a retirement annuity from an even more previous employer that has been not going anywhere, so I will look at rolling that over too. I think I could get a handle on our retirement accounts - his 401K, my public employee account, and a single account like an IRA for the rest - yay!

Yesterday I also did some preliminary figuring of our taxes (just need one more 1099.) We will again get a refund on our fed taxes. Every year I keep fiddling with our withholdings, and I have the state taking just the right amount. But the federal is another matter. At least compared to last year, I'm heading in the right direction. Oh well, it's back to the w-4 again. The last 1099 wasn't in today's mail, but as soon as I receive it, I'm ready to write up the forms and get them sent in.

Well, going over the budget stuff, I've concluded we're doing pretty well for our fixed expenses (including things like insurance, vehicle expenses, etc.) I guess it's more our discretionary spending is where we could use a little work (ha - a lightbulb moment or what!)

Food, including dining out - We eat most meals at home. Depending on our finances, we eat out once every two or four weeks. We all eat breakfast at home. My husband packs a lunch for work and the two younger girls take lunches and snacks to school and the older two eat lunches at their schools. I usually come home for lunch, or I bring a lunch. Dinners are at home, usually with everyone (we eat early or late depending on the activities.) Our grocery list is usually basic foods - I stock a pantry and freezer, rather than shop for meals. I shop only once a week. I used to shop every two weeks, and even for a time, monthly (we had milk home delivered then.) We're incorporating more fresh vegetables, fruits, protein and higher quality carbs into our diet, so I find weekly works better for that (though I find it is a bit more expensive the more often I shop.) I keep a running list on the frig of what we run out of. I look over the sale flyer to see what bargains and coupons are offered for the week. Then I make my list, sticking to it for the most part. With a combination of pantry and freezer items and newly bought groceries I create our meals.

Part of what I include in our 'food' budget is health, beauty and cleaning supplies, plus food and supplies for our pets (we have 6 - a dog, 3 cats, a guinea pig and a hampster.) We aren't star consumers in this area - using the store brands of cleaning items, the 99cent shampoos, generic pain relievers, etc. The pets get more than their share of the budget...but somehow we've acquired these animals and we'll see to their good care - though we have a current restriction on allowing any more of them at our house.

For a budget amount, I took an average and came up with $170 a week. And that is about what I spend most weeks between groceries, the occasional dinner out and pet store stop, though the range can be $70 - 200. Sometimes I feel that since I say it's a certain amount, I somehow make sure it is that amount. Still, I don't think there is much I can do about the pets (just no more new ones!) And the cleaning/health/beauty amounts are probably fine - though I'll keep tabs on amounts used, and use what is minimally necessary. The dining out is not an outrageous part of our budget.

So what's left is my two oldest's use of school lunches, and the food portion of the grocery bill. Hmm, I guess a talk is in order for the girls. And I'll go over the meal plans. I cook mostly from scratch, and we aren't having steak every night (actually that's only twice a year - on father's day and my husband's birthday - he loves steak!) I like what some journalists were doing with figuring out the costs of some of their meals. Maybe my meals cost more than I am realizing? I guess I'll have to think some more on this area. As a kind of initial goal, I'm trying to spend closer to an average of $130 a week. I need to come up with better figures of our absolute minimum amount to keep us and the pets going. But I'll try a $40 dollar a week reduction, and see where that gets me.

That's all for now...take care!

Pretty good day today. I worked preschool in the morning, and then intermediate school in the afternoon. I was greeted by a few people who want to take advantage of my afternoon availability for subbing- I say yes! (February bills beware!)

The minestrone was wonderful last night - my family all loved it, and there was only one bowl left for my lunch today. Definitely a keeper crockpot recipe. Next soup I want to try is the lentil one mentioned in the food forum. Tonight we had homemade pizza - no leftovers either. It helps that I limit the girls on their afternoon snack - sometimes even eliminating it altogether if we're having an early supper. They eat more dinner, that's for sure.

Not much money-wise to report, except that it was a no spend day, while being a good earning day. Tomorrow I plan to add up receipts for tax time, and remind my husband to check on his pension from his former employer (I do most money matters at our house, but once in a while I come across an account that will only speak to the owner - no problem, except to get him to do it...)

