I started this blog back when I was laid up from having knee surgery and had alot of time to sit and write. Now that my life is back to normal (if there is such a thing) I don't seem to have enough hours in the day to blog along with alot of other things.
To update to the last blog a few months ago, I am still couponing and doing really well. I don't know if I'm as good as the people on the show, but I can see myself getting that way! :o) I am saving my family so much money, its nice to have a little extra cash in my pocket. It is like having a second job, it takes alot of time and research to hunt out the best deals, but totally worth it! I think my children think I'm nuts when I come home with 13 bags of rice or 9 bottles of body wash, but they don't see the savings and understand what it means to stockpile. If anyone out there is at all interested in extreme couponing please let me know and I can answer any questions you might have. I can do some blogs dedicated to it if I have anyone interested.
I also still have my mind on moving. Things just haven't been working out so that we could do that right now. So I'm taking that as a sign of this isn't the time. One thing is the housing market isn't so good right now for us to sell. I defiantly don't want to end upside down. So we take things one day at a time.
I have been homeschooling my daughter. Things are going really really well with it. Until summer came along and she still had some school work to attend to and the rest of the kids and neighborhood kids were out playing and enjoying their time off. She couldn't seem to stay focused on her task at hand. I am looking into continuing this for next year or really researching schools to find one that will work with her needs.
As if all of these things aren't enough I have been dealing with some personal demons, which have made me do alot of thinking about my past present and future. I knew that I had some issues with people/things in my childhood but never thought that it would effect me the way it has recently. I have been watching a show for the past year or two called Ruby about a lady who weighted 700 pounds and is working on losing it all without surgeries or pills. Just good old fashion diet and exercise. Watching this show she has found out that alot of the reason she is overweight is from abuse she received as a child. I myself am overweight (not as big as Ruby but defiantly overweight) and after thinking about my childhood and all the way up till now, I have had to deal with alot of stuff that I might think is contributing to my weight issues. I have been considering seeing a councilor that deals with these problems and see if that helps. If anyone else is having the same problems I would love to hear from someone who shares my views.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Extreme Couponing!
I have blogged before on cutting back and saving money and I have tried to find different ways to do this. A few nights ago as I was channel surfing I came across a show on TLC called Extreme Couponing. I have always cut coupons and use them from time to time to take a dollar or two off my grocery bill. But these people had baskets FULL of groceries and were using coupons to get sometimes over $1,000 worth of stuff for $20 or less!!!! I was AMAZED!!!! I set my DVR to record all these shows and have been religiously watching them trying to see what these people are doing to save all this money. I have gotten a few ideas on how they are saving and have started surfing the web looking for printable coupons (which is VERY time consuming) and making sure I get a Sunday paper, or two or three. :o) I also found a link to a website from the TLC facebook page to www.weusecoupons.com which had a great beginners lessons and how to info.
One way to get the most out of couponing, you need to start a stockpile. The people on the show have WAY more stuff stockpiled than what they could use in a life time! I don't wanna get that crazy but i want to make sure I stock up on the things that we use ALOT of like laundry detergent, toilet paper, ect....
One way to get the most out of couponing, you need to start a stockpile. The people on the show have WAY more stuff stockpiled than what they could use in a life time! I don't wanna get that crazy but i want to make sure I stock up on the things that we use ALOT of like laundry detergent, toilet paper, ect....
This morning after going thru the coupons in the morning paper and matching them up with sales going on in my local stores I went out armed with my coupons and sales ads and got some great deals!!
Here is a picture of what I got today from drugstores like CVS and Walgreens, I got all these items for a grand total of $4.68! I think this is a good start to my stockpile! :o)
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Month of Meals
In an attempt to make life simpler and hopefully cheaper, I have decided to go grocery shopping once a month instead of my usual once a week. I got this idea from the Economides (aka the cheapest family in America) they have a family of 7 (same as me) and they grocery shop once a month and spend $350.00. I would like to say I was equally successful, but not so much. I set a goal for myself of $400-$450 and ended up spending $500. I did have about $20 in coupons which the cashier was really impressed with!
