What do we spend?

I have been doing coupons & rebates for about 11 months now. I laughed at my friends(shame faced honesty here) as they were doing coupons because I truly didn't think it made a difference($ saved/time invested). Well I am still seeing how it all comes together but I do know that we are able to purchase things for free & VERY discounted prices at times. I also have a much bigger stock pile of food & necessities now than I did a year ago. Also as for the time investment--I have recruited my daughters as my helpers and that has helped save me time in getting coupons clipped & such.

After reading multiple blogs about how much people were spending per week/month on groceries & household items, I began to get curious about how 2009 has gone for our family. I am a big believer that month to month things will fluctuate but over a longer period of time you can get a good picture of your average spending. I know that we have stayed for the most part under our budget each month on groceries & household. So here is how we've made out so far. Remember we have a family of 6 & 2 teens. :)

Grocery average is $557 our budget is $588
Household average is $362 our budget is $555(we save up for some bigger items this way)

At the beginning of the year my $ spent was MUCH higher than say last months spending--$50 more. So I think that using coupons & rebates are definitely paying off! AWESOME!

I want to start to shave those numbers even more--maybe just 10% to start. We will see how Nov & December affect things as we do more cooking & such during those months. However we will be able to use some of the stockpiled items and perhaps off set the additional purchases for the holidays!

Getting organized

I am tired of the whole putting food on the table process. It just seems to be one more chore right now. Normally I like cooking and all that is involved in that. I am not sure why my attitude has changed. That said I also know if I have a plan then I won't be panicking when suppertime rolls around. This week here is the plan

B'fasts

Oatmeal, Yogurt & granola, waffles w/ applesauce, & cereal

Lunches

Fast Frittata & biscuits, Broccoli & Rice soup, Mac & Cheese, Chili

Suppers

Teriyaki Chicken
Tilapia Vera Cruz
Crockpot Swiss Steak
Italian Hotdish
Meatloaf

So I have a plan now just have to find some excitement. Maybe I will just go make cookies!

Regrouping!

It has been a really long time since I felt inspired to post. A lot happens in September and October for our family! Soccer gets in to full swing--Steve & Michael coach 2 teams so it can be crazy. Every Saturday from the end of August to the end of October is spent at the soccer fields. So after a couple of weeks I am finally surfacing from recovering!


We also took a break from school in the middle of October for a couple of weeks. Steve & I traveled to Hilton Head, SC for his continuing ed conference. I am so blessed to get to go along & take my scrapbook stuff so I can work happily while he's in class. We've done this for 7 years & my fabulous mother & father-in-law keep the kids so we can do this!


This year, however, we didn't really count on the swine flu! We never got the kids tested but they came down with something that was pretty ugly(grandma was calling her house the infirmary!). Everyone survived & we made it back home safely(and I got 40 pages done!).

Then a mere 4 days after we returned I left for a Getaway Scrapbook Weekend. Unfortunately, 3 days after we returned I caught a cold and wasn't feeling 100%. Still got some pages done & had a blast with my new & old girl friends. They are crazy & fun!


Once home it seemed to take another couple of weeks to settle in. We are back to school full time & liking the routine. Here is what our week--normally--looks like.

Monday--HOME--this is the only day we have guaranteed at home(unless something comes up) so it a laundry, clean house, school, catch up day!

Tuesday--School in the morning, girls & I in town for their Bible study & my errand running.

Wednesday--Steve's day off--ANYthing goes!

Thursday--School in the morning & piano lessons in the afternoon-every other week we have Bible Quizzing in the evening.

Friday--School & guitar lessons before noon. Then the girls have a science club that they are in from 1 -3 so J & I run more errands.

Michael is on his own schedule for his ASL class & English class. It all flows pretty well & we are getting things DONE! That is such a great feeling.

More remodeling . . .

The reason we HAD to finish the bathroom & downstairs is because the upstairs bath was going to need some fixing. A small drip from the tub means plumbing & probably new tile(yea!). There also was a funny bump next to the tub that probably meant new sub floor.

That seems minor but once you get in there it quickly escalates. Here is what it looks like now!


There wasn't a simple solution--it all had to come out & be replaced. It all started with that 70s pink tile that was connected to the off white tile in the shower. One piece fell out & then when we started pulling that off it was connected. All the tile had to go & that meant new dry wall. So if you start replacing all that well that vanity is in BAD shape. And so on and so forth.

Needless to say it was a day of destruction. I really think that Steve likes the destruction.
At least more than he likes putting it all back. He was really tired and is now downstairs in our really nice basement playing Call of Duty with M. Blowing up things is always therapy for guys.
Maybe it will be enough therapy to help him deal with this pile on Saturday.


