The past 24 hours have been super busy...I'm almost sort of glad that Thanksgiving is over so that we can move on to Christmas! I got up yesterday morning and made homemade macaroni and cheese. It's definitely not hard to make, but is somewhat time consuming and it's kind of hard to juggle boiling noodles, a mixture you have to constantly stir, and a baby who's spitting up EVERYWHERE. Billy fed Ellie yesterday morning, and after drinking about two ounces she did a major spit up...basically everything she'd eaten so far, and of course it was all over Billy. This in itself is not an anomaly; I would classify Ellie as a spitter anyway and it's very normal for her to spit up a lot throughout the day. However, we did find a tiny speck of blood in her spit up. Of course I started freaking out and panicking. Under normal circumstances I would call the doctor's office, but since it was a holiday they were obviously closed. I really did not want to go to the hospital, especially if it wasn't a big deal, so we decided to wait and see how she did after taking the rest of her bottle. She drank the rest just fine without any issues, and the rest of the day she didn't have any blood in her spit up. I think it was bloody mucus from her nose and it got down in her stomach contents and then came up when she spit up (Billy thoroughly examined the nastiness...I watched from the sidelines lol). The blood was like a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of her spit up, and since she didn't show any other problems yesterday we're assuming she's fine. Plus, the air is so dry now that it's cold outside, and I think it's been irritating her nasal passages. It may be time to invest in a humidifier for her room.
Other than that drama, the mac n cheese turned out fine and we made it to Thanksgiving on time, which never happens. We went to Billy's aunt's house first and ate with his family and my Granny and Poppaw, which was a lot of fun. Ellie slept the whole time, which I was so thankful for. Last Sunday we visited with family and she was so cranky the whole day and hardly got a good nap, so I came armed with the portable swing this time (and it worked!). After Thanksgiving with his family, we went to my other grandparent's house and had dinner with my family on my mom's side. It was a very peaceful evening and a good end to the day. Billy and I made it home around 8:00 last night. I relaxed the rest of the evening after Ellie went to bed, and poor Billy cleaned our bathroom.
The other day he opened up the sink cabinet in our bathroom and found a bunch of mold (so glad I didn't see that because I probably would have thrown up!). After cleaning everything thoroughly, he went and bought a new sink and base. The new one is smaller, which is kind of hard for me to get used to. The old one was small, too, but this one is even smaller. It's a very cute sink, though, and I think once we finish the other updates in the bathroom I'll be pleased with it. Anyway, he installed the new sink and plumbing two nights ago. Last night, he used ammonia to clean all over our bathroom, which was very pungent but I am so thankful that he did that. We both have a love/hate relationship with our bathroom. I love my shower curtain and shower walls/shelves, and I love that Billy took out the window in the shower (who ever thought putting a window in a shower was a good idea?!). I also love the floor he put in, and the new sink is very cute. But I HATE the walls. They used to be wallpapered and Billy removed all of that. Underneath the wall looked like crap. It's very uneven, so he had to patch a lot, but you can still tell where it looked cruddy. We have a plan for texturing (not sure that this is a word) the walls so it looks better, but who knows when we will have time for that.
A friend of mine had a baby boy this morning. We haven't seen him yet except for a texted picture, but he is so handsome. After reading another friend's blog, I realized that I have such a precious gift in my daughter and that I should realize how blessed I am. She is an active, vocal, and sometimes dramatic baby (hmm...do we have a potential wild child on our hands?), but she is mine (and Billy's) and she could have died in the situation we were put in with her birth. I could have died, too. I am so thankful to be alive and to have a healthy, beautiful, "petite" daughter. She is my unique little girl and I love her so much. She has the sweetest smiles that just melt my heart...what would I do without her? Even though we didn't plan on having a baby yet, and I was really freaked out when we found out we were having a baby, she is the greatest blessing Billy and I have experienced as a couple. I am so thankful God chose us to be her parents.
Now that I'm all emotional (must be these darn hormones!), let's talk about other things. Billy's 23rd birthday is in a few days (December 1st) and I so hope that he will have a good day. He hasn't had the greatest birthdays in the past due to other circumstances, but I really hope that it will be a good one this year. We are going out with family on Tuesday the 30th to celebrate...his present will be arriving in the mail today. I won't say what it is just in case he reads this, but I really hope he'll like it...I kinda went out on a limb on this one so I'm not sure how it will go over, but we'll keep our fingers crossed that he likes it!
As far as my grocery shopping this week, I spent $25. Not a huge accomplishment considering I didn't have to buy a whole lot, but at least we're not spending much! I didn't work hard to get a lot of deals this week. I figured since it was a holiday I could take a break! I did buy some Dove body wash at Walgreen's. That stuff is expensive! I haven't bought any in a really long time because I've been stocked up, but I just never remember it being so pricey. I normally wouldn't be a name brand person, but I have had major acne problems in the past (on my back and chest) and this is one soap that seems to help my skin. I used to use Bath and Body Works stuff, but realized that it was contributing to my acne problems so I had to quit using it. I tried Dove because it's supposed to not leave a lot of soap residue, which could be contributing to my skin problems, and once I saw that it helped I haven't switched to anything else yet. Anyway, so that was priced at $8.99 and I had a $1 manufacturer's coupon, plus $3 in Register Rewards, so I spent about $5 on it. At Target, I bought Shelley's dog food and got a pretty good deal. She eats Purina Dog Chow, which we normally buy at Sam's Club. There, you get a 50 pound bag for around $20. This week at Target they had a 48 pound bag on sale for about $22, and then I used a $2 manufacturer's coupon. This was another gift card deal, so I got a $5 gift card for buying the bag of dog food, so it's like spending $15, which worked out to be cheaper than the food at Sam's Club. I also bought 2 packages of Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough in separate transactions. In the first, I used a $1 manufacturer's coupon and got a print out coupon from the register (these are called catalinas, I think). I then used another $1 manufacturer's coupon on the second package plus the $1 catalina coupon and got if for a few cents.
That's all for me, I will now try to find something productive to do around the house until Ellie wakes up!
Kristen
Friday, November 26, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Just Needing to Vent...
This entry has nothing to do with saving money or couponing. I am just really worried and frustrated over some things and need to vent about it for a few minutes.
First, we got something in the mail today saying that we owe Centra Health $5,000 and that this balance is being turned over to a debt collector. Of course, that was very worrying to us because we take great care to make good credit decisions so that we can maintain a good credit score. Plus, we never got a bill from Centra for that amount, and Billy had already set up a payment plan to pay off our medical debt. Fortunately, he was able to straighten out that situation and it was just a mistake; they told us to disregard the letter.
Second, our insurance company sent us a letter saying that Ellie and I were dropped as of 10/31/10. When Billy lost his job back in September, they told him that he would have full severance pay and insurance coverage until the end of the year, which included the family insurance plan he was paying for out of his paycheck. Fortunately, we haven't had any doctor appointments this month, so we haven't had any problems. However, it's really frustrating that they would drop Ellie and I (not Billy) when they told him that he would maintain coverage on our family until the end of the year. He is currently working on that situation and is trying to figure out what happened. We have had other problems with our insurance company in the past, and recently they refused to refill Ellie's prescriptions because it wasn't authorized until it had been a full month since her last refill. I understand the policy, but they don't give me enough medicine for Ellie to last a full month, so what is she supposed to do for that extra week or so? Fortunately, Walgreen's was able to communicate with the insurance company and got it straightened out for this month, but I wonder what they will do next time.