I did my best to guesstimate how much of everything we would use in a months time. I hope that I did a good job at that. I have planed out 22-24 meals, leaving room for leftover nights. I do think that for my first time and quesstimateing going $50 over budget wasnt bad. I also took a couple of kids with me and Im glad I did because I had two baskets overflowing! And after they sacked them up I ended up walking out with three! So I pretty much spent $125 a week, which is WAY better than $200-$250 I had been doing, that was also buying extras and not sticking to a strict list. Me and my daughter are also starting a diet so we bought alot of "diet" food and fruits and veggies.
For anyone intested I will post the website for the Economides and feel free to ask any questions. I will post in a few days on how the diet goes too.
I did my best to guesstimate how much of everything we would use in a months time. I hope that I did a good job at that. I have planed out 22-24 meals, leaving room for leftover nights. I do think that for my first time and quesstimateing going $50 over budget wasnt bad. I also took a couple of kids with me and Im glad I did because I had two baskets overflowing! And after they sacked them up I ended up walking out with three! So I pretty much spent $125 a week, which is WAY better than $200-$250 I had been doing, that was also buying extras and not sticking to a strict list. Me and my daughter are also starting a diet so we bought alot of "diet" food and fruits and veggies.
For anyone intested I will post the website for the Economides and feel free to ask any questions. I will post in a few days on how the diet goes too.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Winds of change are blowing
I'm not sure if something has just "clicked" in my head, or all this time I have had off because of my knee has made my mind constantly run. Probably a little bit of both. But I have come to realize things have to change around here.
Like I have said before I have 5 kids in the house, I hardly ever see my husband because he works sooooo much, and I work a full time job. So needless to say my life is in constant chaos!! The past few weeks I have decided it was way past time to do something about it! This also came about because of the last post about self discipline. I have laid down a strict chore chart for the kids, so that they are helping more than they have been. So far this is working GREAT! I usually do all my house cleaning on Sundays and Mondays because those are my days off, and thanks to the chore chart there isn't much I'm going to have to do this weekend. I sat the kids down and told them that everyone needed to do their share. I have had to remind them to get thier chore done for the day before bed, but they do it without much whinning so thats terific!
I have also sat down and laid out a strict budget for our family. I will be going to the store next weekend to start the months worth of groceries at a time. I will post to tell how that went, how much I spent and what meals I am fixing (for anyone who is interested).
I have also pretty much decided that I will most definatly homeschool my daughter and even start teaching my son (who will be two) a little bit to give him a jump start. I am thinking about getting the your baby can read system and see how he does with that. I have narrowed it down to two different cirriculums. One of them I do more of the teaching role, but the other is mostly done online and I am just there to monitor her. The one online seems to offer alot of support and they have field trips and get together for the kids thru out the year. She seems to really like this plan and is very excited!
I am glad that things are changing around the house and everything here seems to be running smoothly (with the minor glitches like the septic backing up into the yard. . ewwww).
All these changes within the household are GREAT dont get me wrong, but I still feel in my heart that something else is going to or needs changing. Part of me thinks that what really needs changing is the scenery. I have moved around alot in my adult life, but never really far from the place I grew up. Friends of mine that have moved states away and have told me I should move, get out of that small town, come live where we are. I have entertained those thoughts off and on for years and years, but something never really felt right about going that far from "home". These past few weeks thinking back at all those times and thinking about how much I loathe living in this small town, with two faced, gossip spreading, judgemental people I feel, more than ever I am ready to get out of here. A friend of mine presented me with the idea of a place that they are looking to moving. It was never a place that I pictured myself being, but the more I look into it and think about it, nothing has ever felt so right like this about moving. I made meantion of this harebrained idea to my husband (who hates change) and was waiting for him to give me a definate NO, but to my surprise he actually told me we could look into it.