I'll visit my mom too tomorrow. She broke a hip in early Dec, so I'll have to check with the nurses as to how her latest followup dr visit went (she has Alzheimer's and won't remember going to the dr, or even that she broke the hip - she very much lives in the moment.) I also received her newest med insurance card, so need to get the nursing home a copy of the card.

This evening still holds spelling lists study for two daughters, folding the laundry and thinking what we'll have for dinner tomorrow (hmmm - maybe another crockpot meal - I have the makings of a creamy mushroom swiss steak recipe.) My two youngest girls both have their girl scout meetings from late afternoon to after dinner, so a quick dinner is in order. My oldest will be coming home soon from confirmation, and will NEED the computer. And then slowly, one by one the girls will go to bed, followed soon by their parents!

Well, whew!....take care!

Went to work, then came home to work on my to-do list. Today I got a bit accomplished...some of those things that aren't a lot of fun to do, but are wonderful to cross off the list!

We have new medical and dental insurance as of Jan 1, so I had to have the clinic we go to write up 7 new prescriptions for mail-order (90-day supply with 3 refills.) I received those in the mail at the end of last week, only to find out that after trying to calculate the costs for the mail-order forms that one drug isn't on the formulary and one is actually cheaper filling it monthly at our local pharmacy. (I'm glad for the cheaper price, but do like the convenience of the mail-order.) We need to talk to my husband's dr about an alternative and mine for a new script for monthly. Today, I sent out 3 prescriptions for $150. The rest will go in on next pay period. (While I'm thankful for the good insurance we had/have, I dream of having the same medical insurance for more than a year at a time. I'm not sure how I would spend those first few weeks in Jan, if that were to happen!)

I also caught my bills and checkbook up for this week. (Part of my unwritten goals for this year - keep on top of that checkbook, so I know where we're at.) I also reconciled the checkbook to the latest bank statement. Over the holidays, I sort of piled my paid bills and statements, rather than file them. So I filed what needed to be, pulled out papers to be shredded from the cabinet, and gathered together the receipts to add up for tax time. Just waiting on a couple more items for tax time - oh, yeah!

I also arranged some extra hours at work over the next few weeks - I work in two preschool classes for our school district, but our early childhood program has a lot of events coming up, so I'll take as many hours as I can get. I also got a call from our intermediate school, and will work there in the special ed dept - one of my favorite places to sub. So more hours... all for a good cause - improving our financial picture bit by bit! With our hospital and dr bills from Nov, this will be welcome, that's for sure.

I started dinner this morning in the crockpot- a new recipe for minestrone. It smells wonderful! There is a little leftover lasagne from a couple days ago (not enough to freeze for another meal) and a salad and bread.

Good evening to you all...take care!

Yesterday, I went with my two oldest daughters to find a dress for an upcoming dance my oldest will attend. She had success at JCPenney, with a sale to boot. She found a pretty black, spaghetti strap dress on sale and a black, beaded shawl on clearance (70% off!) Picked up some hose not on sale and a delicate necklace and earring set on sale at Claire's (lucklily she has some strappy black heels that will complete the outfit.) I was pleased with cost, and it's a dress that can be worn in the future!

Today we had a medical co-pay to pay out for one of my daughters. One from last week and for today - so $50 total for today. The $25 co-pay will go on weekly for a while. Not a fun way to spend money, but very necessary. I'm thankful that our insurance pays what it does towards this care, and that we able to afford our part.

Otherwise, the only other spending was toward Valentine's for the kids and myself to hand out in our classes. We like to buy early and have a better selection. $7 bought 2 bags of individual candy heart treat packs and cards enough for my two younger daughters classmates and my two preschool classes at work, as well as candy enough for the older two to hand out candy to their friends, if they wish.

Dinner is a turkey we got as part of doing our normal shopping over the Fall ( it's been thawing for a few days in the frig - am glad to be cooking it up!) Typical turkey sidedishes for tonight, and then I'll have the remainder of the meat for a couple days of sandwiches and some to freeze for stirfry or other quick to put together meals.

Have a good evening, all....take care!