I don't want to get all woe-is-me and throw a pity party for myself, but sometimes I really wonder why it's one thing on top of another this year. First, it was Ellie's birth and my health problems, then Billy lost his job, and now Ellie and I don't have insurance. I trust that it will all work out; it usually does. But I just hate how things have to be so hard sometimes when we've already been through a lot. But you know, I was just telling Billy last night that I'm grateful that God put me through all of that with eclampsia and HELLP syndrome, because it really made me so much closer to Him and made me grateful for life, which is so fleeting and I used to take it for granted. I really need to remember that there is no reason to worry at this point, at least until Billy talks to LifeWay and the insurance company to figure out what happened. He can certainly put us on insurance through his new job, we just weren't planning on it until January 1st after our old insurance was gone. It's not like a life or death situation, so I need to just chill I think, and realize that there are way worse things that could be happening. I am definitely thinking about Philippians 4:4-7, and just trying to focus on God's promises:
First, we got something in the mail today saying that we owe Centra Health $5,000 and that this balance is being turned over to a debt collector. Of course, that was very worrying to us because we take great care to make good credit decisions so that we can maintain a good credit score. Plus, we never got a bill from Centra for that amount, and Billy had already set up a payment plan to pay off our medical debt. Fortunately, he was able to straighten out that situation and it was just a mistake; they told us to disregard the letter.
Second, our insurance company sent us a letter saying that Ellie and I were dropped as of 10/31/10. When Billy lost his job back in September, they told him that he would have full severance pay and insurance coverage until the end of the year, which included the family insurance plan he was paying for out of his paycheck. Fortunately, we haven't had any doctor appointments this month, so we haven't had any problems. However, it's really frustrating that they would drop Ellie and I (not Billy) when they told him that he would maintain coverage on our family until the end of the year. He is currently working on that situation and is trying to figure out what happened. We have had other problems with our insurance company in the past, and recently they refused to refill Ellie's prescriptions because it wasn't authorized until it had been a full month since her last refill. I understand the policy, but they don't give me enough medicine for Ellie to last a full month, so what is she supposed to do for that extra week or so? Fortunately, Walgreen's was able to communicate with the insurance company and got it straightened out for this month, but I wonder what they will do next time.
I don't want to get all woe-is-me and throw a pity party for myself, but sometimes I really wonder why it's one thing on top of another this year. First, it was Ellie's birth and my health problems, then Billy lost his job, and now Ellie and I don't have insurance. I trust that it will all work out; it usually does. But I just hate how things have to be so hard sometimes when we've already been through a lot. But you know, I was just telling Billy last night that I'm grateful that God put me through all of that with eclampsia and HELLP syndrome, because it really made me so much closer to Him and made me grateful for life, which is so fleeting and I used to take it for granted. I really need to remember that there is no reason to worry at this point, at least until Billy talks to LifeWay and the insurance company to figure out what happened. He can certainly put us on insurance through his new job, we just weren't planning on it until January 1st after our old insurance was gone. It's not like a life or death situation, so I need to just chill I think, and realize that there are way worse things that could be happening. I am definitely thinking about Philippians 4:4-7, and just trying to focus on God's promises:
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Lesson Learned
So I made chili last night. I used Betty Crocker's recipe, which was pretty simple and easy. Now, I knew beforehand that Billy does not like beans. Period. The only beans he will eat willingly are green beans, which don't even count. I do make a Santa Fe soup which is basically a three-bean soup, containing pintos, kidney beans, and black beans, but he will eat that just fine because the soup is so spicy you can't really taste the "bean" flavor. So I was hoping this would work out with chili, too, because I love chili on a cold night. I was very wrong. He ate a bowl and a half, I think of out courtesy to me, but I could tell he was not thrilled. He said it had too many beans in it. Oh well, I tried. I did learn that if I make corn bread in a pie pan instead of a muffin pan it turns out WAY better and it doesn't make as much of a mess. So one failure and one success in the same meal!
On a high note, I visited Money Saving Mom today and found a Hallmark offer for moms. If you are a mom of at least one child and you are willing to fill out some basic information, you can get a $10 off coupon to any Hallmark store. There is this item that I have been wanting since last year called a Pupper-Weight. It sounds goofy, but our front door will not stay open without a door stopper of some kind, and we've been using a cheap Walmart candle as a door stopper since we moved in. I've always said in the back of my mind that I really wanted to get a door stopper that looked like a yellow lab, and Billy searched high and low for one to give me last Christmas, but couldn't find one. I finally found them, which they happen to sell at Hallmark, but I didn't want to pay $11 for something frivolous, so I put it on my Christmas list. After getting the coupon, I decided to go buy my Pupper-Weight, which I paid $1.50 for. Yay!
It's actually supposed to be a golden retriever rather than a lab, but I thought it looked more like Shelley than the lab did. I am very excited about it!
On a high note, I visited Money Saving Mom today and found a Hallmark offer for moms. If you are a mom of at least one child and you are willing to fill out some basic information, you can get a $10 off coupon to any Hallmark store. There is this item that I have been wanting since last year called a Pupper-Weight. It sounds goofy, but our front door will not stay open without a door stopper of some kind, and we've been using a cheap Walmart candle as a door stopper since we moved in. I've always said in the back of my mind that I really wanted to get a door stopper that looked like a yellow lab, and Billy searched high and low for one to give me last Christmas, but couldn't find one. I finally found them, which they happen to sell at Hallmark, but I didn't want to pay $11 for something frivolous, so I put it on my Christmas list. After getting the coupon, I decided to go buy my Pupper-Weight, which I paid $1.50 for. Yay!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Learning the Art of Encouragement
This has been a fairly busy week for me. I did a lot of shopping, visited with some friends and family, and learned a few things along the way. For this entry, I will have to break this up into sections just to keep my own sanity.
Shopping:
I had great success this week with finding more deals at Target. I already told you about my Glade holiday scents purchase where I got a $5 gift card for buying 5 products. In this week's ad, there was an offer for a free $10 gift card for any new or transferred prescription. I've been using Walgreen's for my prescription just because of the convenience, but I pay more there than I used to at Walmart. I wasn't completely sure if it would be cheaper at Target, but I figured it couldn't be any more expensive, so I transferred my prescription in order to get the $10 gift card. It turns out that my prescription is $2 cheaper at Target and they have the actual medicine I was prescribed instead of a similar one, which is what Walgreen's was giving me. So I paid $9 for my medicine and got a $10 gift card. I was very excited!