I think we both like the idea of starting fresh and new. Not knowing anyone but our friends who are also moving there. My husband cant seem to find a better job around these small towns that will offer him better pay and better hours, so maybe in a bigger city he will have lady luck on his side.
Im not saying that Im up and moving town tomorrow, who knows maybe I dont need to move at all, maybe the changes I really need to make are inside of me. But untill then, I am going to follow my heart and go with whatever direction the wind blows.
Like I have said before I have 5 kids in the house, I hardly ever see my husband because he works sooooo much, and I work a full time job. So needless to say my life is in constant chaos!! The past few weeks I have decided it was way past time to do something about it! This also came about because of the last post about self discipline. I have laid down a strict chore chart for the kids, so that they are helping more than they have been. So far this is working GREAT! I usually do all my house cleaning on Sundays and Mondays because those are my days off, and thanks to the chore chart there isn't much I'm going to have to do this weekend. I sat the kids down and told them that everyone needed to do their share. I have had to remind them to get thier chore done for the day before bed, but they do it without much whinning so thats terific!
I have also sat down and laid out a strict budget for our family. I will be going to the store next weekend to start the months worth of groceries at a time. I will post to tell how that went, how much I spent and what meals I am fixing (for anyone who is interested).
I have also pretty much decided that I will most definatly homeschool my daughter and even start teaching my son (who will be two) a little bit to give him a jump start. I am thinking about getting the your baby can read system and see how he does with that. I have narrowed it down to two different cirriculums. One of them I do more of the teaching role, but the other is mostly done online and I am just there to monitor her. The one online seems to offer alot of support and they have field trips and get together for the kids thru out the year. She seems to really like this plan and is very excited!
I am glad that things are changing around the house and everything here seems to be running smoothly (with the minor glitches like the septic backing up into the yard. . ewwww).
All these changes within the household are GREAT dont get me wrong, but I still feel in my heart that something else is going to or needs changing. Part of me thinks that what really needs changing is the scenery. I have moved around alot in my adult life, but never really far from the place I grew up. Friends of mine that have moved states away and have told me I should move, get out of that small town, come live where we are. I have entertained those thoughts off and on for years and years, but something never really felt right about going that far from "home". These past few weeks thinking back at all those times and thinking about how much I loathe living in this small town, with two faced, gossip spreading, judgemental people I feel, more than ever I am ready to get out of here. A friend of mine presented me with the idea of a place that they are looking to moving. It was never a place that I pictured myself being, but the more I look into it and think about it, nothing has ever felt so right like this about moving. I made meantion of this harebrained idea to my husband (who hates change) and was waiting for him to give me a definate NO, but to my surprise he actually told me we could look into it.
I think we both like the idea of starting fresh and new. Not knowing anyone but our friends who are also moving there. My husband cant seem to find a better job around these small towns that will offer him better pay and better hours, so maybe in a bigger city he will have lady luck on his side.
Im not saying that Im up and moving town tomorrow, who knows maybe I dont need to move at all, maybe the changes I really need to make are inside of me. But untill then, I am going to follow my heart and go with whatever direction the wind blows.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
New Year, New Mom
OK so as I sit back and look at the last two post about budget and home school I realize that both of those require ALOT of self-discipline. I now sit back and thought about this topic and how much I have. It was brought to my attention today that I don't have as much as I thought I did. I have quite a few people in my life who feel free to tell me how it is, no holds bar! I sometimes feel lucky for this because it knocks reality into me. Other times it can really hurt, not sure yet if its hearing the truth that hurts or the way its said. . . prob a little of both.
Now I am thinking about how did I end up this way and how I can change it!! Thinking back to my childhood is where I think this started, I never even had to clean my room, I knew how to weasel my dad into doing it for me (kids don't get any ideas!) And I don't think that my parents were the best self-discipline people looking at it now, but then again who is?
So, I am posting this blog to help keep me on track and in hopes that stating this in print for everyone and God to read that it will keep me on track. I am taking a serious look at who I am, where I am from and who I want to be.