I just hope that we can break our record from the last project--2 years. Oh and it is still not totally done. So while I traipse downstairs to shower each morning, I will dream of the party I will throw when it is all done.

Tomatoes & Memories?

It is funny what things reminds you of the past. I have been canning tomatoes for the last week or so--just a little at a time. Every time as I start to boil the water & pop these awesome plum red tomatoes from my little garden in to the hot water, I am reminded of the times I have helped my mom & grandma with this task. I hated doing it then. Too much work & what was the point anyway?

Funny these days I see the point. We love chili, vegie soup and other things made with our homemade diced tomatoes. It is so satisfying to spend less than $5 on plants and have quarts & quarts hidden in jars under my sink & in the garage ready to use. It saves us money, it gets me and the kids outside in spring & summer. I am sure that these tomatoes are healthier than any I could buy outside of going organic.

Also, now that my grandma is gone, I understand that it wasn't totally about having the vegies for the winter although that is important. I wish I could spend another afternoon with grandma & my mom. Laughing, sharing and working on something all together.

I know the day is coming where my mom won't be around and that saddens me even more. Two things I need to do tomorrow. Spend time with my daughters--maybe canning tomatoes maybe doing something else. And I need to call my mom.

Labor? Maybe or maybe not

Well it is Labor Day weekend. The decision that we need to make is will we labor or not? It is a holiday weekend, so that means we need to rest from labor right? Such a conflict. There are so many things to do around this house. We started remodeling the basement years ago(two, three, I don't really remember) and it would be nice to finish things up. We had a tiny bathroom with 2 closets in the hallway. We decided to get rid of the closets and expand the space in the bathroom.Here is what it looked like after we did the demolition. That is the fun part. Rip, tear, and take it all out the door. The next part is harder. Get started, make decisions, and use those muscles to labor and create a new space. We had done everything except laying tile before. I am so blessed to have a husband(and now a son) who knows how to put in wire, pipes, drains & toilets. One thing we did that was new was bust up the concrete floor to change where the drain was and to add a drain under the water heater. Talk about messy & loud. But the guys did it.

We have made great strides. There used to be yucky carpet & concrete floor and now there is lovely tile. We also have more light in the hallway(no more dungeon). And that bathroom that was smelly, dark & unused? Well now it is bright & clean and IN USE! Also while we were gone on vacation we had our neighbor install the new carpet. It created some fun as we were trying to leave and pack, but we got it all moved around and ready for installation. It is amazing what new carpet will do for a room. Oh and getting the tools out of the living room helps. The room seemed so BIG!

With a family of 6, it is useful to have two functioning bathrooms. Especially as the girls get closer to teenagehood. Oh that is right, one of them is already there--don't tell her. It took us a few weeks after the bathroom was functional to actually use it. We just kept forgetting. "Oh yeah--we have two bathrooms!" Now everyone remembers & now we just need to finish the hall & stairwell. Unfortunately that means more drywall dust--Yuck my least favorite part!

P.S. Next post will have a picture of the new bathroom. I must have deleted the one I took.

My buggy active boy!

J is our youngest. He is the busiest child in our house. He is always running, leaping, climbing, into everything child. We love it but some days it is tiring!

This week had been a good one. We started out with some sniffles and coughs--why this happens the second week of school I don't know. All the kids have learned that even when you don't feel 100% you can do some work. We use Saxon math & in the 2nd grade you make some fun graphs. J needed to ask people what kind of apples they liked best. Those in our house got to try them out for a snack. We used Gala, Granny Smith, & Yellow Delicious. Since there were only 5 of us at home that didn't make a very big graph. In past years, we would call other friends and relative to do our polls but this year we used Facebook to do our poll. My friends came through and voted. It was a ton of fun to see him have to make tally marks to count the ones that were "off the chart."

Another exciting even that occurred early in the week, J found a toad and brought him in to show me. I, of course, wasn't as impressed as he was. J was able to find a temporary home for Mr. Toad. He lived in a box out in the back yard for a day. That evening we released him to hop off in to the sunset. I think J has a real affinity for animals. He is the one who is always toting around a cat or brushing their fur. Early in the spring, there were some baby snakes that were living under a piece of tin that was in our backyard. J(& the other kids) always wanted to check on the snakes. Then with their dad they were allowed to pick up the snakes. J wanted to do this each day until the snakes moved off into the field to hunt bigger prey than crickets. Right now he is just the one who is ready to pick up any bug or animal.