I read on Money Saving Mom about a Target coupon for $10 off 3 pairs of pajama bottoms. If you aren't familiar with Target coupons, you can visit their coupons website here. Target offers both store and manufacturer coupons on their website, which you can then print from your computer (much like Coupons.com). So I was at Target last night to pick up my prescription, and I just happened to look around the store for a while before leaving. I noticed there were a lot of pajamas on clearance, some of which were long pants (I had read about someone getting a great deal on clearance shorts with the coupon, but I wasn't interested in buying shorts this late in the year). After realizing that the pants were decently priced, I went home, printed the coupon, and went back to Target (I was determined to get this over with!). The pants were originally $9.99 each, on sale for $6.89 each. I used the $10 off 3 pairs coupon, and ended up paying $3.83 for each pair. Remember the gift cards I got this week? I used those to pay for my purchase. So in all, I actually got these pants for free with my gift cards from Target, but even if I did pay for them, I got 3 pairs of pajama pants for $11.49. I love pajamas and really wanted some new ones...and I definitely like the flannel/cotton kind. I felt very accomplished with my purchase.
I bought groceries Monday night, and spent $40. I got all the basic necessities for the week (milk, bread, etc.) and also bought a few things for next month. Kroger had the Stouffer's frozen lasagnas on sale for $5 each (usually they're closer to $7), and I used a $2 off coupon if you bought two, so I bought 2 lasagnas for $4 each. It's sad, but the few times I've made homemade lasagna it's taken so much time and it hasn't even been that great. Therefore, lasagna is our easy-dinner night. So I've got those in the freezer for either my monthly meal plan or an emergency dinner night. I also bought a bag of Ore-Ida hash browns for next month, since I make the Cheesy Potato Casserole at least once a month, and they were on sale this week. I also saved 10 cents on gas again this week because of the Kroger fuel points...but I still paid $2.64 per gallon. It's amazing how expensive gas is!
Cooking:
This week as I was making the Chicken & Rice Bake for dinner, I realized that I often grow very fond of certain items in my kitchen. Last week I discovered the glories of Nutella, which I am still having a love affair with. This week, I decided my favorite item of the week is Cavender's Greek seasoning. My Poppaw introduced me to it...I really don't know where he bought it, since I couldn't find it when I went grocery shopping, but it must be at either Food Lion or Kroger, since those are his favorite places to shop. I really like meat to be seasoned with something...I used to be a plain Jane when it came to food, and now I really enjoy full flavors. This seasoning is great on just about everything...chicken, beef, pork, vegetables, etc. I really like it on chicken and potatoes. It's a basic all-purpose seasoning, containing salt, black pepper, oregano, parsley, and some other stuff which they don't divulge on the label ("five other spices" is all it says...so if you have any allergies, I wouldn't recommend it). Anyway, this stuff is great (a little spicy in excess, which is what I prefer), so if you're looking for something new that can stand on its own in the world of seasonings, this is it.
Academic:
Even though I graduated back in May, I am still involved in attempting to publish a rewritten version of my Honors thesis. It's a long story, but basically my committee chair for my thesis decided it would be a good idea for me to adapt what I had written into a journal article and either present it at a state conference or publish it in an academic journal. We worked on it all through student teaching, which was difficult for me to balance, but we finally came up with something and submitted it to a journal. My thesis was originally written on teaching reading comprehension skills to students in the elementary grade levels. I love reading, and I am very passionate about helping others learn to love it, too. My thesis wasn't anything new; it was really a culmination of many different strategies that can be used with young students to help develop comprehension skills. I myself never really had a problem with this as a student, but I remember doing comprehension-building activities in school that were usually boring and consisted of highlighting the important information in a reading passage (so not fun!). So I researched other ways of teaching this to students, including various oral and collaborative activities that were more "fun" and interactive instead of just using a highlighter. Anyway, we adapted my thesis to incorporate 21st century skills. In my opinion, this label "21st century skills" is really just a new buzz-word in education that doesn't mean a whole lot. I guess it consists of teaching students to think critically, read for understanding, collaborate with others, etc. Basically, the goals of teaching anyway. They just have a new fancy label for it now. So we wrote this article, submitted it to a journal, and it was rejected with major corrections. I was not surprised by this at all; in fact, I was really expecting a rejection. Getting published is difficult anyway, and when you throw into the mix the fact that we adapted a 30-page thesis into a 3,000 word article in less than a month, on a topic that I didn't really understand in the first place, it's no wonder it was rejected. I figured that it was over; I wasn't too crazy about getting published (not a particular goal of mine), and on top of that I knew that Ellie would be born this fall anyway and figured I wouldn't have time to continue to pursue that endeavor. I put it out of my mind. We had a meeting scheduled in August to discuss the corrections made to our article, but I had to cancel because of Ellie's birth. We then rescheduled for this month and met yesterday. We looked over things and talked about ideas, but I still don't know where this is going. We are scheduled to present something in March at the Virginia State Reader's Association conference, but we don't even have an idea of what we're talking about yet. I just don't know where this is going, and it's difficult for me to participate since it's been 8 months since I even looked at my thesis, let alone the article we submitted for publication. Not sure where it's going to go, but I guess we'll see.
On a completely different and lighter note, I wanted to share what I'm currently reading. About a month ago I tried reading Ted Dekker's Circle series (Black, Red, White, and Green), which ended up being an amazing series that I couldn't put down. It was the first time I read anything by Ted Dekker, so I was very surprised at how good his books were. I am now reading Sinner, which is related to the Circle series. It's a great book! Definitely recommend it or the Circle series to anyone looking for a great can't-put-it-down reading experience.
Personal:
My final section for the day will be about what I have learned personally and spiritually this week. It's another long story, but basically Billy and I talked about how we each need more encouragement from each other. I thought I was the victim and that Billy was ignoring me, but in reality I was doing the same thing to him and we were both suffering because of it. It's amazing how easy it is to get caught up in your own thoughts and problems and completely forget about how your partner feels. Billy and I have very different personalities, but when it comes down to it, we both need the same thing in order to feel loved: encouragement. I need to know that what I do here at home is worthwhile and appreciated. I hate doing all of the chores and making our house clean and not getting a word of appreciation out of Billy. But at the same time, Billy needs to know that his hard work (10 hours a day) and commitment to providing for our family is worthwhile and appreciated. If I just act like it's his job and his responsibility to provide for us without thanking him for it, I am doing the thing I hate, which is not appreciating his efforts. After we talked about it and realized how we were both lacking in this area, I realized how important it is for me to not just check off things on my list every day, like doing my chores, reading the Bible and having devotions, and getting every little thing done. I really need to remember how important it is for me to encourage Billy in everything he does. This passage really helped me understand and take it to heart:
Shopping:
I had great success this week with finding more deals at Target. I already told you about my Glade holiday scents purchase where I got a $5 gift card for buying 5 products. In this week's ad, there was an offer for a free $10 gift card for any new or transferred prescription. I've been using Walgreen's for my prescription just because of the convenience, but I pay more there than I used to at Walmart. I wasn't completely sure if it would be cheaper at Target, but I figured it couldn't be any more expensive, so I transferred my prescription in order to get the $10 gift card. It turns out that my prescription is $2 cheaper at Target and they have the actual medicine I was prescribed instead of a similar one, which is what Walgreen's was giving me. So I paid $9 for my medicine and got a $10 gift card. I was very excited!