I found a list of things to do to start to be more disciplined and I am listing it here for myself and for anyone else who is wanting to start this journey with me.
Now I am thinking about how did I end up this way and how I can change it!! Thinking back to my childhood is where I think this started, I never even had to clean my room, I knew how to weasel my dad into doing it for me (kids don't get any ideas!) And I don't think that my parents were the best self-discipline people looking at it now, but then again who is?
So, I am posting this blog to help keep me on track and in hopes that stating this in print for everyone and God to read that it will keep me on track. I am taking a serious look at who I am, where I am from and who I want to be.
I found a list of things to do to start to be more disciplined and I am listing it here for myself and for anyone else who is wanting to start this journey with me.
Friday, February 11, 2011
School daze. . .
The word of the day class is "Homeschool". What does this mean?? When I was younger home schooled was mostly looked down on, people assumed that home schooled kids were "freaks" and "weirdos" who were socially inept.
I attended public school until I was in 3rd grade and didn't have any problems with it. I believe it was the second day of 4th grade my mom showed up and pulled me out of class and informed me that I was now going to attend private school. I didn't like the thought of this AT ALL! Being the shy child that I was I had my familiar friends in public school and had a panic attack of the thought of making new friends. I attended this school thru 4th and 5th, not having the best of time might I add. My mom then decided that home school was the way to go. I was EXTREMELY excited about this! Not getting up early, being at home with my mom, working at my own pace, and not having to be around the "mean" kids. This was a fun 2 years, 6th and 7th flew by. It was also a rough 2 years for my parents, they struggled financially with my dad being the sole bread winner. So back to work it was for my mom, which meant back to public school for us. I had mixed feelings about this, I was excited to see my old friends again (thinking that they would remember me and we could take up where we left off, yeah right), and once again my shyness had me in a full blown panic attack to make another change. My brother and I had to take a test to make sure we were kept up with our grade level to enter back into public school. I was on the border line, a 70. Not failing but just nearly passing. The final decision was to hold me back and repeat the 7th grade, this had me sooooo upset because that meant that I would be in a class with NEW people, once again the shy child went into panic mode. In the long run I turned out fine. . . sure a little weird or freaky at times. . . but OK all the same.
So, now to the point of this blog (sorry, I felt I owed some background to show I am familiar with public, private and home school aspects).
My daughter who is in 3rd grade and has been diagnosed with ODD (possibly turning into bi-polar as she gets older) and now the doctors are looking into her having ADHD. This has been a very difficult thing for me to deal with. Not that I am ignorant about these subjects, I am having trouble because I am all too familiar with them. My brother was diagnosed with all these problems, around her age, so I have witnessed this first hand. This was very hard on my brother, my parents and me. At that time it was a new thing so the schools didn't know how to deal with him so ultimately he dropped out. I want to try to do things different with her, now that it is well known and so much research is out there. I don't want her to feel like she is different in a bad way because of this.
This connects my interest with home school. She has had problems since the very start of school, kindergarten. She was never up with the rest of the class with reading. The teachers would all tell me that its my fault for not making her read all day and into the night. I felt that was too much for a little one her age, she needed SOME down time to just be a kid and enjoy life. Needless to say this battle has gone on for 4 years now. In 2nd grade we changed schools, this seemed to help in the reading department but that is when her issues came to a head, and we finally looked into counseling and doctors. She is now taking prescription meds (which killed me at first) and doing better attitude wise, but still struggling with her school work. I have had meetings with her teacher and councilors about her work and all I keep hearing them say is she isn't "UP" with kids her age. So now I have been pondering why are they pushing sooooo hard to put her with the kids her age. Why aren't they looking into WHY? isn't she up with kids her age and WHAT? can we do to help this child. I (along with many moms) have felt for a while now the schools are only worried about their testing and unfortunately this (3rd grade year) is the first year for this test. I feel like the school is doing just what they need to get these kids passed and on to the next level. I have witnessed this recently in my step kids, one is dyslexic and never got the help she needed and was passed along till graduation, and one who is a Jr in high school as of present, brought me a paper to review on Martin Luther King. It was chicken scratch and even the simplest words were misspelled. How on earth did he make it all the way to be a Jr and misspell simple words! I haven't found out what he made on that paper but I'm curious to know.
