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