I read on Money Saving Mom about a Target coupon for $10 off 3 pairs of pajama bottoms. If you aren't familiar with Target coupons, you can visit their coupons website here. Target offers both store and manufacturer coupons on their website, which you can then print from your computer (much like Coupons.com). So I was at Target last night to pick up my prescription, and I just happened to look around the store for a while before leaving. I noticed there were a lot of pajamas on clearance, some of which were long pants (I had read about someone getting a great deal on clearance shorts with the coupon, but I wasn't interested in buying shorts this late in the year). After realizing that the pants were decently priced, I went home, printed the coupon, and went back to Target (I was determined to get this over with!). The pants were originally $9.99 each, on sale for $6.89 each. I used the $10 off 3 pairs coupon, and ended up paying $3.83 for each pair. Remember the gift cards I got this week? I used those to pay for my purchase. So in all, I actually got these pants for free with my gift cards from Target, but even if I did pay for them, I got 3 pairs of pajama pants for $11.49. I love pajamas and really wanted some new ones...and I definitely like the flannel/cotton kind. I felt very accomplished with my purchase.
I bought groceries Monday night, and spent $40. I got all the basic necessities for the week (milk, bread, etc.) and also bought a few things for next month. Kroger had the Stouffer's frozen lasagnas on sale for $5 each (usually they're closer to $7), and I used a $2 off coupon if you bought two, so I bought 2 lasagnas for $4 each. It's sad, but the few times I've made homemade lasagna it's taken so much time and it hasn't even been that great. Therefore, lasagna is our easy-dinner night. So I've got those in the freezer for either my monthly meal plan or an emergency dinner night. I also bought a bag of Ore-Ida hash browns for next month, since I make the Cheesy Potato Casserole at least once a month, and they were on sale this week. I also saved 10 cents on gas again this week because of the Kroger fuel points...but I still paid $2.64 per gallon. It's amazing how expensive gas is!
Cooking:
This week as I was making the Chicken & Rice Bake for dinner, I realized that I often grow very fond of certain items in my kitchen. Last week I discovered the glories of Nutella, which I am still having a love affair with. This week, I decided my favorite item of the week is Cavender's Greek seasoning. My Poppaw introduced me to it...I really don't know where he bought it, since I couldn't find it when I went grocery shopping, but it must be at either Food Lion or Kroger, since those are his favorite places to shop. I really like meat to be seasoned with something...I used to be a plain Jane when it came to food, and now I really enjoy full flavors. This seasoning is great on just about everything...chicken, beef, pork, vegetables, etc. I really like it on chicken and potatoes. It's a basic all-purpose seasoning, containing salt, black pepper, oregano, parsley, and some other stuff which they don't divulge on the label ("five other spices" is all it says...so if you have any allergies, I wouldn't recommend it). Anyway, this stuff is great (a little spicy in excess, which is what I prefer), so if you're looking for something new that can stand on its own in the world of seasonings, this is it.
Academic:
Even though I graduated back in May, I am still involved in attempting to publish a rewritten version of my Honors thesis. It's a long story, but basically my committee chair for my thesis decided it would be a good idea for me to adapt what I had written into a journal article and either present it at a state conference or publish it in an academic journal. We worked on it all through student teaching, which was difficult for me to balance, but we finally came up with something and submitted it to a journal. My thesis was originally written on teaching reading comprehension skills to students in the elementary grade levels. I love reading, and I am very passionate about helping others learn to love it, too. My thesis wasn't anything new; it was really a culmination of many different strategies that can be used with young students to help develop comprehension skills. I myself never really had a problem with this as a student, but I remember doing comprehension-building activities in school that were usually boring and consisted of highlighting the important information in a reading passage (so not fun!). So I researched other ways of teaching this to students, including various oral and collaborative activities that were more "fun" and interactive instead of just using a highlighter. Anyway, we adapted my thesis to incorporate 21st century skills. In my opinion, this label "21st century skills" is really just a new buzz-word in education that doesn't mean a whole lot. I guess it consists of teaching students to think critically, read for understanding, collaborate with others, etc. Basically, the goals of teaching anyway. They just have a new fancy label for it now. So we wrote this article, submitted it to a journal, and it was rejected with major corrections. I was not surprised by this at all; in fact, I was really expecting a rejection. Getting published is difficult anyway, and when you throw into the mix the fact that we adapted a 30-page thesis into a 3,000 word article in less than a month, on a topic that I didn't really understand in the first place, it's no wonder it was rejected. I figured that it was over; I wasn't too crazy about getting published (not a particular goal of mine), and on top of that I knew that Ellie would be born this fall anyway and figured I wouldn't have time to continue to pursue that endeavor. I put it out of my mind. We had a meeting scheduled in August to discuss the corrections made to our article, but I had to cancel because of Ellie's birth. We then rescheduled for this month and met yesterday. We looked over things and talked about ideas, but I still don't know where this is going. We are scheduled to present something in March at the Virginia State Reader's Association conference, but we don't even have an idea of what we're talking about yet. I just don't know where this is going, and it's difficult for me to participate since it's been 8 months since I even looked at my thesis, let alone the article we submitted for publication. Not sure where it's going to go, but I guess we'll see.
On a completely different and lighter note, I wanted to share what I'm currently reading. About a month ago I tried reading Ted Dekker's Circle series (Black, Red, White, and Green), which ended up being an amazing series that I couldn't put down. It was the first time I read anything by Ted Dekker, so I was very surprised at how good his books were. I am now reading Sinner, which is related to the Circle series. It's a great book! Definitely recommend it or the Circle series to anyone looking for a great can't-put-it-down reading experience.
Personal:
My final section for the day will be about what I have learned personally and spiritually this week. It's another long story, but basically Billy and I talked about how we each need more encouragement from each other. I thought I was the victim and that Billy was ignoring me, but in reality I was doing the same thing to him and we were both suffering because of it. It's amazing how easy it is to get caught up in your own thoughts and problems and completely forget about how your partner feels. Billy and I have very different personalities, but when it comes down to it, we both need the same thing in order to feel loved: encouragement. I need to know that what I do here at home is worthwhile and appreciated. I hate doing all of the chores and making our house clean and not getting a word of appreciation out of Billy. But at the same time, Billy needs to know that his hard work (10 hours a day) and commitment to providing for our family is worthwhile and appreciated. If I just act like it's his job and his responsibility to provide for us without thanking him for it, I am doing the thing I hate, which is not appreciating his efforts. After we talked about it and realized how we were both lacking in this area, I realized how important it is for me to not just check off things on my list every day, like doing my chores, reading the Bible and having devotions, and getting every little thing done. I really need to remember how important it is for me to encourage Billy in everything he does. This passage really helped me understand and take it to heart:
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:11-18
I am learning so much about how to be a good wife, and I realized that it's not all about cleaning and cooking and taking care of Ellie, but that it also has a lot to do with how I interact with Billy and how I encourage him on a daily basis. It's definitely something I'll have to work on, but we're both trying to get better at this.
~Blessings to you and yours.....Kristen
Monday, November 15, 2010
Target and CVS Trips
So I haven't gone grocery shopping yet (there are NOT enough hours in a Sunday!) but I did go out to grab some deals at CVS and Target yesterday.