So, my thought now is that the schools don't seem to care about my child, and I cant afford a private school where she can possible get a little more one on one, so who is gonna HELP MY CHILD. . . . .
After days of thought, and many tears, I believe the answer is. . . . ME!!!!!
I know this isn't going to be the easiest thing I have ever done, and it might possibly change my life, but when it comes to my child and my family I should be putting them first. I have been researching all my options and have quite a few good friends who home school and are willing to give me all the advice I can handle. I want to let her learn at her own pace and be able to get the help that she needs for her problems, if I cant help her I will enlist the help of others.
So now I call out to all you home school Mommy's! What is the best advice you can give?
I attended public school until I was in 3rd grade and didn't have any problems with it. I believe it was the second day of 4th grade my mom showed up and pulled me out of class and informed me that I was now going to attend private school. I didn't like the thought of this AT ALL! Being the shy child that I was I had my familiar friends in public school and had a panic attack of the thought of making new friends. I attended this school thru 4th and 5th, not having the best of time might I add. My mom then decided that home school was the way to go. I was EXTREMELY excited about this! Not getting up early, being at home with my mom, working at my own pace, and not having to be around the "mean" kids. This was a fun 2 years, 6th and 7th flew by. It was also a rough 2 years for my parents, they struggled financially with my dad being the sole bread winner. So back to work it was for my mom, which meant back to public school for us. I had mixed feelings about this, I was excited to see my old friends again (thinking that they would remember me and we could take up where we left off, yeah right), and once again my shyness had me in a full blown panic attack to make another change. My brother and I had to take a test to make sure we were kept up with our grade level to enter back into public school. I was on the border line, a 70. Not failing but just nearly passing. The final decision was to hold me back and repeat the 7th grade, this had me sooooo upset because that meant that I would be in a class with NEW people, once again the shy child went into panic mode. In the long run I turned out fine. . . sure a little weird or freaky at times. . . but OK all the same.
So, now to the point of this blog (sorry, I felt I owed some background to show I am familiar with public, private and home school aspects).
My daughter who is in 3rd grade and has been diagnosed with ODD (possibly turning into bi-polar as she gets older) and now the doctors are looking into her having ADHD. This has been a very difficult thing for me to deal with. Not that I am ignorant about these subjects, I am having trouble because I am all too familiar with them. My brother was diagnosed with all these problems, around her age, so I have witnessed this first hand. This was very hard on my brother, my parents and me. At that time it was a new thing so the schools didn't know how to deal with him so ultimately he dropped out. I want to try to do things different with her, now that it is well known and so much research is out there. I don't want her to feel like she is different in a bad way because of this.
This connects my interest with home school. She has had problems since the very start of school, kindergarten. She was never up with the rest of the class with reading. The teachers would all tell me that its my fault for not making her read all day and into the night. I felt that was too much for a little one her age, she needed SOME down time to just be a kid and enjoy life. Needless to say this battle has gone on for 4 years now. In 2nd grade we changed schools, this seemed to help in the reading department but that is when her issues came to a head, and we finally looked into counseling and doctors. She is now taking prescription meds (which killed me at first) and doing better attitude wise, but still struggling with her school work. I have had meetings with her teacher and councilors about her work and all I keep hearing them say is she isn't "UP" with kids her age. So now I have been pondering why are they pushing sooooo hard to put her with the kids her age. Why aren't they looking into WHY? isn't she up with kids her age and WHAT? can we do to help this child. I (along with many moms) have felt for a while now the schools are only worried about their testing and unfortunately this (3rd grade year) is the first year for this test. I feel like the school is doing just what they need to get these kids passed and on to the next level. I have witnessed this recently in my step kids, one is dyslexic and never got the help she needed and was passed along till graduation, and one who is a Jr in high school as of present, brought me a paper to review on Martin Luther King. It was chicken scratch and even the simplest words were misspelled. How on earth did he make it all the way to be a Jr and misspell simple words! I haven't found out what he made on that paper but I'm curious to know.