Target always has these promotions where you buy a select number or value of specific items and you can get a bonus gift card (usually $5 or $10). I've never bought anything because usually I don't need more paper towels or toilet paper, but this week one of their promotions is Glade holiday scents. If you buy 5, you get a $5 gift card. I love Glade candles so I decided to splurge a little. I bought two oil candles and three 4 oz. jar candles. Each item was on sale for $2.50. I had a coupon for $1 off two oil products and another for $1.50 off two jars. After using my coupons, I spent $10.38 and got the $5 gift card, so really it's like I spent $5.38 on five Glade candle products. Pretty excited....now I've got all these great Christmas scents to try!
Next I went to Michael's...no crazy great deals there, but I really needed a small basket for our bathroom. Billy and I have a few toiletry items we use daily and don't have enough space for in the cabinet (without making everything fall out every time we open the cabinet). These few items take up the very small amount of space on our bathroom sink, and also get wet on the bottoms and just make a huge mess on the sink, which I then have to clean constantly. I'm all about organization (Ellie has at least 7 baskets/containers in her room to keep things under control) so I decided to get a basket for our bathroom. Went to Michael's, and it just so happened that baskets were on sale (I think 40% off). So I spent about $3.50 on a perfectly-sized basket for our bathroom. And it matches with our decor (what little we have going on in there) =). So excited!
Lastly, I went to CVS. No major amazing deals, but I definitely got some things I needed and saved quite a bit of money. According to the CVS receipt, I saved $23.59 (but you can never really trust those things, since drugstores have big markups on items compared to places like Wal-Mart). Anyway, first I bought a big Colgate toothpaste ($4.99) and did Buy One, Get One Free plus a $1 off coupon on 1. Then, I bought Right Guard deodorant ($2.99) and got $1 back in Extra Bucks, plus used a BOGO coupon. Then, I bought 4 jars of Ragu, 1 Skippy peanut butter, and 1 jar of Bertolli alfredo sauce (if you spent $10 in select items, you got $3 in Extra Bucks). At checkout, my total before coupons came to $21. Then I used a CVS coupon for $4 off a $20 purchase (got this for signing up for ExtraCare emails). Then I used my other coupons and ended up spending $11.53, so I saved $10 in coupons and got the $4 in Extra Bucks....so really it was like spending $7.53 on 2 Colgate toothpastes, 2 Right Guard deodorants, 4 jars of Ragu, 1 jar of Bertolli, and 1 Skippy peanut butter. Pretty exciting, it was definitely a big purchase for me at a drugstore compared to other times I've shopped (buying 1 or 2 items at a time). Now I am better stocked on toiletries and pasta sauce (which we use constantly...and I never buy Ragu, it's considered a splurge).
I've made my grocery list for the week, but just didn't have the time to go out to Kroger yesterday. It's so hard for me to take Ellie shopping...every now and then she'll sleep through the whole trip, but that is not the norm and she usually ends up crying a lot if I stop to look at something. Usually I have to try to continually move the stroller or cart while trying to read the label on something or look for my coupons, which is just a major hassle. Billy watched Ellie yesterday while I went out, which was a huge blessing because I was able to make very quick runs into the stores without have to bust out the stroller and all that. I'll probably go to Kroger tonight (MUST go before Tuesday, which is senior citizen's day, where they buy out everything that is on sale and nothing is left for Wednesday). Hoping to not spend over $50!
I've been thinking a lot about my current stage of life and how I was really dreading staying at home this year. It sounds terrible, but my image of a stay at home mom's life was not a pretty one....never getting a shower, staying in pj's all day, cleaning 24/7...it was a bad assumption, but mine nonetheless. Before Ellie was born, I actually cried a little about not have a teaching position this year. I spent 4 years of my life preparing for teaching, and in my last semester found out that I would be having a baby instead (in September of all times, which would mean that I would never find a school that would hire me). But I sucked it up and figured, "I can get a job next year, it's only one year at home." I am happy to say that God has really worked on my heart and completely changed my thoughts and feelings on this subject. I now LOVE being a stay at home mom...it's not all roses and rainbows, but it's the best thing I've ever done and definitely the most rewarding time of my life. I thought I would miss teaching....but I don't. I'm actually starting to battle with my emotions about having to find a job next year....I sometimes think, "Can't I just stay home again?" So far, I don't think that's in God's plan, but God surprises us all of the time (staying in Lynchburg, Ellie, Billy's job....etc.). Who knows what we'll be doing next year, but I am so grateful that God has changed my heart and taught me how to find fulfillment as a stay at home mom. I have a whole year to raise Ellie and watch her grow, and in my spare time I can accomplish tasks I thought I would never have time for (couponing, blogging, making my homemaking tasks more organized and manageable). This time last year, we usually had a sink full of dishes, dog hair EVERYWHERE (considering we had 2 dogs at that time), laundry piled up and nothing to wear...etc. Now, there's maybe a bowl and a bottle in the sink, a blanket in the hamper, and hardly any dog hair (I can't completely eradicate it!). I've had the time to make my house a home I can be proud of, and I've found a way to use my teaching skills so that I still feel fulfilled and proud of what I've done at home. I've learned to praise the Lord and thank Him for this amazing opportunity. This is certainly the most rewarding and fulfilling time of my life!
Blessings to you and yours....Kristen
Target always has these promotions where you buy a select number or value of specific items and you can get a bonus gift card (usually $5 or $10). I've never bought anything because usually I don't need more paper towels or toilet paper, but this week one of their promotions is Glade holiday scents. If you buy 5, you get a $5 gift card. I love Glade candles so I decided to splurge a little. I bought two oil candles and three 4 oz. jar candles. Each item was on sale for $2.50. I had a coupon for $1 off two oil products and another for $1.50 off two jars. After using my coupons, I spent $10.38 and got the $5 gift card, so really it's like I spent $5.38 on five Glade candle products. Pretty excited....now I've got all these great Christmas scents to try!
Next I went to Michael's...no crazy great deals there, but I really needed a small basket for our bathroom. Billy and I have a few toiletry items we use daily and don't have enough space for in the cabinet (without making everything fall out every time we open the cabinet). These few items take up the very small amount of space on our bathroom sink, and also get wet on the bottoms and just make a huge mess on the sink, which I then have to clean constantly. I'm all about organization (Ellie has at least 7 baskets/containers in her room to keep things under control) so I decided to get a basket for our bathroom. Went to Michael's, and it just so happened that baskets were on sale (I think 40% off). So I spent about $3.50 on a perfectly-sized basket for our bathroom. And it matches with our decor (what little we have going on in there) =). So excited!
Lastly, I went to CVS. No major amazing deals, but I definitely got some things I needed and saved quite a bit of money. According to the CVS receipt, I saved $23.59 (but you can never really trust those things, since drugstores have big markups on items compared to places like Wal-Mart). Anyway, first I bought a big Colgate toothpaste ($4.99) and did Buy One, Get One Free plus a $1 off coupon on 1. Then, I bought Right Guard deodorant ($2.99) and got $1 back in Extra Bucks, plus used a BOGO coupon. Then, I bought 4 jars of Ragu, 1 Skippy peanut butter, and 1 jar of Bertolli alfredo sauce (if you spent $10 in select items, you got $3 in Extra Bucks). At checkout, my total before coupons came to $21. Then I used a CVS coupon for $4 off a $20 purchase (got this for signing up for ExtraCare emails). Then I used my other coupons and ended up spending $11.53, so I saved $10 in coupons and got the $4 in Extra Bucks....so really it was like spending $7.53 on 2 Colgate toothpastes, 2 Right Guard deodorants, 4 jars of Ragu, 1 jar of Bertolli, and 1 Skippy peanut butter. Pretty exciting, it was definitely a big purchase for me at a drugstore compared to other times I've shopped (buying 1 or 2 items at a time). Now I am better stocked on toiletries and pasta sauce (which we use constantly...and I never buy Ragu, it's considered a splurge).
I've made my grocery list for the week, but just didn't have the time to go out to Kroger yesterday. It's so hard for me to take Ellie shopping...every now and then she'll sleep through the whole trip, but that is not the norm and she usually ends up crying a lot if I stop to look at something. Usually I have to try to continually move the stroller or cart while trying to read the label on something or look for my coupons, which is just a major hassle. Billy watched Ellie yesterday while I went out, which was a huge blessing because I was able to make very quick runs into the stores without have to bust out the stroller and all that. I'll probably go to Kroger tonight (MUST go before Tuesday, which is senior citizen's day, where they buy out everything that is on sale and nothing is left for Wednesday). Hoping to not spend over $50!
I've been thinking a lot about my current stage of life and how I was really dreading staying at home this year. It sounds terrible, but my image of a stay at home mom's life was not a pretty one....never getting a shower, staying in pj's all day, cleaning 24/7...it was a bad assumption, but mine nonetheless. Before Ellie was born, I actually cried a little about not have a teaching position this year. I spent 4 years of my life preparing for teaching, and in my last semester found out that I would be having a baby instead (in September of all times, which would mean that I would never find a school that would hire me). But I sucked it up and figured, "I can get a job next year, it's only one year at home." I am happy to say that God has really worked on my heart and completely changed my thoughts and feelings on this subject. I now LOVE being a stay at home mom...it's not all roses and rainbows, but it's the best thing I've ever done and definitely the most rewarding time of my life. I thought I would miss teaching....but I don't. I'm actually starting to battle with my emotions about having to find a job next year....I sometimes think, "Can't I just stay home again?" So far, I don't think that's in God's plan, but God surprises us all of the time (staying in Lynchburg, Ellie, Billy's job....etc.). Who knows what we'll be doing next year, but I am so grateful that God has changed my heart and taught me how to find fulfillment as a stay at home mom. I have a whole year to raise Ellie and watch her grow, and in my spare time I can accomplish tasks I thought I would never have time for (couponing, blogging, making my homemaking tasks more organized and manageable). This time last year, we usually had a sink full of dishes, dog hair EVERYWHERE (considering we had 2 dogs at that time), laundry piled up and nothing to wear...etc. Now, there's maybe a bowl and a bottle in the sink, a blanket in the hamper, and hardly any dog hair (I can't completely eradicate it!). I've had the time to make my house a home I can be proud of, and I've found a way to use my teaching skills so that I still feel fulfilled and proud of what I've done at home. I've learned to praise the Lord and thank Him for this amazing opportunity. This is certainly the most rewarding and fulfilling time of my life!
Blessings to you and yours....Kristen
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
A Quick Update
After going out yesterday and doing my shopping, I felt like I had to share it with you readers....this keeps me motivated!
So I spent $40 on groceries yesterday which should get us through the week. Also, I bought 3 boxes of Kleenex tissues at CVS for 89 cents each, plus had a 50 cents off 3 coupon (so about 73 cents each). I also went to Walgreen's and bought a 4-pack of Schick disposable razors. They are normally $6.99 and were on sale for $5.99. I had a $3 off coupon, plus $1.50 in Register Rewards, so in all I spent $1.79 on them, plus got another $3 in Register Rewards on my next purchase. Billy thinks I'm obsessed with saving money now (he never would have said that before!).
Also, I wanted to respond to some questions I have been asked about how I plan my meals and where I get ideas from. Basically, I started by looking through the cabinets and figuring out what stuff we already had (this took some time and I had to get creative with a few items) and I tried to plan meals around those initial ingredients (like manwich sandwiches, chicken and rice, pork chops, and the southwestern chicken skillet). Next, I looked through my personal collection of recipes, most of which are from my mom, and basically planned to make each of those things (so that took up a big chunk of the month)--things like goulash, pot roast, salmon cakes, etc. I had about five days left and couldn't think of what to make, so I opened up the Betty Crocker cookbook and tried to find some new things (like chicken tetrazzini, chili, etc.). I was pretty selective about the Betty Crocker recipes....a lot of times those recipes can be very involved and require a lot of ingredients and time, which I don't have. I really had to look through the entire cookbook before I could find enough easy and inexpensive recipes. It took a whole day of planning for me to get the calendar complete, but once it's done I don't have to think about it for the rest of the month!
I also wanted to share the recipe for what we had for dinner last night. It was a new meal we've never tried before, but I loved it and Billy didn't complain (so that must mean something, right?). This recipe came from the Minute brown rice box, so nothing fancy here!
Southwestern Chicken Skillet
Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon oil
- 1 lb. chicken breasts
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup thick and chunky salsa
- 1 pkg. (10 oz.) of frozen corn (I used the southwestern frozen corn, which has peppers in it)
- 2 cups Minute brown rice (or any instant brown rice)
- 1/4 cup or more of shredded cheese
1. Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat.
2. Add chicken and cover. Cook 4 min. on each side or until cooked through. (This took me a lot longer than 4 min. on each side).
3. Remove chicken and set aside. Add water, salsa, and frozen corn to skillet; mix well and bring to a boil.
4. Stir in rice (uncooked). Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer 5 min. Top rice mixture with chicken; sprinkle with cheese. Cover and simmer 5 min.
This was a super easy and quick dinner; most of the prep work can be done in advance so everything is ready to go when you're ready to start dinner. It was great to have something different that tasted good; a lot of times my new creations don't turn out so well!
Enjoy the beautiful fall weather!
Kristen
Monday, November 8, 2010
First Week of Success!
So last week I shared with you many of my goals that I want to accomplish, many of which have to do with saving money and being a more organized wife and mother. I am proud to say that last week was a HUGE success compared to what I've been doing in the past. Some highlights of the week include:
- I spent $35 on groceries last week (including toiletries!)
- I bought almost everything on sale or with a coupon
- I got a Colgate toothbrush for 20 cents and toothpaste for 25 cents (Kroger sale plus coupons)
- I got a free Renuzit cone (one of those scented cone things...didn't really need it, but it was free!)
- Got a Nivea men's body wash...normally $4, got it for 99 cents
- Bought 2 Head and Shoulders, normally would have been about $10, bought them for $4, plus got $1.50 off my next purchase at Walgreen's
- Saved 10 cents off every gallon of gas at Kroger because I built up enough fuel points
- Made dinner according to my calendar every day!
I really felt so proud of myself last week....this might sound silly, but I prayed that God would help me learn how to save money and find better deals, and He really answered my prayer in ways I didn't expect. After shopping at Kroger and getting groceries for the week (plus a few things I need later in the month that happened to be on sale) I realized that I didn't need to spend $100 to get what I need for the week. The $35 I spent got me every specific item I needed, plus a few things that I could stockpile for the future. I actually accomplished something that has been a challenge for months, and I spent less than my maximum amount allotted for the week! I think I learned that I need to make a specific list and stick to it; don't start buying on impulse because it looks good or I think I might use it eventually...the list was my friend and it helped me stay in control of what I was buying so that I didn't overspend.