So, my thought now is that the schools don't seem to care about my child, and I cant afford a private school where she can possible get a little more one on one, so who is gonna HELP MY CHILD. . . . .
After days of thought, and many tears, I believe the answer is. . . . ME!!!!!
I know this isn't going to be the easiest thing I have ever done, and it might possibly change my life, but when it comes to my child and my family I should be putting them first. I have been researching all my options and have quite a few good friends who home school and are willing to give me all the advice I can handle. I want to let her learn at her own pace and be able to get the help that she needs for her problems, if I cant help her I will enlist the help of others.
So now I call out to all you home school Mommy's! What is the best advice you can give?
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Got my mind on my money and money on my mind.
So for my second blog I have decided to dedicate it to what has been on my mind the most. MONEY! or the lack of. I have been seeing this cheapest family in america on TV the past few weeks and thought I would give it a shot to see if I can bring us out of debt and more money into savings.
Mine and my husbands jobs are feast or famine and I would like to build up our savings so in times of famine we wont have to worry. Not to meantion everytime we go to the grocery store the bill climbs higher and higher (the cost of having 3 teenage boys and growing kids).
I want to be able to take vacations when we want or to purcase a new car when needed, or fix the ones that we have (god knows thats a fortune!!).
So I am sitting down and making a record of all the debt we owe, and then a list of monthly bills. I am then going to see if there is possibly anywhere we can cut back on the monthly bills part. Like taking the movie channels off satilite, or cutting minutes back on our cell phones. We have recently disconnected our house phone and went to strictly using our cell phones, but I dont think that is going to work out considering we live in a black hole that doesnt allow cell phone reception in. So I will just get the bare minimum basic phone. And like I mentioned cutting back on grocerys also will help greatly.
I have always cut coupons out of the sunday paper and have saved some money here and there doing that, but have never kept up with it. I will now keep better track of that and check out any websites offering coupons and check out my local sales paper. I am also going to try to grocery shop once a month instead of weekly, and stick to a strict list. My husband deer hunts and we have a freezer FULL of deer meat so we will be eating alot of that. So if anyone has any good recipes for venison, pass it over! haha
I think I will also check out the book from the cheapest family to see if there is anything else I havent thought of.
Keep your fingers crossed that this works, and I will keep everyone posted.
Mine and my husbands jobs are feast or famine and I would like to build up our savings so in times of famine we wont have to worry. Not to meantion everytime we go to the grocery store the bill climbs higher and higher (the cost of having 3 teenage boys and growing kids).
I want to be able to take vacations when we want or to purcase a new car when needed, or fix the ones that we have (god knows thats a fortune!!).
So I am sitting down and making a record of all the debt we owe, and then a list of monthly bills. I am then going to see if there is possibly anywhere we can cut back on the monthly bills part. Like taking the movie channels off satilite, or cutting minutes back on our cell phones. We have recently disconnected our house phone and went to strictly using our cell phones, but I dont think that is going to work out considering we live in a black hole that doesnt allow cell phone reception in. So I will just get the bare minimum basic phone. And like I mentioned cutting back on grocerys also will help greatly.
I have always cut coupons out of the sunday paper and have saved some money here and there doing that, but have never kept up with it. I will now keep better track of that and check out any websites offering coupons and check out my local sales paper. I am also going to try to grocery shop once a month instead of weekly, and stick to a strict list. My husband deer hunts and we have a freezer FULL of deer meat so we will be eating alot of that. So if anyone has any good recipes for venison, pass it over! haha
I think I will also check out the book from the cheapest family to see if there is anything else I havent thought of.
Keep your fingers crossed that this works, and I will keep everyone posted.
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