All in all, it was a great week for me to kick off my money saving and couponing. God must have had a hand in the Kroger sales, because it seemed like everything I needed just happened to be on sale! =)
This week, I plan to of course buy groceries, and I have a few items I'm going to look out for at the drugstores, like Kleenex tissues and Schick disposable razors...these are things I can always use, and they are on sale at CVS and Walgreen's....and of course, I have coupons for. It's a dangerous game to stockpile, but it can be so worth it if you plan it right. I love stockpiling on toiletries and household items, because I feel secure knowing that I have enough to last for a couple months. However, I have been guilty of spending a ton of money at one time just for the sake of stockpiling, even when it wasn't really necessary. I'm trying to get better about this, and only purchase when I can get a really really good deal on the items (like the toothbrush and toothpaste last week). Hoping for more success this week!
And many of you have asked me what I'm making for dinner this month, so I'll go ahead and put that in this post....don't get your hopes up, most of the things we eat are super simple and cheap....no gourmet dinners here!
1- Breakfast casserole
2- Baked ziti, green beans, bread
3- Kung pao chicken with rice
4- Pork BBQ, corn on the cob, potatoes
5- Date night
6- Tacos and rice
7- Southwestern chicken skillet
8- Manwich sandwiches, potatoes
9- Spaghetti, salad, bread
10- Cheesy potato casserole
11- Pork chops, mashed potatoes
12- Date night
13- Santa Fe soup
14- Chicken and rice bake
15- Goulash, green beans, bread
16- Salmon cakes, potatoes
17- Chili, corn bread
18- Corned beef hash, scrambled eggs, toast
19- Date night
20- Rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes
21- Pork chops, macaroni and cheese
22- Lasagna, salad, bread
23- Chicken fingers, potatoes
24- Steak, corn on the cob
25- Thanksgiving!
26- Date night
27- Chicken tetrazzini
28- Stuffed shells, green beans, bread
29- Pork chops, macaroni and cheese
30- Pot roast, carrots, potatoes
Blessings to you and yours.....Kristen
- I spent $35 on groceries last week (including toiletries!)
- I bought almost everything on sale or with a coupon
- I got a Colgate toothbrush for 20 cents and toothpaste for 25 cents (Kroger sale plus coupons)
- I got a free Renuzit cone (one of those scented cone things...didn't really need it, but it was free!)
- Got a Nivea men's body wash...normally $4, got it for 99 cents
- Bought 2 Head and Shoulders, normally would have been about $10, bought them for $4, plus got $1.50 off my next purchase at Walgreen's
- Saved 10 cents off every gallon of gas at Kroger because I built up enough fuel points
- Made dinner according to my calendar every day!
I really felt so proud of myself last week....this might sound silly, but I prayed that God would help me learn how to save money and find better deals, and He really answered my prayer in ways I didn't expect. After shopping at Kroger and getting groceries for the week (plus a few things I need later in the month that happened to be on sale) I realized that I didn't need to spend $100 to get what I need for the week. The $35 I spent got me every specific item I needed, plus a few things that I could stockpile for the future. I actually accomplished something that has been a challenge for months, and I spent less than my maximum amount allotted for the week! I think I learned that I need to make a specific list and stick to it; don't start buying on impulse because it looks good or I think I might use it eventually...the list was my friend and it helped me stay in control of what I was buying so that I didn't overspend.
All in all, it was a great week for me to kick off my money saving and couponing. God must have had a hand in the Kroger sales, because it seemed like everything I needed just happened to be on sale! =)
This week, I plan to of course buy groceries, and I have a few items I'm going to look out for at the drugstores, like Kleenex tissues and Schick disposable razors...these are things I can always use, and they are on sale at CVS and Walgreen's....and of course, I have coupons for. It's a dangerous game to stockpile, but it can be so worth it if you plan it right. I love stockpiling on toiletries and household items, because I feel secure knowing that I have enough to last for a couple months. However, I have been guilty of spending a ton of money at one time just for the sake of stockpiling, even when it wasn't really necessary. I'm trying to get better about this, and only purchase when I can get a really really good deal on the items (like the toothbrush and toothpaste last week). Hoping for more success this week!
And many of you have asked me what I'm making for dinner this month, so I'll go ahead and put that in this post....don't get your hopes up, most of the things we eat are super simple and cheap....no gourmet dinners here!
1- Breakfast casserole
2- Baked ziti, green beans, bread
3- Kung pao chicken with rice
4- Pork BBQ, corn on the cob, potatoes
5- Date night
6- Tacos and rice
7- Southwestern chicken skillet
8- Manwich sandwiches, potatoes
9- Spaghetti, salad, bread
10- Cheesy potato casserole
11- Pork chops, mashed potatoes
12- Date night
13- Santa Fe soup
14- Chicken and rice bake
15- Goulash, green beans, bread
16- Salmon cakes, potatoes
17- Chili, corn bread
18- Corned beef hash, scrambled eggs, toast
19- Date night
20- Rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes
21- Pork chops, macaroni and cheese
22- Lasagna, salad, bread
23- Chicken fingers, potatoes
24- Steak, corn on the cob
25- Thanksgiving!
26- Date night
27- Chicken tetrazzini
28- Stuffed shells, green beans, bread
29- Pork chops, macaroni and cheese
30- Pot roast, carrots, potatoes
Blessings to you and yours.....Kristen
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The first post....
So this is my new blog. I wanted to start chronicling my life as a stay-at-home mom, mostly for the purpose of self-reflection and to keep myself sane. I thought, "Maybe if I write about my life it will be like talking to other adults," and for those of you who are parents or are familiar with children, it can get old talking to a baby all day. Not that I mind, of course...I love my daughter and wouldn't trade this time for anything. But I have to have a little time to myself, and this is one of the ways I will be accomplishing that.
Well, for starters, if you're reading my blog, you most likely already know me. But just in case, my name is Kristen and I have a fantastic and godly husband named Billy; we are parents to a two and a half month old daughter, Ellie. After a traumatizing birth and postpartum experience, I am blessed to have a very settled and routine-oriented life now. Because my life is more predictable and Ellie is now in a routine (sleeping through the night--YES!!!) I feel I have some free time to devote to other projects.
One of my favorite websites right now is moneysavingmom.com. After reading a few blog posts on becoming financially responsible and living beneath your means, I was inspired to start a few projects. One of those projects is to create a monthly goal, whether it be to acquire a new skill or accomplish a task that you've been wanting to do for a while. I made a list of some of the goals I want to accomplish:
-Create a monthly dinner calendar
-Make weekly grocery lists based on the dinner calendar
-Keep weekly grocery bills $50 or less
-Spend time clipping coupons, looking for sales, and using coupons/sales the most effectively
-Make homemade laundry detergent and baby wipes
-Try not to pay more than a few dollars on toiletry items (most of these you can get for free or a few cents if you plan ahead)
-Lower the electric bill (I think everyone wants to accomplish this one!)
-Save at least $50 a month of my own money (Billy already has a budgeting and saving system for his paycheck, but I get money here and there and want to use it responsibly)
Those are just a few examples of things I want to do. So for the month of November, I thought about what I thought was the most important goal to accomplish that would streamline our household and make our lives more predictable and easier to manage....without a doubt it would have to be making the monthly dinner calendar. It's time for an honest moment....I am a terrible dinner planner and often decide at the last minute that I would rather just go out and get something rather than take the time to cook. While for some people this is a feasible option and not a big deal, for our family we spend way too much money eating out and I just need to buckle down and cook. Plus, we don't budget that much money toward our eating out, so then I'm causing us to pull money from elsewhere just because I don't feel like cooking. Therefore, my goal for November: plan meals for the whole month.
I accomplished this task on Monday. I opened up an Excel spreadsheet, used a calendar template, and got to work. Now, this did take quite a bit of time initially. I had to look in our cabinets and figure out what we already had, get creative with a few random items, and make a list of dinners we already have all of the ingredients for. Then, I had to decide what dinners Billy and I can agree that we both like, what are the most cost-effective options, and also create some variety in our meals. I don't know about you, but I have a couple meals that are my can't-think-of-anything-else-to-make dinners....a.k.a tacos, goulash, and spaghetti. I didn't want to repeat the same things over and over, so I cracked out my Betty Crocker cookbook, my personal recipes, and started getting creative. I decided to try out a few new recipes that I thought might be interesting, and made my calendar. I repeated pork chops three times because we have a freezer full of them right now, but otherwise everything else is a one-night deal.
I can't tell you how accomplished I felt after doing this. This is the first time in our 3 year marriage that I have actually planned out our meals...before, I really didn't have that much time. I was a full-time student in college and I was barely able to get all of my homework done, not to mention being a wife and preparing for a baby. Now, I feel like I can actually devote some time to these homemaking tasks and be effective with them. I did factor in a date night once a week....I still have to have my eating out fix once a week, but I talked to Billy about it and we decided that we could handle that financially, even if it's just going to Chick-fil-A or something like that. So my calendar is complete!
I obviously have a lot of goals I want to meet in the next few months...some are a bit lofty for me, and others are going to be a piece of cake. More than anything else, however, I want to be financially responsible and learn to live beneath our means. We have never hurt for anything, but on the other side of that I have been irresponsible in the past....spending $100 on groceries that last 1 week for two people is ridiculous. Therefore, I think if I can learn some new habits and skills, I can honor God and my husband by becoming more like the Proverbs 31 woman. "An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life" (Proverbs 31:10-12). I want Billy to be able to say that about me...that I bring good to him, that he can trust me with our household, and that I am an "excellent wife" (what woman wouldn't want to hear that?!). In closing, I want to leave you with the end of this proverb, which I think speaks for itself. As a believer in Christ, I think any woman would want to meet this standard:
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.
She opens her mouth in wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:
"Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all."
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her the product of her hands,
And let her works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31:25-31
~Blessings to you and yours.....Kristen
Well, for starters, if you're reading my blog, you most likely already know me. But just in case, my name is Kristen and I have a fantastic and godly husband named Billy; we are parents to a two and a half month old daughter, Ellie. After a traumatizing birth and postpartum experience, I am blessed to have a very settled and routine-oriented life now. Because my life is more predictable and Ellie is now in a routine (sleeping through the night--YES!!!) I feel I have some free time to devote to other projects.
One of my favorite websites right now is moneysavingmom.com. After reading a few blog posts on becoming financially responsible and living beneath your means, I was inspired to start a few projects. One of those projects is to create a monthly goal, whether it be to acquire a new skill or accomplish a task that you've been wanting to do for a while. I made a list of some of the goals I want to accomplish:
-Create a monthly dinner calendar
-Make weekly grocery lists based on the dinner calendar
-Keep weekly grocery bills $50 or less
-Spend time clipping coupons, looking for sales, and using coupons/sales the most effectively
-Make homemade laundry detergent and baby wipes
-Try not to pay more than a few dollars on toiletry items (most of these you can get for free or a few cents if you plan ahead)
-Lower the electric bill (I think everyone wants to accomplish this one!)
-Save at least $50 a month of my own money (Billy already has a budgeting and saving system for his paycheck, but I get money here and there and want to use it responsibly)
Those are just a few examples of things I want to do. So for the month of November, I thought about what I thought was the most important goal to accomplish that would streamline our household and make our lives more predictable and easier to manage....without a doubt it would have to be making the monthly dinner calendar. It's time for an honest moment....I am a terrible dinner planner and often decide at the last minute that I would rather just go out and get something rather than take the time to cook. While for some people this is a feasible option and not a big deal, for our family we spend way too much money eating out and I just need to buckle down and cook. Plus, we don't budget that much money toward our eating out, so then I'm causing us to pull money from elsewhere just because I don't feel like cooking. Therefore, my goal for November: plan meals for the whole month.
I accomplished this task on Monday. I opened up an Excel spreadsheet, used a calendar template, and got to work. Now, this did take quite a bit of time initially. I had to look in our cabinets and figure out what we already had, get creative with a few random items, and make a list of dinners we already have all of the ingredients for. Then, I had to decide what dinners Billy and I can agree that we both like, what are the most cost-effective options, and also create some variety in our meals. I don't know about you, but I have a couple meals that are my can't-think-of-anything-else-to-make dinners....a.k.a tacos, goulash, and spaghetti. I didn't want to repeat the same things over and over, so I cracked out my Betty Crocker cookbook, my personal recipes, and started getting creative. I decided to try out a few new recipes that I thought might be interesting, and made my calendar. I repeated pork chops three times because we have a freezer full of them right now, but otherwise everything else is a one-night deal.
I can't tell you how accomplished I felt after doing this. This is the first time in our 3 year marriage that I have actually planned out our meals...before, I really didn't have that much time. I was a full-time student in college and I was barely able to get all of my homework done, not to mention being a wife and preparing for a baby. Now, I feel like I can actually devote some time to these homemaking tasks and be effective with them. I did factor in a date night once a week....I still have to have my eating out fix once a week, but I talked to Billy about it and we decided that we could handle that financially, even if it's just going to Chick-fil-A or something like that. So my calendar is complete!
I obviously have a lot of goals I want to meet in the next few months...some are a bit lofty for me, and others are going to be a piece of cake. More than anything else, however, I want to be financially responsible and learn to live beneath our means. We have never hurt for anything, but on the other side of that I have been irresponsible in the past....spending $100 on groceries that last 1 week for two people is ridiculous. Therefore, I think if I can learn some new habits and skills, I can honor God and my husband by becoming more like the Proverbs 31 woman. "An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life" (Proverbs 31:10-12). I want Billy to be able to say that about me...that I bring good to him, that he can trust me with our household, and that I am an "excellent wife" (what woman wouldn't want to hear that?!). In closing, I want to leave you with the end of this proverb, which I think speaks for itself. As a believer in Christ, I think any woman would want to meet this standard:
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.
She opens her mouth in wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:
"Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all."
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her the product of her hands,
And let her works praise her in the gates.
Proverbs 31:25-31
~Blessings to you and yours.....Kristen
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